Panaji: The jury headed by veteran Indian actor-filmmaker Shekar Kapur gave its thumbs up to Persian film 'Endless Borders' directed by Abbas Amini and it bagged the Golden Peacock award for the best film as curtains came down on the 9-day International Film Festival of India (IFFI) with a the blitz of a dazzling closing ceremony.
As many as 15 films including 12 International and three Indian, had competed for the Golden Peacock.
Hollywood star Michael Douglas felicitated with lifetime achievement award
Hollywood actor-producer Michael Douglas was also honoured with the prestigious Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award at the closing ceremony held at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium, even as the legendary actor said in his acceptance speech that Ray personified what it means to be a "world class filmmaker".
"His (Ray's) films represent not only the triumphs of the Indian film industry but the boundless potential of cross culture artistic expression,” Douglas said. “With everything going on in the world today, this festival is a reminder of the magic of moviemaking. When you’ve been around as long as I have, it becomes clear that cinema has the power to unite across geography, race, language and even time,” the legendary actor-filmmaker said.
Many international actors felicitated with awards
Meanwhile, the best director award was bagged by Stephan Komandarev and Pouria Rahimi Sam won the best male actor award. Melanie Thierry was adjudged the best female actor while Kurdish debutant filmmaker Reger Azad Kaya's 'When The Seedlings Grow' won the best debut feature film award.
The closing ceremony had Goa Chief Pramod Sawant making brief a speech. Sawant meanwhile laid the red carpet for international filmmakers saying his government is committed to make Goa a "heaven for the film industry".
Among other incentives, Sawant offered to provide hassle free permissions, necessary infra and cutting edge technology besides other incentives for international filmmakers. He said, Goa offers a mix of scenic, historic and modern settings even as he urged Douglas to shoot his next film here.
Film festival aims to be on par with global film fests
The nine-day film festival which the Indian government is hoping to expand and bring on par with Cannes, Venice and other top global festivals by making Goa its permanent home, had 7,000-odd delegates attending and where 270 movies from 78 countries were screened.
Apart from Kapur who headed the jury for this year’s international competition, it also included Spanish cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine, two French film producers Jerome Paillard and Catherine Dussart besides Australian producer Helen Leake.
