Malayalam filmmaker Anand Ekarshi’s debut film Aattam has secured the FIPRESCI-India Grand Prix for the best 2023 Indian film. The award will be conferred to the winning film in an event, the details of which will be announced later. The Indian Chapter of FIPRESCI made the award announcement on July 9. In a press release, the association has also listed nine other films, including Don Palathara’s Family, Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies, and Sri Lankan director Prasanna Vithanage’s Paradise starring Malayalam actors Roshan Mathew and Darshana Rajendran, as the top 10 films of 2023.
FIPRESCI (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique, ie The International Federation of Film Critics) is an association of the national organisations of professional film critics and film journalists from around 50 countries worldwide, which was founded in 1930 in Belgium.
Sharing the news on social media, Anand Ekarshi said this was “probably the proudest moment for everyone” in the Aattam team. “All credit and thanks truly goes to our wonderful producer, Ajith Joy K , who backed us all like nobody else ever would. A big thank you to all the jury involved at Fipresci-India . This means big for us (sic),” he said.
The ten films that found place in the FIPRESCI list are:
Aattam (Malayalam) by Anand Ekarshi
Sthal (Marathi) by Jayant Digambar Somalkar
Rapture (Garo) by Dominic Sangma
Joram (Hindi, Jharkhandi) by Devashish Makhija
Family (Malayalam) by Don Palathara
Mithya (Kannada) by Sumanth Bhat
Agra (Hindi) by Kanu Behl
Paradise (Malayalam, English, Hindi, Tamil, Sinhala) by Prasanna Vithanage
And Towards Happy Alleys (English, Persian) by Sreemoyee Singh
Laapataa Ladies (Hindi) by Kiran Rao
Aattam had also won other accolades, including the Best Film Award in the 47th Kerala Film Critics Awards. Anand Ekarshi was also adjudged the Best Director, while the film’s lead actor Zarin Shihab won the Best Actor (Female) Award.
The film also secured the Grand Jury Award for Best Film at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFA), and the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) award for the best Malayalam film.
The film revolves around a theatre group with a sole woman actor, portrayed by Zarin Shihab. Amid the laughter and celebration of a successful staging, Anjali is sexually harassed. The movie narrates on the events that follow after the sexual harassment, with specific focus on the reactions of the rest of the group, which exposes the many biases and hypocrisies of human nature.
