The seventh edition of Chennai International Film Fest (CIFF) drew to a close on Thursday but not before treating the city to the choicest in cinema.

A glittering awards ceremony attended by the shining stars of the film industry was a fitting finale to the weeklong cine extravaganza.

Tamil film Achamundu..Achamundu.. directed by Arun Vaidhyanathan won the award for the best feature film and Pasanga directed by Pandiraj was adjudged the second best feature film in the Tamil competition section.

Cinematographer Rajesh Yadav won the special jury award for his cinematography in Pokkisham directed by Cheran. While announcing the awards, head of the jury for the Tamil film competition, cine actress and director Revathy said that the jury chose Achamundu..Achamundu.. as the best film for handling a very sensitive subject of child abuse.

Speaking at the function, cine artist and director, Suhasini Maniratnam said,’I remember those days when ‘Chitradarshan’, the first film society of Chennai screened films of Sathyajit Ray. In fact ‘Chitradarshan’ helped me a lot in developing a perspective about films. I hope film festivals like this will also be doing the same for the people of the new generation.

The most heartening news is that today the best Indian films are made in Tamil only, ‘ she said adding, ‘Tamil feature films are invited to Dubai, Berlin Film Festivals and now Japan is asking for Tamil films. This is a good omen. There are many students from film institutes attending the Chennai International Film Festival. I hope it will help them become a Godrad or a Sathyajit Ray tomorrow.’

‘Normally we go out in search of good films. But good films come to you in the Chennai Film Fest. We should make use of this opportunity,’ director P Vasu who spoke on the occasion said.

According to CIFF vice chairman, S Ve Sheker, the biggest challenge faced by Chennai International Film Festival is the lack of adequate funds. ‘In every State the governments concerned are giving much support to international film festivals.

In Kerala and Kolkata the film festivals are a big success for the reason that they have the financial assistance from the State government. In the scenario where State governments are ready to give Rs four to six crore for such festivals, the Government of Tamilnadu should also consider funding the Chennai festival,’ he said.

Members of the jury, cinematographer Kannan and News Today’s M Bharat Kumar shared their experiences of viewing and judging the films as they took turns in announcing the awards. Actor Prasanna, cinematographer Rajesh Yadav, CIFF patron S Kannan, CIFF Chairman B Ramakrishnan and festival director E Thangaraj also spoke on the occasion.

The closing ceremony was followed by the screening of Romanian film Katalin Varga directed by Peter Strickland.

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