First International Video Festival of Kerala (IVFK )concludes

The award for best long documentary went to Vinod Raja for his ‘The Mahua Memoirs’ , at the International Video Festival of Kerala (IVFK), organised by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy,which concluded yesterday. ‘Kadaltheerathu’ directed by Sherry, based on a short story by O.V. Vijayan, has won the award for the best short fiction. ‘Morality TV and the loving Jehad’ directed by Paromita Vohra was selected as the best short documentary. ‘Mukund and Riaz’ directed by Nina Sabnani and ‘Shadow’ directed by Varun Jyoti Deori shared the award for the best animation film. Mr. Sashi Kumar, the Jury Chairman while presenting the report, proposed that the festival venue should be made livelier by holding workshops and seminars. Such sessions would initiate discourses on the problems in filmmaking, censorship and taking up of sensitive issues. The jury also suggested that the video package showcased in the festival should be shown in other parts of the State and the country too.. Chief Minister of Kerala V.S. Achuthanandan and Benoy Viswom , Forest Minister addressed the gathering

ALL THE 61st Fesival de Cannes2008 AWARDS

IN COMPETTION - FEATURE FILMS Palme d'Or ENTRE LES MURS de / by Laurent Cantet Grand Prix GOMORRA de / by Matteo Garrone Prize of the 61st Festival de Cannes ex-aequo Catherine Deneuve dans / for UN CONTE DE NOËL de / by Arnaud DESPLECHIN Clint Eastwood pour / for L’ÉCHANGE (The Exchange) Award for the Best Director ÜÇ MAYMUN (Three Monkeys / Les Trois Singes) de / by Nuri Bilge Ceylan Jury Prize IL DIVO de / by Paolo Sorrentino Best Performance for an Actor Benicio Del Toro dans / for CHE de / by Steven SODERBERGHBest Performance for an Actress Sandra Corveloni dans / for LINHA DE PASSE de / by Walter SALLES, Daniela THOMAS Award for the Best Screenplay LE SILENCE DE LORNA de / by Jean-Pierre et Luc DARDENNE IN COMPETTION - SHORT FILMS Palme d'Or MEGATRON de / by Marian Crisan Jury Prize JERRYCAN de / by Julius Avery CAMERA D'OR HUNGER de / by Steve McQueen (Un Certain Regard) Mention Spéciale Caméra d'Or VSE UMRUT A JA OSTANUS (Ils mourront tous sauf moi) de / by Valeria Gaï GUERMANIKA (Semaine Internationale de la Critique) UN CERTAIN REGARD Un Certain Regard Prize TULPAN de / by Sergey Dvortsevoy Jury Prize TOKYO SONATA de / by Kurosawa Kiyoshi Heart Throb Jury Prize WOLKE 9 de / by Andreas Drese The Knockout of Un Certain Regard TYSON de / by James Toback Prize of Hope JOHNNY MAD DOG de / by Jean-Stéphane SAUVAIRE CINEFONDATION First Cinéfondation Prize HIMNON (Hymne) de / by Elad Keidan (The Sam Spiegel Film and TV School, Israël) Second Cinéfondation Prize FORBACH de / by Claire Burger (La fémis, France) Third Cinéfondation Prize STOP de / by Park Jae-ok (The Korean Academy of Film Arts, Corée du Sud) KESTOMERKITSIJÄT (Signalisation des routes) de / by Juho Kuosmanen (University of Art and Design Helsinki, Finlande)

FESTIVAL DE CANNES 2008 CLOSING CEREMONY

The official Jury of this 61st Fesival de Cannes, présided over by Sean Penn, revealed the Prize winners during the closing Ceremony.
Édouard Baer hosted Robert de Niro on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière to award the Palme d’or to the best film among the 22 in Competition.

Barry Levinson’s closing film What Just Happened? starring Robert De Niro, Sean Penn and Bruce Willis, was screened at the end of the ceremony.

REMEMBERING MANOEL DE OLIVEIRA - AT THE FESTIVAL DE CANNES

On the occasion of Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira’s 100th birthday, the Festival de Cannes will pay a tribute on Monday, May 19th, to the man who has been part of a century of cinema , with a career spanning seventy-five years. Manoel de Oliveira may be the oldest active filmmaker in the world today. Known for his distinctive formal techniques and philosophical treatment of themes, the director's work has run consistently against the mainstream. Historical and political influences of Oliveira's work are much discussed, particularly Portugal's transformation from dictatorship to social democracy. On the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière, in presence of Clint Eastwood and many other directors, the tribute will start with the screening of a film by Gilles Jacob: One day in Manoel de Oliveira’s life (9’). The director will then be presented with a Palme d’or for his life achievement. The event will end with the screening of his first film, Labor on the Douro River (18’).The Portuguese director will attend the event with his wife and his grandson, Ricardo Trépa. They will be surrounded by Ms. Christine Albanel, Minister of Culture and Communication, Mr. Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, the European Ministers of Culture, Mr. Joao Bénard Da Costa, Director of the Portuguese Film Library and Michel Piccoli and his wife.

OPENING OF THE 61st FESTIVAL DE CANNES

"Seeing me arrive, trembling before you on this prestigious stage, you must be as stunned as I was when Gilles Jacob and Thierry Frémaux let me know that they had chosen me to declare open, on this evening of May 14th, 2008, the 61st Festival de Cannes. After a first instant of disbelief, I thought that I owed this formidable honour solely to their mischievous spirit, many examples of which have been dealt out to us in past. But in the end, pride and importance won out, and I shouted to myself, taking full stock of my new-found power: "It is you who hold the keys, for without you, this Festival will not take place." That would indeed be a pity, so here I am. For the past 61 years, indeed, thanks to the intelligence and talent of those who have assumed and still yet assume the heavy burden of making it exist and increasing its influence, having transformed it into the unique and incomparable event of the planet-cinema, the Festival de Cannes, with both its indissociably connected solemnity and playful character, allows us to see and hear all the richness of the cinema of the five continents in its all infinite diversity".Said Filmmaker Claude Lanzmann, while addresseing the august gathering ,while officially opening the 61st edition The Festival de Cannes on Wednesday night.
The master of ceremonies, Edouard Baer, presented the official Jury presided by Sean Penn and composed of Jeanne Balibar, Alexandra Maria Lara, Natalie Portman, Marjane Satrapi, Rachid Bouchareb, Sergio Castellitto, Alfonso Cuaron and Apichatpong Weerasethakul .
A tribute was dedicated to Sean Penn on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière, with the screening of a piece of editing of his movies and a musical performance by the legendary guitarist and singer Richie Havens..The evening pursued with the screening in Competition of Fernando Meirelles’ Blindness, in attendance with the director and notably Julianne Moore, Gael Garcia Bernal and Danny Glover.

Inner Silence of the Tumult

Inner Silence of the Tumult written , directed and edited by Jayan Cherian has been selected for the short film corner of Festival De Cannes 2008 in the experimental short film category.The short explores the internal topography of a migrant worker who is forced to work dawn to midnight in a butchery, who is displaced from his native environment due to several socio-economic reasons. Inner Silence of the Tumult is an attempt to capture his spiritual journey to get in touch with his inner silence, while deeply engaged in his tumultuous work .It explores spirituality in relation with human identification to the nature. Omar Garcia has acted as the migrant worker .