NYIFF 2021 Winners: Documentary On Gandhi, Actors Siddharth Menon, Akshata Pandavapura Win Top Honours
A documentary feature on Mahatma Gandhi, a documentary on the Sikh tradition of 'Seva' and a movie that explores the state of mind of a married woman during the COVID19 lockdown are among the films that won top honours
A
documentary
feature
on
Mahatma
Gandhi,
a
documentary
on
the
Sikh
tradition
of
'Seva'
and
a
movie
that
explores
the
state
of
mind
of
a
married
woman
during
the
COVID19
lockdown
are
among
the
films
that
won
top
honours
at
the
2021
New
York
Indian
Film
Festival
(NYIFF).
The
NYIFF
awards
were
presented
during
a
virtual
ceremony
Sunday.
Other
winners
at
the
festival
were
"Nasir",
directed
by
Arun
Karthick,
which
won
the
award
for
best
film;
Akshata
Pandavapura
was
named
best
actress
for
"Where
Is
Pinky?",
the
best
actor
award
went
to
Siddharth
Menon
for
"June"
and
the
best
director
award
to
Ajitpal
Singh
for
"Fire
In
the
Mountains".
"Ahimsa
Gandhi:
The
Power
of
the
Powerless",
directed
by
Ramesh
Sharma,
was
awarded
the
best
documentary
feature.
As
the
world
commemorated
the
150th
birth
anniversary
of
Gandhi
in
2019,
Sharma
was
inspired
to
revisit
the
iconic
leader's
life
and
philosophy.
Shot
in
India,
South
Africa,
the
U.S.
and
Europe,
Ahimsa
tracks
the
influence
of
Gandhi’s
non-violence
approach
on
world
leaders
including
Martin
Luther
King
Jr.,
late
Congressman
John
Lewis,
former
South
African
President
Nelson
Mandela
and
the
Dalai
Lama.
International
musicians
U2
and
AR
Rahman
contributed
to
the
title
track
of
the
documentary.
Rippin
Sindher-directed
"Seva" won
the
best
documentary
short.
It
highlights
the
idea
of
service,
which
is
an
important
element
of
the
Sikh
religion,
and
underscores
it
against
the
backdrop
of
rising
hate
crimes
against
people
of
the
Sikh
community
in
the
US,
including
the
2012
Oak
Creek
Gurudwara
mass
shooting.
Acclaimed
actress
Swastika
Mukherjee-starrer
"Tasher
Ghawr",
directed
by
Sudipto
Roy,
was
honoured
with
the
best
short
narrative
award.
The
film
explores
the
state
of
mind
of
a
married
woman,
Sujata,
played
brilliantly
by
Mukherjee,
during
the
coronavirus
lockdown.
"Where
Is
Pinky?" also
received
the
award
for
best
screenplay,
with
script
by
Prithvi
Konanur,
and
the
best
child
actor
award
went
to
Karan
Dave
for
"Habaddi".
The
film
festival,
presented
by
the
Indo-American
Arts
Council
(IAAC),
ran
from
June
4
-
June
13
virtually,
the
second
year
in
a
row
that
the
oldest
and
prestigious
film
festival
that
features
cinema
from
India
and
diaspora
has
gone
online
due
to
the
pandemic.
IAAC
Chairman
Dr
Nirmal
Mattoo
said
this
year’s
festival
was
“special”
as
Congressman
Andrew
Garbarino,
representing
New
York's
2nd
Congressional
District,
presented
a
Congressional
certificate
to
the
organisation.
In
a
virtual
message,
Garbarino
commended
the
IAAC
for
its
work
as
a
“valued
resource
centre
for
art,
artists
and
art
organisations
that
are
immersed
in
the
Indian
culture.”
He
presented
the
Congressional
certificate
to
the
council
recognising
the
"positive
contributions”
made
by
it
“not
only
to
the
communities
in
the
state
of
New
York,
but
all
across
United
States
of
America.”
Speaking
at
the
virtual
award
ceremony,
NYIFF
Festival
Director
Aseem
Chhabra
said
while
the
best
way
to
enjoy
films
was
in
theatres
with
the
audience,
along
with
live
interactions,
the
virtual
festival
is
next
best
option
in
the
current
times.
Through
the
virtual
platform,
the
NYIFF
has
been
able
to
reach
to
a
much
larger
audience
in
the
US
as
well
as
in
several
other
countries
including
India,
Chhabra
said.
“We
have
shared
with
you
the
best
of
Indian
cinema"
in
15
languages,
including
Hindi,
Urdu,
Malayalam,
Tamil,
Telugu,
Marathi,
Assamese
and
Bengali,
the
festival
director
added.
IAAC
vice
chairman
Rakesh
Kaul
said
that
as
the
IAAC
embarked
on
NYIFF
2021,
its
board
wanted
to
set
an
“audacious
goal”
for
the
next
20
years
that
will
amply
symbolise
the
creativity,
courage
and
consciousness
that
“our
cinematic
storytellers
bring
to
the
world.”
Keeping
this
in
mind,
the
NYIFF
unveiled
a
new
award
trophy
designed
by
IAAC
board
member
and
sculptor
Raj
Shahani.
IAAC
executive
director
Suman
Gollamudi
said
last
year
the
film
festival
had
to
be
reimagined
in
a
virtual
format
and
it
involved
pivoting
to
an
online
platform.
“We
emerged
stronger
with
a
larger
footprint
as
global
audiences
engaged
with
the
films,”
Gollamudi
added.