Tuesday 28 November 2017

48th IFFI awardees

120 Beats Per Minute wins the Golden Peacock at IFFI 2017

Morocco born French Director Robin Campillo’s drama film ‘ 120 BPM’ or ‘120 Beats Per Minute’ has won the covetedGolden Peacock Award at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which concluded in Goa on November 28.

The film, set in France in the 1990s deals about homosexuality and the AIDS epidemic. The film, starring Nahuel Perez Biscayart,  Arnaud Valois and Adele Haenel, had its world premiere at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. It had its India premiere at the IFFI 2017.

The Golden Peacock Award carries a cash prize of Rs 4 million (Rs 40 lakhs)to be shared equally between the Producer and the Director, Trophy and the citation.

Chinese director Vivian Qu won the Best Director Award for her 2017 film ‘Angels Wear White’. The film is about the travails of two teenage girls who are assaulted by a middle aged man in a seaside town in China. Vivian’s hard hitting social drama provides a social context for violence against women.

Best Director gets the Silver Peacock Award and a cash prize of Rs 1.5 million (Rs 15 lakhs)

The Best Actor (Male) Award goes to  Nahuel Perez Biscaryat for his portrayal of AIDS activist Sean Dalmazo, an effective member of ACT UP to represent all the horror of the epidemic in the French film ‘120 BPM’ .  A caring lover and firm in his beliefs, Sean isn’t simply an ideologue, but someone who binds his activism to the strongest will to live.

The Best Actor (Female) goes to  Parvathy T K for her portrayal of a nurse who wages a battle for the release of her husband held hostage by the rebel army in the war-torn Iraq in Mahesh Narayanan’s Malayalam film ‘Take Off’.   Parvathy,  who hails from Kozhikode, Kerala mostly stars in South Indian films.  She has won many awards and accolades including the Kerala State Film Award and Filmfare award.

Both Best Actor Male and Female are honoured with the Silver Peacock Trophy and a cash prize of Rs 1 million (Rs 10 lakhs each)

Mahesh Narayan  also walks away with the Special Jury Award for his directorial debut ‘Take Off’ whichfocusses on the dramatic rescue of Indians trapped in Tikrit. Survival films is a genre of cinema in which one or more characters find themselves pitted against seemingly insurmountable odds and have to look within themselves to find the strength to escape/survive.

Special Jury Award carries a cash prize of Rs 1.5 million (Rs 15 lakhs), a Silver Peacock Award and the citation.

Bolivian director Kiro Russo has won the Silver Peacock for the Best Feature Film of the Director. Russo’s debut film ‘Dark Skull’ offers a darkly beautiful subterranean study in atmosphere and mourning.

Manouj Kadaamh’s Marathi film ‘Kshitij’ has won the ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal.  The criteria for the Gandhi Medal reflect UNESCO’s fundamental mandate of building peace in the mind of men and women, particularly human rights, intercultural dialogue, promotion and safeguard of diversity of cultural expressions.

One of Canada’s most celebrated art house directors, Atom Egoyan was honoured with the IFFI 2017  Lifetime Achievement Award. The prestigious award consisting of a cash prize of Rs 1 million (Rs 10 lakhs), Certificate, Shawl and a Scroll is conferred upon a master film maker for his /her outstanding contribution to cinema.

Egyptian born French Canadian filmmaker Egoyan’s work often explores themes of alienation and isolation, featuring characters whose interactions are mediated through technology, bureaucracy or other power structures. Egoyan's films often follow non-linear plot structures, in which events are placed out of sequence in order to elicit specific emotional reactions from the audience by withholding key information. His films have been presented in several retrospectives across the globe. ‘Exotica (1994) ’,  ‘The Sweet Hereafter (1997)’  and ‘Remember (2015) were screened at IFFI 2017.

The Indian Film Personality of the Year Award was presented to Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan amidst thunderous applause. 

Monday 20 November 2017

48th International Film Festival of India inaugurated at Goa



The Union Minister of Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smriti Zubin Iranihas said that India is a land of festivals,celebrations, dynamic youth and stories, wherestories are toldin over 1600 dialects. Minister said this while addressing the opening ceremony of the48th international Film Festival of India in Goa.


Elaborating further, Smt Smriti ZubinIrani said that the endeavor of Government of India through International Film Festival of India is to invite film makers from all over the world to the land of stories. Speaking on the role of IFFI, Minister said that the festival will help the film lovers to meet the biggest and brightest names of Indian film industry.


Chief Minister of Goa, Manohar Parikkar in his address welcomed all the delegates to IFFI 2017 and said that Goa will be ready in 2019 to host the 50th edition of IFFI in a magnificent way.Shri.Parikkar added that Goa has developed a good film culture over the last few years and the state government would continue its work towards further developing the film industry in Goa.


Earlier, Indian film starShri. Shahrukh Khan while welcoming all film makers and delegates to IFFI 2017 said that films are about loving, about an idea transformed into reality by hundreds of people working together. He further added that storytellers and story listeners are like a family and stories have the power to bind each and every one together.


The opening ceremony of IFFI 2017 was anchored by Raj Kumar Rao and RadhikaApte and eminent Indian film personalities such as A.R Rahman,Sridevi, Nana Patekar and ShahidKapoor graced the event.The inaugural ceremony also witnessed some mesmerizing audio visual performances like ‘Drums of India’, a musical treat with drums from all across the country and ‘Utsav’, a visual spectacle showcasing diversity of Indian culture.


The 48th IFFI will showcase the best of recent International cinema, along with special sections such as Retrospectives, BRICS Award-Winning films, Homages and and Indian Panorama Section featuring the best of Indian Cinema produced in the past year, with the aim of providing a platform for young creative minds to interact, view and learn.


IFFI 2017 will showcase 195 films from over 82 countries of which there will be 10 World Premieres, 10 Asian and International premieres and over 64 Indian premieres. The International Competition section of IFFI 2017 will have 15 films competing for the Golden and Silver Peacock awards. The International Competition jury is headed by renowned filmmaker Muzaffar Ali and other jury members include Maxine Williamson from Australia, Actor-Director Tzahi Grad from Israel, Russian Cinematographer VladislavOpelyants, Director and Production Designer Roger Christian from the United Kingdom.


IFFI 2017 will also witness Indo-centric projects with a strong international connect at the Opening as well as the Closing films. Iranian master MajidMajidi’s first film made in India, “Beyond the Clouds” and Pablo Cesar’s Indo-Argentine co-production “Thinking of Him”, centered on an episode in the life of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore will be screened as opening and closing films respectively.


As the first of its kind in the country, IFFI 2017 has a specially curated section of James Bond films. The special section with 9 iconic James Bond films will showcase the various leading actors who have essayed the character of James Bond from 1962 to 2012. Further, IFFI 2017 will have a special focus on Canada curated by the Toronto International Film Festival.


The Homage presentations at the 48th IFFI will include tributes to the late Actors Om Puri,VinodKhanna, Tom Alter, ReemaLagoo, Jayalalitha, Directors Abdul Majid, Kundan Shah, DasariNarayanaRao and Cinematographer RamanandaSengupta.


IFFI 2017 will also host a special curated selection of 7 award winning films from BRICS region as part of the BRICS Film package. The Accessible India, Accessible Cinema section at IFFI 2017 will showcase 2 audio-described cinematic works for the visually impaired thereby continuing the support for Government of India ‘Accessible India Campaign’.


Indian Panorama 2017 will further screen both Feature & Non-Feature films in Goa at 48th International Film Festival of India, 2017. The opening film of the feature film section of Indian Panaroma will be Pihu, directed by Vinod Kapri and the opening film of the non-feature film section of Indian Panorama is PushkarPuran which has been directed by Kamal Swaroop. This will showcase the new Indian cinema from across the country.