1. Home
  2. Women directors sweep top awards at MAMI film fest

Women directors sweep top awards at MAMI film fest

Agencies
October 19, 2017

Oct 19: Women ruled the roost at the 19th MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. Rima Das's 'Village Rockstars' won the Golden Gateway award in the India Gold Category and Carla Simon's 'Summer 1993' won the honour in the International category.

The seven-day event, which concluded on Wednesday night in Mumbai, screened over 220 films from 51 countries including features, documentaries and short films.

Das is ecstatic as her movie has also won the Oxfam Best Film -- Gender Equality Award and the Young Critics Choice Award at the festival.

The director-cinematographer-editor-producer said: "I am grateful to the MAMI jury and especially my children. Most of the people thought I was mad. But the children and my family believed in me."

"When I started making movies, the movies were earlier selected in festival but my mother used to ask whether I will win. So this is to my mom."

Simon, who was on her first visit to India, said it was an "incredible experience".

Rina Soni, Director of Oxfam India, said: "Globally, women seldom get fair credit and recognition for their work. There's no shortage of talented female filmmakers out there, they just need a platform to shine."

"The Award is to support and encourage filmmakers to make films that break gender norms or challenge the conventional portrayal of women and girls."

"'Village Rockstars' deserves the award as it brings on screen the story of hope and aspirations of a young girl fighting inequality and disasters. We are delighted that another path-breaking film 'The Hungry' received a special mention in this category."

Actors Radhika Apte and Sayani Gupta were the presenters for the ceremony, after which a closing night party saw the attendance of names like Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Rajkumar Hirani, Kabir Khan, Anurag Kashyap, Rajkummar Rao, Ashutosh Gowariker, Konkona Sen Sharma and Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

Anupama Chopra, the festival director, said: "This has been a week long celebration of movies. I want to thank our enthusiastic audience and our generous partners for helping us make this edition of MAMI a roaring success."

Hansal Mehta's film 'Omerta', starring Rajkummar Rao, was the closing film of the festival.

Rajkummar gave away the Audience Choice Award to the Hungarian drama 'On Body and Soul' by Ildiko Enyedi.

In the India Gold Section, the Jury gave a special mention to 'Sexy Durga' by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, and to 'Up, Down and Sideways' by Anushka Meenakshi and Ishwar Srikumar.

The Silver Gateway Award went to 'Machines' by Rahul Jain.

The gala ended with the announcement of the dates for the 20th Edition of MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star -- October 25 to November 1.

MAMI will resume its year round programme next week with the first screening in India of Disney's 'Thor: Ragnarok'.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
March 3,2020

Chennai, Mar 3: Makkal Needhi Maiyam president and actor Kamal Hassan on Tuesday appeared before Chennai Police on Tuesday in connection the deaths last month of three people on the set of the movie, 'Indian 2'.

Hassan appeared before Chennai Police Commissioner in Egmore to record his statement.

Three people died while around 10 suffered injuries when a crane collapsed while shooting of the film was underway in Chennai at EVP Studios on February 19.

Madhu, personal assistant to director Shankar, Krishna, assistant director, and a staffer Chandran, lost their lives in the incident.

In an open letter, "Indian 2" Director S Shankar announced Rs 1 crore as financial assistance to the kin of the deceased.

'Indian 2' stars Kamal Haasan, Kajal Agarwal, Rakul Preet, Siddharth, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Delhi Ganesh and Nedumudi Venu in prominent roles.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 2,2020

Kolkata, Jun 2: Artistes of the Bengali film industry are trying to get the best out of their creative side amid the lockdown, with many of them giving shape to innovative concepts and ideas to hook the audience.

A short film 'Grub Ne Bana Di Jodi', with RJ-actor Mir Afsar Ali in the lead, transcends boundaries to bring couples from around the world together on one platform, as they engage in discussions on food and culture.

The shot-at-home film, directed by Satrajit Sen, has Ali giving couples tasks to test their culinary skills.

"This is the time to try new concepts and that, too, without the usual technical support. There is no box office pressure, and people can take their own sweet time to watch the film on YouTube," he said.

Actor Vikram Chatterjee, who recently completed the shoot of 'Pabitra Puppies', a web series about seven friends bonding over video games, said it was an "altogether different experience" with no crew to assist him at home.

"The shooting process was complicated but we had a lot of fun. I was in Mumbai when the lockdown was imposed.

Coordinating with the director and other cast members wasn't easy, but this phase has taught us how to overcome challenges," Chatterjee said.

The series, also starring Sohini Sarkar and Saayoni Ghosh, will be streaming on Hoichoi soon.

Director Shieladitya Moulik's third outing on YouTube, amid the lockdown, has garnered good reviews.

The short film 'Eye Candy' tells the story of a blind couple who had been finding ways to connect with each other.

"I wanted to talk about long-distance relationships, and the problems faced by couples in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, but not without a twist. I hope the viewers enjoy the short," Moulik said.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
February 7,2020

Srinagar, Feb 7: Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking a stay on the release of the movie 'Shikara' which is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley.

The film which hit theatres today has Vidhu Vinod Chopra at the helm and narrates the story of the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 that forced lakhs to flee their homeland almost overnight following a genocidal campaign by militants.

Shot primarily in the Valley, the movie is being promoted mainly as a journey of love between the lead couple.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.