The movie '17 August' has been directed by Alexander Gutman while 'The Spell' has been directed by Umesh Kulkarni.

“17 August” receives praise
The Russian film, ‘17 August’ was conclusively accorded the highest praise by the jury for its meticulous and transformative handling of the infinite human spirit in such an exceedingly limited space.

This 53-minute documentary of Guntman marks out the life and thoughts of Boris Bezotechestvo who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a small cell.
His world consisted of nothing but the four walls and a view from the cell’s window.

The St. Petersberg based filmmaker received the Golden Conch along with Rs 3,00,000 in the ‘Best Documentary above 30 minutes’ category. The jury didn’t honor any award in the less than 30-minutes category.

Silver Conch for Ritu Sarin and Sonam Tenzing’s documentary
Ritu Sarin and Sonam Tenzing’s documentary ‘The sun behind the clouds’ won the silver conch and the prize money of Rs 1,50,000, for the above 30-minute category.

The movie advocated the spirit of liberty and restored a sense of balance by incorporating a different perspective within the Tibetan struggle.

It also depicted Dalai Lama’s courageous endeavors to resolve the conflict peacefully and the response of the younger generation to the standpoint

Meanwhile Anwar Jamal’s Anwar- Dream of a Dark Night and Deepa Bhatia’s Nero’s Guests won a special mention.

The ‘Documentary under 30 minutes’ category
In the under 30 minute category, ‘Vagabond’— A nomad in spirit and in reality and ‘I Found a Thread’ jointly shared the Silver Conch award and the cash prize of Rs. 1,50,000

Vagabond won the award for its prudent portrayal of a very intricate and shocking episode of contemporary Indian history. On the other hand ‘I Found a Thread’ won it for relighting the principles of Mahatma Gandhi to the current society.

Dignitaries at the event
The 11th edition of Mumbai International Film Festival of Documentary, Animation and Short Films, saw over 850 films from more than 35 countries contending in various categories during the past one week.

Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni with actor Tanushri Datta, director Yash Chopra and Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan were present during the inauguration of the festival.

The 11th MIFF international jury included Trinh T. Min-ha (USA), Gianfranco Rosi (Italy), Peter Van Huystee (Holland), S. Krishnaswamy and Asha Parekh (India).