In a first, the Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India on Sunday honoured behind-the-scenes workers across film, television and OTT platforms amid widening rift between the technicians’ body and a section of filmmakers in Tollywood.

The awards were presented at the inaugural ‘Federation Utkarsha Samman’, held at the Technicians’ Studio in south Kolkata.

The federation organised this awards ceremony for the first time under the initiative of president Swarup Biswas. The development comes at a time when the federation and its president face criticism from a section of the entertainment industry for allegedly trying to exert control over the filmmaking process.

A total of 26 awards in the film category were presented to technicians from various departments. Similarly, 26 technicians each from television and OTT platforms were honoured on Sunday evening. Senior and veteran technicians, whose craftsmanship has shaped many popular films and television serials over the years, were also felicitated.

Speaking at the event, federation president Swarup Biswas said, “Last year, the federation had honoured technicians who received national awards. From that point, the idea of instituting the Utkarsha Samman was taking shape. This initiative is meant to restore dignity to those technicians who work silently day after day but rarely get the opportunity to come into the limelight”.

The programme began with actor Prosenjit Chatterjee lighting the ceremonial lamp. Among those present were directors Kaushik Ganguly, Arindam Sil, Joydeep Mukherjee, producer Nilanjana Sharma, editor Arghyakamal Mitra, and federation representatives Sujit Hazra and Jayachandra Chandra.

Prosenjit Chatterjee said, “Without technicians by our side, none of us could have become actors or directors. Every technician has contributed to where we are today. In all my years in this industry, such an initiative was never taken. It should have been done much earlier”.

“A film can exist without a hero, but not without technicians. Those who work behind the camera are the backbone of this industry. I applaud this initiative,” actor-MP Dev added.

Other prominent attendees included producers Nispal Rane, Srikant Mohta, directors Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Srijit Roy, Pavel, actors Ankush Hazra, June Maliah, and Oindrila Sen.