According to Internet Media: India was the guest of honour at the 33rd Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), which opened in Cairo on with the screening of John Abraham-Katrina Kaif starrer New York directed by Kabir Khan. Adoor Gopalakrishnan, the internationally renowned Indian filmmaker, was chairperson of the International Jury. Two others, namely Vikas Swarup, Indian Consul-General to Osaka, Japan and Namrata Joshi, film critic, were Indian jury members in the Digital Competition Section and the FIPRESCI Jury respectively. Swarup is the author of Q & A on which Slumdog Millionnaire was based.Two Indian films, New York directed by Kabir Khan and Madholal Keep Walking, a debut film by Jai Tank, featured in the International Competition for Long Feature Films. This section screened 17 films drawn across countries like Argentina, Hungary, France, Russia, Lithuania, Sri Lanka, Slovenia, Morocco, Mexico, Turkey, etc. Mudhal Mudhal Mudhal Varai (First Time)’ by Krishna Seshadri Gomatam was selected for the digital competition section. This film bagged the Silver Award (jointly) in the section for its “engaging look at man’s eternal struggle to understand the meaning of life and death. The jury found the director’s use of a lighthearted narrative to explore a serious theme both innovative and endearing.” It is about an aspiring filmmaker who is desperately trying to make his first film and his future depends on his success in making it.
The other Silver Award went to Exile in Paris (France) directed by Ahmet Zirek for “the director’s lived experience and creative use of phone conversations that gave an added dimension to the poignant quest for identity in a world full of borders.” Subrat Dutta, the main actor in Madholal Keep Walking, won the Best Actor Award (jointly) for his sustained and convincing performances portraying a man up against life’s travails with the pain and humour inherent in the situation. It is about an ordinary man whose life changes when he loses an arm in the Mumbai train bomb blasts in July some years back. The other winner is Egyptian actor Fathy Abdel Wahab for his performance in Nile Birds.
The other Silver Award went to Exile in Paris (France) directed by Ahmet Zirek for “the director’s lived experience and creative use of phone conversations that gave an added dimension to the poignant quest for identity in a world full of borders.” Subrat Dutta, the main actor in Madholal Keep Walking, won the Best Actor Award (jointly) for his sustained and convincing performances portraying a man up against life’s travails with the pain and humour inherent in the situation. It is about an ordinary man whose life changes when he loses an arm in the Mumbai train bomb blasts in July some years back. The other winner is Egyptian actor Fathy Abdel Wahab for his performance in Nile Birds.
