Vadodara: A 24-year-old student from the city has won the best director (student documentary) award at the Chambal International Film Festival held in Rajasthan. Vrushank Dixit received the honour for his short documentary on sand bubbler crabs.The festival saw around 1,200 entries across various categories.Dixit said he developed an interest in sand bubbler crabs after learning about them from a friend in the zoology department of The Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU). Fascinated by how the tiny creatures create intricate sand pellets along seashores, he decided to document their behaviour.To film the crabs in their natural habitat, Dixit, a student at Arena Multimedia, travelled to coastal areas in Valsad and Navsari with the help of Rushi Modi, a former zoology student. He spent nearly three months capturing footage, which he later edited into a five-and-a-half-minute documentary.Sand bubbler crabs are known for processing sand through their mouths and leaving behind small pellets, forming distinctive patterns on sandy beaches.
