Polish Documentary ‘Silver’ Wins Top Honour at 19th Mumbai Intl Film Festival
Mumbai, June 21 (TNT): The 19th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival concluded with a glittering closing ceremony at Ravindra Natya Mandir in Dadar, where outstanding documentary, short fiction and animation films from India and abroad were honoured with the prestigious Golden Conch and Silver Conch awards.
The festival’s highest honour, the Golden Conch for Best Documentary Film of the Festival, was awarded to the Polish documentary Silver, directed by Natalia Koniarz and produced by Maciej Kubicki.
The jury described the film as a powerful exploration of poverty, labour and dignity that transforms a local reality into a reflection on global injustice. The award was received on behalf of the filmmakers by Malgorzata Wejsis-Gołębiak.
Indian Films Shine in National Competition
The National Competition highlighted the diversity of contemporary Indian non-feature cinema, with three films winning top honours.
The Silver Conch for Best Indian Animation Film was awarded to Armstrong from Angaalamman Temple Street, directed and produced by Bhuvanesh M. Kumar.
The Silver Conch for Best Indian Short Fiction Film went to Small Clouds, directed by Shubham Sumit and produced by Dhiraj Singh.
The Silver Conch for Best Indian Documentary Film was awarded to Waai, directed by Sainath S. Uskaikar and produced by Bharatbala Ganapathy.
International Winners
In the International Competition, Germany’s Maya’s Song won the Silver Conch for Best Animation Film. The film was directed and produced by Franziska Schönenberger and Jayakrishnan Subramanian.
The Silver Conch for Best International Short Fiction Film was awarded to Iran’s Under The Snow, directed by Nafiseh Zare.
Other Major Awards
Filmmaker Pradeep Kanchanuru won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize for The Hug of Emptiness.
Milan Kumar received the IDPA Award for Best Student Film for The Old Bull Knows, or Once Knew.
Pooja Tolani was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari Award for Best Debut Director for Razaa.
The special award for Best Short Film on Viksit Bharat / 150 Years of Vande Mataram / Bharat@2026 went to The Last Shelter, while Taiwanese filmmaker Chuan-Ying Liao received the Pramod Pati Special Jury Award for The Hoarders.
Technical Awards
In the National Competition, Bigyna Dahal won Best Sound Design for Kovarty, Akhil Krishnan received Best Editing for MAYDAY, and Ranadhir Biswas won Best Cinematography for Small Clouds.
Among international entries, Abhay Rumde won Best Sound Design for Deva Aaj Pan Vhay, while Evgeny Smirnov and Maksim Smirnov received Best Editing for Russia’s About the Cow. Krish Makhija was honoured with Best Cinematography for Turtle Walker.
The closing ceremony was attended by Maharashtra Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, Principal Director General of PIB Dhirendra Ojha, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Prabhat, filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, and Prakash Magdum, among others.
The festival concluded with a screening of the Golden Conch-winning documentary Silver, bringing to a close a week-long celebration of documentary, animation and short fiction cinema from around the world.
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