MIFF 2016: Winners’ list

Manipuri documentary film Phum Shang (Floating Life) won the Golden Conch Award for the Best Documentary Film (up to 60 minutes) at the 14th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for Documentary, Animation and Short Films, which ended on 03 February 2016.  Swiss film My Name is Salt, and Indian entry Placebo shared the Gold Conch award for the Best Feature length Documentary Film.

In the picture are, l to r, Mukesh Sharma (Director, MIFF), Vinod Tawde (Maharashtra State's Minister for Culture), C. Vidyasagar Rao (Governor of Maharashtra), Jackie Shroff (actor and Brand Ambassdador, MIFF) and renowned feature-film director, Ramesh Sippy

The 52-minute documentary Phum Shang, directed by Hao Bam Pabankumar, an alumnus of the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata, critically examines the serious environmental problems faced at the Loktak lake. The largest fresh water lake in North East India, characterised by its unique floating biomass, known as Phumdi, is today considered a dying, lake due to unchecked human activity. Pabankumar won the Golden Conch and a cash prize of Rs. 3 lakh (3,00,000).

Lutz Konermann (cinematographer) watches as his wife, Farida Pacha, collects her award

My Name is Salt, directed by Mumbai born, Zurich based Farida Pacha, is a film about the journey of thousands of families to the Rann of Kutch, in Gujarat, to extract the whitest salt in the world. My Name Is Salt also won the Best Cinematographer award for Lutz Konermann, while Placebo won the Award for Best Editor. Chandigarh-based film maker Abhay Kumar’s 96 minutes film Placebo explores the stress and pressure faced by medical students. 

Abhay Kumar directed, and co-produced, the film, with Archana Phadke, the cinematographer

A hybrid documentary that took four years to complete, Placebo is based on facts: After witnessing an act of brutal violence, a film-maker goes undercover, in one of the greatest educational institutes of India, to investigate the rising incidents of violence amongst some of the best minds in the nation.Placebo was also declared the Most Innovative Film in the competition section.

Debanjan Nandy’s animation film Chhaya bagged the first prize in the Animation Category of International Competition.

Debanjan Nandy wins for Chhaya

Mumbai film-maker Devashish Makhija’s Agli Baar (Next Time) shared the Best Short Fiction Film honours with the UK entry Solo Finale by Ingo Putze. 

Dadasaheb Phalke Award, for the Best Debut Film of a Director ,went to Far From Home, by Copenhagen, Denmark-based film maker Nitesh Anjan, whose father migrated to Denmark and then considered returning to India, after many decades. This predicament is the subject of his film.

The International Jury for the Festival comprised prominent documentary makers Don Askarian from Germany,  Jesper Andersen from Denmark, Mathieu Roy of Canada, Siddharth Kak and Gitanjali Rao (both from India).  Mike Pandey, Uma DaCunha, Biju Dhanapalan, Audrius Stonys (Lithuania) and Jane Yu (Taiwan) were the members of the National Jury.

MIFF 2016 showcased over 385 films under International and National competition, MIFF Prism, Indian Premières, Jury retrospectives, animation and award winning films , children’s documentary films, North East package, Films Division productions,  PSBT (Public Service Broadcasting Trust) films, homages, and more.