- The 49th edition of International film festival of India (IFFI) concluded with a gala ceremony held at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Taleigaon, near Panaji in Goa on November 28.
Points to Remember
- The theme for this year’s film festival was New India.
- Israel was the focus country while Jharkhand was the focus state this year. This is for the first time that any state was made focus state at IFFI.
- More than 220 movies from 67 countries were screened at this year’s IFFI
- The opening film of the festival was “The Aspern Papers”
- The festival closed with the world premiere of the German film “Sealed Lips”.
- A completely new section at IFFI this year was the screening of six Indian sports biopics as an extension of the Khelo India initiative.
List of Award Winners
- IFFI Special Award: Salim Khan
- Golden Peacock Award for the Best Film: Russian-Ukrainian film “Donbass”
- Best Director Award: Lijo Jose Pellissery for Malayalam film “Ee Maa Yove”.
- Best Actor (male) Award: Chemban Vinod for “Ee Maa Yove”.
- Best Actor (female) Award: Anastasiia Pustovit for her role in Ukrainian film “When The Trees Fall”.
- Special Jury Award: “Aga”, a co-production of Bulgaria, Germany and France.
- Centenary Award for the Best Debut Feature Film of a Director: “Respeto” from the Philippines
- ICFT Unesco Gandhi Medal: Ladakhi film “Walking with the Wind” directed by Praveen Morchhale.
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Veteran Israeli filmmaker Dan Wolman