14 Konkani, 8 Marathi films to be screened at state film fest

PANAJI: Fourteen Konkani and eight Marathi films will be screened at the Goa state film festival to held in Panaji from April 2 to 5. Bollywood filmmaker Rohit Shetty will open the festival, flanked by yesteryears legend Amol Palekar and noted Marathi film actors Ramesh Dev, Seema Dev and Alka Kubal, among other regional cinema stars. Prizes worth a total of 1 crore will be handed to the winning films.
“A special trophy is also in the process of being patented to be awarded to the winners of the Goa state film festival,” entertainment society of Goa vice-chairperson Damodar Naik said. Five non-feature films will also be screened at the festival. Most of the screenings of the films will take place at Kala Academy and Maquinez Palace in the ESG complex at Campal. Films to be screened include those made between 2008 and 2013.
Naik said that entry for the film screenings will be on first-cum-first-serve basis and the screening schedule will be released in the local media shortly.
The first and second prize winners for the best film will win a cash prize of 5 lakh and 3 lakh, respectively. Best direction, best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, best child artist, best story, best screenplay, best dialogues, best lyrics, best playback singer, male and female; best art director, best costume director are some of the other prizes that will be awarded at the closing event of the festival on April 5.
“Some of the awards will be given in the name of noted Goans in the field. The best film award will be in the name of Al Jerry Braganza. Best cinematography award in the name of K Vaikunth, best music director in the name of Anthony Gonsalves and best editor in the name of Bhanudas Divkar for this year,” Naik said.
The governing council of ESG has unanimously decided to award lifetime achievement award to legendary son of Goa Waman Bhosle, recepient of national award for the film `Inkaar'. He was editor for legendary directors like Gulzar, Mahesh Bhatt, Subhash Ghai, and many others, Naik said