‘Partu’ and ‘Halal’ to be screened in Competition section of PIFF
We are all aware that the most prestigious Pune International Film Festival is presently going on in Pune. Earlier, we had heard about screening of Marathi films like ‘Kaul’, ‘Highway’, ‘Ranga Patanga’, ‘Natasamraat’ and ‘Ringan’ to be screened in the competitive section of Marathi films. But, now we understand that two more Marathi films, namely ‘Partu’ directed by Nitin Adsul and ‘Halaal’ directed by national award winning director Shivaji Lotan Patil is also being screened in this competition section of PIFF.
Many films from different countries are also being screened in the international film’s section, besides some special sections. In ‘Marathi Cinema Today’ section, films like ‘Ganvesh‘, ‘The Silence’, ‘Bho Bho’, ‘Anuraag’ & ‘Aakrandan’ will also be screened. The festival will go on till 21st January 2016. From this year onwards, PIFF Bazar will be a new section, to enable films to market their films.
‘Ticha Umbaratha’ making rounds at Film Festivals
Many Marathi films are receiving good response at film festivals. In fact, it has become a trend to first do the rounds of numerous National and International film festivals, get recognition and then release the film commercially. While doing so, these film makers use the laurels and awards received, during the promotions of their film.
While still unreleased ‘Court‘ is busy with film festivals, one more Marathi film ‘Ticha Umbaratha’ is also doing the rounds, at film festivals. This film has been produced under the banner RDX Cinema by bollywood action director Ravi Dewan and directed by Pradeep Ghonsikar. It was honoured with Best Cinema Today award at PIFF (Pune International Film Festival) and has also won couple of awards, including the best actress award (Tejaswini Pandit) at Sangli International Film Festival. It has also bagged five nominations at one of the TV channels’ awards.
‘Ticha Umbaratha’ is about trials and tribulations of an urban middle class house-wife, who is forced to cross her limits at one point of time in life; and how she fights it without compromising on her values. The story is by Jayant Pawar and bollywood’s renowned cinematographer Yogesh Jani is behind the camera. The cast includes Chinmay Mandlekar, Tejaswini Pandit, Jyoti Chandekar, Suyash Tilak among others. As this film is busy with film festivals, the release date has still not been finalised.
PIFF to begin from 6th January 2011
The most popular Pune International Film Festival will begin from 6th January 2011 in different sections. In the competition section, the first section will be for international films, where 14 selected films will be shown. In the second section for Marathi films, 7 films have been selected for screening and in the third section of short films made by students, 38 entries have been short listed. In all, there will be about 200 films to be shown from 40 counties. The interested film lovers can register themselves to watch these films at different venues in Pune, such as E-square, City Pride, Inox, Fame , R-Deccan and Ganesh Kala Krida Manch.
Maharashtra Government will present the following awards: The ‘Prabhat’ Best International film, The best director for international film and Sant Tukaram award for best Marathi film.
PIFF receives State recognition
For the first time, this year’s Pune International film festival (PIFF) received the official recognition of the State government. The presence of chief minister of Maharashtra Mr. Ashok Chavan as the chief guest for the concluding function, made all the difference. The chief minister made an official announcement that from next year onwards PIFF will be called Maharashtra International Film festival. Mr. Chavan also assured all support to the film makers whose films received threats from Political censorship in spite of getting Censor’s clearance. “Those who have any objections, should approach the Censor board,” he said.
The following awards were presented on the occasion:
Sant Tukaram award for Best International Marathi film : ‘Natarang’
Prabhat’s award for Best International film : White Lightning’ ( Great Britain)
Best direction – International film : Maria Prokazkova ( Who is afraid of the wolf)
Best direction – Marathi film : Umesh Kulkarni ( Vihir)
Best actor : Atul Kulkarni ( Natarang)
Best screenplay : Renuka Shahane ( Rita)
Sp. Awards : Acting : Kishore Kadam ( Pangira)
Cinematography : Sudhir Palsane( Vihir)
‘Gabharicha Paus’ acclaimed at PIFF
The Pune International Film Festival concluded recently. The week long festival featured 140 films from 42 countries. A special section for the screening of Marathi movies and a separate competition for Marathi movies was also organised.
The closing ceremony was held at Shri Ganesh Kala Krida Rangmanch on January 15. Chief Minister Ashok Chavan was the chief guest for the event. Union minister for civil aviation Praful Patel, eminent producer-director Subhash Ghai and several dignitaries from the film world, politics and other spheres of society were also present.
Chief Minister Ashok Chavan assured that from the next year, the festival will be held joint venture between the organisers and the state government.
The Prabhat Best International Film award went to Mexico’s Lake Taheo. The Prabhat Best International Film Director went to Sergey Dvortsevoy for his movie ‘Tulpan‘ from Kazakhstan. The Government of Maharashtra-Sant Tukaram Best International Marathi Film Award went to ‘Gabhricha Paus‘ directed by Satish Manwar and produced by Prashant Pethe.
The other awards in the Marathi section were Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal Awards
– Best Director– Paresh Mokashi (‘Harishchandrachi Factory‘)
– Best Actor–Kishore Kadam (‘Jogwa‘ and ‘Dukhache Shwapad’)
– Best Screenplay– Sachin Kundalkar (‘Gandha‘)