Shekhar Kapur bags special honour at Antalya Eurasia Filmfest
(No Ratings Yet)Eminent filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, whose film ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age’ was the opening film of the Third International Eurasia Film Festival here, has received a special honour for his contribution to cinema at the Grand finale.
Accepting the honour last evening, Shekhar said Turkey had a very prominent place geographically since it provides a bridge between Europe and Asia which was attempting to reach out to the west. Also honoured ‘In absentia’ was the veteran German actresss Hanna Schygulla.
The Turkish film ‘Egg’ by Semih Kaplanoglu which was competing in both the International Eurasia Film Festival as well as the 44th Antalya Golden Orange Filmfest bagged the maximum number of eight awards including the NETPAC jury award shared with ‘Under the Bombs’ (Sous Les Bombes) by Phillipe Aractingi which is a Franch-British-Lebanese co-production. This is the first time that the Network for the promotion of Asian cinema has instituted this award in the Eurasia Festival. ‘Under the Bombs’ also won the critics award.
The best film award in the international section went to ”The Band’s Visit” by Eran Kolirin which is an Israeli-French co-production, while the best director award went to Abdellatatif Kechiche for the French film ”The Secret of the Grain” ( La Graine et le Mulet).
”You, The Living” by Roy Andersson of Sweden won a Special Jury award.
A total of eleven films competed for the main award in the international section, while another seven had been entered for the critics award and the NETPAC jury saw twelve films.
The 11-member international jury was headed by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Other members include Andrei Sigle, John Landis, Martha Coolidge, Hailu Qin, Lale Mansur and Shohreh Aghdashloo. The NETPAC Jury was headed by Atila Dorsay from Turkey and had the Tunisian Hassouna Mansouri and the Iranian Houshang Golmakani as members. The critics’ jury had three members- India’s Neel Chaudhuri, and Turkey’s Murat Ozer and Yesim Tabak.
The gradiose closing ceremony took place at a crowded-to-capacity Glass Pyramid designed as the ceremonial palace, and was accompanied by pieces of music played by the celebrated musicians and masters of Turkish music scene; Ilhan Ersahin and Istanbul Sessions, Erkan Ogur the genius guitar performer and the clarinet virtuoso Barbaros Erkose.
The function was addressed among others by the Turkish Justice and Culture Ministers, the President of Tursak Engin Yiðitgil and the Honorary President of the Festival, Mayor of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Menderes Türel.
While, only one entry from India featured in the Festival - Frozen by Shivajee Chandrabhushan, there was Indian presence in some other films at the Festival. While ”Elizabeth: The Golden Age”, Shekhar Kapur’s sequel to his Oscar winning ‘Elizabeth I’, will be the closing film of the Festival, the opening film ”Lust, Caution” (”SEJIE”), the latest picture of Oscar triumphant Taiwanese-American Ang Lee, stars Indian actor Anupam Kher in a short role, the Franco-British Far North has been directed by India-born Asif Kapadia and the American-British co-production ”A Mighty Heart by Michael Winterbottom stars Archie Panjabi, who is of Indian origin.
Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Youth within Youth’ has also been partly shot in India.
— UNI
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