Cannes: In a major win for India at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, Chidanand S Naik's "Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know..." won the first prize at La Cinef here on Thursday.

The Mysore doctor-turned-filmmaker made the film at the end of his one-year course at the television wing of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.

"Sunflower..." is based on a Kannada folk tale about an old woman who steals a cock.

The third prize of the La Cinef competition went to Mansi Maheshwari's animation film "Bunnyhood".

Born in Meerut and an alumnus of NIFT Delhi, Maheshwari made the film while a student at the UK's National Film and Television School.

The second prize was shared by "Out of the Widow Through the Wall", directed by Asiya Segalovich of Columbia University, and "The Chaos She Left Behind", directed by Nikos Koliukos of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

The Cannes Film Festival grants 15,000 Euros to the first prize winner, 11,250 Euros to the runner up and 7,500 Euros to the third prize winner.

The award-winning films will be screened on June 3 at the Cinema du Panthéon and on June 4 at the MK2 Quai de Seine.

The first award for Nike is India's second award in five years. In 2020, Ashmita Guh Niyogi of FTII won the award for her film "Catdog".