Southern star Surya was the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the 42nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to be held at the Kala Academy complex.
Art director Thota Tharani has designed the concept of this year’s festival.
The festival screened more than 100 movies from 65 countries.
Curtains comes down on the grandest International Film Festival of India
‘Porfirio’- a film by Alejandro Landes bags the prestigious Golden Peacock Award
Luc Besson, Michelle Yeoh and Bollywood Biggies attended the closing ceremony
The Columbian film ‘Porfirio’ directed by Alejandro Landes and produced by Franciso Aljure has bagged the coveted Golden Peacock Award for the Best Film at the 42nd International Film Festival of India 2011, while the Silver Peacock Award for the Best Director went to Asghar Farhadi for his film ‘Nader & Simin, A Seperation’. Salim Ahamad, the director of the Indian film ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’ has been conferred the Special Jury Award. On behalf of the film the director Salim Ahamad received the award which consists of a Silver Peacock, Certificate and a Cash Prize of Rs 15 Lakhs, in presence of the Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Shri Choudhary Mohan Jatua, the Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Digambar Kamat and the famous actor Suriya best known for his roles in films like ‘Kaakha Kaakha’, ‘Vaaranam Aayiram’ who was the Chief Guest of the closing function.
Attended by luminaries from the Indian Film Industry like Suriya, Irfaan Khan, Kangna Ranaut, Sohail Khan, Neelam, Bhumika Chawla and Madhu Ambat, along with Luc Besson and Michelle Yeoh from the international cinema fraternity, the festival concluded today with the screening of the English film ‘The Lady’ directed by acclaimed French Director Luc Besson, which stars Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis in lead roles.
Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Digambar Kamat said, “As everything comes to an end, the 42nd International Film Festival of India also has culminated into a glorious end. I feel great satisfaction on the delegate experiences during the festival and hoped that the cinematic quality of the festival keeps on going in the ascendency. I am happy on the success of the festival and greet the organizers and the delegates on making this festival a success.”
The Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Shri Choudhary Mohan Jatua said that, “The International Film Festival of India is a great opportunity to showcase India’s cinematic talents and also is a showcase of Indian movies across the world. I am happy at the success of the festival and wish that the trend keeps on continuing in the future with Goa hosting more successful festivals in the times to come.”
Shri Suriya, the chief guest for the closing ceremony said that, “This is my first appearance at the International Film Festival of India and I am really excited to be here. Movies have always been about desires and there is no better place to realize desires than in IFFI. I am really proud of the great industry that I am a part of and it is an honour for me to represent the industry and be a part of it.”
Festival Director, Shri Shankar Mohan said that, “The International Film Festival of India is an endeavour to bring in the best of cinematic talents from across the world and gives an opportunity to filmmakers to showcase their creative talents. I thank the jury members, delegates and officials, and hosting the International Film Festival is an honour in itself and I wish that the Indian cinema reaches cinematic zenith through the film festival.”
The Best Actor award of Rs. 10 lakh went to the Israeli actor Sasson Gabai for his role in the film ‘Restoration‘ whereas the Best Actress Award was won by Nadezhda Markina for her role in ‘Elena’.
The above films were chosen by a five member Competition Jury comprising of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Laurence Kardish, Lee Yong Kwan, Tahmineh Milani and Dan Wolman who chose the winners amongst the entries from Germany, Japan, Russia, France, Australia and others.
The eleven day cinematic extravaganza which began on November 23rd with the screening of the Portuguese film ‘The Consul of Bordeaux’ directed by Manuel Gonzales witnessed the screening of more than 100 films from around 65 countries across 8 screens. While the Indian Panorama showcased a boutique of 24 feature films and 21 non-feature films, the World Cinema brought in a total of 162 movies from across the world. Special attractions of the 42nd International Film Festival of India included Retrospectives of eminent filmmakers like Luc Besson and Phillip Noyce; Homages to cinema luminaries like Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Leacock, Sidney Lumet and others; Festivals Kaleidoscope; Country Focus on USA; Russian Classics; Spotlight on Poland, European Discoveries, Documentaries along with first time packages like ‘3D Cinema-The Third Dimension’, ‘Sketches on Screens’, ‘Soccer in Cinema’ and others.
During the course of the festival besides film shows, a host of film related events like Master Class, Open Forums, Film Bazaar by NFDC, 3D Visual Experience Summit and the Short Film Centre were also held to facilitate interaction and business meets in this sector. Master Classes taken by Hugh Welchman on ‘Realising Animation’, Resul Pookutty on ‘Weaving the Magic of Sound in Cinema’ and Phillip Noyce on ‘From Concept to Film, the Phil Noyce Way’, were great hits.
