PANJIM : Russian film Leviathan won the Golden Peacock Award for best film while Marathi movie Ek Haazarachi Note won the special jury prize for its strong message at the 45 International Film Festival that concluded today.
Ek Hazaarchi Note, set in the backdrop of the farmers’ suicide in the Vidharba region of Maharashtra, created history for debutante director Shrihari Sathe.
The Lifetime Achievement award went to celebrated Hong-Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, best known for his films like Grandmaster, In the Mood for Love, and Ashes of Time.
“I am humbled and honoured that my movie ‘The Grandmaster’ is the closing film at the festival. The award was a great honour and also a surprise. But I hope it is not a sign for me to retire,” Kar-wai said, dedicating the award to his wife Chan Ye-cheng.
“I would like to share this honour with my wonderful wife who is with me tonight here. You are my biggest achievement in life. Thank You,” said Kar-wai.
His latest film ‘The Grandmaster’ brought the curtains down on the eleven-day-long festival.
The Leviathan, directed by by Andrey Zvyagintsev also saw Alexey Serebryakov sharing the best male actor award in the cinema of the world competition.
Dulal Sarkar of Chotoder Chobi was the other recipient of the best male actor award.
Dulal dedicated the award to the community of dwarfs. “We request people not to abuse and make fun of us. We just want love,” Kaushik Ganguly, director of ‘Chotoder Chobi’ speaking on Dulal’s behalf told the audience after the actor got the award from Minister of State (Information and Broadcasting) Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and actor Jackie Shroff.
The best actress award was shared by two international stars, who both played teachers in their respective films. While Cuban actress Arina Rodriguez won the award for her role in the Cuban-Spanish movie ‘Behaviour’, Israeli actress Sarit Larry won the trophy for The Kindergarten Teacher. The
award was presented to the actresses by Union Defence minister Manohar Parrikar and actor Nana Patekar.
The award for best director went to Nadaf Lapid for The Kindgarten Teacher. His movie Emile’s Girlfriend, was critically acclaimed at Cannes in 2006.
The closing ceremony, was attended by Ramesh Sippy, last year’s centenary award winner Waheeda Rehman, south Indian superstar Jayram Subramanyam, Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, Governor Mridula Sinha, Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore Society of Goa Vice President Damodar Naik and Divya Dutta among others, came to an end with a performance by singer Zubin Garg, after a look at the north east culture.
The festival that began on November 20 with megastars Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth saw China with 12 movies as the focus country. The festival screened 178 films from 79 countries, 20 international and 91 Indian premieres including the panorama section.
In the international cinema section films by 12 master filmmakers were screened, the festival kaleidoscope showcased 20 films. There was a special section on documentaries comprising six films, and in the ‘Soul of Asia’ section seven films were shown.
The festival opened with Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s film ‘The President’, about a dictator who comes face-to-face with the people he previously subjugated.
