India International Film Festival of Boston (IIFFB) 2020 was Virtual this year

By Meera Siddharth

Suraja Menon Roychowdhury

The 3rd India International Film Festival of Boston (IIFFB 2020), a globally prominent film festival based in Boston, USA, was held on October 16th 17th, and 18th 2020. Due to the pandemic, all the events were held virtually. Viewers could access the finalist films through an online portal for a week before the winners were announced on Sunday.  The Best Feature Film Award went to the Malayalam movie Kaanthi, a touching story of a blind tribal girl and her mother’s attempts to get treatment for her daughter. The film showcased the love between the mother and daughter as well as the bungling of bureaucracy, that fatal enemy of action.  Best Actor (male) in a feature film was awarded to Victor Banerjee, seen after a long time in a sensitive portrayal of a priest who adopts a young child in Josef-Born in Grace. Best Actor (female) was awarded to Shylaja Ambu who played the part of the tribal mother in Kaanthi.  Best Short Film went to a well made and touching movie from Iran, Better Than Neil Armstrong, while best film with a social cause went to Baitullah.  A list of all the winners are given below.

IIFFB founder and festival director Razia Mashkoor has this to say “I was very nervous at the start but then eventually we felt comfortable. It was very different, and sometimes difficult, doing a virtual film festival but it was a new way to learn. Thanks to the Almighty, my team and well-wishers, we did it together!”Our judges had this to say about the submissions:

Dr. Rohit Chandra (judge): “Although our annual film festival is typically in person, the virtual format allowed us to organize several Zoom panels, bringing together Bollywood icons and film lovers alike to debate salient film-related topics. The virtual format also allowed the viewer to enjoy IIFFB’s film selections from the comfort of their own homes”

Dr. Suraja Menon Roychowdhury (judge): “The breadth of creativity displayed, as well as the topics showcased in the submissions was impressive. With film entries from 11 countries, we were able to glimpse different cultures as well as appreciate the talent present in both independent and commercial cinema globally. This was truly an International Film Festival!”

Mrs. Meera Siddharth (judge): “Here, at IIFFB, the world comes together through the lenses! See you at the movies!

The three final days of this much-awaited event started with a brilliant lineup of interviews and panel discussions with well-known personalities of the Bollywood movie screen. Singers to production personalities to directors including Brahmanand Singh, Sushanth Singh, Danish Renzu, Tanuja Chandra, Saleel Shriniwas Kulkarni, Mikhil Musale and Swanand Kirkire. The interviews and panel discussions were conducted by our esteemed panel of hosts including IIFFB’s Founder/CEO Razia Mashkoor, Priya Samant Parulekar a theater artist, film impact advisor and advocate for many social platforms and Sunayana Kachroo, an esteemed poet, screenplay and songwriter. Topics discussed included Bollywood on the Grill- a discussion on current issues relating to drug use, the mafia etc in Bollywood as judged by the media, with scant respect given to the investigative bodies such as the CBI etc, and the future of Indian cinema- during the covid pandemic and beyond.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to the late Om Puri, received by his wife Nandita Puri in a conversation with Razia Mashkoor and Ananth Mahadevan, a well known Marathi and Hindi films and Television, a director, screenwriter, actor.

The highlight of this festival was marked by a conversation with the recipient of the “Pride of India Award”, 5 times Michelin award-winning Chef Vikas Khanna.  The interview was conducted by Kavita Chhibber, a well-known journalist and long-time friend of Chef Khanna. Mr.Khanna’s work in feeding the hungry in India has drawn global attention.  His movie, The Last Color was the winner of the best feature film at IIFFB2019.

The IIFFB team would like to congratulate all the winners and is already planning IIFFB2021.  The dates for the festival in 2021 are September 24-26, 2021.

Film Awards:

Best feature film: Kaanthi  (Asok . R . Nath Writer/Director)

Best short film (from Iran): Better than Neil Armstrong (Aireza Ghasemi – Writer/Director)

Best director: Directors of Ave Maria Kush Gupta & Sejal Dound

Best Actor Male: Victor Banerjee (Played a priest) in “Josef Born in Grace” directed by Susant Misra

Best actor female: Mother from Kaanthi Shylaja P. Ambu

Best supporting role (male): Vipin Sharma from Baitullah

Best supporting role (female): Mother from Ave Maria Lin Laishram

Best child actor: Shivika Rishi in Ave Maria

Best Documentary:  Dehlight (directed by Indresh Singh)

Best LGBTQ Film:  The First Drag.  A tribute to Arif Memon

Best Film: Social Cause: Baitullah (Written, Directed and Produced by Jitendra Rai)

Best song: The Battle of ‘Corona vs. Us’ (Roshni Datta, Rajiv Nema, Deepak Sharma)

Best Local recognition a Comedy Film: HighBread -C’est La Weed

*Lifetime Achievement Award: Om Puri

*Founder’s Award: Vikas Khanna “Pride of India”