Marathi films Gaarud (The Spell) and Vithal won the Golden and Silver Conch respectively in the Fiction category at the 11th Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Animation and Short Films (MIFF) which concluded in Mumbai today.
The jury headed by Trinh T Minh-Ha from USA was impressed by the vibrant characterisation of life in Gaarud (The Spell) directed by Umesh Kulkarni.
The 12-minute film depicted glimpses of the lives of people who are caught in the frame of a room of a shady lodge near the railway station of a small town.
The Golden Conch carries cash prize of Rs3 lakh. Vinoo Choliparambil's Vithal was honoured for the wonderful acting that succeeds in depicting the cornered child's negative mood, giving the audience a chance to stick to his emotional struggle.
The 24 minute film depicts the emotions of Vithal, whose head has been tonsured by his parents after the death of his grandfather. The boy is shattered. Nothing can pacify his mind and stop him from feeling humiliated, isolated and angry.
The jury members did not find any film upto 30 minutes suitable to be selected for the Golden Conch. The second best documentary in the upto 30 minute category was shared by I found a thread and Vagabond - A nomad in spirit and reality. The makers of the films shared the cash prize of Rs1.5 lakh and the Silver conch.
I Found A thread got the award for rekindling the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi to contemporary society in an intimate setting.
While Vagabond was honoured for sensitive portrayal of a very difficult, traumatic episode of contemporary Indian history.
Russian film 17 August bagged the Golden Conch and Rs3 lakh cash prize in the above 30 minute category. The film was praised for its rigorous, transformative treatment of the unlimited human spirit in an extremely limited space.
The Silver Conch and Rs1.5 lakh cash prize in the above 30 minute category went to The Sun behind the clouds forupholding the spirit of liberty and maintaining a sense of balance by bringing about different perspectives within the Tibetan struggle.
In the above 30 minute documentary category, Nero's Guests by Deepa Bhatia shared the special mention with Anwar-Dream of a Dark Night. Nero's Guests also bagged the FIPRESCI critics award for revealing the existing reality in the agriculture sector in a unique and touching manner.
The jury felt the filmmaker had exposed the undercurrents of rural economy and dire situation of the farmers and the suicides in Vidarbha.
In the fiction category, the special mention went to two films — Ali and the Ball from Australia and Are you listening? from India.
In the animation category, Wait and Path bagged the Golden Conch and Rs3 lakh cash prize for creating through imaginative and skillful animation the initial frustration and later blossoming of hope in a disabled person.
The Silver Conch in the animation category went to Ukadi Pukadi for bringing out through refined concept and efficient execution the tender feelings of a lame child through the medium of animation. The special mention went to Lost Home for portraying how wildlife may find the concrete jungles more forbidding than the forest abodes.
There was no jury award which had cash prize of Rs1.5 lakh.
The best debut film of Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari with cash prize of Rs1 lakh and trophy from Indian DocumentaryProducers Association (IDPA) went to The Hunted-in search of home and hope while Bejinxed from Whistling Woods International won IDPA trophy for the best student film getting cash prize of Rs25,000.
The best film for producer carrying cash prize of Rs2 lakh went to Burma VJ reporting from a closed country from Denmark.
Minister of state for information and broadcasting CM Jathua said, documentaries were powerful art forms which were needed to be sustained so that they grow further.
"The Centre will do all that is possible to make the documentary movement stronger," Jathua said.
Governor K Sankaranarayanan, while congratulating the winners expressed confidence that their places in the Indian film industry will be cemented.
Deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal said documentaries were effective tools for social engineering and stressed the need for holding such festivals in other cities and towns of the state.
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