Filmmaker Vijayeta Kumar’s short documentary ‘Kicking Balls’ won top honors as the BEST FILM in the SHORT DOCUMENTARY section at the recently concluded New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), an annual festival that takes place in New York City, and screens films relating to India, the Indian Diaspora, and the work of Indian filmmakers.
The powerful documentary, which revolves around the awe-inspiring work done by the MJAS NGO in Ajmer, showers light on the positive impact of football in the lives of child brides residing in the community.
Kicking Balls is an unassuming attempt to showcase how the world’s most loved sport is helping the child brides in giving them a positive outlook towards life while filling them with utter confidence and progressive attitude.
Vijayeta Kumar, who hails from Ajmer, has previously won the Best Film award at NYIFF back in 2014 for her debut short film Blouse. Blouse also bagged the Best Short Story award in the same ceremony.
Delighted with the recognition for a subject which is so close to her heart, Vijayeta quoted: “I want to thank all the incredible women at MJAS and the girls who are so passionate about football, for letting me into their world and taking the courage to share their incredible and inspiring story. I feel immense gratitude towards my producers Guneet Monga, Ashwini Yardi and Achin Jain for believing in me and making this happen. I would also like to thank my terrific crew. I hope this award today helps this story reach more and more audiences across the world.”
Vijayeta Kumar studied at Sophia College in Ajmer after which she went on to do her post-graduation in Mass Communication at Jamia Millia University in Delhi.