“The aim is to ensure that the art of filmmaking does not remain unapproachable to anyone”, says Golden Jury Film Festival founder Pragyesh Singh

Golden Jury Film Academy is an idea that was birthed out of passion and the purpose of bridging the space between film fans & moviegoers, with filmmakers & their associates. The academy celebrated its 4th edition film festival this year which got support from many big names in the industry which includes Pawan Malhotra, Vikram Kochhar, Inaamulhaq, Manoj Bakshi, Gauahar Khan, Piyush Mishra, Barkha Dutt Sengupta, Aditya Srivastava, Milind Joshi, Shahid Maliya and many more.

Festival founder Pragyesh Singh is an Indian film director, writer, and producer known for his work in Hindi cinema – Chhoti Si Guzaarish, his film was recognized with 12 awards across the world; and Shinaakht, that bagged 11 awards worldwide. He heads TNV Films Pvt. Ltd.

Talking about the vision of this Film Festival, director Pragyesh Singh shares, “The aim is to ensure that the art of filmmaking does not remain unapproachable to anyone. We want that everyone get an opportunity to connect with and explore the splendor of cinema in all its facets. The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote Indian and international cinema in all its forms as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue. The Festival will also organize Retrospectives and Tributes to iconic figures in Cinema as a contribution to a better understanding of the history of cinema.”

Pragyesh further adds, “Film festivals today have become a regular affair, but most of them cater only to select audiences and mostly entertain the commercially successful filmmakers and related personalities. The purpose of Golden Jury Film Festival is to promote newer as well as experienced moviemakers, exchange of knowledge, information, ideas and culture between India and other nations in the context of their social and cultural ethos.”

Show Director Subhransu Das a visionary cinematographer who has worked over the past 23 years, professionally on several documentaries, narrative shorts, and commercials and feature films like Filmistaan, Poorna, Kaun Kitne Pani Mein and The Last Color talks about the importance of such festivals.

He tells, “Our earnest endeavor is to leverage Golden Jury Film Festival as a means to bring meaningful, entertaining and good cinema to the masses and conniosseurs alike. To this end, our focus will be on a very discerning selection of films from all over India and even from far-flung corners of the globe. Our Jury thus will naturally be a mix of the highest quality of professionals from different fields of Film, Art, Performing Arts, and Communication, Marketing and Thinking.”

He further states, “Filmmaking is an art, and art belongs to everyone. But to make a good film, one must understand the nitty-gritties of all aspects of the process, and also accept that (unless it is self-expression or Art for Art’s sake), if it is made to be put out in the world for others to enjoy, each form of art also definitely has business aspects. Golden Jury came into form with this thought; the idea is to promote friendship and co-operation among peoples of the world through the medium of feature films, shorts and documentaries.”

This year, in feature film category, Best Actor (Male) was awarded to Mukesh Bhatt (Midnight Delhi) and Best Actor (Female): Shikha Chauhan (Nimmo Lucknow Wali); Best Feature Film: #VIRAL WORLD (Directed by: BRIJESH TANGI) and Best Director: Pawan Kumar Sharma (Vanrakshak). For short films Best Actor (Male): Karan Wahi (Sambhram – Never Odd or Even) Best Actor (Male): VikramKochhar (Dammy), Best Actor (Female): Barkha Bisht Sengupta (Zibah), Best Director: Ashwwin Kaushal (Meet Mr. Chang); Best Debut Director: Kriti Nagar (Behrupiya). Best Documentary Film: Neither a girl Nor a woman (Directed by: actress Anjali Patil).

Festival team includes- Festival Organiser: Kirtika Chauhan; Artistic Designer: Rhea Anand, Odd Monk; Selection Team: Gadadhar Puty, Ashok Purang, Smita Jaykar; Curators: Ishita Singh, Maya Sahu; Volunteers (Different Cities): Arti Sharma, Niranjan Das, Prince Rajput, Adwaait Das, Falgu Satpathy, Puneet Shukla, Nitesh Pandey.