'My Little Princess' bags top honours at the Mumbai festival

French film My Little Princess, about a love-hate relationship between a mother and her daughter, scooped top prizes including best movie, best director and best actress at the 13th Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI) where Oscar-winners Morgan Freeman and Gulzar were honoured for lifetime achievement.

Freeman's honour was the surprise of the evening and the Hollywood actor sent his message to thank the Indian audience.

"I wish I could be in Mumbai. I have played all kinds of characters. I have even played God but my job is to tell stories and I am fortunate to do that. It has been a long journey and more is to come. I hope that people enjoy watching me," he said, adding that the achievement trophy came as an icing on the cake as his latest film Dolphine Tale was the closing film of the festival.

Gulzar, who was feted for his outstanding career as a lyricist-director in a career spanning five decades, said it is always great to get recognised on the home turf. Directed by Eva Ionesco, My Little Princess beat hyped films like Sleeping Beauty, Sengadal and Michael to win the Golden Gateway Award and cash prize of USD 100,000. The film also won the Silver Gateway Award for Best Director (Eva Ionesco) and the Silver Gateway Award for Best Actress (Isabelle Huppert and Anamaria Vartolomei).

The Silver Gateway Award for Jury Grand Prize and cash prize of USD 50,000 was presented to Canadian film The Salesman (Le Vendeur) directed by Sebastien Pilote, which also won the Silver Gateway Award for Best Actor to Gilbert Sicotte for his performance in the movie. The Silver Gateway Jury Award for Technical Excellence was presented to Diego Poleri for Las Acacias. The Silver Gateway Special Jury Award was presented to Markus Schleinzer for Michael.

In the Celebrate Age category, The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs 50,000 for The Best Film was presented to Grandma, A Thousand Times (Teta, Alf Marra) directed by Mahmoud Kaabour. The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs 25,000 for the Second Best Film was given to Fear of Falling directed by Bartosz Konopka. The Celebrate Age Jury Award Certificate of Special Mention was given to Zubin Sethna for The Usual (Wie Immer)

In the Dimensions Mumbai category, The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs 100,000 for The Best Film was presented to Ameya Gore and Sunaina Mahadik for Facelift. The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs 50,000 for The Second Best Film was presented to Abhay Kumar for Life is a Beach. The Jury Special Mention Award was given to Chinmaya Nagesh Dalvi for Bombay Snow and to Harshvir Oberai for The Circle Is Mine. The Mumbai Young Critics Silver Gateway Award was presented to Markus Schleinzer for Michael.

The week-long festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organised by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image had an impressive collection of over 200 films from 60 countries across various sections. Festival chairman, filmmaker Shyam Benegal said that they hoped to get better next year.

Hugh Hudson, who headed the International Competition jury, used the occasion to condemn the arrests of Iranian filmmakers including Jafar Panahi and extend the industry's support to them. The festival this year also continued its endeavour to facilitate cinema business with the Mumbai Film Mart, created 'by' the industry, 'for' the industry, 'in' the industry hub -Mumbai, the film capital of India.

The Mumbai Film Mart saw participation from the biggest entertainment industry players, both from India and abroad. In the three days, over 2,000 meeting requests were received, 400 meetings were carried out face to face, while an equal number took place among the senior decision makers from leading film production houses, buyers, sellers, festival programmers and independent filmmakers as they milled around and networked with each other.

Among the many firsts, the Mart attracted all the forthcoming big ticket films such as Ra.One, Don 2, Rockstar, Ricky Behl v/s Ladies, The Dirty Picture, DesiBoyz, tabled for acquisition and distribution in the non-traditional markets for Indian cinema in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, France and Latin America.