New Delhi: Young filmmakers, whose creative and thought-provoking cinema is usually relegated to the sidelines in the melee of big banners, commerce and established names, now have an opportunity to reach out to the masses - courtesy Network 18.

Cell 18, the one-stop advertising and promotional shop of the TV 18 group, has just announced its annual short film/documentary festival titled 'The Work-In-Progress' at the national level to promote young filmmakers and students in the industry.

The best film will be awarded Rs.100,000.

'Work-in-Progress' is a continuation of the CNBC-TV 18 documentary and short film festival 'Through The Looking Glass' launched one-and-a-half years ago. Its objective is to promote GenNext filmmakers, who make films on relevant social and contemporary issues.

The festival was unique because the television screenings of the films were followed by detailed interviews of the directors, who shed light about their craft, processes and content.

Zubin Driver, Network Creative Director of Network 18 and head of Cell 18, the brain behind the festival said 'The Work-in-Progress' was meant to encourage the students' community of filmmakers.

"The fact that we seek entries form beginners and learners implies that we are not looking at very high quality post-production finished works. The films are more of amateur endeavours," Driver told sources over the telephone from Mumbai.

The channel is looking all kinds of movies this year - right from social issues to politics and every personalised psychological cinema, Driver said. Entries can be sent from October 10 to November 10 and the winner will be announced by December 1.

Last year, the festival offered a bouquet of several ground-breaking contemporary reality movies. One that stood out was "Our Life, Our Film", which captured Gujarat's battle with natural disaster - the 2001 earthquake - through the voices and the journeys of eight women from the state's hinterland. IANS