Epilogue, Ko Yad, Munsif win awards at BIFFes

Israeli film Epilogue , Mishing dialect film Ko Yad and Kannada film Munsif made it to the top slots in the awards announced at the sixth Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) under the Asian, Indian and Kannada categories.

The awards were announced here on Wednesday and would be given away at the valedictory of the week-long festival here on Thursday.

‘Cannot get better’

Speaking on the choice, Asian (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema - NETPAC) film jury member Rajesh Gongaju said that Epilogue was a unanimous choice for its “precise story telling, which cannot get better” than what the filmmaker achieves in this. “It depicts the life around us which we have not bothered to see through the story of an old couple,” he said. This was chosen out of eight films that competed in the section.

Richly-detailed atmosphere

S.K. Bhagwan, jury of the Indian (Chitrabharati) section, said that the Manju Borah’s film Ko Yad tells the story of Mishin people in a small village in Assam by building a richly-detailed atmosphere.

‘Not satisfactory’

A member of the Kannada jury, Madhu Eravankara, said that the selection in the 10 films that came for the competition section was “not entirely satisfactory”, but the three that won were up to the mark and would make a mark in any festival.

Unpretentious

Speaking on the three films that were chosen, Mr. Eravankara said: “A film should uphold human values and Munsif does that brilliantly.” He described Tallana , which made it to the second slot, as one that is “unpretentious.” He said that Edegarike won the third place for its “unusual treatment of a mafia story.”

The Asian film category includes a citation and cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh.

While the top prize in Indian category carries cash prize of Rs. 4 lakh, the Kannada category carries Rs. 2 lakh, Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 50,000 for the three categories.

Mr. Swamy, director of Munsif , described the film as his contribution for 100 years of Indian cinema. N. Sudarshan, director of Tallana , said that he had kept the narrative style and tone simple to ensure that the film remains down to earth. Ms. Kittur described her film as one that looks at “a man’s encounter with death.”