It’s Curtains on IFFI 54, with Persian film ‘Endless Borders’ bagging Golden Peacock

Panaji (GOA) : With the Sun moving down the Arabian Sea, casting a golden glow upon the picturesque coast of Panaji here, the 54^th edition of International Film Festival of India,  concluded, reverberating the shores with echoes of cinematic excellence and charm. The festival reached its crescendo with a dazzling closing ceremony, attended by a constellation of celebrities, filmmakers and luminaries from the film and entertainment domain.

The Persian film Endless Borders directed by Abbas Amini received the Golden Peacock award for the Best Film,  The film depicts that the emotional and moral borders that you impose upon yourself can be more complicated than the physical borders, observed the jury.

Indian Filmmaker Rishabh Shetty bagged The Special Jury Award for his critically acclaimed film Kantara. The Jury praised the director’s ability to put across a very important story. “The film, though rooted in its own culture of the forest demons, reaches out to audiences regardless of culture and social status,” the jury cited. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Spanish Cinematographer José Luis Alcaine and French Film Producer & IFFI Jury member Catherine Dussart presented the award.

Legendary Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas received the prestigious Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award at the closing ceremony. Receiving the award, Michael Douglas said, “It’s a tremendous honor to receive this award, a career life achievement. When I heard about the award, my family and I were elated.”

Best Web Series (OTT) Award to Panchayat Season 2

Panchayat Season 2, directed by Deepak Kumar Mishra received the newly introduced award for the Best Web series (OTT). The series chronicles the life of an engineering graduate who joins as a Panchayat secretary in a remote fictional village of Phulera (UP) due to lack of better job options.

Director of the series Deepak Kumar Mishra, Producer of the series & President of The Viral Fever Tvf Vijay Koshy and Director, Content Licensing, Prime Video Manish Menghani received the award from Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. Rocket Boys Season 1 directed by Abhay Pannu received special mention in this category.

Reinforcing the state’s commitment to foreign filmmakers coming for shooting, the Chief Minister said that with the lushgreen forests, river, waterfalls, villages and terrace rice fields, Goa will be filmmakers’ paradise as it offers a mix of traditional and modern house settings. “Streamline system of shooting films in the state offers hazzle free permissions to access diverse locations. I stand committed to make region of Goa the heaven for film industry. The plan is underway to develop infrastructure providing cutting edge technology and incentivize the international film makers”, he elaborated.

Chairperson of the International Jury of IFFI 54, Shekhar Kapoor said that film festivals are important since it is very important to tell our stories in the context of what is happening around the world amidst conflicts and war. “Our stories are who we are. Stories are fundamentally about being human. Being human is our fundamental aspect. If we tell our stories to each other, people will listen across borders and understand each other”, he added.

NFDC Managing Director Prithul Kumar delivered the vote of thanks. Vice Chairperson, Entertainment Society of Ms Goa Dalilah Lobo, Chief Secretary of Goa Dr. Puneet Kumar Goel, Entertainment Society of Goa CEO Ms Ankita Mishra, and other dignitaries also participated in the closing ceremony. Mandira Bedi hosted the ceremony which witnessed some stunning performances by star actors like Amit Trivedi and Ayushmann Khurrana.(with inputs and video credit-PIB)

Over 5,000 films of multiple languages in the 4K digital format will be restored under National Film Heritage Mission, declared Union I & B Minister Anurag Singh Thakur