Columbian film The Colours of the Mountain directed by Carlos Cesar Arbelaez bagged the Suvarna Chakoram award at the 16th International Festival of Kerala (IFFK) which concluded here on Friday.
Minister for Sports and Cinema K.B. Ganesh Kumar handed over the award to Mr. Carlos at the closing ceremony of the festival held at Nishagandhi auditorium. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 15 lakhs, citation and memento.
The Rajatha Chakoram award for best director was bagged by Iranian film-maker Hamid Reza Aligholian for his film Flamingo No. 13 . The award carries a price of Rs. 4 lakh, memento and citation. Sebastian Hiriat, director of the Mexican film A Stone’s Throw Away received the Rajatha Chakoram award for best debut director. He received a cash prize of Rs. 3 lakh, memento and citation.
The Audience Award for the best competition section film at the 16th IFFK was bagged by Chilean film A Painting Lesson directed by Pablo Perelman. Mr. Perelman said that this was the best award he received for his film so far.
Bollywood director Subhash Ghai, Minister for Labour Shibu Baby John, Australian director and Jury Chairman Bruce Beresford, jury members Laurence Gavron and Rahul Bose, chairman of Kerala State Chalachithra Academy S. Priyadarshan, vice chairman Gandhimathi Balan, secretary K.G. Santhosh and festival deputy director Bina Paul Venugopal were also present at the function presided over by Minister for Panchayat M.K. Muneer.
Speaking at the function Mr.Subhash Ghai said that although he makes films of a different genre he is an ardent fan of art-house and festival films. “I love attending film festivals as they offer the opportunity to watch films from all over the world, giving us insight on the changing society, culture and values across the world. The International Film Festival of Kerala is one of the most reputed festivals in the country,’’ he said.
Apart from the main festival awards, awards instituted by Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC), FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) and Hassankutty Award for best debut director instituted by film-maker Mira Nair were also given away at the function.
The NETPAC award for the best Asian film was given to the Bengali film At the end of it all directed by Aditi Roy. Director Salim Ahmed’s Abu, Son of Adam bagged the NETPAC award for best Malayalam film. Turkish film Future Lasts Forever directed by Ozcan Alper received the FIPRESCI award for best competition section film, while Abu, Son of Adam bagged the best Malayalm film award instituted by the organization. The film also won the Hassankutty award, which carries a purse of Rs. 50, 000.
Media awards for best coverage of the week-long event were also given away at the function. P.S. Jayan of Mathrubhoomi and R. Rins of Metro Vartha received the award for best print media reporting. Shibu P.S. of The New Indian Express received special mention. N. Sreeja of Indiavision and Augustine Sebastian of Reporter channel shared the best television reporting award. The award for best online coverage, which was instituted for the first time, was bagged by Yentha.Com and Metro Matinee.Com .
