Mumbai, Jul 30 (IANS): Filmmaker Arati Kadav is over the moon with her best director award win for "The Astronaut and His Parrot" at the Fantasia International Short Film Competition which just-concluded in Montreal. The sci-fi film stars Ali Fazal in the lead role.

The film is about a space explorer who, due to an accident, has been adrift in the void with a low supply of oxygen. In his final moments in space, he tries to desperately send messages to his daughter via signals but these are received by a gaudy parrot in a fortune teller's stall.

Being pleasantly surprised after receiving this news, Arati said: "I am thankful to the amazing Ali Fazal, who agreed to give his hundred per cent to the film. Our goal has always been to make a convincing sci-Fi film with maximum on-camera effects and use VFX with precision and intelligence and my team gave their time for solid prep."

She added: "I am doing the festival run and is in talks with a few platforms including one that distributes film in the US. I am keen to have a solid pipeline for well-made short films that people might enjoy watching."

Arati, a trained computer science engineer, worked as a software developer in the US before deciding to switch profession. Her debut feature, "Cargo", which was released in 2019, received positive response from cinephiles. The film starring Vikrant Massey and Shweta Tripathi Sharma is also a sci-fi drama.