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Chaitanya Tamhane’s The Disciple wins FIPRESCI award at Venice International Film Festival, director ‘thrilled’
Ahead of the closing ceremony at Venice International Film Festival, Chaitanya Tamhane’s The Disciple bagged the FIPRESCI award. The film is about a musician in Mumbai and is presented by Alfonso Cuaron.
National Award-winning filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane’s latest offering The Disciple won the International Critics’ Prize awarded by FIPRESCI at the 77th Venice International Film Festival. The last Indian film to bag the honour was Mathilukal directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan in 1990.
Expressing his gratitude, Chaitanya said in a statement, “I want to thank the FIPRESCI and its jury members from the bottom of my heart for their continued support for our work. This is a very special honour for us given that the jury for this award comprises of film critics and journalists from around the world. We are all quite thrilled and excited with this fantastic start to the journey of The Disciple.”
Producer Vivek Gomber also said, “It’s an incredible honour to be the first Indian film after thirty years to win this prestigious award at Venice. FIPRESCI’s faith in our work has been a great source of encouragement over the years.”
The prestigious award is given by the The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la Presse CInématographique), which is an association of national organisations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for “the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests.”
The announcement came a day ahead of the closing ceremony, where the main awards will be revealed. The top prize at the festival, The Golden Lion, will also be announced and The Disciple is also in the running, among 18 films, for the prize. Last year, Joker by US director Todd Phillips took home the Golden Lion, while Roman Polanski won the runner-up Grand Jury prize for An Officer and a Spy.
The Disciple was also selected as one of only 50 titles in the Official Selection of the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.
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