Vietnamese film Skin of Youth, directed by Ash Mayfair, won the Best Feature Film award at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa.
The director of the transgender drama bagged the ‘Golden Peacock’ at the festival’s closing ceremony held at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium on Friday evening.
Set in the 90s Saigon, the film explores the romance between San, a transgender sex worker dreaming of a sex reassignment surgery, and Nam, an underground cage fighter, who fights to support her son.
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Praising the film, the jury said, “Captivating from the very first frame, with inspired cinematography and bold production design, the director draws extraordinary performances from the two remarkable leads. Every element—evocative music, skilful editing, and meticulous craft—comes together seamlessly…”
One of the highlights of the closing ceremony was the celebration of actor Rajnikanth’s five decades as a screen actor. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner was honoured by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant with a shawl and memento.
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“Fifty years feels like 10 or 15 years. Time just flew. Even if I take 100 rebirths, I would like to be born as an actor and as Rajnikanth,” said the 74-year-old superstar, expressing gratitude for the honour.
The festival also paid homage to the artistes who passed away this year with an audio-visual tribute titled, ‘In fond remembrance of the artists we lost’. Dharmendra, Kamini Kaushal, Sulakshana Pandit, Satish Shah, Piyush Pandey, Zubeen Garg and Shyam Benegal were among those remembered at the event.
Other award winners of the evening included Karan Singh Tyagi, who received the Best Debut Director of Indian Feature Film Award for Kesari Chapter 2.
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The jury lauded the cinematic values, historical importance and compelling moments of Indian freedom struggle captured in the film.
The best director award was won by Santosh Davakhar for the Marathi thriller Gondhal. Norwegian film Safe House, directed by Eirik Svensson, was awarded the ICFT–UNESCO Gandhi Medal.
The Silver Peacock Award was shared by two movies — Iranian film My Daughter’s Hair, directed by Hesam Farahmand, and Estonian film Frank, directed by Tõnis Pill. Nigerian-British Akinola Davies Jr-directed My Father’s Shadow received a special jury award.
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Ubeimar Rios got the Silver Peacock for Best Actor (Male) for his role in Columbian film A Poet while Jara Sofija Ostan won the Silver Peacock for Best Actor (Female) for her performance in Little Trouble Girls.
Directed by Anand Tiwari, Bandish Bandits Season 2’ was declared the Best Web Series (OTT) for “making arts and music accessible to all”.
A number of prominent film personalities, including Ranveer Singh, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Ravi Kishan and Ramesh Sippy, were present at the ceremony.
Another highlight of the ceremony was the Northeast Cultural Showcase, curated by Ranjit Gogoi, which celebrated the region’s contribution to Indian cinema as well as its cultural distinctiveness.
