''Two Seasons, Two Strangers'' wins Suvarna Chakoram award at IFFK

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 19 (PTI) 'Two Seasons, Two Strangers', a Japanese film directed by Sho Miyake, won the prestigious 'Suvarna Chakoram' (Golden Crow Pheasant) award for best film at the 30th IFFK, which ended here on Friday.

The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 20 lakh and a memento, will be shared by the producer and director of the film.

The 'Rajatha Chakoram' (Silver Crow Pheasant) award for best director was bagged by Argentine film, 'Before the Body', directed by Lucia Bracelis and Carina Plazza.

Mauritanian and Malian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, one of the most celebrated African directors, was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the closing ceremony.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who inaugurated the closing day’s function, strongly criticised the Centre for denying clearance to certain films which were scheduled for the festival.

He said the International Film Festival of Kerala was different from other festivals across the world, having a distinct identity with its progressive political stance.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s initial refusal to deny censorship exemption to 19 films was an attempt by the Sangh Parivar forces to crush dissenting voices, he alleged.

Vijayan said the Centre later had to give clearance to 13 of the films after the state government took a stern stand that they would be screened without the ministry’s nod.

He said the I&B ministry had denied permission to a Spanish film 'Beef', going by the title alone without knowing its content.

Sergei Eisenstein’s century-old film, 'Battleship Potemkin', which was being taught in film schools, was also denied clearance.

"These kinds of ridiculous decisions do not come just because of the ignorance of the officials of the ministry," he said, adding that it is "politically motivated".

Films dealing with Palestine issues were also denied clearance, which exposed the Centre’s policy of "suppressing dissent and democratic voices," Vijayan said.

Filmmakers from Turkey and Azerbaijan were also not allowed Visas to attend the festival, he said.

Vijayan said the state government will not yield to such attempts to disrupt the IFFK. "We will not yield to the fascist methods being adopted by the Centre against the festival. Come what may, the IFFK is here to stay," he said.

Vijayan later distributed the awards to the winning filmmakers.

'Shadowbox', a Bengali film directed by Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi, won the award for best Indian debut director at the IFFK.

Actor Tilotama Shome also won a special mention for her role in the movie.

The FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) award for best debut director in Malayalam went to Fazil Razak for his film, 'Moham' (The Desire).

The FIPRESCI award for best film in the competition section went to 'If on a Winter’s Night' (Hindi/Malayalam) by Sanju Surendran.

Tajikistan film, 'Black Rabbit, White Rabbit', by Shahram Mokri, received special mention from the Jury for its technical excellence.

Malayalam filmmaker Unnikrishnan Avala’s 'Thanthapperu' (Life of a Phallus) also won a special mention.

'Thanthapperu' also received the Audience poll Prize for best debut director, which carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, and the NETPAC (The Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema) award for best Malayalam director.

The NETPAC award for best Asian film went to the Afghan entry, 'Cinema Jazireh', directed by Gozda Kural.

Kerala State Chalachitra Academy chairman Resul Pookutty, state Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian, Finance Minister K N Balagopal, General Education Minister V Sivankutty and renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan were among those present. PTI MVG SSK MVG SSK ADB