'Children of Nobody' Takes Top Prize at Kolkata Film Festival, Wins Biggest Cash Prize Globally

On the last day of the 29th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) on Tuesday, Israeli director Erez-Tadmor's Children of Nobody won the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Film.

Based on a true story, this intense drama centers on troubled boys banding together to protect an at-risk youth shelter. At the KIFF closing ceremony at Rabindra Sadan, the film not only won the best film award but also received the highest cash prize of any film festival globally, Rs 51 lakh.

For his film One Way, Carlos Daniel Malave of Venezuela won the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Director during the festival. Malave was awarded a cash prize of Rs 21 lakh as well.

The KIFF chairman presided over the star-studded closing ceremony, which featured a star-studded lineup that included Chapal Bhadhuri, Dhritiman Chaterji, Mamata Shankar, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Sudhir Mishra. At the event, Koushani Mukherjee performed to Arijit Singh's KIFF theme song while Nusrat Jahan paid tribute to Suchitra Sen.

Anjan Dutt received the festival's Special Jury Award for International Competition: Innovation in Moving Images for his work Chalchitra Ekhon, which pays homage to the late Mrinal Sen.

The Bengali Panorama category at KIFF was competitive for the first time, and the film team of Rajdeep Paul and Sarmistha Maiti won the Best Film prize for their work Mon Potongo. The trophy was accompanied by a cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh. With their movie Kalkokkho, the pair won the National Awards for Best Bengali Film.

Broken Dreams Stories from the Myanmar Coup by Ninefold Mosaic won the NETPAC Award for Best Film in the Asian Select category. The omnibus film, which consists of nine short films by eight filmmakers from exiled Myanmar, depicts the various viewpoints of common people amidst remarkable events.

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