Vinnie Ann Bose’s animated short ‘Sulaimani’ won Best Film at the inaugural Indian Film Festival of New Zealand, celebrating independent Indian cinema. The jury praised its seamless narrative and delicate portrayal of immigrant identity. Shuchi Talati’s ‘Hidden Sun’ received a Special Mention for its tender exploration of marital decay and desire.
Women independent filmmakers dominated the first edition of The Indian Film Festival of New Zealand (TIFFNZ) with Vinnie Ann Bose and Shuchi Talati taking the top recognition in the shorts competition.
Bose’s animated short ‘Sulaimani’ won Best Film from the international jury, and Talati’s ‘Hidden Sun’ received a Special Mention. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui presented the honours at the awards ceremony on Sunday.
Announcing the Best Film award for Sulaimani, the jury said: “A chance encounter takes us on a journey through the interiority of two immigrant women in France. With a delicate touch, the film brings to light the constant negotiation of identity one needs to make when one has adopted a new country as their home. Rarely does a film’s form and narrative work so seamlessly, creating a tapestry of interconnected threads of the past and the present. This beautiful animation film, crafted with tenderness towards both the women protagonists, unanimously moved us.”
On ‘Hidden Sun’, the panel said: “Shuchi Talati’s tender, quiet and emotionally curious short takes some of the most unfilmable conflicts – like marital decay and the mundanity of desire – and places them within a culturally specific and universally shared framework at once. The Japan-based tale defies the template of rekindled love: well-performed and almost meditative in its treading of familiar terrain. It begins with a dance, but ends with the sort of narrative sigh that this medium often struggles to capture.”
The international jury comprised Cannes-winning filmmaker Payal Kapadia, Māori filmmaker Julian Arahanga, writer-director-producer Paula Whetu Jones, film critic Rahul Desai and award-winning producer Paula Jones.
Outside the competition, screen legend Waheeda Rehman attended as Guest of Honour for a special screening of the newly restored 4K version of ‘Teesri Kasam’ (1966).
The screening marked the film’s 60th anniversary and was presented in partnership with NFDC and the National Film Archive of India (NFAI). The festival also showed a 4K restoration of ‘Pakeezah’ (1972), presented through the Film Heritage Foundation.
Rehman said: “Teesri Kasam is very close to my heart. I thank the Indian Film Festival of New Zealand for choosing to show this film and for inviting me. I’m delighted to be in New Zealand for the very first time and to share this beloved film with a new audience”, adding that the anniversary year made the occasion more special.
TIFFNZ screened over 30 titles across a dozen languages in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, with a focus on female-driven, queer and anti-caste narratives from across the diaspora.