A lowdown on the winners of the Mumbai International Film Festival

The seven day international documentary film festival, MIFF 2014 concluded in Mumbai last week, with best of the work in documentary, short and animation films honoured via awards presented by eminent film makers Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Shyam Benegal. Kamar Ahmad Simon’s 90 minute documentary Are You Listening won the Golden Conch Award for the Best Documentary Film (above 60 minutes). Set in the coastal belt of Bangladesh, Simon’s Are You Listening is a powerful and beautifully photographed film that reveals the alarming effects of climate change and deftly captures the fighting spirit of a community and their will to survive. Producer of the movie Sara Afreen was awarded the Golden Conch trophy and a cash prize of Rs 500,000(Rs 300,000 for the Director and Rs 200,000 for the producer – Sara Afreen). The Golden Conch for Best Documentary Film up to 60 minutes went to Maria Stodtmeier’s (Germany) In Between: Isang Yun in North and South Korea. The documentary explored whether music can overcome the boundaries of a divided country. It examined the worlds of North and South Korean music, taking the viewer along on an exciting journey through two political systems. FTII production Black Rock directed by Vikrant Janardhan Pawar was adjudged the Best Short Fiction film in International Competition. The Golden Conch Best Animation Film award went to ‘True Love Story’ by Gitanjali Rao. This 18 minute animation , set in the streets of Mumbai explored what happens when the ultimate Bollywood fantasy is applied in reality. It gave audience a glimpse into the influence of Bollywood on real life in Mumbai, told through puppet animation. Gulabi Gang clinched its director Nishtha Jain, the Best Director award for Nishtha Jain in the International Competition section of MIFF. She was awarded a cash prize of Rs 100,000 and a certificate. Dhvani Desai’s RTI film Chakravyuh was voted as the most popular film of MIFF 2014. The movie was chosen through fair voting by festival delegates. Chakravyuh, portrayed the struggles of four characters from different regions of India and threw light on how the Right To Information Act could be used to fight corruption. The Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari Award for Best Debut Film of a Director went to Mumbai based film maker Dylan Mohan Gray’s film Fire in the Blood. The 84 minute film narrated the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies and governments blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for the countries of the global south in the years after 1996 causing ten million or more unnecessary deaths. Pramod Pati Award for most Innovative film, carrying a cash prize of Rs 100,000 and a trophy went to Pushpa Rawat’s 57 minute documentary Nirnay (Decision). Kashmiri film Tamaash (The Puppet) was adjudged the best Short Fiction Film while Seven Hundred Zero Zero Seven by Altaf Mazid got the Golden Conch for Best Documentary (up to 40 minutes).