NEW DELHI: The film Red Alert in Naxalism, directed by Ananth Mahadevan for producer T P Aggarwal, won two awards – for best director and the Red Rose for the best film released between October 2009 and October 2010 at the third Jaipur International Film Festival that concluded in the pink city over the weekend.
The veteran actress Asha Parekh was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award in absentia at the closing ceremony.
The Marathi film Mala Aai Vahhaychy (I want to be a Mother) on surrogacy (‘womb on hire’) also bagged two awards: best debutante director award to advocate-turned-filmmaker Samrouddhi Porey and Special Jury mention to the actress Stacy Bee for her role in the film.
The French film Dreams and Awakenings received two awards for best editor to David Baudry and best sound editor to Remy Laurencom at the festival which was held from 27 to 30 January.
Inaugurated by Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on 27 January in the presence of State Tourism Minister Beena Kaak and Festival Director Hanu Roj, the opening had been followed by a performance by famous Rajasthani folk dancer Gulabo. The films Hay Fever directed by Lara Luchhiti of Italy, Open Door directed by Alessandro Del Bianco of Italy, and Topi by Arjun Rihan from the United States were screened as the Opening films.
Gandhi-The Mahatma by Naresh Chandra Lal from the Andaman Islands (who was present) was the closing film on 30 January - Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary – before the Red Carpet awards function which saw the presence of Film Federation of India President T P Aggarwal among others.
The best short film award went to Jagjeet directed by Kavanjit Singh, while the documentary award was bagged by A Crime in Silence by Behrouz Nouranipoor of Iran. Kiruthiga Udhaynidhi received the best director Award for the film Life.
S Nallamuthu received the best cinematographer award for his film Tiger Queen on tigers in Ranthambore while the best script award went to Marcio Salem for the Brazilian film Vento and the Special Jury award went to Bassa Marea (Low Tide), directed by Roberto De Paolis of Italy.
The Best Upcoming Star award went to the film Cockroach from Australia directed by Luke Eve, while Khanabadosh directed by Tulika, Mahavish, Priya and Swati Bhattacharya received the Special Jury award in this category.
The Special Jury award in the upcoming star category in the U TURN Rajasthan award for the best film entry from Rajasthan went to the short film I am sorry directed by Gajendra Shrotriya.
The best Animation Award went to the French film Stretching directed by Francois Vogal from France whole the Special jury award in this category was bagged by Kidnap directed by Sijia Luo from US and the Critics’ award went to Topi directed by Arjun Rihan.
The Green Rose Award for the film with the best global message went to Cultures of Resistance directed by Iara Lee from the US while the Yellow Rose Award for upcoming film (world premiere) was given to the Hindi film Riwaayat on female infanticide and foeticide directed by Vijay Patkar.
The Special Jury Award in the feature film category went to the Iranian film Marham (Salve) directed by Alireza Davoodnejad.
The closing function was embellished by musical performances by the renowned Abhas Joshi and Janaki Parikh who took listeners on a journey of Hindi film music from the fifties to the present day.
A total of 133 films including 71 from overseas were screened at the Festival. The competitive festival had 57 films from India including two from Rajasthan itself. The festival was held at four venues and attracted around 300 film delegates from India and overseas.
The jury includes former Films Division Director General Kuldeep Sinha, filmmakers G L Bhardawaj, Kireet Khurana (director of Toonpur Ka Superhero), Italian filmmaker Alessandro Del Bianco, Deepak Mahaan, Biju Mohan, M D Soni, Michael Wigge (Germany), and Rakesh Gogna.
Some films from Rajasthan or with the state as backdrop were screened, including ‘13 May Gulabi Nagar’ directed by Nand K Pareek and Vinod Gupta; ‘Bhobhar’ directed by Gajendra S Shrotriya, and ‘I am Kalam’, apart from documentary ‘Tiger Queen’ by S Nallamuthu.
The various sections of the Festival include Worldwood International, Coming Stars about student cinema, ‘U Turn Rajasthan’ about Rajasthani cinema, ‘The Guest’ which was a focus on French Cinema, a Jury Retrospective, the Indian Panorama, and a Bollywood Special.
There were several discussions during the festival. These included ‘Beyond the Oscars’ moderated by Film Federation of India General Secretary Supran Sen, ‘Young filmmakers and networking’ moderated by film critic B B Nagpal, ‘Yesterday/ past –Today/ present – tomorrow/ future of cinema’ moderated by filmmaker Subhash Kapoor, and the Film Market section with FFI President T P Aggarwal and Jaipur distributor Sanjay Chatar.
There were two filmmaker sessions with Iara Lee of the United States and Jag Mohan Mundhra from India, and workshops by Subhash Kapoor (India) and Allessandra Del Bianco. Other participants included Mukesh Asopa (Film Maker, Canada), Iara Lee (Film Director, USA), Hemant Gaba and Ram Kumar Singh (Filmmakers, India),
The Festival also saw the presence of Rajeev Arora (Chairman Red Carpet), Rakesh Verma (Patron JIFF),Ila Arun (Singer, Actress), and Mahavir P Sharma (Advisory Board Member Red Carpet).
