IFFI 2021: It's glory for Japan's Ring Wandering, Asuran's Dhanush and Jitendra Joshi

The 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) ended last evening with the announcement of awards and felicitation of winners.

Nikhil Mahajan's Godavari was a big winner with the Special Jury award and the Silver Peacock for Best Actor for Jitendra Joshi.

The closing ceremony was held on Sunday with actress Madhuri Dixit Nene being the guest of honour. The ceremony saw lyricist and censor board chief Prasoon Joshi being honoured as Indian Film Personality of the Year.

The Golden Peacock for Best Film went to the Japanese feature Ringu Wandaringu (Ring Wandering, 2021) by Masakazu Kaneko. The director and executive producer were given a certificate and a cash prize of Rs40 lakh. The film was chosen by the jury for its 'beautifully photographed combination of fantasy and manga-inspired reality, reflecting a fascination with the echoes of the past reverberating in present-day Japanese society'. 

The Silver Peacock for Best Director went to Czech filmmaker Václav Kadrnka, for his work, Saving One Who Is Dead (2021). The jury praised the film as a 'masterful and confidently envisioned visual tale of a mother and son caught in a twilight which conjures imaginations of life and death'. 

The Silver Peacock for Best Actor (Male) went to actor Jitendra Joshi for his performance in Nikhil Mahajan's Godavari (2021). The film also shared the Special Jury award with director Rodrigo De Oliveira's The First Fallen (2021). Actress Renata Carvalho accepted the award on behalf of her director.

Carvalho also won the Special Jury award for Best Actress for her performance in De Oliveira's film which traces the undocumented history of the LGBTQ community and its fight against the AIDS epidemic in Brazil in the 1980s.

Spanish actress Angelina Molina won the Silver Peacock for Best Actor (Female) for her performance in Charlotte. In its citation, the jury observed that Molina plays a character who as an aged diva is both manipulative and insecure. 'She gives a performance that elicits sympathy and frustration in equal measure and has a beguiling on-camera presence that captivated all of the jurors,' it said.

The Russian film, The Dorm, received a Special Mention from the international jury while the opening film of the Indian Panorama, Semkhor by Aimee Baruah, received the same honour from the Indian Panorama jury.

Director Mari Alessandrini's Zahori won the Best Debut Feature Film of a Director award while director Simon Farriol's Wealth Of The World got a Special Mention in the category.

The BRICS International Film Festival, which was held on the sidelines of IFFI, also concluded with the announcement of major winners. The section saw eight films from the five emerging countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa compete for prizes. Dhanush's performance in Asuran (2019) earned him the award for Best Actor (Male).

South Africa's official submission to the Oscars next year, Barakat, shared the award for Best Film at the BRICS festival with Russian filmmaker Lyubov Borisova's comedy The Sun Above Me Never Sets.

The Best Director award went to Lucia Murat for her film Ana. The Best Actor (Female) award went to Lara Boldorini for her performance in the film On Wheels.

The Chinese film The Little Red Flower by Yan Han won a Special Jury mention. Among the major awards was the ICFT UNESCO Gandhi award presented to the film, Lingui: The Sacred Bonds, an internationally co-produced drama film recounting the story of the sacred relationship between a mother and daughter and their survival against harsh laws set by men.

The film was selected for best 'reflecting Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of peace, tolerance and non-violence'.