The Short Film ‘Aasanam’ Produced by Mr.Selvakumar Rinoshan Won International Awards -2025
Three Awards at the Kanyakumari International Film Festival Awards (KIFA):
A Short film ‘Aasanam’ which was produced by Mr.Selvakumar Rinoshan, one of the recent graduates of the Department of Media Studies won three titles in the Kanyakumari International Film Festival Awards (KIFA) held at Kanyakuamri, India on 18th of March 2025.
- Best Director
- Best Story
- Best Film
Four Awards at the Nepal Wings International Film Festival:
The same film ‘Aasanam’ won four titles in the Nepal Wings International Film Festival held on the 13th of March 2025.
- Best Film
- Best Director
- Best Story
- Best Cinematography
Media Studies has given an opportunity to the students to learn short filmmaking under the ‘Digital Storytelling: Short Filmmaking’ course unit as per the curriculum in the fourth year of the study programme in order to provide a ‘hands-on’ application of video production principles and techniques with the basic vocabulary, aesthetics, systematic and technical skills required for short film production.
The Short Film ‘Aasanam’ Produced by Mr.Selvakumar Rinoshan Awarded as ‘Most Gender Sensitive Film’ -2024
Mr.Selvakumar Rinoshan, a fourth-year student of the Department of Media Studies submitted his Short film ‘Aasanam’ in the 14th Short Film Festival organized by ‘Agenda 14’. The Short film was awarded as the ‘Most Gender Sensitive Film’ in the above Competition. The awarding ceremony was held on the 09th of December 2024 in Colombo.
Media Studies has given an opportunity to the students to learn short filmmaking under the ‘Digital Storytelling: Short Filmmaking’ course unit as per the curriculum in the fourth year of the study programme in order to provide a ‘hands-on’ application of video production principles and techniques with the basic vocabulary, aesthetics, systematic and technical skills required for short film production.
Selvakumar Rinoshan Acquired ‘Audience Choice Award’ at the 10th Jaffna International Cinema Festival -2024
Mr.Selvakumar Rinoshan, a Fourth Year Student of the Department of Media Studies submitted his Short film ‘Aasanam’ in the National Short Film Competition under the Jaffna International Cinema Festival 10th Edition which was held from the 03rd to 09th September 2024.
The Short Film ‘Aasanam’ got the ‘Audience Choice Award’ in the above Competition. The awarding ceremony was held on the 9th of September 2024 at the Jaffna Cultural Centre and the award was handed over by Prof.S.Raguram, Dean, Faculty of Arts.
Media Studies has given an opportunity to the students to learn short filmmaking under the ‘Digital Storytelling: Short Filmmaking’ course unit as per the curriculum in the fourth year of the study programme in order to provide a ‘hands-on’ application of video production principles and techniques with the basic vocabulary, aesthetics, systematic and technical skills required for short film production.
Ms.S.Sowmiya, Alumni of Media Studies Awarded as ‘Woman Achiever’-2024
Ms.S.Sowmiya, Alumni of Media Studies awarded as ‘Woman Achiever’ by the Nandavanam Foundation, Thiruchchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India. The award has been given to Ms.S.Sowmiya in recognition of her valuable contribution and commendable achievements in the field of media in the year 2023.
The awarding ceremony was held on 03rd of March 2024 in Chennai, India.
Media Studies Student Mr.S.Piryatharshan Croos Awarded Young Artist Award-2023
One of our Students, Mr. Piryatharshan Croos awarded the Young Artist Award-2023 (இளங் கலைஞர் விருது-2023) for his contributions towards folklore by the Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs, Sports and Youth Affairs of the Northern Provincial Council, Sri Lanka.
The award was given to Mr.Piryatharshan Croos at the Northern Provincial Cultural Festival-2023 of the Division of Cultural Affairs of the Ministry held on 06th of December 2023. The Northern Provincial Cultural Festival for the year 2023 was held at the Cooperative Hall, Killinochchi.
Selvakumar Rinoshan awarded 1st Prize in Short Film Competition-2023
Mr.Selvakumar Rinoshan, Third Year Student of the Department of Media Studies submitted his Short film ‘Mann Soru’ in the Short Film Competition organized by ‘Vishwa Shakthi Foundation’.
Mr.Rinoshan’s Short Film ‘Mann Soru’ was awarded 1st Place in the above Competition and received a cash prize in the awarding ceremony held on 29th of July 2023. The crew members of the Short Film were also honoured at the awarding ceremony.
The awarding ceremony was held at Sri Kirshnabawan Cultural Hall, Hatton and Hon. Member of Parliament V.Radhakirshnan attended as Chief Guest in the Ceremony.
It is noted that short film ‘Mann Soru’ already won 1st Prize at the InSPIRE Project Inter-University Short Film Competition 2023.
Karnan Creations Short Film Competitions – 2023
The students of Media Studies were selected among the Top 10 in the ‘Karnan Creations Short Film Competition-2023’ conducted by Karnan Creations with Kuviyam Media (Pvt) Ltd.
The short film competition was conducted under the theme of ‘நாளைய உலகம் இளையோர் கையில்’ (Future world is in the hands of youths). Shorts Films named ‘Literacy’ and ‘Kattratholuku’ of Ms.Subramaniyam Suganthani, a Student of Level III Semester II and Mr.Raveenthiran Benaya, a Student of Level III Semester I respectively ranked among the Top 10 Short Films in the Competition.
The awarding ceremony for the Shorts Films was held on the 23rd of July 2023 and presided over by Kanakanayagam Varodayan, Managing Director ‘Kuviam Media’. Prof.S.Raguram, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna attended as the Chief Guest.
The Special Guests were Dr. Sivansuthan (Producer – ‘Thuvanam’ Film), Mr.Muthu Radhakrishnan Former Zonal Director of Education – Jaffna, Mr. Bharthi Rajanayagam, Senior Journalist, Shanmuganathan Sabesan, Founder of Karnan Creations and Mrs.Poonglualy Srisangeerthanan, Head, Department of Media Studies, University of Jaffna.
Mr.Chandramohan Niroshan, Student of Media Studies won the 1st Place in the Jaffna Pride Short Film Competition-2023
Mr.Chandramohan Niroshan, Third Year Student of the Department of Media Studies won first place in ‘Jaffna Pride’ Short Film Competition-2023 organized by the Jaffna Transgender Network (JTN) and High Commission of Canada to Sri Lanka and Maldives.
The short film competition was conducted as a part of Jaffna PRIDE-2023 and applications are invited under various themes by the organizers. Mr.Chandramohan Niroshan submitted his short film titled ‘அvanin’ and won the 1st Place. The prize-giving event on 18th of July 2023 at the Thinnai Hotel, Jaffna.
Mr.Chandramohan Niroshan, Student of Media Studies Awarded Special Merit Award at National Level Mo-Jo Competition-2023
Mr.Chandramohan Niroshan, Third Year Student of the Department of Media Studies awarded Special Merit Award at the national level Mo-Jo competition.
The competition for mobile journalism and mobile filmmaking was organized by USAID, IREX’s Media Empowerment for a Democratic Sri Lanka (MEND) Program to unearth and champion the talent and the best examples of Mobile Journalism in Sri Lanka. The Competition was held under two categories named (01) Professional Journalist Award and (02) Citizen Journalist (Amateur) Filmmaker Award.
The announcement of awardees was made at the ‘MoJo Lanka’ two-day festival which was conducted to showcase Mobile Journalism stories in Sri Lanka. The festival took place on 24th and 25th of June 2023. Mr.Niroshan was awarded a Special Merit Award under the category of Citizen Journalist (Amateur) filmmaker Award and won a 100,000 LKR gift voucher for his Mo-Jo production.
Short Films ‘Emali’ and ‘Mann Soru’ of Selvakumar Rinoshan Awarded and Screened at SWIFF 2023 International Film Festival
Mr.Selvakumar Rinoshan, Third Year Student of the Department of Media Studies submitted his Short films ‘Emali’ and ‘Mann Soru’ for the Student World Impact Film Festival (SWIFF) 2023.
The Student World Impact Film Festival (SWIFF) is the premier platform for showcasing the artistic talent of student filmmakers from around the world. Screening the films of filmmakers from 120 countries each year, SWIFF offers filmmakers the opportunity to elevate their careers and gain exposure in the entertainment world.
The film ‘Emali’ received an ‘Honorable Mention’ Award out of 13,868 submissions from 120 countries and the film ‘Mann Soru’ has been screened at the Student World Impact Film Festival (SWIFF) in the Asia Region on June 20, 2023.
Selvakumar Rinoshan, Media Studies Student Become One of the Top Five in the Photography Contest Conducted by ‘Climate Fact Checks (CFC) – 2023’
Mr.Selvakumar Rinoshan, Third Year Student of the Department of Media Studies become one of the Top Five in the Photography Contest conducted by Climate Fact Checks (CFC). The Contest was held under the title of ‘World Photography Contest – Environment Day 2023’.
The applications for the photography contest were invited by the Climate Fact Checks (CFC) for World Environment Day and Mr. Rinoshan submitted his photograph titled ‘Litter Endangers Life’. The organizers announced the winners of the Photography Contest on 14th June 2023.
Media Studies has allowed the students to learn ‘Photo Journalism’ as per the curriculum in the second year of the study programme to design visual storytelling through different types of photographs and plan different techniques in photography based on the necessity and significance of the situations as intended learning outcomes.
Kuviyam Mobile Short Film Competitions – 2023
The students of Media Studies were selected among the Top 10 in the ‘Kuviyam Short Film Competition-2023’ conducted by Kuviyam Media (Pvt.) Ltd.
The short film competition was conducted under the theme of ‘உயிரைக்கொல்லும் போதைப்பொருள்’. Shorts Films named ‘மெய்யறியாமை கொளல்’ (Meiyariyamai Kolal) and ‘மௌட்டியம் கொள்’ (Mowtiyam Kol) of Ms.Arulanantham Sangeerthana, a Student of Level IV Semester II and Mr.Raveenthiran Benaya, a Student of Level III Semester I respectively ranked among the Top 10 Short Films in the Competition. These two Short Films were ranged in the Top 10 short films out of 63 Short Films.
In addition to that Ms.Arulanantham Sangeerthana won the award for Best Actress for her Short Film ‘மெய்யறியாமை கொளல்’ (Meiyariyamai Kolal) in the above competition.
The awarding ceremony for the Kuviyam Mobile Short Film Competition-2023 was held on the 08th of April 2023 at the Auditorium of the Public Library of Jaffna.
Photo/ Short Film Competitions on Anti-Corruption- 2023
Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) in collaboration with the Department of Media Studies conducted Photography and Short Film Competitions among university students in order to make awareness of Anti-Corruption.
The competitions were held in 2022 followed by the workshop on ‘Investigative Journalism’ conducted by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) on the 26th of September 2022.
The awarding ceremony for the above competitions held on the 08th of March 2023 at 2.00 p.m at the Seminar Hall, Faculty of Arts of the University of Jaffna. The awarding ceremony was chaired by Ms.S.Poongulaly, Head, Department of Media Studies and Prof. S.Raguram, Dean, Faculty of Arts was the Chief Guest. Ms.Sankhitha Gunaretna, Deputy Executive Director of TISL, Mr. Kirupairajah Gowriswaran, Head of Branches and Community Sector of TISL, Ms. Nilakshy Thavarajah, Branch Manager – Vavuniya and other officials of TISL and the lecturers and academic support staff of the Department of Media Studies and students participated at the event.
Videography Competition
First prize – Mr.Raveenthiran Benaya (2019/A/SPI/577) (Second Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 60,000)
Third prize – Mr. Doraisamy Mohanraj (2019/A/198) (Second Year) and Mr.Thiyagaraja Prathapkanna (2019/A/263) (Second Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 20,000 each)
Photography Competition
First prize – Mr.Thiyagaraja Prathapkanna (2019/A/263) (Second Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 40,000)
Second prize – Ms.Premaraj Kamsajini (2018/A/SPI/512) (Third Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 30,000)
Third prize -Mr.Jokeswaran Jovarnan (2019/A/120) (Second Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 20,000)
InSPIRE Project Awards -2023
University of Jaffna won 1st Place for the Overall Performance in the InSIRE Project among the four national universities.
In addition to this, University of Jaffna received the Special Award for ‘Active Participation in Practical Learning Workshops’.
The Students of Department of Media Studies won 25 awards out of 40 awards under the 8 categories.
The details are as follows:
1. MULTIMEDIA ARTICLES
Place Name
1st place Selvakkumar Rinoshan
2nd place Mohan Mohankumar
3rd place Sarumathy Nagarathiram
4th place K.M.J.Udayangani Bandara
5th place Y.M.H.M. Dasanayake
2. BLOGS
Place Name
1st place Dilshi Nirmani Samarakoon
2nd place Maleesha Sandeepani
3rd place Harshika Madhushani Senarathne
4th place Pandiyaraj Thanusika
5th place Kishopana Suntharalingam
3. MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY
Place Name
1st place K.G. Dinithi T. Gamlath
2nd place Dishanuka Emil Arul Rajan
3rd place Lakshiga Kanesalingam
4th place Ruwini Wijerathna
5th place Jokeswaran Jovarnan
5th place W.M. Yohan Fernando
4. DSLR PHOTOGRAPHY
Place Name
1st place Kirushika Balaruban
2nd place Niroshanth Navasothan
3rd place Dharmalingam Dishan
4th place Rajakumar Rajitha
5th place Liliyan Arulnesan Rukshy Vinotha
5. CARTOON/DOODLE ART
Place Name
1st place Gabriel Madona
2nd place Romiliyat Nivaharan Dileesiya
3rd place Mahentira Dilaxshana
4th place Dhuraisamy Mohanraj
5th place Christeepa Kulasekaram
6. MOBILE VIDEO STORY
Place Name
1st place W.M. Yohan Fernando
2nd place Ruwini Wijerathna
3rd place Shameer Ahamad
4th place Apiraami Thivakarasarma
5th place Dharshini Radhakirushnan
7. SHORT FILM
Place Name
1st place Selvakumar Rinoshan
2nd place Chandramohan Niroshan
3rd place Sayanthan Abisaran
4th place Shameer Ahamad
5th place Randi Ushara Sewwandi
8. DIGITAL DRAMA
Place Name
1st place Rajalingam Manoj
2nd place Anuradha Sandamali Gunasinghe
3rd place Gabriel Madona
4th place Fathima Nish
Thusiyanthi Parameswaran Won the Second Place in Provincial Level Photography Competition-2023
Ms. Thusiyanthi Parameswaran, a Fourth Year Media Studies student won second place in the Provincial Level Photography Competition which was conducted by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Rehabilitation, Social Services, Cooperatives, Food Supply & Distribution, Industries & Enterprises Promotion and Trade & Commerce of Northern Province.
The Competition was held under the theme of “Prioritizing Social and Economic Development of Women” to commemorate ‘International Women’s Day – 2023’.
The submissions were evaluated by the panel of Judges and the winners of the best photograph and short film competition were honoured with certificates and cash prizes on the celebration of International Women’s Day of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Northern Province held on 15th of March 2023.
Media Studies has given an opportunity to the students to learn photography under the ‘Photo Journalism’ course unit as per the curriculum in the Second year of the study programme in order to design visual storytelling through different types of photographs and plan different techniques in photography based on the necessity and significance of the situations as intended learning outcomes.
Media Studies Students Won Top Level Prizes in Short Film Making in order to make awareness of ‘How do the films making influences the promotion of the usage of alcohol and drug among youths’-2022
The competition was a part of the MoU signed between the Alcohol and Drug Information Center (ADIC) and the Department of Media Studies, University of Jaffna and it has conducted a second time in the year 2022 followed by the year 2020.
There are 30 short films that have been received and the panel of judges selected eight of them are the best productions considering the content and the quality.
First prize – Selvakumar Rinoshan (Third Year)(Award and cash prize of Rs. 50,000)
Second prize – The team headed by Mr.D.Dishan (Third Year) with the members of Mr. T. Thavathevan (Third Year), Mr. N. Niroshanth (Third Year) and Ms. R. Dharshini (Third Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 30,000)
Third prize – Mr.R. Benaya (Second Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 20,000)
Fourth prize – Ms.Kamsajini (Third Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 5,000)
Fifth prize – Ms. A. Sangeerthana (Fourth Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 5,000)
Sixth prize – Ms.S. Suganthani (Third Year) along the team with Ms. M. Dilaxshana (Third Year) and Ms. K. Christeepa (Third Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 5,000)
Seventh prize – Ms.S. Priyatharsan Croos (Third Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 5,000)
Eighth prize – The team of Mr.Niroshan (Third Year) and Ms. Kirijah (Third Year) (Award and cash prize of Rs. 5,000)
‘Jaffna Pride’ Short Film Competition -2022
The students of Media Studies won the titles of first and third places in ‘Jaffna Pride’ short film competition conducted by the American Spaces – Sri Lanka, American Corner – Jaffna, Jaffna Transgenders Network (JTN), and Nadi.lk.
The ‘Jaffna Pride’ festival was celebrated on the theme of ‘யாழ் சுயமரியாதை வானவில் பெருமிதம்’ which highlights the issues and awareness of the transgenders in Jaffna.
The short film competition was conducted as a part of the festival in the name of ‘Unity beyond Struggle’ and provided the space to expose the issues face by the transgenders in the local community.
The prizegiving event was held on 10th of July 2022 under the patronage of Ms. Angel Queentus, Director and Founder, Jaffna Transgenders Network (JTN) and Ms. Susie Csorsz Brown, Public Affairs Associate, US Embassy, Colombo.
Ms. Larshika Manoharan and Sankeerthana Arulanantham won first place for their short film titled ‘அவனவள்’ and Ms. Kanageshwary won third place for her short film titled ‘மௌனமொழி’, all three are the third-year students of Media Studies.
Media Studies Students Won Top Level Prizes in Short Film Making on ‘Combating Alcohol and Tobacco’-2020
Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) Sri Lanka is a well-recognized resource center, promoting demand reduction of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and advocating effective policy the formulation for ATOD control nationally, regionally and internationally over the last 30 years. ADIC provides the technical input to the Ministry of Health, Regional Director of the Health Service (RDHS), MOH, Ministry of Education, District Secretariats, Divisional Secretariats, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Community Empowerment and Estate Infrastructure Development, local government authorities, National Authority on Alcohol and Tobacco (NATA), President Task Force on drug prevention in terms of technicality, educational/promotional materials on drug prevention, resource persons and information. ADIC is collaborating many field-level types of research and community-level experiments with the World Health Organization – Sri Lanka. ADIC is a member organization of the National Authority on Alcohol and Tobacco (NATA) and the Center for Combating Tobacco (CCT).
Furthermore, ADIC is conducting an internship Programme for students of the University of Colombo and University of Kelaniya, University of Rajarata, and National Institute of Social Development (NISD) with the acceptable guidelines from 2010.
On par with the above, with the facilitation of the Department of Media studies, Alcohol and Drug Information Center (ADIC) organized a competition to create short films on drug prevention and enhance university students’ knowledge and skills in the year 2020. Although this program started during the Covid – 19 pandemic, it has had many successful results. Despite all the challenges, the event overcame the challenges and achieved the desired goals using virtual technology.
The following students are won the awards in the competition.
First Place : Ms. P. Sriviththiya (Third Year, Media Studies) – Won Award and Rs. 50,000.00 Cash Prize
Second Place: Ms. N.Sharumathy (Third Year, Media Studies) – Won Award and Rs. 30,000 Cash Prize
Third Prize: Ms. Kamsajini Premaraj (First Year, Media Studies) – Won Award and Rs. 20,000 Cash Prize
Fourth Prize : Mr. Raveenthiran Benaya (First Year, Media Studies) – Won Award and Rs. 10,000 Cash Prize
Ms.Luxana, Third Year Student Won Two |National Level Prizes in Photography Competition conducted by Asia Foundation- 2020′
Ms. Luxana, Third Year Student Won Two National Level Prizes in Photography Competition Conducted by Asia Foundation
Ms. Luxana Pakirathan, a third year Media Studies student won two national level prizes in the photography competition conducted by the Asia Foundation in partnership with the Photographic Society of Sri Lanka.
The competition conducted on theme of ‘Pic Your Values’ on six categories: peace, respect, tolerance, compassion, honesty / sincerity, cooperation / solidarity or year 2020 and Ms. Luxana Pakirathan won first place in the category of ‘Cooperation’ and third place in the category of ‘Honesty’.
Ms. Luxana has already won the ‘Best Photography’ award in the competition titled ‘Kan Vazhiye 2019’ (Through the Eyes 2019) conducted by Tamil Literary Association of Uva Wellassa University for their annual festival ‘Malaiththendral’.
Meantime, the Department of Media Studies secured the third national level prize in photography competition in this year 2020 along with Ms. Sriviththiya Piranatharthikarasarma, Second Year Media Studies student already won the second place in island wide photo competition ‘Olichchuvadu 2020’ which was conducted by Tamil Literary Association, University of Moratuwa.
Ms. Sriviththiya Piranatharthikarasarma, Second Year Media Studies student won the Second place in island wide photo competition ‘Olichchuvadu 2020′ which was conducted by Tamil Literary Association, University of Moratuwa.’
The Competition was held under the title of ”Covid 19 Life / Social Distance (“கொவிட்-19 கால வாழ்வியல் / சமூக இடைவெளி”).
The submissions were evaluated by the panel of Juries comprises Mr. Bhagi Siva, Travel and Documentary Photographer from Sydney, Australia and Mr. Kajan Madrasmail, International Award Winning Travel Photographer and EOS World Community Ambassador.
The competition aims to encourage and promote the young photographers to register the slices of life visually and, it was the part of ‘Prammam’, the event conducted by the Tamil Literary Association, University of Moratuwa as 6th consecutive year.
Media Studies has given an opportunity to the students to learn photography under the ‘Photo Journalism’ course unit as per the curriculum in second year of study programme in order to design visual storytelling through different types of photographs and plan different techniques in photography based on the necessity and significance of the situations as intended learning outcomes.
Students Exhibit the Photographs in ‘Jaffna Photography Festival – 2019’
The photographs of Ms. Surenthiran Kirisha and Mr. Pirabakaran Dilakshan, two students of third year Media Studies and Mrs. T. Vijayatharsini, a pass out student are selected for the ‘Jaffna Photography Festival 2019’ to exhibit their photographs which organized by Jaffna Photography Society on 23rd to 25th November 2019 at ‘Thanthai Chelva Auditorium’, Central College, Jaffna.
Photographs from across the North-East displaying Tamil culture and the nation’s history of resistance and remembrance were showcased.
Media Studies Students Won Top Level Prizes in ‘Media Studies Student Won International Award in Short Film Making’-2016
The final year Media Studies student Mr. Thivakar Thiruchelvam won the Audience Award for his Documentary Film ‘Munai’ at the Jaffna International Cinema Festival (JFCF) in 2016