AMERICAN director Gregg Helvey's short film Kavi, about an Indian slave boy, lost out the Oscar in the Best Short Film (Live Action) category to Danish entry The New Tenants.

The 19-minute-long fictional film in Hindi was the only India connection at this year's Oscars.

The New Tenants, a 21 minutes long Danish live action short film directed by Joachim Back, beat off competition from the other entries, The Door, Instead of Abracadabra and Miracle Fish.

The award was presented by actresses Carey Mulligan and Zoe Saldana.

Helvey, who shot the film on a shoe-string budget with an Indian cast and producers, had previously said the goal of the film was to "create awareness" about the persisting problem of modern slavery.