‘Once Upon a Time in Calcutta’, ‘Shoebox’, ‘Taangh (Longing)’ hog top awards at 2022 New York Indian Film Festival

PTI

New York, May 16

A documentary on Hockey Olympian Grahnandan Singh, a film that explores a young woman’s complex relationship with her father, and a documentary about young girls standing up against child marriage and learning football earned top honours at the 2022 New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) that celebrated India’s cinematic traditions as the country enters 75th year of its independence.

About 60 films, features, and documentaries were showcased at the NYIFF 2022, considered North America’s oldest and most prestigious festival that ran from May 7-14 and featured cinema from India and the Indian Diaspora.

Presented virtually for the third year in a row, the festival, presented by the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), featured 60 screenings including 18 feature narratives, six documentaries and 36 short films.

The festival closed on Saturday with the documentary ‘The Beatles and India: An Enduring Love Affair’, directed by Ajoy Bose and Peter Compton.

The NYIFF 2022 winners included ‘Shoebox’, adjudged Best Film, Aditya Vikram Sengupta won the Best Director award for ‘Once Upon a Time in Calcutta’, Best Screenplay award went to ‘Powai’, Jitendra Joshi won the Best Actor award for ‘Godavari’, and Sreelekha Mitra won the Best Actress award for ‘Once Upon a Time in Calcutta’.

The Best Child Actor(s) award went to Reyaan Shah and Hirnaya Zinzuwadia for ‘Gandhi & Co’.

The documentary ‘Taangh (Longing)’, directed by Bani Singh, chronicling the story of her father, the Olympian Grahanandan Singh, who had won two gold medals in hockey in 1948 and 1952, won the award for Best Documentary (Feature), while the Best Short (Documentary) award went to ‘Kicking Balls’.

The documentary, set in three small villages in Rajasthan, details the work of a non-profit organisation that trains teenage girls, almost all of them child brides, in football.

The Best Short (Narrative) award went to ‘Succulent’.

Consulate General of India in New York Randhir Jaiswal presented the awards to the festival’s winners.

IAAC Chairman Nirmal Mattoo said at the closing night that the festival presents India’s contribution to the world of art and literature. As India marks 75 years of its independence this year, Mattoo said “India as a country has long, literary and artistic traditions and there is an abundance of creative and scientific literature.”