We present the list of winners of the 18th Mumbai Film Festival that took place from October 20th – 27th in Mumbai, India.
International Competition
Golden Gateway Award
Diamond Island by David Chou – Cambodia, France | 2016 – 101 min.
Diamond Island is a symbol of Cambodia’s future – a sprawling, ultra-modern paradise for the rich on the riverbank in Phnom Penh. Like many other country boys, Bora, 18, is lured from his village to work on the construction of this property developer’s dream. In Diamond Island, he forges new friendships and is even reunited with his charismatic older brother Solei, who disappeared five years ago. Solei introduces Bora to the exciting world of Cambodia’s privileged urban youth, with its girls, its nightlife and its illusions.
Silver Gateway Award
Godless (Bezbog) by Ralitza Petrova – Bulgaria, Denmark, France | 2016 – 99 min.
In a remote Bulgarian town, Gana looks after the elderly who suffer from dementia, while also trafficking their ID cards on the black market. At home, she provides for her jobless mother, with whom she hardly speaks. Her relationship with her mechanic boyfriend is no source of love either. The only source of comfort for her is her addiction to morphine. Nothing seems to have an effect on the nurse’s conscience; not even the incidental murder of a patient. Things however begin to change when Gana begins to feel empathy for Yoan, a new patient. She soon learns though that this transformation will not be without a price.
Jury Grand Award
Everything Else (Todo lo demás) by Natalia Almada – Mexico, US | 2016 – 98 min.
Doña Flor is a bureaucrat. This fact manifests in everything about her: the nondescript beige blouse, practical heels and knee-length skirts. For over three decades, she has attended to indignant citizens to whom she is nothing but a lifeless bureaucrat. Her solace is her cat, who she tends to in the evening, while making a list of all the people she tried to help during the day. Inspired by Hannah Arendt’s idea that bureaucracy is one of the worst forms of violence, Everything Else explores the interior life of Doña Flor as she attempts to reinvent her life. Featuring an observational narrative, the film is a contemplation on solitude.
Special Mention for Political Commitment of the Film
When Two Worlds Collide by Matthew Orzel and Heidi Brandenburg Sierralta
UK, Peru | 2016 – 103 min.
The film situates itself directly in the line of fire between two powerful Peruvian leaders who are fighting over the future of the country. When president Alan Garcia attempts to extract oil and minerals from untouched Amazonian land with the hopes of elevating his country’s economic prosperity, he is met with a fierce, violent opposition led by indigenous leader Alberto Pizango. This leads to a conflict that quickly escalates from a heated war of words to one of deadly violence.
Special Mention
Alba by Macarena Arias – Ecuador | 2016 – 96 min.
Alba is eleven years old. She spends most of her time in silence and she loves tiny little animals. She has learned how to deal with her mother’s illness. She usually helps her going to the bathroom, she combs her hair and she has even learned how to play silently in order to let her rest during the day. At school Alba steals objects from a group of girls she want to be accepted by, and she plays at home imitating what girls do.
One night her mother gets worse and has to be taken to a hospital. Nobody can take care of Alba, so has to move to her father’s place. She hasn’t seen him since she was three years old. Igor is a very lonely man, almost a hermit, which works reading fingerprints in the register office. He isolated himself in his old small house after he got separated from his family. Living with her father is almost unbearable for Alba, because he reminds her everything she feels insecure about.
Shame, her first kiss, visiting her mother in the hospital, Igor`s tender efforts to get close to her and bullying at school, are some of the situations that pave Alba`s journey to adolescence and to self-acceptance.
India Gold
Golden Gateway Award
Lady of the Lake (Loktak Lairembee) by Haobam Paban Kumar – India | 2016 – 71 min.
Tomba is sick and depressed since the authorities burnt his huts after blaming his community for the pollution of the Loktak Lake. He has confined himself at home and lies idle the entire day, terrified of the possibility that the authorities may return to take whatever he has left. One fine morning, Tomba accidentally finds a gun within the biomass. At first he is confused, but slowly, starts enjoying his newfound toy. He becomes aggressive and starts looking for opportunities to use the gun. One day an old lady knocks at his door in the middle of the night.
Silver Gateway Award
The Narrow Path (Ottayaal Paatha) by Satish Babusenan and Santosh Babusenan
India | 2016 – 96 min.
The Narrow Path is about a father and son who live in the slum. The movie starts one morning and ends by day break the next.
The father Vikraman was a cleaner in the city corporation, now retired. His legs are partly paralysed from uncontrolled diabetes and he’s mostly restricted to his bed and a wheel chair. The son Akhil is an unemployed software engineer. The father and son are almost always fighting each other. Akhil has managed to find himself a job in Bangalore and plans to go away with his girlfriend Nina the next morning. But he hasn’t breathed a word to his dad, simply because he doesn’t have the nerve. Although Nina keeps goading him to speak to the old man, he keeps putting it off.
While Akhil is away with Nina, dad collapses from an overdose of insulin. He’s revived with glucose but he accuses Akhil of trying to kill him with an overdose. Later in the evening Akhil accuses Vikraman of killing his mother by denying her proper medical treatment. The two start a fight that goes out of hand and takes an unexpected turn.
Jury Grand Prize
The Hidden Corner (Haanduk) by Aicheng Jai Dohutia – India | 2016 – 90 min.
After many anxious years Hermoni, mother of Mukti who had left home to join an extremist outfit is handed a mutilated bullet ridden body purportedly that of her son. The formal last rites are performed. Then comes the news that the body may not be Mukti’s. Thus begins another long wait as Hermoni rekindles her hope that her son will return home in person. In company with Hermoni is Sewali, Mukti’s childhood companion with whom he had sought to share his life. She is a woman now. Her love for Muki is unflinching. She is waiting.
And, there is Biplob. He had returned from the outfit to lead a normal life. His past prevents the return of normalcy. The trio go on living. Nourishing in a hidden corner of their hearts that their hopes and dreams will indeed be fulfilled someday.
Special Mention
Cinema Travellers by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madhesiya – India | 2016 – 96 min.
Cannes prize-winning The Cinema Travellers is a journey with the traveling cinemas of India, which bring the wonder of the movies to faraway villages annually. Seven decades on, as their lorries and cinema projectors crumble and film reels become scarce, their audiences are lured by slick digital technology. Filmed over five years, The Cinema Travellers accompanies a shrewd exhibitor, a benevolent showman and a maverick projector mechanic who bear a beautiful burden – to keep the last traveling cinemas of the world running.
Dimensions Mumbai
Golden Gateway Award
Mumbai’s Mahuwa..Mahuva’s Mumbai by Santosh Ganpat Kamble – India | 2016 – 5 min.
Mahuva is a transgender living in Mumbai. With her unfulfilled dreams and excellent communication skills, she prays for people and takes blessings in return for her future. She tries to alter the society’s perception of the eunuch community and hopes to be accepted by the mainstream society.
Silver Gateway Award
Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh… by Tabu Kaariya – India | 2016 – 5 min.
The film depicts the regular life of a regular man who lives with his wife and kid. Things seem fine until he reveals his real feelings. He loves them, he is there for them, as he will always be, but can he do anything about the guilt he suffers from because he has committed a secret wrong?
Special Mention
Bombai by Yashwardhan Goswami – India | 2016 – 5 min.
We often hear people being vocal about how the local train has served them, but do we ever know what a local train might think or feel like? The film’s protagonist, Bombai, is a local train, who talks about how this city has changed and how it has affected the lives of people and especially the local. It also talks about her views of the people around her, the city, her aspirations and attempts to draw parallels with the life of a Mumbaikar.
Mastercard Best India Female Filmmaker 2016 Award
Konkona Sensharma for the film A Death in the Gunj – India | 2016 – 104 min.
Shyamal Chatterjee, a shy student has failed in his semester exams and is embarking on road trip with his family to McCluskiegunj, in Jharkhand, India. Accompanying him on this road trip are Nandu, his older cousin Bonnie. Nandu’s wife Tani, their eight-year-old daughter and Mimi, Bonnie’s unmarried friend on whom Shutu has a crush. Shyamal has kept his semester results a secret from his family and sees this trip as an opportunity to escape from this failure. Something is amiss, however, in this seemingly perfect family holiday, which soon ends with an implosion that catches everyone unaware.
Audience Choice Award
The Salesman (Forushande) by Asghar Farhadi – Iran, France | 2016 – 123 min.
When their old flat is damaged, Emad and Rana, a young couple living in Tehran, are forced to move into a new apartment. An incident linked to the previous tenant begins to dramatically influence the couple’s life.
Young Critics Choice Award
Cinema Travellers by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madhesiya – India | 2016 – 96 min.
Half Ticket Award
Gold Gateway Award (Feature)
Hang in There, Kids! (Lokah Laqi!) by Laha Mebow – Taiwan | 2016 – 90 min.
Watan, Chen Hao and Lin Shan belong to a indigenous tribe and live in the beautiful highlands of Taiwan. The trio spends their time selling peaches in town, accompanying tourists on treks and at their after school class conducted by their beloved wheel-chair bound teacher, Miss Lawa. They are full of life and mischief despite their troubled family circumstances. Their lives take a surprising turn when they go on a field trip to Taipei.
Silver Gateway Award (Feature)
At Eye Level (Auf Augenhöhe) by Evi Goldbrunner and Joachim Dollhopf
Germany | 2015 – 98 min.
Since the death of his mother, ten-year-old Michi lives in an orphanage. He can’t believe his luck, when rummaging through old knick knacks, he accidently finds his father’s address! Boasting about a handsome and strong father, with much excitement and anticipation he packs his things and heads out in search of him. To his shock, his father Tom is nothing like he imagined. Tom is a midget, even shorter than himself. Michi is now only concerned about hiding his embarrassment and shame from his friends. Tom is just as shocked at this unexpected fatherhood. Thrown into this unlikely reunion, both father and son learn that before they accept each other they must first learn to accept themselves.
Special Mention (Feature)
Colours of Innocence (Sahaj Paather Gappo) by Manas Mukal Pal – India | 2016 – 86 min.
10-year-old Gopal’s carefree childhood is disrupted when his father meets with an accident. It becomes difficult for his mother to feed him and his little brother Chottu. Gopal starts devising ways to earn money. With a little assistance from Chottu he takes up odd jobs from cleaning wells to selling laboriously plucked fruits in the local village market. Emboldened by his initial success, Gopal fancies himself as the breadwinner of the family. Meanwhile a grand Janmashtami feast is being planned in the Brahmin household where the pulao will be served. Hearing this both the brothers hatch plans of their own. Gopal would like to make a quick buck by selling palmyras for the feast, while Chottu starts dreaming of this fancy dish that he has never seen or tasted. After all he has heard that the whole village will be invited.
Golden Gateway Award (Short)
A Town Called Panic: Back to School by Vincent Patar and Stephane Aubier
France | 2016 – 26 min.
On the first day of school, the principal announces a contest! The winners will go with Mr. Yuri on a field trip to the Moon. Cowboy and Indian will do anything to win the contest. But only Pig knows the answer!
Silver Gateway Award (Short)
We Make Images (Hum Chitra Banate Hai) by Nina Sabnani – India | 2016 – 9 min.
The rooster’s life is hanging on a thin prayer. Will the shaman eat him in exchange of giving the village folk, precious water? The rooster is scared and tries to hide, but when they reach the real Shaman, he is in for a surprise! The shaman lovingly plucks a feather and draws some images on the broken pot. Inspired, all the Bhils paint their walls with similar images that night.
Special Mention (Short)
The Best Sound in the World by Pedro Paulo De Andrade – Brazil | 2015 – 13 min.
Vinicus is a curious collector. But unlike other kids his age, he doesn’t collect action figures or toy cars or comic books. He collects that which cannot be seen or touched: the sounds that inhabit this world. One day he embarks on an ambitious mission – to find the best sound ever heard.
Special Award
Oxfam Award for Best Film on Gender Equality Award
Lipstick Under my Burkha by Alankrita Shrivastava – India | 2016 – 156 min.
Set in the crowded lanes of small town India, the film chronicles the secret lives of four women in search of freedom. A burkha-clad college girl struggles with issues of cultural identity and her aspirations to be a pop singer. A young, two-timing beautician seeks to escape the claustrophobia of her small town. An oppressed housewife and mother of three, lives the alternate life of an enterprising saleswoman. And a 55-year-old widow rediscovers her sexuality through a telephonic romance.
Book Award
Special Mention for Excellence in Writing on Cinema (English)
Kanan Devi: The First Superstar of Indian Cinema by Mekhala Sengupta
Special Mention for Excellence in Writing on Cinema (Hindi)
Naye Daur Ka Naya Cinema by Priyadarshan
Excellence in Writing on Cinema (Hindi)
Anil Bhargava for Bhartiye Cinema ka Itihas
Excellence in Writing on Cinema (English)
Jai Arjun Singh for The World of Hrishikesh Mukherjee
To know more about this festival visit the FESTIVAL PROFILE or go to the official webpage of the festival HERE.
Categories: News
Asian Film Festivals 