Here is the lowdown on the award winners of the Mumbai International Film Festival that ended on Thursday

MAMI wraps up

The 13th Mumbai International Film Festival which commenced on the 13th October held its closing ceremony on 20th October, during which the jury gave away the much-awaited awards for the Best Film, Best Director and the Best Actress among others. Of the odd 250 films that were screened at the festival this year, French film My Little Princess, directed by Eva Ionesco and produced by Rancois Marquis, swept most of the awards at the competition. The film won the Best Film, Best Director and the Best Actress award which went to Isabelle Huppert and Anamaria Vartolomei. Directed by Eva Ionesco, My Little Princess was the clear favourite as it raced past much-hyped films like Sleeping Beauty, Sengadal and Michael to win the Golden Gateway Award and cash prize of USD 100,000. Morgan Freeman's Dolphin Tale which was also the closing film of the festival, was honoured with the International Lifetime Achievement Award, as the Hollywood actor sent his message to thank the Indian audience. Lyricist, Gulzar was honoured for his outstanding contribution to films as a lyricist-director in a career spanning five decades. Other awards included the Jury award for technical excellence to Las Acasias from Argentina, Best Actor award to Gibert Sikote for The Salesman. The Jury Grand Prize also went to The Salesman directed by Sebastien Pilote, while the Special Jury Award in international competition was won by the German film Michael. Celebrities spotted at the festival included filmmaker Yash Chopra with wife Pamela, and filmmakers Shyam Benegal, Satish Kaushik, Rohan Sippy, Kiran Rao, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramadiya Motwane, Onir and Ramesh Sippy with wife Kiran Juneja. Actors Sanjay Suri, Ranvir Shorey, Shahana Goswami, Rakesh Bedi, Kanwaljit Singh, Vrajesh Hirjee, Rajat Barmecha, Meiyang Chang, Pravesh Rana, and Sharbani Mukherjee were amongst many others who attended the closing event.