The 29th Kolkata International Film Festival, the biggest edition yet in terms of the number of venues (23), came to a close on Tuesday with a large crowd queuing up at Nandan to see the festival’s best films in competition minutes after they were announced at a ceremony at neighbouring Rabindra Sadan.
Nandan I screened Children of Nobody, an Israeli film on the challenges faced by inmates of a shelter for at-risk youths that corrupt property developers are after. It was adjudged the best film in the international competition in innovation in moving images, with a cash prize of Rs 51 lakh.
Nandan II showed Gorai Phakhri (Wild Swans), a Bodo film directed by Rajni Basumatary and produced by Jani Viswanath, on the travails of women in a patriarchal society recovering from decades of armed conflict between the state and separatists.
The youngest awardee at the ceremony was possibly Kamil Saif, a fourth-semester student of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. Receiving his award from actors Dhritiman Chatterjee and Chapal Bhaduri for his short film Last Rehearsal, he said this was his first festival selection and first win.
A student of mass communication at St Xavier’s College, Kolkata, also got on stage. “My father (Haobam Paban Kumar of Manipur) has left for the Kerala Film Festival (which is also underway). I was in college. He asked me to come over,” the youngster said, collecting the special jury award in the Indian language films section for the film Joseph’s Son, directed by his father.
The biggest applause was reserved for Anjan Dutt. The singer-songwriter-actor-director became emotional after he got a special jury award in the international competition section for his tribute to his mentor Mrinal Sen, Chalchitra Ekhon.
“Thank you, Kolkata, thank you, Mrinal da. This is my city, this is Mrinal-da’s city. I wanted the film to start its journey from here,” he said, with son and music composer Neel by his side.
Carlos Malave of Venezuela took home the Best Director’s trophy for his film One Way in this section.
The crowd that kept the Nandan complex abuzz through the week was praised by several speakers. The chairman of the international films jury, Russian director Pavel Lungin, said he was in love with the Kolkata crowd, as also the city’s “beautiful food”.
A figure who walked up in dhoti to receive the Best Film trophy in the Bengali Panorama section had the host Parambrata Chatterjee urging the audience to applaud.
This was Anjan Bose, the producer of Mon Potongo, a film on a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy fleeing their village to escape persecution and choosing a harsh life on the city’s pavements for the sake of love. “I am the third generation of my family in films. We (Aurora Film Corporation) had supported Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak when they started out. Now we are back in film production after 45 years and these are my new talents,” he said, pointing at the director duo Rajdeep Paul and Sarmistha Maiti, whose debut feature film produced by him in 2021 had bagged a national award.
Shonet Barretto bagged the Hiralal Sen Memorial Best Director award in Indian language films section for her debut film Avni ki Kismat, on a tigress that was killed in real life but saved in the film.
The closing ceremony was also attended by filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, actor-dancer Mamata Shankar and actress Aditi Rao Hydari.