CAIRO: Assamese film ‘Village Rockstars’ has won the Critics’ Week Award at the 39th Cairo International Film Festival.
‘Village Rockstars’, the story of a village girl’s dream of forming a rock band, bagged the Fathy Farag Award for Best Artistic Contribution.
The film was part of the Critics’ Week Competition section of the festival, which concluded on Thursday night.
Directed by Rima Das, ‘Village Rockstars’ beat tough competition from six other entries in the Critics’ Week Competition section.
The Golden Pyramid, the top prize of the Cairo festival for the Best Film, went to the Italian film ‘The Intruder’ by Leonardo Di Costanzo.
‘Village Rockstars’, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, had won three awards at the Mumbai film festival in October.
The film, the second feature film by its director, bagged the Golden Gateway award for the best film in Indian competition, the Oxfam Best Film for Gender Quality award and Young Critics Choice award, at the Mumbai festival.
‘Village Rockstars’ was also part of the prestigious competition section for the Golden Peacock award at the just-concluded International Film Festival of India, Goa.
The Silver Pyramid, the special jury for the Best Director, was won by Colombian filmmaker Laura Mora Ortega for ‘Killing Jesus’. The film also won the FIPRESCI jury prize of the Cairo festival, awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics.
The Bronze Pyramid for the Best First or Second Work of a Director, went to Slovakian filmmaker Juraj Lehotsky for ‘Nina’.
Chilean film ‘Los Perros’ by Marcela Said won the Naguib Mahfouz award for Best Screenplay.
Tunisian Raouf Ben Amor was adjudged the Best Actor for his role in ‘Tunis By Night’ while the Best Actress prize went to Lebanese actor Diamand Abou Abboud for ‘Insyriated’.
‘Disappearance’ by Boudewijn Koole won the International Jury Award for Best Artistic Contribution.
The Cairo film festival, which began on November 21, had eight Indian entries, including the controversial Malayalam film ‘S Durga’ by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan. Marathi film ‘Redu’ by Sagar Vanjari, was the only Indian entry in the international competition section for the Golden Pyramid prize.