MUMBAI: The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival has selected debutant director Aamir Bashir’s Harud (Autumn) to be one of the films for the ‘New Directors’ award.

The festival will go underway on 21 April and will go on till 5 May.

The ‘New Directors’ award of $15,000 is given to a narrative first feature that exhibits a unique artistic sensibility and deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible.

The film is the story of a young man who, mourning the disappearance of his elder brother, tries to make a life for himself in his violence-ridden home of Kashmir. The film is a powerful depiction of the loss and psychological decay caused by 20 years of violent conflict.

Seventeen countries contributed to the production of the 11 films in this year’s competition. An independent jury will select the winner of the ‘New Directors’ award and announce the same at the Golden Gate Awards on 4 May.

The festival will award close to $100,000 in total prizes this year.