How NID alumnus' graduation project wins National Award for Best Documentary

Rishiraj Agarwal, a 2018 batch student of National Institute of Design’s FVC MDes programme, won the best Documentary award at the recently announced 71st National Film Award for his Graduation Project ‘God Vulture and Human’ guided by Dr Shilpa Das. The film is sponsored by IIM-A, and the idea evolved from a research paper on organ donation authored by an IIM-A professor, Dr Rajesh Chandwani (who is also a co-producer of the film). 

Director and co-producer, Agarwal told Gujarat Samachar Digital, “I was just 28 when I made this film—from ideation to shooting, colour grading, and every aspect of its creation, I handled it all myself. There was minimal budget, no fancy equipment—just a handycam, and in some parts, even a phone. It was raw, personal, and entirely driven by passion.”

The film is based on Dr Chandwani’s research, which was later transformed into a short film by Agarwal. 

The film explores the subject of organ donation through the lens of transplant coordinators, highlighting their role in the process of organ donation, retrieval, and transplantation. Through the lives of four transplant coordinators, the film deals with the intensities of life and death, and an attempt to humanise the coordinators.

Another NID alumnus shines at National Awards

Moreover, another NID alumnus, Manish Saini’s directorial short film ‘Giddh (The Scavenger)’ has been declared the best short film (under 30 minutes). It was the closing film of Alpavirama 2024, a biennial film festival organised by the Department of Film and Video Communication at the NID.

Saini usually works in Gujarati language films. He is known for his work as a director in his debut, Dhh (2017), for which he received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Gujarati at the 65th National Film Awards.