Assamese filmmaker Rima Das’ Village Rockstars took home multiple awards at the Jio MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival that closed on Wednesday. This film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2017.

Village Rockstars worked it’s magic at the MAMI festival too and won many awards at the closing ceremony. It bagged the Golden Gateway award. The film also took home two other honours: Oxfam Best Film for Gender Quality award and Young Critics Choice award.

Village Rockstars director Rima Das got emotional and said people thought she was “mad” while she was making the film but now she will have a “very happy Diwali.”

“I will be grateful to MAMI and jury for the award. Specially my children. They believed in me for four years. Never questioned me. Most of the people thought I was mad. But my family believed in me. I struggled for 8 years, looking for an acting job in Mumbai. My family was with me. They produced two of my films.” She added.

Other films that won awards are:

The Silvery Gateway award went to Rahul Jain’s Machines. The documentary is a sensorial and kaleidoscopic meditation on the meaning of labor in an Indian textile sweatshop.

The Grand Jury prize was bagged by Dipesh Jain’s In The Shadows, starring Manoj Bajpayee. The film is a psychological drama about a man who is trapped within the city walls and in his own mind. He attempts to break free to find a human connection.

There was a special mention for Anushka Meenakshi and Iswar Srikumar’s Up Down and Sideways, and S Durga, which was earlier titled Sexy Durga. The film, a Malayalam indie drama, is about the patriarchal society of Kerala.

Golden Gateway award

Carla Simon’s Summer 1993 won the Golden Gateway award. This film is about a six-year-old losing her parents and how she rediscovers a new life that awaits her.

Simon on receiving this award said, “I was not expecting this. I am very happy. It’s my first time in India. Thank you to the festival and the jury. I am super happy.”

While Jonathan Olshefski took home the Silver Gateway Award for Quest, the Grand Jury award went to The Wound by John Trengove. Scary Mother and I Am Not a Witch bagged the special mentions.

The audience choice award bestowed upon On Body and Soul, a Hungarian drama directed by IIdikó Enyedi.

While Anurag Worlikar’s Vacancy claimed the Dimensions Mumbai Golden Gateway award, the Silver Gateway award given away to The Wolf of Chawl Street, a hilarious mockumentary about a graffiti artist chasing stardom and police arrest based in Mumbai. Special jury mention went to Bambaiwale.

Oxfam Best Film for gender equality award went to Rima Das’ Village Rockstars while special jury mention went to Naseeruddin Shah and Tisca Chopra’s The Hungry by Bornila Chatterjee.

Voices of the talking stars’ by Madhuja Mukherjee bagged the Excellence in writing on cinema, English, while the Hindi category award went to Lata: Sur Gatha, penned by Yatindra Mishra.

Silver Gateway award

While The Day My Father Became A Bush won the Golden Gateway feature film award in the Half Ticket section, the Silver Gateway award bagged by ‘Cloudboy’.’

The 19th edition of the festival showcased over 220 films from 49 countries in 51 languages. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Mukkabaaz’ opened the festival while Hansal Mehta’s ‘Omerta’ was the closing film.

The award ceremony was attended by celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor, Kabir Khan, Anurag Kashyap, Rajkumar Hirani, Hansal Mehta, Kiran Rao, Ashutosh Gowariker, Rajkummar Rao, Sudhir Mishra, Kriti Kharbanda, Tanishtha Chatterjee among others.

The evening hosted by actor Sayani Gupta and Radhika Apte. Festival Director Anupama Chopra who closed the ceremony with a final word on this year’s film festival announced that the next edition of the MAMI will be from October 25 to November 1, 2018.