KIFF 2017: French film Los Perros wins top honours; Asa Helga Hjorleifsdottir named best director

Kolkata: French celluloid venture Los Perros directed by Marcela Said won the award for the best film in the International Competition category of the 23rd Kolkata Internaitonal Film Festival (KIFF) on Friday, 17 November in Kolkata. The 94-minute film won the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for best film that comprised a purse of Rs 51 lakh and a trophy, the organisers announced at the media conference. The Best Director award in the same category was bagged by Iceland’s Asa Helga Hjorleifsdottir for the film The Swan. Hjorleifsdottir’s representatives were handed thee Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award that included a cheque of Rs 21 lakh and a trophy. [caption id=“attachment_4216133” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Still from the French film Los Perros (left); still from The Swan. Image courtesy: Facebook[/caption] Veteran actor Biswajit Chatterjee handed over the awards. Iran’s Kupal directed by Kazem Mollaie and Poland’s Birds Are Singing in Kigali produced by Joanna Koskrauze and Krzysztof Krauze were jointly given The Jury Special Mention Award on Innovation in Moving Images section. Nepalese creation Goodbye Kathmandu by Nabin Subba was adjudged the best film in the Asian Select (Netpack award). The Hiralal Sen Memorial Award for the best director in the Indian language film section went to Bijukumar Damodaran for his film Sound of Silence. The Jury Special Mention Award in the same section was won by Pathumma directed by Panchakshari. In the short films category, Chahat Ke Gubbare by Amritanshu got the award for best film. In the documentary section, the best short film award went to Mrityubhoj (the death feast) directed by by Akanksha Sood. Delegates from over 20 countries attended the eight-day festival, where 143 films from India and abroad were screened.