Curtains were drawn on the eight day-long 47th International Film Festival of India at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium on Monday in a ceremony replete with the presence of creative who's who of world and Indian cinema.
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AWARDS GO TO ...
* BEST ACTOR (FEMALE): Elina Vaska for Latvian movie 'Mellow Mud'
* BEST ACTOR (MALE): Farhad Aslani for Iranian movie 'Daughter'
* BEST DIRECTOR: Jointly-shared by Baris Kaya and Soner Caner for Turkish film 'Rauf'
* SPECIAL JURY MENTION AWARD: Tiffany Hsuig for Korean movie 'The Apology'
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Iranian filmmaker Texas Mirkarimi's 'Daughter' (Dokhtar) stole the limelight at the award presentation ceremony winning the prestigious Golden Peacock Award for the Best Film and actor Farhad Aslani picking up the silver peacock for Best Actor (male) for his portrayal of the strict father in the movie. The movie has previously been lauded as the best film at this year's Moscow International Film Festival.
A visibly moved Mirkarimi thanked his teacher Abbas Kiarostame for teaching him to look beyond the larger canvass unto the small stories that surround us.
Turkish director duo Baris Kaya and Soner Caner won the Best Director award for their film 'Rauf', which is a poignant tale of Kurdish life.
Latvian debutante actor Elina Vaska was awarded the Best Actor (Female) for her lead role as the 17 year-old girl forced to play the mother-figure in the movie 'Mellow Mud' (Es Esmu Seît)
Special jury award was awarded to 'The Throne' (Sado) directed by Lee Joon-Ink from the Republic of Korea.
The Centenary Award for the Best debut film was bagged by Pepa San Martin's Spanish film 'Rara'.
The international jury for this year's award selection comprised Moroccan writer-director Leila Kilani, Indian writer-director Nagesh Kukunoor, cinematographer-director Larry Smith from United Kingdom, Czech-Croatian Lordan Zafranovic and Ivan Passer of the Czech Republic. The jury sifted through 22 films to arrive at unanimous decisions.
Meanwhile, the ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi medal, instituted by the International Council for Film and Television, Paris and UNESCO, was awarded to Turkish film maker Mustafa Kara's Cold of Kalandar'. Set in a mountain village in the Black Sea region, this film is also Turkey's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscar Awards.
Canadian film 'The Apology' by Toffany Hsiung won the Special Mention under this category.
Chief Guest at the IFFI closing ceremony S S Rajamouli, the famed director of the popular film 'Bahubali:The Beginning' urged the young filmmakers to participate in the festival and to share ideas inducing growth of their respective careers. "The biggest beneficiaries are the young filmmakers. They have the opportunity to view films from across the world and partake in the visions of the stalwart filmmakers. This is just the beginning," he said.
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WHY KATAPPA KILLED
BAHUBALI? IT'S A
STATE SECRET NOW
* Hitting a lighter note, Union Minister of State for I&B Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said that the mystery behind the killing of Bahubali by Katappa which has riddled the entire country has now gained the status of a 'state secret'
* Rathore, who was seated next to chief guest, 'Bahubali' director SS Rajamouli, said, "The director has shared with me the reason why Katappa killed Bahubali as he knows that this government can really keep a secret"
RATHORE OUTLINES
BOOMING GROWTH
OF INDIAN CINEMA
>> See pg 8
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