Arati Kadav gets best director award for sci-fi short at Fantasia

Filmmaker Arati Kadav is over the moon with her best director award win for "The Astronaut and His Parrot" at the Fantasia International Short Film Competition which just-concluded in Montreal. The sci-fi film stars Ali Fazal in the lead role.

The film is about a space explorer who, due to an accident, has been adrift in the void with a low supply of oxygen. In his final moments in space, he tries to desperately send messages to his daughter via signals but these are received by a gaudy parrot in a fortune teller's stall.

Being pleasantly surprised after receiving this news, Arati said: "I am thankful to the amazing Ali Fazal, who agreed to give his hundred per cent to the film. Our goal has always been to make a convincing sci-Fi film with maximum on-camera effects and use VFX with precision and intelligence and my team gave their time for solid prep."