Michael Noer and Tobias Lindholm's feature film debut 'R' received the Jury Grand Prize at Mumbai Film Festival's closing ceremony 28 October. The competition jury, chaired by Jane Campion, saluted the film with the following words:
"The award goes to the film 'R' for an unflinching portrayal of power within the prison system. We particularly appreciate the rawness and intensity of the actors' performances and the filmmakers' honesty and skill in exposing the potential of human cruelty."
Heat of the night party celebrates Danish cinema
In the heat of Saturday night after the screening of 'R' and the subsequent Q&A with director Michael Noer, some 150 festival delegates and members of the Indian Film Industry gathered at a formal dinner to celebrate Danish cinema.
The occasion, hosted by the DFI and the Danish Embassy in India, brought many a response from distributors and producers who were interested in airing Indian films in Denmark and liaising with Danish productions companies. Among these were Amit Khanna, Chair of Reliance Big Entertainment, India's largest film company.
The Film Street Journal brought a full page spread on Danish cinema, introducing the eight Danish films that screened at Mumbai, and commenting on the Danish celebration, attended by Jury Chair New Zealander Jane Campion, Indian producer-director-actor Suhasini Maniratnam, and the Korean diva Yoon Jeong-Hee, both jury members, as well as well-known Indian actor Aamir Bashir, who recently signed his first feature, the critically acclaimed 'Autumn'.