Israeli film ‘Children of Nobody’ bags Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award
KOLKATA: Israeli film ‘Children of Nobody’ bagged the coveted Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Film at the 29th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), which concluded on Tuesday.
Written and directed by Erez-Tadmor from Tel-Aviv, the film narrates the journey of troubled boys who must band together to save the shelter for at-risk youth that has kept them off the streets.
Inspired by a true story, this compassionate Israeli drama gives voice to those on the periphery, often unnoticed and uncared for. The film won a cash award of Rs 51 lakh (the highest given by any film fest in the world) along with the trophy. Venezuela-based Carlos Daniel Malave won the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for the best director for his film ‘One Way’. Along with the trophy, he received a cash prize of
Rs 21 lakh. The 29th KIFF wrapped up with a star-studded closing ceremony at Rabindra Sadan. The event saw the presence of veteran director Sudhir Mishra, Bollywood actress Aditi Rao Hydari, Mamata Shankar, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Chapal Bhadhuri, and of course Raj Chakraborty, chairman, KIFF.
Nusrat Jahan paid tribute to Suchitra Sen, and Koushani Mukherjee performed to the KIFF theme song by Arijit Singh.
Ministers Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Indranil Sen, Santanu Basu, DG, KIFF and Secretary, I&CA department, and several eminent jury members of the film fest were also present. A Special Jury Award for International Competition: Innovation in Moving Images went to Anjan Dutt for ‘Chalchitra Ekhon’, a brilliantly made tribute film to austere Mrinal Sen. “This is easily the best film that Anjan has ever made, and it is good enough to be the envy of many good filmmakers anywhere in the world,” said veteran actress-filmmaker Aparna Sen.
For the first time, the Bengali Panorama section went competitive at KIFF and director duo Rajdeep Paul and Sarmistha Maiti bagged the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for ‘Mon Potongo’ for the best film. Along with the trophy, a cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh was also given. Recently, their film ‘Kalkokkho’ won the best Bengali film at the National Awards.
The NETPAC Award for Best Film in the Asian Select section went to Ninefold Mosaic’s ‘Broken Dreams Stories from the Myanmar Coup’. This feature-length omnibus film, consisting of nine short films by eight exiled Myanmar filmmakers, portrays the various viewpoints of ordinary Myanmar citizens who are caught up in a series of extraordinary events with heart-breaking, stunning, and inspirational results.
