Manipuri docu 'Phum Sang', Abhay Kumar's 'Placebo' win Golden Conch award at MIFF

Mumbai: Manipuri documentary film Phum Shang won the coveted Golden Conch Award for the best documentary at the 14th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) which ended here on Wednesday.

Swiss film My Name Is Salt and an Indian film Placebo shared the Gold Conch Award for the best feature length documentary film, an official said.

Directed by Hao Bam Pabankumar, Phum Shang critically examined the serious ecological problems encountered at the Loktak Lake, the largest fresh-water lake in northeast India.

Characterised by its unique floating biomass called ‘phumdi’, Loktak Lake is considered a dying lake due to unchecked human activity.

Pabankumar, an alumnus of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata, received a cash prize of Rs.3 lakh.

Mumbai-born but Zurich-based Farida Pacha directed My Name Is Salt, the saga of the journey of thousands of families in the Rann of Kutchh in Gujarat to extract the whitest salt in the world.

The film also won the best cinematographer award for Lutz Konermann.

Chandigarh-based filmmaker Abhay Kumar’s Placebo explored the stress and pressure faced by medical students in the country. The film also bagged the best editor and the most innovative film award in the competition section.

IANS