52nd edition of the Asia’s oldest and largest film festival, International Film Festival of India (IFFI), held in Goa from November 20 to 28, 2021 in hybrid mode (that combines both virtual and physical modes) to showcase the excellence of film art and filmmakers from all over the world while boosting creativity and cultural exchange.
- Who Organised the 52nd IFFI?
It was organised jointly by the Directorate of Film Festivals (under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) and the Entertainment Society of Goa, Government of Goa, and Indian Film Industry.
- Indian Film Personality of the Year Award for 2021: Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur, announced the Indian Film Personality of the Year Award for 2021 which was conferred to Hema Malini, Actor and Member of Parliament from Mathura, Uttar Pradesh and Prasoon Joshi, Lyricist and Chairperson, CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification).
- Opening film of 52nd IFFI: Carlos Saura’s The King of All the World (El Rey de Todo El Mundo).
- Closing film of 52nd IFFI: ‘A Hero’ an Iranian film written and directed by Asghar Farhadi.
Golden and Silver Peacock Award of 52nd IFFI:
| IFFI 52 Award Category | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Peacock Award | |||
| Best Film | ‘Ring Wandering’ Directed by Masakazu Kaneko | Japan | Rs 40 lakhs (Rs 4 million) (Rs 20 lakh each for Director Masakazu Kaneko and Producer Takashi Shiotsuki ) |
| Silver Peacock Awards | |||
| Best Director | Václav Kadrnka for ‘Saving One Who Is Dead’ | Czech | 15 lakh rupees (Rs. 1.5 million) |
| Best Actor (Male) | Jitendra Bhikulal Joshi – for portraying Late Marathi actor Nishikant Kamat in ‘Godavari’ | India (Marathi Actor) | Rs 10 lakh (Rs. 1 million) |
| Best Actor (Female) | Angela Molina – for role of Charlotte in ‘Watch Charlotte’ | Spain | Rs 10 lakh(Rs. 1 million) |
| Special Jury Award | Shared by – Marathi film ‘Godavari’ by Nikhil Mahajan; and Brazilian Actor Renata Carvalho who has acted in Director Rodrigo de Oliveira’s ‘The First Fallen’ | – | 15 lakh rupees (Rs. 1.5 million) |
| Other Awards | |||
| Best Debut Feature Film of a Director | Director Mari Alessandrini for ‘Zahorí’ | Argentine | – |
| ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Award | ‘Lingui, The Sacred Bonds’ by Chad filmmaker Mahamat Saleh Haroun | – | Certificate and a Medal |
| Indian Film Personality of the Year Award | Hema Malini and Prasoon Joshi | – | – |
Note – Russian film The DORM / Obschaga by Director Roman Vasyanov, and Spanish film The Wealth of the World / La Riqueza del Mundo by debut director and actor Simon Farriolhas received a Special Mention from the International Competition Jury.
Note – Prasoon Joshi is a Padma Shri awardee.
ICFT UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) Gandhi Award:
- It will be given to a film that best reflects Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of peace, tolerance and non-violence.
- The Award is given as part of IFFI’s collaboration with the International Council for Film, Television and Audio-visual Communication (ICFT) Paris.
Highlights of 52nd IFFI:
i.Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award: Hungarian film director Istevan Szabo and American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor Martin Scorsese have been conferred the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award for their contribution to world cinema.
ii.As India celebrates the 75th year of freedom with the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, in a first-at-IFFI, 75 young aspiring film makers have been given chance to showcase their creativity at 52nd IFFI 2021.
- The 75 youngsters comprising 7 female and 68 male artists, all below 35 years of age, have been chosen based on their exquisite skills in different fields of film making including direction, editing, singing and screenplay, among others.
- The youngest creative minds winner is the 16-year-old Aryan Kumar from Bihar who has been chosen for his skills in Film Direction.
iii.Anurag Singh Thakur felicitated the winners of ‘75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow’ competition at 52nd IFFI.
iv.Uttar Pradesh has been picked as the most friendly state for film shooting at 52nd IFFI. Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal received the award.
- Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation of the Noida International Airport, and the State government is developing a film city spread over an area of 1,000 acres in the vicinity of the airport at an estimated investment of over Rs 10,000 crore.
Sixth BRICS Film Festival:
i.The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Film Festival was held for the 1st time on the side-lines of IFFI.
ii.Awards of the 6th BRICS Film Festival have been announced at the closing ceremony. Jury consists of five members, one from each of the five BRICS countries, led by Jury Chairman Rahul Rawail
| Category of Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best film | Jointly won by – South African film ‘Barakat’ and Russian film ‘The Sun above Me Never Sets’ |
| Best Director | Lúcia Murat, for her documentary ‘Ana’ |
| Best actor (Male) | Indian actor Dhanush for his role in ‘Asuran’ |
| Best Actor (Female) | Brazilian actress Lara Boldorini for her role in ‘On Wheels’ |
| Special Mention Award | Director Yan Han from China for ‘A Little Red Flower’ |
The jury of 52nd IFFI:
The jury of 52nd IFFI was categorized into International Jury, Feature film jury, Non-feature film jury,
- International Jury – Iranian filmmaker Rakhshan Banietemad chaired the jury, which includes filmmakers from Iran, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, Columbia and India.
- The Feature Film Jury – It comprising twelve members with Indian Filmmaker and actor S V Rajendra Singh Babu as the chairperson.
- Non-feature film jury – S. Nallamuthu (India), leading wildlife and documentary filmmaker is the Chairperson of this jury.
Key Points:
i.For the first time, 52nd IFFI had the presence and participation of OTT (Over-the-Top) platforms. More than 50 films were screened simultaneously on OTT platforms.
- For the first time all major OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Sony and others, participated in the film festival.
- Netflix organised a 3-day virtual Masterclass by the Paris based renowned school of image and arts, Gobelins School L’image.
ii.Around 10,000 delegates from across the world, including filmmakers, students and cine enthusiasts participated in a hybrid format.
iii.The IFFI 2021 presented more than 148 foreign films from 73 countries. It witnessed 12 world premieres, 7 international premieres, 24 Asia premiers and 74 India premieres. 75 Indian films were screened, 17 of them specially selected under India @75 Section.
- There were 234 screenings in which nearly 450 hours of movies were screened.
iv.Indian actor Madhuri Dixit participated in IFFI as Guest of Honour. A special tribute was paid at 52nd IFFI to Sean Connery, the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond.
v.The Homage section of 52nd IFFI showcased the films of Bertrand Tavernier, Christopher Plummer, Jean-Claude Carriere and Jean-Paul Belmondo as a homage to the veterans.
vi.Retrospective section of 52nd IFFI featured renowned Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr and Russian filmmaker and stage director Andrei Konchalovsky.
vii.The IFFI 2022 was planned to be executed at same time and place i.e. from November 20 to 28, 2022 in Goa.
Recent Related News:
The 74th Cannes Film Festival 2021 was held from July 6-17, 2021 at Palais des Festivals et des Congrès Convention Center in Cannes, France. ‘Night of Knowing Nothing’ directed by India’s Payal Kapadia won the Oeil d’or (Golden Eye) award for best documentary at the Film Festival.
About Ministry of Information & Broadcasting:
Union Minister – Anurag Singh Thakur (Constituency – Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh)
Minister of State – L. Murugan (Constituency – Madhya Pradesh)
