1) Titli wins Best First Foreign Film Award.
- Indian filmmaker Kanu Behl directorial “Titli” has bagged the Best First Foreign Film Award conferred by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics 2016 (FSCC).
- This is the first time an Indian film has won this award. The film, co-produced by Dibakar Banerjee Productions Pvt Ltd and Aditya Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films, features actors Ranvir Shorey, Amit Sial, Shashank Arora, Lalit Behl and Shivani Raghuvanshi in the lead roles.
- The FSCC awards 4 prestigious prizes each year including Best French Film, Best International Film, Best First Film and Best Short Film.
- It also organises the International Critics Week, which is the oldest parallel competitive section of the Cannes Film Festival.
2) Amitabh Bachchan gets lifetime achievement award.
- Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has been presented with the lifetime achievement award at NDTV Indian of the Year Awards.
- Amitabh started his career in 1969 film “Saat Hindustani” followed by “Anand”, “Guddi”, “Zanjeer”, “Sholay” among others.
- He also made his Hollywood debut with Baz Luhrmann’s film “The Great Gatsby”, in which he played a Jewish character.
- The “Wazir” star will be next seen in Sujoy Ghosh-produced “TE3N” opposite Vidya Balan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
3) Manipuri documentary bags top award at 14th MIFF.
- Manipuri movie “Phum Shang” has won the Golden Conch award for the best documentary film (up to 60 minutes) at the 14th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for Documentary, Animation and Short Films.
- Swiss drama “My Name is Salt” and Indian entry “Placebo” shared the Gold Conch award for the best feature length documentary film.
- 52-minute long “Phum Shang”, directed by Hao Bam Pabankumar, who is an alumnus of the Satyjit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata, presents the serious environmental problems faced at the Loktak lake.
- Pabankumar also won a cash prize of Rs. 3 lakhs.
4) She-Taxi initiative of Kerala bagged Chief Minister`s Award for Innovation.
- Kerala’s all-women taxicab service She-Taxi received the prestigious Chief Minister`s Award for Innovation in Public Policy 2014 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
- It was selected for the recognition in the developmental interventions category.
- This initiative was selected for the award considering it as a unique model and its possibility to replicate in other places.
- In short span of time, it addressed the safety and security concerns of women travellers along with the contribution to socio-economic empowerment aspect of women in the state.
5) Geetu Mohandas won Global Filmmaking award 2016 for script of Insha Allah.
- Indian writer Geetu Mohandas won Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking Award 2016 for her script of yet-to-be shot film Insha Allah.
- The award was presented at 2016 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony held in Park City, Utah.
About Geetu Mohandas
- She was born on 14 February 1981 as Gayathri Mohandas at Kannur in Kerala.
- The name Geetu was adopted as her screen name when she starred in her first movie Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare in 1986 with Mohanlal in the lead role.
- She is an Indian film actress and director known for her works in Malayalam cinema and Bollywood.
- In 2013, she directed the socio political film Liar`s Dice which had received two National Film Awards and was nominated for Oscar in 2015.
- It was also premiered at Sundance Film Festival and International Film Festival Rotterdam and won a special jury award at Sofia International Film Festival.