the goan I network
PANAJI
The 49th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the fifteenth in its Goan avtaar, came to a close on Wednesday in a lacklustre ceremony where veteran screenwriter Salim Khan was honoured and Ukranian film Donbass was declared winner of the prestigious Golden Peacock award.
Khan was honoured for his lifetime contribution with the IFFI special award which was received by his son Producer-actor Arbaaz Khan.
Khan who paired with Javed Akhtar to provide popular Bollywood films “Zanjeer”, “Sholay” and “Deewar” their indelible screenplay thanked IFFI, I&B Ministry for the honour. He also thanked Akhtar and dedicated the award to his native Indore and Mumbai, his workplace in the film industry in a message read out by Arbaaz.
Lijo Jose Pellissery got the Silver Peacock for best direction in “Ee Maa Yove” while the Silver Peacock for Best Actor (Female) went to Anastasiia Pustovit for her role in “When the Trees Fall”.
Chemban Vinod won Silver Peacock for Best Actor (Male) for “Ee Maa Yove” while Dominique Fishback and Tatum Marilyn Hall bagged Special Mention (Acting) for “Night Comes On”.
Praveen Morchhale’s “Walking with the Wind” won the ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Award and “Los Silencios” bagged a special mention in the category.
Centenary Award for Best Debut Film of a Director was given to Alberto Montreal for “Respeto”. “Aga”, directed by Milko Lazarov, won special jury award in the segment, whereas “Volcano” and “To-Let” received special mentions.
Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge), KJ Alphons, who graced the closing ceremony narrated his days as a child when he would buy a 25 paisa ticket to a film in his village and his transition to the Union Council of Ministers.
“There are many who sacrificed their lives for this country. There are a lot of ideas for filmmakers to make realistic films,” Alphons added.
Goa’s town and country planning minister made reference to the fabled comparison of IFFI to Cannes saying Goa plans to make the festival the “Cannes of Asia”.
“Cannes is about freedom and IFFI about red-tapism. We will make amends next year...” Sardesai promised and paid tributes to deceased Italian filmmaker Bernando Bertolucci who died on Monday. Israel was the country of focus this year and Jharkhand the Indian State of focus.
Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, Goa speaker, Pramod Sawant, Power Minister Nilesh Cabral, tourism minister Manohar Azgaonkar besides the Governor of Punjab were the dignitaries present.
Actors Anil Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Diana Penty, Rakulpreet Singh, Kabir Bedi among other stars and politicians also attended.
Apparently miffed, Naik quietly walked out of the venue midway through
the ceremony.
