Nov 27: “We are all from different cultures, different backgrounds and different thought processes; coming together on the same page to pick out a best film for this competition unanimously is quite an achievement”, said Rahul Rawail, noted Indian film director, editor and Jury Chairperson of the BRICS Film Festival, at a press conference at the 52nd International Film Festival today in Goa today.
For the first time, the BRICS Film Festival was also held alongside the International Film Festival of India being held in Goa from during 20-28 November, 2021. This is the Sixth edition of the BRICS Film Festival in which a special package of films from the five countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are showcased.
This year, IFFI has brought together five major emerging economies and leading film production countries of the world. The Jury for this competitive festival comprises 5 members, one from each BRICS country. They are Rahul Rawail (Jury Chairperson) (India), Maria Blanche Alcina de Mendonça (Brazil), Thandi Davids (South Africa), Nina Kochelyaeva (Russia) and Hou Keming (China).
The Jury members watched around twenty films and judged the best films in the five categories of awards which shall consist of a certificate and a memento. The categories are best film, best director, best actor (Male), best actor (Female) and Jury mention award.
Rahul Rawail, Thandi Davids and Nina Kochelyaeva attended the press conference held at IFFI 52.
The award ceremony of BRICS Film festival will take place on the closing ceremony on the last day of IFFI 52, i.e. 28th November, 2021.
Thandi Davids, eminent producer from Brazil and Jury member, agreed on that, saying, “It has been an extraordinary cultural journey for all of us, to be exposed to various cultures, to see the diversity of it all. We learned from these films and the voices we heard from.”
Davids said that these kinds of festivals need to grow and become an entity of its own. “It is important to elevate the films we make and hear and see our voices through our own eye, not through others. Before this, I have never seen a second World War movie from the Russian perspective, so it was very interesting and refreshing.”
Another Jury member, Nina Kochelyaeva, Senior Researcher and faculty from Russia, said that these was a very good selection of films from each country. Each film represented their own culture, language and meanings.
She informed that in the last edition of BRICS Film Festival, Russians had a special event which was titled “BRICS Cinema’s Alternative to Hollywood”. Kochelyaeva said, “We bring our vision to the world and we try to develop it because film competitions are not only important to bring our cinema into focus, but it will also bring forth professionals together under one roof and make them visible to the world.”
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