50th IFFI 2019 Concluded with award ceremony ,‘Marghe and her mother’ directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf being the closing film.

The nine-day festivity on  cinema concluded with the Indian premiere of ‘Marghe and her mother’ directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. The film

 depicts ‘A single mother with a six-year-old daughter struggles with both financial and romantic travails in Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s first film set in Italy. With its layers of symbolism and a certain naivety of storytelling, this is a film that seems, in many ways, more rooted in the past than in the present day. The influence of Italian neorealism is evident throughout the picture, as is a touch of French New Wave, which is an odd and not always successful tonal mix of mannered artificiality and authenticity’.

Awards including Golden Peacock, Silver Peacock, Lifetime Achievement Award were bequeathed during the closing ceremony. The closing ceremony of IFFI 2019 was anchored by Sonali Kulkarni and Kunal Kapoor. The ceremony also witnessed a performance by Hariharan and Lesle Lewis of Colonial Cousins.Tanushree Shankar choreographed a series of dance performances on the theme ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’.  Babul Supriyo, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate graced the occasion. The Minister said, “There is no end to education in the field of art. The more you know, you will realize how less you know. With such great endeavors happening in Indian soil and Goa being a permanent and appropriate venue for IFFI for years to come, this is one arena which is going to make all filmmakers evolve by getting to know each other and by the exchange of ideas and endeavors in your mind.”

Satyapal Malik, Chief Guest of the ceremony said that cinema is a powerful medium that can have a deep and far-reaching impact on society. He appealed to filmmakers to make films on socially relevant issues for the improvement of society. Dr. Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister of Goa, Music legend Ilaiyaraja, veteran actor Prem Chopra, Takashi Miike, Wagner Moura, Rakulpreet Singh, Vijay Deverakonda, Rohit Shetty, Aanand L Rai, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Nithya Menen, etc graced the function in which Deputy Chief Ministers of Goa Manohar Ajgaonkar, Chandrakanth Kavlekar, Members of Parliament  Roopa Ganguly and Ravi Kishan, Chief Secretary of Goa Parimal Rai, Vice Chairman of Entertainment Society of Goa Subhash Phal Desai, IFFI Steering Committee members  Shaji N. Karun, Shri Rahul Rawail, and International Jury members  John Bailey, Robin Campillo, Zhang Yang, Lynne Ramsay, Ramesh Sippy were also present on the occasion.

Opening the grandeur ceremony, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Amit Khare said that IFFI 2020 and 2021 will be a tribute to the legendary filmmaker of India Satyajit Ray whose centenary celebrations will be observed from next year. “ The event has been quite successful in bringing together film enthusiasts all over the world along with the well-known filmmakers, artists and film critics. Offering insight on the participation numbers, CEO of Entertainment Society of Goa Amit Satija said that in terms of international participation, IFFI saw majority delegates from UK, USA, Sri Lanka, and UAE while Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu comprise the majority of the national. Delegates. 

Ilaiyaraja, Prem Chopra, Manju Borah, Aravind Swamy and Ha, bam Paban Kumar were honored occasion. Technical partners of the film festival and International jury members were also felicitated. 

A still from ‘Marghe and her mother’ directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

50th IFFI 2019 -‘Particles’ wins the Golden Peacock Award for best film and Lijo Jose Pellissery conferred as Best Director

 

• ‘Particles’ wins the Golden Peacock Award.
• Lijo Jose Pellissery conferred Best Director Award for ‘Jallikattu’ 
•  Seu Jorge gets Best Actor (Male) Award 
• Usha Jadhav gets Best Actor (Female) Award
•  Special Jury Award for Pema Tseden’s ‘Balloon’ 
• Amin Sidi Boumediene and Marius Olteanu receives Award for ‘Best Debut Feature Film of a Director’ for ‘Abou Leila’ and ‘Monsters’ 
• Special mention for ‘Hellaro’ 
  directed by Abhishek Shah. 
• Rwanda’ won  The ICFT –UNESCO Gandhi Medal 

The coveted Golden Peacock Award of golden jubilee edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), goes to ‘Particles’ directed by Blaise Harrison and produced by Estelle Fialon. The Golden Peacock Award carries a cash prize of Rs 40 lakhs to be shared equally between the Director and the Producer, Trophy and the citation. ‘Particles’ is an “ambitious yet modest film about the mysteries of being a teenager,” the jury cited. Lijo Jose Pellissery conferred Best Director Award for ‘Jallikattu’.Lijo Jose Pellissery won the Best Director Award for his film ‘Jallikattu’. The jury said that they honor the “intricate and complex choreography of this very original and anarchic film”. Lijo gets the Silver Peacock Award , a citation and a cash prize of 15 lakhs.


 . 

Seu Jorge won the the Best Actor (Male) Award for his portrayal of Carlos Marighella in the Brazilian movie ‘Marighella’. He bagged the award containing Silver Peacock Trophy, certificate and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakhs for “ the powerful and charismatic portrayal of a revolutionary, very relevant in our increasingly authoritarian times”. 

The Best Actor (Female) Award has gone to Usha Jadhav for her portrayal of  ‘Prabha Mai’, in the Marathi film ‘Mai Ghatt: Crime No. 103/2005’. Usha Jadhav got the coveted prize for her “understated and powerful performance of a mother defending her child’s honor against the injustice of a corrupt system”. Award includes Silver Peacock Trophy, certificate and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakhs. 

The jury awarded special jury prize to Pema Tseden his film ‘Balloon’. The film set in Tibetan grasslands got the prize for “the beauty of the film language and the authenticity of the actors”. The Special Jury Award carries a cash prize of Rs 15 lakhs, a Silver Peacock Award and a citation. 

Centenary Award for ‘Best Debut Feature Film of a Director’ is shared between Amin Sidi Boumediene for ‘Abou Leila’ and Marius Olteanu for ‘Monsters’. Abou Leila’ tells the tale of two childhood friends who crossed the desert in search of Abu Leila, a dangerous terrorist. Award carries Silver Peacock, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakhs 

 ‘Hellaro’ directed by Abhishek Shah earned special mention from the jury for the “incredible music, it’s colour and graceful choreography”. Though set in time 45 years ago, the issue of woman’s empowerment portrayed in the film is even more relevant today, said the jury.  

 Italian film ‘Rwanda’ directed by Riccardo Salvetti won The ICFT –UNESCO Gandhi Medal instituted by the International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication, Paris and UNESCO. The medal bears a portrait of Gandhi engraved by the French artist Pierre-Yves Tremois. Etched underneath is Mahatma’s message of hope: “ In the midst of darkness light prevails” 

‘Bahattar Hoorain, the Indian movie directed by Sanjay P. Singh Chauhan earned the special mention under ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi medal category.

50th IFFI 2019- Ministry of Information & Broadcasting organises Interactive digital Multi-Media exhibition.

A hi-tech digital, interactive and multimedia exhibition has been put up by the Bureau of Outreach and Communication and National Film Archives of India (NFAI) at Darya Sangam, near Kala academy.  IFFI@50 exhibition traces the journey of IFFI   over the last five decades as it showcases Indian cinema to the world, also providing a platform in India for showcasing world cinema. Speaking at a press conference on the exhibition today,  Atul Kumar Tiwari of Ministry of I&B, said the exhibition leverages novel hi-tech features like Zoetrope (moving picture creative installation), 360 bullet shot, 360 degree immersive experience area, augmented reality experience, vertical digital display panels, virtual reality tools, hologram technology, etc to create a self-learning historical experience for the viewers. 

50th IFFI 2019-meet the press - directors Manoj Kana,Ananth Mahadevan and actor Suhasini Mulay

All my artists in Kenjira are tribals and  Tribals’ way of life  inspired me to make this film; said Manoj Kana, Director of movie Kenjira. Filmmaker Ananth Mahadevan said , “Cinema is not a consumer product but a creative art” and  big budget films are favoured at the cost of small budget films as they are expected to earn big returns casting  popular actors.The audience for small budget films are there, but  the distributors and exhibitors are not willing to help.. We take the festival route but when we want to sell the films we have to prove that these films are commercial.”

He was speaking along with actresses Suhasini Mulay , Usha Jadhav and cinematographer Alphonse Roy about his film Mai Ghat..The movie is about protracted struggle of a mother to get justice for her son who was wrongly branded a thief and tortured to death in police custody.

Talking about the film, Suhasini Mulay said, “We are used to very quick pace, but this film that is beautifully paced, makes you aware of the fact that the protagonist woman has been fighting for 13 years. Ananth has used silence so beautifully.” Anant added  that. “The film speaks cinematic language.

Speaking about his film Kenjira director Manoj Kana said. “I am into theatre in Malayalam. I have worked with tribal a lot and their way of life touched my heart. All my artists in Kenjira are tribal, this is my third movie after Chayilyam and Amoeba”.  Kana narrated the hurdles faced by him in collecting finance for this film. He went on to speak about an incident in which a school which was closed down was ultimately re-started by first attracting students to theatre being run in the school premises.

50th IFFI 2019 -Open Forum inaugurated at IFFI venue.

    

.

The Open Forum session was inaugurated by Chaitanya Prasad, Festival Director.  Kiran Shantaram, President, Federation of Film Societies of India, AK Bir, Filmmaker and Chairman of Technical Committee, Alexey Govorukhin, Executive Producer, Kinoreporter Magazine, Russia and Marianne Borgo, actress from France graced the occasion..

In his opening remarks Prakash Reddy, Convener of the Open Forum, spoke about the history of the Federation over the years. He said that Open Forum was started as an ‘experiment’ in 1988 and it has been a regular event since then. “It is a common ground for filmmakers to interact with fellow film makers, researchers and encourages writers to release their books,” he said.Shantaram in his opening remarks expressed that the Open Forum is a platform to create new audience. He also requested the DFF to extend the number of days of the Open Forum to seven instead of three.

Festival Director, Chaitanya Prasad appreciated the work done by the Open Forum and said “It floats new ideas, new concepts for cinema to move ahead. It’s a forum that has a tradition and legacy for itself. It is one of the leading lights as far as IFFI is concerned.” he added.

Alexey thanked the Government of India and the DFF for the opportunity to showcase films from Russia. Highlighting the co-production in place between Russia and India. “The Government will offer 40 percent rebate for films shot there,” he mentioned. Adding further information about the Russian industry he stated that there are 15 Film Commissions that can assist in finding partners, help foreign film makers to make films in Russia. The country makes 150 big screen movies a year. On the special effects used in Abigail, one of the movies in the Russian Focus this year, he said the country was well-equipped to produce CGI films and has all the facilities for film making. They are also trying to involve foreign talents in Russian movies to spread Russian movies across the world. “We welcome Indian talents to participate in Russian movies as well,” he said. Marianne Borgo, who has been a regular at IFFI for the past 10 years has observed its growth for the good. “I’m thankful to India and we love Indian movies and we can build more bridges between India, France and Russia.” He said on a concluding note.

50th IFFK 2019-Indian Panorama section opened

The Indian Panorama section of the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) -2019 opened with the screening of National Award winning Gujarati film 'Hellaro' directed by Abhishek Shah in the feature film category at INOX in Panjim, Goa today. A Kashmiri film ‘Nooreh’ directed by  Ashish opened the non-feature film category.

  

The director of Nooreh  was present at the opening ceremony.  Altogether 26 feature films and 15 non-feature films will be screened under the section this year. Apart from Hindi, the Indian Panorama feature film section this year will also showcase films of four lesser spoken languages, like Khasi/Garo, Paniya, Irula and Pangchenpa. The feature film category will also have a sub-section on mainstream cinema, under which popular films like 'Gully Boy', 'Uri: The Surgical Strike', 'Super 30' and 'Badhaai Ho' will be screened. Telugu film 'F2' will also be screened under this category.

50th IFFI 2019 - Rajinikanth flagged off the extravaganza and announced the festival open

 The golden jubilee edition of the International Film Festival of India got off to a mesmeric opening at Panaji, Goa. Rajinikanth flagged off the extravaganza and announced the festival open in the presence of Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar.Rajinikanth is being conferred with the 'Icon Of Golden Jubilee Award' for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. Karan Johar,piloted the entertainment . Jonathan Rhys Meyers; world known Cinematographer and Chairman of IFFI International Jury John Bailey;  jury members of Indian and International jury graced the opening ceremony. 

 The inaugural ceremony of the festival also has the presence of  Shripad Naik, Union Minister of State for Enivironment, Forest & Climate Change ,Babul Supriyo, Chief Minister of Goa Dr. Pramod Sawant, Secretary Information & Broadcasting  Amit Khare and Festival Director Chaitanya Prasad, Chairman, Prasar Bharati,  A. Suryaprakash and Vice Chairman ESG, Subhash Phal Desai.