Ilham Hossen who scripted, co-edited and directed the short film ‘CIAO’ bagged the Grand Prix award for the best short film recently at the maiden Italian-Sri Lankan Short Film Festival 2012 held in Colombo.

Veteran artistes Thumindu Dodanthenna and Dasun Pathirana acted in the movie which was co-edited and cinematographed by Dimuthu Kalinga Dissanayake. Anusha Gajadeera and Chammika Jayawardana handled the art direction.

Of the 70 short films submitted for the festival, 18 were chosen for the competition of which six made it to the final round. Anoma Weerasekara’s ‘The Letter’ and Ajantha Wijayawardana’s ‘Transition’ were among the final six.

Significantly, award-winning Ilham Hossen, Anoma Weerasekara and Ajantha Wijayawardana are students following the Higher Diploma Course in Filmmaking at the SLTTI.