The Kannada short film Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know, directed by Chidananda S Naik, has qualified for the Oscars 2025 in the Live Action Short Film category.

• The film was produced by the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), where Chidananda studied.
• The short film Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know won first prize earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival’s La Cinef Selection.
• Indian folk stories and traditions inspire the 16-minute-long Kannada project.
• The film’s team includes Suraj Thakur as the cinematographer, Manoj V as the editor and Abhishek Kadam on sound design.