Shyam Benegal receives lifetime achievement award at MIFF

Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal was on Sunday conferred with V Shantaram Lifetime achievement award at the 15th Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films.

The filmmaker was honoured with the award for his outstanding contribution in the field of feature and documentary films.

The award, given to Benegal by Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, carries a trophy, a citation and cash prize of Rs 10 lakh.

Maharashtra's Minister of Culture and Education Vinod Tawde, Former Sheriff of Mumbai Kiran Shantaram and Director of Films Division Manish Desai were present.

At the closing ceremony of the festival on Friday, Austrian filmmaker Stefan Bohun's documentary "Brother Jakob, Are You Sleeping?" won the prestigious Golden Conch award for the best documentary in the International Competition.

"Brother Jakob, Are You Sleeping" is a story of four brothers on a journey into the past.

It is a shared path of memories, which starts in the Tyrolean Mountains after the fifth brother's death and ends in a hotel room in Porto.

The Golden Conch award carries a cash prize of Rs 1 million (Rs 10 lakh).

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Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Documentary in the International Competition was announced to the Marathi/ Hindi film "Cinema Travellers". Directed and produced by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya, the film also won Best Cinematography award in National/International Competition section.

Silver Conch for the Best Short Fiction Film in the International Competition was jointly awarded to film "Aaba" (The Grandfather) directed by Amar Kaushik and Korean film "My Turn" (Nae Chalye) directed by Nakyung Kim.

The Pramod Pati Special Jury Award in International Competition was awarded to the Bengali film "I Am Bonnie", directed by Satarupa Santra, Farha Khatun and Saurabh Kanti Dutta and produced by Films Division.

In the National film competition category, Silver Conch for the Best Short Fiction under 45 minutes it was declared to the Bengali film "Sakhisona" Directed by Prantik Basu and produced by FTII, Pune.

In Animation film category, Silver Conch for the Best Animation Film in the National Competition awarded to the film "Tokri" (The Basket), directed by Suresh Eriyat.

Silver Conch for the Best Documentary (under 60 minutes) in the National Competition of MIFF 2018 was awarded to Manipuri documentary "Ima Sabitri" directed by Bobo Khuraijam whereas Silver Conch for the Best Documentary -(above 60 minutes) in the National Competition section was given to "Santhal Family to Mill Recall" directed and produced by R V Ramani.

The Jury recommended grant of Certificate of Merit to two films.

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"Naachi Se Baanchi" in Hindi Directed by Biju Toppo & Meghanath and produced by Films Division and English film "I Am Jeeja" directed by Swati Chakraborty.

In the technical awards category, Best Sound Design award went to Pinja Mustajoki for the Finnish film "My Secret Forest" while for Best Editing went to "InstaStories".

Shreyas Dasharathe's Gujarati film Bismaar Ghar (Withering House) bagged the award for Best Student Film in the National Competition, given by IDPA in the honour of veteran documentary maker Vijaya Mulay. 

Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari Award for Best Debut Film went to Hindi film "Beloved", directed by Ranjan Chandel.