NEW DELHI: Skunk directed by Annie Silverstein from the University of Texas at Austin in the United States has bagged the first prize at the 17th CineFondation selection.

 With this, Silverstein’s first feature film will be presented at the Festival de Cannes.

The second prize went to Oh Lucy! directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia, Singapore. The third prize was won jointly by Lievito Madre directed by Fulvio Risuleo from Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Italy; and The Bigger Picture directed by Daisy Jacobs of the National Film and Television School, United Kingdom.

 The awarded films will receive €15,000 for the first prize, €11,250 for the second and €7,500 for the third.

The CineFondation and Short Films Jury was headed by Abbas Kiarostami and comprised Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Noémie Lvovsky, Daniela Thomas and Joachim Trier.

 The awards were given during a ceremony held in the Bunuel Theatre, followed by the screening of the winning films.

 The CineFondation selection consisted of 16 student films, chosen out of 1631 entries coming from 457 film schools around the world.