THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Documentaries from Manipur and Kashmir bagged the top honours in SIGNS-2006, the six-day festival of documentaries and short features in video for the John Abraham National Awards that concluded here on Tuesday.

The Manipuri film `AFPSA 1958,' a heartrending document of the people's uprising against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 following the rape and murder of Manorama Devi, allegedly by Asom Rifles personnel, won the top honour along with `Waiting,' the film about Kashmiri women whose husbands have gone missing.

The Manipuri film has been directed by Hoabam Paban Kumar and the Kashmiri film by Atul Gupta and Shabnam Ara. The two directors were awarded Rs. 25,000 each in cash, a statuette and a citation.

Mr. Paban Kumar received the award from renowned film maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

The award in the environmental section of the festival, organised by the Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI), was bagged by Vipin Vijay for his film `Video Game,' a complex video journey on a motor car that mixes experiences, desires, dreams and fears. In the history/biography section, the top award went to Gaurav Jani for his `Riding Solo to the Top of the World,' a film about a man who travels all alone from Mumbai to Ladakh on a motor cycle.

In the short fiction section, the top awards were shared by Mir Mohammed Fallak for his film `Ak Je Chilo' and Sherry Laxman for his work `Kadaltheerath,' an adaptation of O.V. Vijayan's celebrated story by the same title.

The film jury composed of filmmaker Syeed Mirza, editor Beena Paul Venugopal and award-winning documentary maker M.R. Rajan.

Chairing the valedictory function, Thiruvananthapuram Mayor C. Jayan Babu said the municipal corporation would support the festival from the coming year. A Meera Sahib and `Surya' Krishnamoorthy offered felicitations.

The SIGNS festival has emerged as one of the largest such festivals in India and was attended this time by 45 filmmakers.

As many as 73 films were shown in the festival, which drew delegates from all parts of Kerala.

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