Saluting the people behind the current upswing in Goan cinema, the Goa State Film
Festival paid tribute to filmmakers and all those who were responsible for the
successful films of late.
Inaugurated on May 3, 2018, and having witnessed tremendous
response from the various stakeholders of the film industry from all over Goa,
the festival concluded with the award ceremony, in addition to performances by
the artistes, various dance academies, as well as members of the film
fraternity.
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The 9th edition of the Goa State Film Festival was organised by
the Department of Information and Publicity, Government of Goa in collaboration
with the Entertainment Society of Goa from May 3 to 6, 2018. Films made between
January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017 were eligible for this festival. In
total, 10 feature films, including nine Konkani films and one Marathi film, and
two non-feature films were in competition for the awards.
The closing ceremony of the 9th Goa State Film Festival 2018 ,
which included the award ceremony, was held at INOX Multiplex’s Screen-1 on May
6.
The award for Best Film was bagged by Konkani film ‘Mahaprayan’,
produced by Abhay Jog Production and written and directed by Nilesh Karamunge.
National
Award-winning Konkani film ‘K Sera Sera ’ won a record-breaking nine awards at
the festival, including Second Best Film, Best Cinematography for Hari Nair,
Best
Audiography for Bishwadeep Chatterjee, Best Art Direction for
Sushant Tari, Best Costume Design for Deepika Korgaonkar, Best Screenplay and
Best Direction for Rajeev Shinde, Best Actor for Rajesh R Pednekar, and Best
Actress Jury Award for Palomi Ghosh.
Upon receiving the award for best actor, producer and actor
Rajesh Pednekar of de Goan Studio, which produced the film, said, “The film,
which has been acclaimed internationally, boasts of a national and
international award winning cast and crew, which is one more reason for us to
celebrate. We have invested a lot of time, effort and money into the film to
make it world class. We appeal to all Goans to watch the film and support us in
our endeavour to take Konkani and Goan films to greater heights.” ‘K Sera
Sera…’ will continue to attract audiences, with further shows lined up this weekend
at Maquinez Palace, ESG, Panjim.
Another film that raked in the awards at the film festival was
the Konkani film ‘Connection’ that’s produced by Sylvester Fernandes, with
story, screenplay, dialogues and direction by Christ Silva. The film bagged six
awards, including Best Music Director, Best Story and Best Dialogues for
Christ, Best Editor for Christ and Patson, Best Supporting Actor for Prince
Jacob and Best Playback Singer for Velroy Fernandes. Following his win, Velroy
was quoted saying, “Thanks to the Almighty! My thanks also goes to the entire
team of ‘Connection’. A big thanks to the producer Sylvester Savio Fernandes.
Thanks to the director Christ Silva. Not to forget, thanks to the jury, for
giving me the Best Playback Singer Award – it was really unexpected. And
finally a big thanks to everyone for keeping me and the film in your prayers.
God bless you all!”
Christ Silva, son of the ‘Emperor of the Konkani Stage’ John D’
Silva, stole the limelight as the youngest director at the award ceremony, with
four wins to boot! When the film was released, Christ had become the talk of
the town for his unique story-telling style, wherein there are multiple
characters, each having their own storyline, all linked together in a single
‘connection’. A suspense thriller with an amazing climax, the film made an
impressive impact on the audience and is still being screened in villages.
Along with the announcement of awards, some of the main
highlights of the closing ceremony included musical performances by Jasraj
Joshi, winner of Zee Hindi’s Sa Re Ga Ma and known for his work in ‘Rustom’,
‘Time Please’, ‘Bedardi’ and other films, and Goa’s famed fadista Sonia
Shirsat. Comedy acts by Ortencio Pereira from Goa and Imran Shaikh from
Bangalore kept the audience in splits. There were also dance performances by
Siddhai from Mumbai and Amit and Sakshi from Goa.
Mumbai
celebrities including actors Yami Gautam, Chinmayee Sumeet, Pallavi Subhash and
Sumeet Raghavan and director Nagesh Kukunoor, among others, were also present
at the ceremony, during which, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to
Suryakant Lavande, a cinematographer born in Goa and known for his
contributions to Hindi and Marathi cinema.
REGISTRATION DATE EXTENDED FOR ANTI TOBACCO FILM FESTIVAL
The Entertainment Society of Goa in association with the Department of Public
Health Dentistry, Goa Dental College and Hospital, which is organising the 2nd
Goa Anti Tobacco Film Festival on May 31, 2018, has announced a change in the
last date for registration for the festival. The last date that was scheduled
for April 30, has now been extended to May 10, 2018.
The aim of the festival is to select ad
films and short films that will spread the message of the harmful effects of
tobacco use and help decrease the occurrence of oral cancer and heart disease,
as well as to promote film art through the non-profit screening of these films.
The ultimate objective is to render Goa smoke free.
This festival consists of two sections –
Goa Section and National Section. Eligible persons may register by filling the
registration form termed as 2nd Anti Tobacco Film Festival Registration Form,
available on the following websites – www.iffigoa.org and www.esg. co.in. The
last date for receipt of applications along with supporting documents is May
15, 2018.
The prizes for ‘Goa section’ will be Rs
50,000 for 1st Best Film and Rs 30,000 for 2nd Best Film, for both, ad films
and short films. The prizes for the National section will be Rs 1,00,000 for
1st Best Film and Rs 50,000 for 2nd Best Film for ad films and short films.
The
award winning films in all categories will be used for the promotion of Anti-
Tobacco ad campaigns across cinema theatres, TV channels, schools, colleges,
and other government department programmes and on the internet.
