Kolkata, Dec 12 (PTI) ‘Children of Nobody’ from Israel, directed by Erez Tadmor, won the Best Film award in the International Competition section of the 29th Kolkata International Film Festival which ended on Tuesday.
While the globally acclaimed film got the Rs 51 lakh prize money along with the Golden Royal Bengal trophy as the award, Carlos Daniele Malave from Venezuela got the Rs 21 lakh Best Director crown and the same trophy in the same section for his ‘One Way’.
“It has been so much surprise. This is a very important honour for my country,” Malave said in his acceptance speech.
Indian director-actor Anjan Dutt’s ‘Chalchitra Ekhon’ received the Special Jury Award being the only Indian feature film entry in this premium segment.
The film dwells on the real-life experiences of Dutt about Sen who had first cast him in ‘Chalchitra’ (The Kaleidoscope) in 1981.
A visibly happy Dutt said: “Thank you Mrinal Sen. I wanted to start this film’s journey from Kolkata which was known as the city of Mrinal-da and me. Thank you, Kolkata.” Bodo film ‘Gorai Phakhri’ (Wild Swans) by Rajni Basumatary got the Best Film in Indian Language film category (Hiralal Sen Memorial Award for Best Film) having a prize money of Rs 10 lakh. The same Award for Best Director in the section went to Shonet Anthony Barreto for her Hindi film ‘Avni Ki Kismat’.
Meitei language film ‘Joseph’s Son’ by Haobam Paban Kumar got the Special Jury award for the Indian languages category.
‘Mon Potongo’ made by director duo Sarmistha Maity and Rajdeep Paul received the Best Bengali Panorama film while ‘Asampurno’ by Amartya Sinha got the Special Jury award in that section.
‘Broken Dreams Stories from the Myanmar Coup’ from Myanmar by Ninefold Mosaic was the winner of the NETPAC award for Best Film.
“This film is a protest against state oppression, I thank the jury for the much covered NETPAC award in solidarity of those who are faced with oppression, who gave their lives while fighting, while many were exiled,” Mosaic said.
In the documentary section, ‘Challenge’ by Ramen Borah and Sibanu Borah got the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger award as Best Indian Documentary while ‘Last Rehearsal’ by Kamil Saif was the Best Indian Short Film winner.
Over 240 films were screened in close to two dozen venues at the KIFF since December 5-12, festival chairperson Raj Chakraborty said.
Bollywood actor Aditi Rao Hydari, who was present at the closing ceremony, said it is a “real honour for me to be present at the international film festival in Kolkata which is the land where people celebrate arts.” Referring to Kolkata as the land of wonderful film-makers and creative people, she said: “This is surreal for me to be present at the festival venue watching such huge crowds outside.” Veteran film-maker Sudhir Mishra, known for his gritty realistic movies, said, “At the time of dark ages, such festival, such enthusiasm among the people give us hope. We tend to think these days that directors are dying species, but KIFF rekindles my hope.” He recalled his association with playwright Badal Sircar, director Satyajit Ray and his stint at Baranagar in the northern fringes of the city.
Ace director Goutam Ghosh recalled: “I had informed Godard that people (in Kolkata) stood in queues since the previous midnight to watch his retrospective. He told me: I should have been born in Kolkata as in France, my films don’t evoke such mass response.” PTI SUS NN
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