The film screenings at the recently concluded Woodpecker International Film Festival 2017 were extremely successful with filmmakers and the audience enjoying the festival experience thoroughly.
The weekend saw the maximum crowds coming in and several filmmakers were in attendance as well. The audience was very excited to welcome a film festival in the heart of the city, at Siri Fort Auditorium. The viewers also appreciated the exposure to issue based cinema, as many of them were hitherto unaware of several issues shown through the films.
The award ceremony was held in the evening of the concluding day (12 November) and the festival director, Rao Narender Yadav thanked the filmmakers and supporters for their involvement and continued encouragement. He also thanked his team that worked tirelessly for the festival.
Festivals need to ensure they have good content: WIFF director Rao Narender Yadav
The festival chairperson, renowned filmmaker, actor, and theatre director Avijit Dutt extended his congratulations to the festival team for putting together a commendable selection of films. He also gave away the awards to some of the winning films.
Utpal Borpujari’s feature-length documentary Memories of a Forgotten War, which, for the first-time ever, seeks to tell the tales of valour of those young soldiers, and locals who participated in or witnessed the battles of World War II in Manipur and Nagaland, won Best Film Award in the Films on North East section.
It was a big night for NDTV as films by Radhika Bordia and Priya Thuvassery won in the Art & Culture and Livelihoods sections, respectively. It was also a happy moment for Darpan Bajaj, the director of Maharajin, as he won the Best Film Award in the Gender section. In the Forest & Wildlife section, Rita Banerji’s eye-opening documentary Saving the Wild - Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation was chosen as the winner. The film looks at the oft overlooked area of rescue and rehabilitation of animals in India.
Amongst the international films, the extraordinary film David Attenborough's Light on Earth was adjudged as Best of the Festival film. It also won the Best Film in the Forest & Wildlife category. German film Arsenic - The Creeping Death by Andreas Ewels, Norbert Porta won in the Public Health Issues section as it studied the effect of arsenic in the contamination of water in Bangladesh. Other winners include Jake Norton, Pete McBride’s Holy (un)Holy River; King Grandpa by Martin Grau; and Italian film Well Done by Riccardo Di Gerlando.
The complete list of winners is given below:
INDIAN FILMS
Outsider by Mohit Bhasin, Aditya Tawde (Best Film - Animation)
Chamar Pop - Dalit Politics of Doab by Radhika Bordia (Best Film - Art & Culture)
Mazhabi Laddu by Ssauarbh Tyagi (Best Film - Children Films)
Deru by Kalyani Productions (Best Film - Environment)
I’ M Jeeja by Swati Chakroborti (Best Film - Films on Disability)
Saving The Wild - Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation by Rita Banerji (Best Film - Forest & Wildlife)
Happy Mother's Day? by Aatish Dabral (Best Film - Social Advertisements & PSAs)
Bismaar Ghar by Shreyas Dasharathe (Best Film - Student Films)
Memories of a Forgotten War by Utpal Borpujari (Best Film - Films on North East)
Maharajin by Darpan Bajaj (Best Film - Gender)
Survey Number Zero by Priya Thuvassery (Best Film - Livelihoods)
The Road Not Taken by Aditi Kodesia (Best Film - Social Challenges)
INTERNATIONAL FILMS
Light Sight by Seyed M. Tabatabaei — Iran (Best Film - Animation)
Cab Elvis by Andrew Franks — USA (Best Film - Art & Culture)
King Grandpa by Martin Grau — Germany (Best Film - Children Films)
Iron Jungle - Nature's Return to the Ruhr Valley by Christian Baumeister — Germany (Best Film - Environment)
Badlands: Hard Rock - Tough Lives by Mike Birkhead — Austria (Jury Mention - Environment)
Well Done by Riccardo Di Gerlando — Italy (Best Film - Films on Disability)
David Attenborough's Light on Earth by Joe Loncraine, Martin Dohrn — Austria (Best Film - Forest & Wildlife, Best of the Festival)
Holy (un)Holy River by Jake Norton, Pete McBride — USA (Best Film - Water)
Snowflakes by Elif Nur Kayalar — Turkey (Best Film - Student Films)
Abiye by Dogas Algün — Turkey (Best Film - Student Films)
Arsenic - The Creeping Death by Andreas Ewels, Norbert Porta — Germany (Best Film - Public Health Issues)
Rule of Nature by Dieter Primig — Germany (Best Film - Livelihoods)
The Transfer by Michael Grudsky — Germany (Best Film - Social Challenges)