Hollywood veteran Michael Douglas accepted the Satyajit Ray lifetime achievement award for excellence in cinema at the closing ceremony of the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on Tuesday.
The award was conferred during the festival’s closing ceremony by Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana and Pramod Sawant, chief minister of Goa.
Event Details
The festival was held from November 20 to 28, 2023, at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Goa. The festival showcased a total of 270 films from over 75 countries, including 25 feature films and 19 non-feature films in the Indian Panorama section.
Award Winners
In addition to Douglas, other award winners at the festival included:
- Best Film: Endless Borders (Iran) by Abbas Amini
- Best Male Actor: Pouria Rahimi Sam (Iran) for his role in Endless Borders
- Best Female Actor: Melanie Thierry (France) for her role in Party of Fools (aka Captives)
- Best Director: Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria) for his film Blaga’s Lessons
- Special Jury Award: Kantara (India) by Rishabh Shetty
- Best Debut Feature: When the Seedlings Grow (Syria) by Reger Azad Kaya
- ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal: Drift (Singapore) by Anthony Chen
- Best Web Series: Season 2 of Panchayat (India)
In the festival’s international competition, the jury, presided over by veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, awarded best film to Abbas Amini’s Rotterdam-winning Iranian film “Endless Borders.”
Other Highlights
The festival also featured a number of other events, including:
- A tribute to Satyajit Ray on the occasion of his birth centenary
- A retrospective of the work of Indian filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan
- A panel discussion on the future of Indian cinema
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The IFFI is one of the most prestigious film festivals in Asia. It is an important platform for showcasing Indian cinema to an international audience and for promoting cultural exchange between India and other countries.
The 54th IFFI was a success, with a strong lineup of films and a number of well-attended events. The festival is sure to continue to be an important event for Indian cinema in the years to come.
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