9 awards for Indian movies at children's film fest

HYDERABAD: Indian films bagged the most number of awards ­ nine ­ in the 19th International Children's Film Festival of India, which concluded here on Friday. However, the best feature film award went to the Russian movie `Celestial Camel' directed by Irina Plisko and Mikhail Plisko.
The `Golden Elephant trophy' carries an award amount of Rs 1.5 lakh shared between both the recipients.The second best film award went to the makers of Dutch film `Labyrinthus', Savage Film and Eyeworks. The best screenplay award went to `Code M' of The Netherlands, while the best director award to Jury Feting for `Celestial Camel'. Indian films bagged most of the other important awards. Hetal Gada's performance in `Rainbow' directed by Nagesh Kukunoor won her the best actor award. Tamil film `Yellow Festival', directed by Kamal Sethu, was adjudged the best short film.Both the awards came in the Competition International Live Action ­ Adult Jury category.
In the Competition Asian Panorama ­ Child Jury, both the awards went to India. The best feature film award went to `Blue Moun tain'. The Rs 1.5 lakh cash prize and Golden Elephant trophy went to Raujesh Kumar Jain and Sarju Kumar Acharjee. The Acharjee. The best short film award went to `Chinese Whispers', with Syed Sultan Ahmed carrying home a prize of Rs 1 lakh.
Meanwhile, in the Compe tition Asian Panorama ­ Adult Jury, `How to steal a dog' from South Korea was adjudged the best feature film while the entry from UAE `A tree in the sea' got the best short film award. The best actor award went to Micko Laurent of the Philippines for `Bambanti scarecrow'.
Among the films made by children in the age group of 13 and 16 years in the Competition Little Director ­ Adult Jury, two Indian were ad judged the best. They were `Hue am?' by Arya Ganguli and `The Silenced Siren' by Siya Chandrie. `A dream of Apara' made by Abha Naktode got a jury mention with a certificate.
In the Competition Little Director ­ Adult Jury' category for films made by children in the age group of six and 12 years, two Indian films got a jury mention ­ `A rainy day' by Rohit Deepak Shivgan and `Hook' by Aashta Sudhir.
The best animated feature film award went to `Song of the sea' from Belgium. `Bear story' from Chile was adjudged the best animated short film.
The awards were presented at a function at the Shilpakala Vedika in which governor E S L Narasimhan and cinematography minister T Srinivas Yadav participated. Advisor, culture, Telangana government, K V Ramanachari said the government would allocate land for a permanent venue for the film festival if the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) was keen.