File picture of cultural event on last year’s cine and tele awards ceremony

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 16: The state government will confer the State Film Award in all major categories, including best film and best director, this year.

A number of films that were produced in 2013 are good enough to be awarded, according to jury members. Last year, awards in seven categories could not be given, because the jurists did not find the films making strong social messages and “culturally rich”. This year, 14 films are fighting for the awards. A selection committee was formed in July. After thorough scrutiny, the panel had submitted the final report to the state government in the first week of October.

“This year, we found that the quality of films that had been sent for nominations were quite good compared to the last year’s. Our focus was to see that the films gave out a social message. Moreover, the script, on which the movies were based, should be original,” said film critic and one of the panel members Dilip Hali.

“The state awards are coveted recognition. A film should have certain qualities to be eligible for the awards. We have tried to maintain transparency during the scrutiny, so that the best person wins,” Hali said.

The government will announce the winners’ names on November 13. The award ceremony will take place at Utkal Mandap on November 21.

Every year, film awards are given in 27 categories, and a culture department official said awards would be given in almost all the categories this year.

“Last year, awards in seven categories were not given. But this time, awards will be given for most of the categories as a number of good films have come out this year,” said director of the culture department Sushil Das.

The panelists, however, would not be giving any awards in the Best Children’s Film and Best film in tribal language as no entry was made. To encourage production of TV serials or telefilms in Odia, the government introduced the State Tele Awards last year.

This year, the awards will be given away on November 22. The government received entries from 10 serials.