Canadian
Tamil
film
1999,
which
made
its
debut
in
Vancouver
International
film
Festival
in
October
last
year,
won
the
Midnight
Sun
award
Wednesday
at
the
Tamil
Film
Festival-2010
held
at
the
Filmenshus
Kino
in
Oslo,
Norway,
cinematic
enthusiasts
attending
the
event
said.
1999
was
directed
by
Lenin
M.
Sivam,
an
Eezham
Tamil
of
Canada
and
a
software
professional.
The
festival
also
showcased
some
of
the
short
films
that
were
made
by
Eezham
Tamils.
A
short
film
called
Vanni
Mouse
by
director
Tamilian
Subas
from
Norway
received
the
best
short
film
award.
The
festival
featured
15
recently
released
films
including
1999,
Samuthirakani"s
Naadodigal,
Mishkin"s
Nandalala,
and
Sasikumar"s
Subramaniapuram.
It
is
a
huge
honour
to
see
1999
compete
and
win
the
prestigious
award
amongst
these
high
calibre
films,
Tamil
circles
in
Oslo
said.
This
also
marks
the
European
Premiere
for
1999.
The
film
festival
was
organized
by
Vaseeharan
Sivalingam's
'VN
Music
Dreams'
a
Norway
based
music
company
in
association
with
multi-cultural
newspaper
Utrop.
The
film
1999,
featuring
violence-affected
Eezham
Tamils
struggling
to
adjust
their
lives
in
Canada,
is
the
first
full-feature
production
of
the
largely
self-made
filmmaker.
Sivam,
35,
born
in
Jaffna
and
migrated
to
Canada
in
1991,
earlier
produced
successful
short
films
in
Tamil.
His
father
V
M
L
Sivam
was
playwright,
director
and
actor
in
his
home
country.
The
short
film
Vanni
Mouse
had
won
a
special
award
in
Tamil
Nadu
at
Periyar
Thirai
Short
Film
Festival
organised
by
the
media
department
of
the
Periyaar
Self-Respect
movement
in
December
2009.