Closing ceremony of IFFI2015

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore has said that the International Film Festival of India provided a unique platform for confluence of ideas and stories from across the world and helped to learn from each other. This helped in better realization of the commonality of the joys and sorrows that transcended all kinds of distinctions and boundaries. The Minister stated this while speaking at the closing ceremony of 46th International Film Festival of India at Panaji, Goa. Honorable Governor of Goa, Smt. Mridula Sinha, Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Laxmikant Parsekar, Secretary I&B Shri Sunil Arora and Shri A.R.Rehman were also present on the occasion.

The Minister during his address stated that excellent coordination between centre and state made IFFI a grand success. Elaborating on the new media initiatives this year Col. Rathore said that the festival reached out to the larger audience through various initiatives like Live Streaming of Press Conferences, Festival Mobile App, Talkathons for disseminating the information and content of the festival. He said that there was also a special section on National Film Heritage Mission at IFFI 2015 which showcased Ministry of I&B efforts to restore and digitize films and archive film material. He said that out of a total of 1300 films, 375 films had already been digitized and preserved.

The world renowned and Oscar-winning music composer Mr. A. R. Rahman who was the chief guest of the evening on the occasion said that Cinema helped us understand culture and commonality of consciousness of people across the world.

         Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Laxmikant Parsekar said that IFFI had further enhanced the image of Goa as world class filming destination. The festival had also inculcated the film culture in Goa. He said that the IFFI 2015 showcased excellent cinema with participation from eminent national and international film personalities.

            Secretary I&B, Shri Sunil Arora speaking on the occasion said that last ten days at IFFI showcased masterpieces from across the globe. He said people in film industry had stood the test of time and became the iconic figures in India and abroad. He said the next IFFI in 2016 would definitely be a step up on IFFI-2015.

          Honorable Governor of Goa, Smt. Mridula Sinha along with Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Laxmikant Parsekar and Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Russian Filmmaker Mr.Nikita Mikhalkov for his contributions to world cinema.

The Colombian film ‘Embrace of the Serpent’ directed by Ciro Guerra and produced by Cristina Gallego  bagged Golden Peacock award for Best Film at the closing ceremony of 46th International Film Festival of India while British Film director Peter Greenaway bagged the award for Best Director for his film ‘Eisenstein in Guanajuato’ from Netherlands. The Special Jury award went to the film “Sealed Cargo” directed by Julia Vargas. The Special Mention Award was given to the Serbian film “Enclave” directed by Mr. Goran Radovanovic.

French actor Mr. Vincent Lindon won the best Actor (Male) award for the movie “The Measure of a Man”.The film, a French social drama turns the spotlight on ordinary people who were pushed by circumstances to the corners. The Best Actor (Female) award was shared by five actors of Turkish film ‘Mustang’. The film set in a remote Turkish village depicts the life of five young orphaned sisters and challenges they faced growing up as girls in a conservative society. Ms. Gunes Sensoy, Ms.Doga Doguslu, Ms. Tugba Sunguroglu, Ms. Elit Iscan and Ms. Ilayda Akdogan were awarded Silver Peacock at the ceremony.

The ICFT- UNESCO Fellini Prize was given to the Bengali movie “Cinemawala” by Kaushik Ganguly. The award was presented first time in India to a film which reflected the ideals of peace, tolerance, non-violence and friendship promoted by UNESCO. The award was presented in collaboration with the International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication (ICFT), Paris and UNESCO.

The festival this year added many innovative products to the festival profile. There were many new initiatives such as “Master classes” with the Oscar Academy members on various aspects of Film Making. It also organized sections such as “First Cut” which specially curated selection of films representing the first work of the emerging talent in world cinema and an exclusive section “Womenclature of Cinema” by Indian women film makers. The festival also had a special series titled “In Conversation with Director” which focused on talks with Director from different eras to share their views on Cinema as journey, their influences, their films and future of cinema. IFFI-2015 also portrayed the excellence of Indian cinema in the Indian Panorama section which also included a special focus on North-East cinema. There was a special section on ‘World Cinema Restored Classics’ to highlight the idea of film restoration. It featured a package of classics to put spotlight on National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM) through a Multimedia Exhibition organized by NFAI & DAVP.

 The festival paid a special Tribute to the winner of the Life time Achievement Award, the Russian filmmaker, Mr. Nikita Mikhalkov by having a separate section on his selective films- Burnt by the Sun, Sunstroke, Barber of Siberia and Oblomob.

The festival received an unprecedented 790 films as entries. There were 26 official Oscar entries besides films from leading Film festivals such as Cannes, Toronto and Berlin. In the International competition section out of 15 entries, 5 films were official Oscar entries from different countries. 90 countries were represented at IFFI this year which also showcased 120 Film Premiers across different sections. In Indian Panorama section The festival showcased 26 Feature and 21 Non-Feature films.

The popular Sand Artist, Rahul Arya presented his mesmerising sand art performance at the ceremony. Artistes from the internationally-acclaimed Shillong Chamber Choir from North-East gave a scintillating performances portraying the Indian cinema through various dance forms and sequences.