AwardsWatch

Successful  hybrid format in cinemas and online

Festival winning films: Baaram, The Ice Cream Sellers, Washing Machine

Kabir Cultural Centre is pleased to announce the jury award-winners of the 11^th edition of its annual South Asian Film Festival of Montréal (SAFFMontréal). This hybrid format, online and in cinemas, offered eclectic, engaging films from November 19-28. All films were subtitled in both English and French.

The festival, supported by the City of Montreal, City of Saguenay and Heritage Canada, is the only one of its kind in the province of Quebec to present films by independent filmmakers from the Indian subcontinent and its diaspora all over the world. The festival opened at Cineplex Forum in downtown Montreal on Friday, November 19^th  with the feature film MEE RAQSAM (Baba Azmi, India) and concluded on Sunday, November with  the documentary EMERGENCE: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (Vinay Giridhar, Canada). In all, 54 films were presented, out of which 7 were on-site and 47 others free online. Themes covered by the films were numerous including the treatment of elders, science vs superstition, arts vs religion, ills of patriarchy, the impact of Covid, and the rural vs urban divide, to name a few.

Special evenings were dedicated in homage to the iconic Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray and the Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Shahin Parhami, the latter in partnership with Festival Accès Asie and Diaspora Film Festival of Toronto. Filmmakers were present on zoom for the films ME RAQSAM, BHAI’S CAFE and EMERGENCE: OUT OF THE SHADOWS; the viewing public was delighted to interact directly with the filmmakers about the various aspects of the films. The hybrid format enabled the organizers to assess the readiness of the public to return to live cinema experiences in these uncertain pandemic times.

Films in competition were assessed by an international jury and the following films were awarded:

Feature Fiction

Winner: Baaram (Priya Krishnaswamy, India, Tamil)
Runner Up: Chronicle of Space (Sanjay Shetye, India, Marathi)
Special Mention: Songs for Rain (Krrishna Kt. Borah, Assamese)

Feature Documentary

Winner: The Ice Cream Sellers (Sohel Rahman, Bangladesh, Bengali)
Special Mention: Janani’s Juliet (Pankaj Rishi Kumar, India, Tamil)

Short Fiction

Winner: Washing Machine (Anand Singh Chouhan, India, Rajasthani)
1st Runner Up: Bad Omen (Salar Pashtoonyar, Canada,/Afghanistan, Persian)
2nd Runner Up: No Beloved (Salman Alam Khan, Pakistan, Urdu)
Special Mention: Mixi (Jyotsna Puthran, India, Silent)

Short Documentary

Winner: Dunkey Following European Dreams (Syed Muhammad Hassan Zaidi, Pakistan, Urdu)
Special Mention: The Heroes of Our Times (Rangan Chakravarty, India, Bengali)
Special Mention: Bamboo Ballads (Sajeed Naduthody, India, Malayalam)

From Dushyant Yajnik, Festival Advisor, ‘’The films selected and those rewarded by the jury had a common theme: How empathy, support and psychologically secure attachments, or the absence thereof, from family members, community leaders or host governments, make all the difference in whether individuals and communities flourish or flounder.’’ 

In addition to a wide Canadian audience at the on-site presentations, films online were viewed in many countries of the world such as: Bangladesh, Canada, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine, UK and the USA.  

The reaction to the South Asian Film Festival of Montréal is summarized by some of the comments received, representative of the overall reaction from a discerning public:

‘’The film shown at the opening ceremony, Mee Raqsam (I Dance), not only has entertainment value but also a highly relevant theme; promotion of interfaith understanding, so important in the unfortunate situation we are witnessing these days’’—Ishtiak Ahmed Akil, Consul-General of Pakistan in Montreal

“Au fil des années, le festival a su s’ancrer dans la communauté saguenéenne et nous sommes heureux de constater l’engouement de la population pour la découverte du monde, des cultures et des artistes d’ailleurs.’’ – Christine Payette, Bibliothèques de Saguenay

‘’J'ai beaucoup aimé Mee Raqsam! J'ai assisté aussi au début des questions et réponses avec la réalisatrice et la comédienne. C'était très beau de les voir et de les entendre sur leur expérience.’’ – Joelle Spérano, Ville de Montréal

“You are really amazing to support a local Canadian grassroots film like ours.  Thanks for sharing our stories and giving us a wonderful platform’’ – Alex Sangha, Social Worker, Documentary film producer and founder of Sher Vancouver (EMERGENCE: Out of the Shadows).

The South Asian Film Festival of Montréal is a presentation of Kabir Cultural Centre, which focuses on year-round activities  of South Asian classical arts, literature, poetry and cinema.

www.saffm.centrekabir.com Kabir Cultural Centre  www.facebook.com/saffmtl