IFFI 2018: Donbass Wins Golden Peacock, Lijo Jose Pellissery Bags Best Director Honour for Ee Ma Yau

Sergei Loznitsa's Donbass, which is the official submission of Ukraine for the Best Foreign Language Film category for the 2019 Oscars, won the coveted Golden Peacock Award at the 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which concluded in Goa on Wednesday.

Donbass tells the story of a hybrid war taking place in a region of Eastern Ukraine, involving an open armed conflict alongside killings and robberies perpetrated on a mass scale by separatist gangs. Donbass was also selected as the opening film in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where Loznitsa also bagged the ‘Un Certain Regard’ Award for the best director.

While Lijo Jose Pellissery took home the Best Director honour for his Malayalam-language film Ee Ma Yau. The Best Actor (Male) Award went to Chemban Vinod for his spectacular portrayal of Eeshi in the same film.

Ee Ma Yau is a stunning satire on death and how it affects human lives. Set in Chellanam, a coastal village in Kerala, the film shows the plight of a son who tries to arrange a worthy funeral for his father but is met with unpredictable obstacles and reactions from different quarters. Pellissery also won the Best Director Award at the 48th Kerala State Film Awards for Ee Ma Yau.

Anastasiia Pustovit won the Best Actor (Female) Award for playing Larysa, a teenage girl in the Ukrainian film When the Trees Fall. Both Best Actor (Male) and Best Actor (Female) were honoured with the Silver Peacock Trophy and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakhs each.

Milko Lazarov walked away with the Special Jury Award for his film Aga, which focuses on the story of Sedna and Nanook, an elderly couple from Yakutia, and the particular challenges they face in the midst of a frigid landscape.

Alberto Monteras II received the Centenary award for ‘Best Debut Feature Film of a Director’ for his Filipino Movie Respeto. Walking with the Wind, directed by Praveen Morchhale, won The ICFT –UNESCO Gandhi Medal instituted by the International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication, Paris and UNESCO.

Walking with the Wind tells the story of a 10 year old boy in Himalayan Terrain, who mistakenly breaks his friend’s school chair. His daily seven km long journey to school in mountainous terrain on a donkey, turns mammoth and challenging when he decides to bring the chair to his village.

Veteran writer Salim Khan was honoured with the IFFI 2018 Special Award. The prestigious award consisting of a cash prize of Rs 10 lakhs, certificate, shawl and a scroll was conferred upon Khan for his outstanding contribution to cinema.

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