We reported a few days ago that Indrans’ new film Veyilmarangal (Trees Under the Sun), directed by Dr. Biju, made its premiere at the 22nd Shanghai International film festival. The film has won the ‘Outstanding Artistic Achievement’ award.
This is not only the first time that an Indian award has won a prize at the festival but also the first Malayalam film to do so. The festival, which kicked off on June 15, saw 14 films competing for the Golden Goblet awards. Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Uzak, Once Upon A Time in Anatolia) was the jury chairman.
On winning the prize, Dr. Biju said, “This is the first time an Indian film won an award at Shanghai. And I am glad it came from a jury headed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. And this is the award for Malayalam cinema after a long long time in a major international film festival by FIAPF.”
Veyilmarangal was among the 14 films shortlisted out of 3964 entries submitted from 112 countries. It was the sole candidate from India. This is the second film of Dr. Biju to compete at the festival after his 2012 film, Akashathinte Niram (Colour of Sky).