OTTPlay at PIFF: Turkey’s Between Two Dawns and Marathi film Potra win big at festival

The 20th edition of the Pune International Film Festival, which started on March 3, concluded yesterday. The felicitation of the best international and Marathi filmmakers took place at the National Film Archives of India (NFAI).

Turkish film Between Two Dawns, directed by Selman Nacar won the Prabhat international best film award while the Marathi film Potra won the Sant Tukaram best international Marathi film award. 

Peter Kerekes won the Government of Maharashtra “Prabhat” Best International Director award for the film 107 Mothers. Nikhil Mahajan won the Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal Best Director award for his film Godavari. 

The MIT human spirit award was given to the Russian film House Arrest, directed by Aleksey German Jr.

Dilip Prabhavalkar's performance in It’s Time To Go bagged him the Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal Best Actor prize while Chakuli Pralhad Devkar won the Best Actress award for her role in Potra. 

Directed by Shankar Dhotre, Potra revolves around the menstrual cycle, and how girls are immediately treated differently after their first period or menarche.

Talking to The Indian Express, director Dhotre said that the inspiration for the film came from the customs from his village. The film has already screened at over 40 film festivals including Ambernath Film Festival, Rome International movie awards and Paris International Film Awards. 

All the winners were felicitated by legendary filmmaker Girish Kasarvalli and writer Rumi Jaffery. Jaffery’s latest movie, Chehre starring Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi in the lead, was screened at the festival. 

Seer of Contemporary History: Girish Kasaravalli and his Cinema, a book about the 14 time National Film Award winning filmmaker was released at the NFAI earlier this week as part of the festival.