Context:
India’s performance at the 77th Cannes Film Festival has been phenomenal with 2 filmmakers, an actress, and a cinematographer winning top awards at the world’s leading film festival.
Key Highlights of the Festival
- For the first time in 30 years an Indian film, Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light’ was nominated for the Palme d’Or, the highest award in the festival. However, Palme d’Or was won by Sean Baker for “Anora”.
- However, Palme d’Or was won by Sean Baker for “Anora”.
- Kapadia’s film won the Grand Prix, the second position in the category and thus she became the first Indian to bag this prestigious award. by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, under the signed Audio-Visual treaty between India and France.
- The film was granted official Indo-French co-production status by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, under the signed Audio-Visual treaty between India and France.
- Film and Television Institute of India’s (FTII) student Chidananda S Naik bagged the first prize in the La Cinef section for “Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know”, a 15-minute short film based on a Kannada folklore.
- The festival honored acclaimed director Shyam Benegal, showcasing his renowned film “Manthan” at Cannes after 48 years since its release in India.
- Anasuya Sengupta made history as the first Indian to win the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard category for her performance in ‘The Shameless’.
- Film-maker Maisam Ali’s (FTII alumnus) film “In Retreat” was screened at the ACID Cannes sidebar programme.
- It was the first time an Indian film was screened in the section run by the Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema, since its inception in 1993.
- For the first time, India hosted the Bharat Parv in Cannes, an event highlighting India’s emergence as a content hub and a growing creative economy on the global stage.
- Famous Cinematographer Santosh Sivan became the first Asian to be awarded the prestigious Pierre Angénieux Tribute award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in recognition of his “career and exceptional quality of work”.
- The Pierre Angenieux ExcelLens in Cinematography award was introduced in 2013, and honors outstanding contributions to the field of cinematography.
The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII)
- It was set up by the Government of India in 1960, in Pune.
- It was formerly known as the ‘Film Institute of India’.
- It was a department of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India.
- In 1971, it came to be known as the ‘Film and Television Institute of India’ (FTII) and started in-service training programs for Doordarshan, India’s public broadcaster.
- FTII became an Autonomous Society under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, run by a Governing Council and its appointed Director.
About Cannes Festivals
- It is an annual film festival founded in 1946 and held in Cannes, France.
- It is now the world’s one of the most prestigious film gatherings, as well as its most widely publicized cultural event.