A Malaysian student has won the Best Student Documentary Award at the Cannes Film Festival’s American Pavilion’s Emerging Filmmaker Showcase.
Dailyseni reported that Indrani Kopal, a former journalist turned film student, won the award for her documentary film The Game Changer.
The award is part of the American Pavilion’s effort in honouring excellent work put forward by students and young filmmakers.
The subject of The Game Changer is on Susan Slotnick, a woman who uses dance as a form to rehabilitate inmates at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility in New York, United States
Slotnick’s program for the prisoners is the only dance-based rehabilitation program for men, and is also one of the most successful.
Indrani’s film competed against A Portrait of Abuse by Nick Chianese andThe Emotional Dimensions of the James River by Michelle Marquez.
The Game Changer was made on a budget of US$3,225 (RM11,580) which Indrani calculated based on transport fare and meals.
It was filmed using school equipment and edited on a Macbook Pro which she invested in by skipping one semester’s worth of tuition fees.
It was a project she carried out by herself, with additional credit to Kurt Sensenbrenner, her cameraman who also transported set equipment and brought her to the prison where she shot some footage.
The documentary is mostly set in New Paltz, New York, specifically in MaMa Dance studios as well as the home of Susan Slotnick.
Coming from a classical Indian dance background, Indrani picked up salsa and Argentine tango in her early 30s.
Indrani looked to dance because it helped her get past some personal issues.
The Game Changer can be viewed in the documentary corner of the Cannes Film Festival until the 24th of May.
.jpg)
