Japanese film They Say Nothing Stays the Same directed by Joe Odagiri, on a boatman who is unable to cope with the drastic changes that time brings about, won the Suvarna Chakoram (Golden Crow Pheasant) award at the 24th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) which concluded here on Friday.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Argentine filmmaker Fernando Solanas.
Brazilian film Pacarrete , directed by Allan Deberton, on an old ballet dancer, who wishes to give one last dance performance as a gift to the people of her city, won the Rajatha Chakoram (Silver Crow Pheasant) award for the best director. The Rajatha Chakoram award for the best debut director was won by Cesar Diaz for Our Mothers , a Guatemalan film on a young anthropologist’s search for his father who went missing in the civil war.
Lijo Jose Pellissery won the Rajatha Chakoram Audience Prize for Jallikattu . The film also won the special jury mention in the competition category.
Best Malayalam film
Pani , directed by Santhosh Mandoor, based on the practise of ‘Thalaikoothal’ (involuntary euthanasia) in some parts of Tamil Nadu, won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award for the best Malayalam movie. The FIPRESCI award for the best film in competition was won by Camille , directed by Boris Lojkine, based on the real life story of French photojournalist Camille, who was killed while covering the civil war in the Central African Republic.
Aani Maani , directed by Fahim Irshad, on a kebab seller’s daily struggles, won the Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) award for the best Asian film in the competition category. It also won the K.R. Mohanan Endowment Award for Best Debut Director from India, instituted by the Federation of Film Societies of India.
Bijukumar Damodaran’s Veyilmarangal, on a Dalit family’s quest for a better life in Himachal Pradesh after the floods ravaged their home in Kerala, won the NETPAC award for the Best Malayalam Film. Kumbalangi Nights , directed by Madhu C. Narayanan won the NETPAC Special Jury Mention. The awards were presented by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the valedictory ceremony held at Nishagandhi Auditorium, Kanakakkunnu, here.
