The 16th Mumbai Film Festival came to a close on Tuesday evening with films Court, Chauranga and Killa bagging the top honours.
Actor Aamir Khan was the guest of honour at the closing ceremony, which was followed by the awards function.
“I was a part of the first Mumbai film festival as well and I remember the spirit of that time,” he said.
“The problems it faced is a reminder of what this festival means to us and how much Mumbai needs to sustain it. I thank everyone who worked day and night to put up this successful show despite the odds.”
Celebrity guests included Madhuri Dixit, Vaani Kapoor, Esha Gupta, Parineeti Chopra and Anushka Sharma.
“Nothing brings people and countries together like cinema,” said Dixit. “We have movies from all corners of the world. Such festivals are very important for they bring out the films needed to be seen, rewarded and recognised. It is our responsibility as guardians of this galaxy called cinema to give new talent the tools and accessibility to help them be creative and better at their art.”
The day saw the best of world cinema including Broken Hill Blues, 71, Macondo, Theeb, Coming Home, Nymphomaniac Volume I and II, Jack, I Am Not Him, Pride, Black Coal, Thin Ice, Gett, The Trial of Viviane Amsalem, Goodbye to Language — 3D and Farewell screened across the two venues — PVR Andheri and Cinemax Versova.
The international competition jury, headed by Peter Webber and comprising Ritesh Batra, Ron Mann and Ian Birnie, awarded the Golden Gateway of India trophy for the best film in the international competition section to Court, directed by Chaitanya Tamhane and produced by Vivek Gomber.
The jury grand prize with the Silver Gateway of India trophy was given to Mexican film Gueros directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios and produced by Ramiro Ruiz Ruiz-Funes.
The jury named Chaitanya Tamhane best director for Court.
The film also earned a special jury mention for ensemble cast.
Martin Loizillon’s role in Fever won him the best actor award. The Silver Gateway of India trophy for best actress was given to Liron Ben-Shlush for Next to Her.
The final award in the international competition category, the jury award for best camera work, was won by Anthony ‘Tat’ Radcliffe for the historical action film based in Northern Ireland, 71.
Indian feature films screened in the India Gold 2014 category brought to the fore many talented directors.
Jury head Goran Paskaljevic and jury members Serge Bromberg, Bai Ling, Prasanna Vithanage and Colin Vaines chose Chauranga, directed by Bikas Ranjan Mishra, as best film.
Killa, directed by Avinash Arun, won the second best film award, the Silver Gateway of India. The ensemble cast of Killa received the special jury award.
Directors below the age of 25 pitted their skill in a short film competition, Dimensions Mumbai.
The jury awarded director Disha Rindani the Silver Gateway of India trophy for best film for Mumbai 70.
Unfit, directed by Shristi Jain, won the second best film award.
Director Ramachandra Gaonkar’s Selfie was given special mention by the jury.
The jury headed by Satish Kaushik comprised Huma Qureshi, Rajeev Masand, Gauri Shinde and Homi Adajania.
The HT Mumbai Young Critics Jury awarded the Silver Gateway of India for the best film to Iranian movie Ba Digaran, directed by Nasser Zamiri.
The best Mumbai young critic award went to Akshay Pawar from D.J. Sanghvi College for his passion and deep understanding of the film medium.
