India wins Golden Peacock after 10 yrs

PANAJI: It took Bengali filmmaker Gautam Ghosh’s film Moner Manush (The Quest), the story of a 19th century mystic poet Lalon Faqir, to have India win back the Golden Peacock after exactly a decade at the closing ceremony of the 41st edition of the International Film Festival of India (Iffi) 2010. The last Indian film to win the prize was Karunam by Jairam in 2000.The film, that stars actor Prosenjit Chatterjee, won the golden trophy and .` 20 lakh each to its director and producer, for “its stunning potrayal of love in a world full of hate”.
Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier’s In a Better World bagged the Silver Peacock for the best director along with a cash prize of .` 15 lakh for its “potrayal of the sensitive human emotion of pain”. The film tells the story of two families living in a town and a friendship that transforms into a dangerous alliance.
Another Indian film, Kaushik Ganguly’s Just Another Love Story shared the special jury award with The Boydirected by Kiwi filmmaker Taika Waititi, and a purse of .` 15 lakh. Ganguly’s film starring Rituparna Ghosh won the award for its “fearless portrayal of a sensitive subject in a country where homosexuality is still kept behind closed doors”, while Watiti’s film won for “exploring social issues through a child’s eyes”.
Guven Kirac, who acted in the Turkish film The Crossing, won the Silver Peacock for the best actor for his “closely observed and finely detailed portrayal”, while Magdalena Boczarska won the Silver Peacock for the best actress for her performance in the Polish film Little Rose for “her brilliant portrayal of a complex character”. The Silver Peacock for the best actor and actress carries a cash award worth .`10 lakh each.
Adding some sparkle to the otherwise mundane closing ceremony, the major part of which the front few rows on the left side of Kala Academy had a hard time witnessing— thanks to noisy shutterbugs— was national award-winning actor Saif Ali Khan, who was the chief guest for the evening.
“My speech isn’t very long, but there are a few things they want me to say,” said the dapper Khan, dressed in an off white jacket and jeans.
“Thanks to Iffi, Goa’s no longer solely going to be known as a party place, but as a film destination as well,” he added.
The function also saw South Indian actors Padmapriya and Priyamani felicitated along with Prosenjit Chatterjee and Bollywood’s Arjun Rampal.
State minister for information and broadcasting C M Jatua drew some laughter when he referred to chief minister Digamber Kamat as Pratapsingh Rane during his speech. As he went on, he was informed of his mistake and promptly corrected himself.
In his address, Kamat said that a convention centre for Goa was in the offing, in a bid towards improving the infrastructure for Iffi. “I apologize for any inconveniences caused to any of the delegates and promise to rectify these drawbacks,” he said, adding that the movie ticket sale this year crossed the one lakh mark. DFF director S M Khan proposed the vote of thanks, followed by a cultural programme by Gracy Singh.