Sen’s Wagah wins Berlin Today Award at Berlinale

Runumi G | Breaking News, Festivals & Contests, Movies, News & Events, People | February 10, 2009 at 4:15 am

Supriyo Sen’s short film Wagah, made to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall as part of a Berlinale project, has won the Berlin Today award at the ongoing Berlin Film Fetival.

Wagah, which seeks to interpret the ritual of every evening’s closure of the gates on the India-Pakistan border crossing in a larger context, was among the five concepts selected by Berlinale from among 180 entries from across the world for cinematic celebration of anniversary.

Celebrated filmmaker Wim Wenders, who headed the Berlin Today Award jury, said the film had been selected for the award for being “a convincing manifesto against any wall that divides people.”

“It’s a fabulous honour, more so as my film’s theme against artificial walls that divide people have been recognised,” Sen said from Berlin. A Special Mention was given to My Super Sea Wall by Gina Abatemarco from the United States for showing the struggle for survival of 375 inhabitants on the Alaskan island Kivalina.

Produced by DETAiLFILM and shot by S Chokalingam, Sen’s film will now travel the world along with the four other selected films through the Goethe Institute and Deutsche Welle under Berlinale’s Berlin Today Award (BTA) programme.

With this film, two-time National Award winner Sen has completed his trilogy of films exploring the theme of Partition of the Subcontinent, with his earlier two films Way Back Home and Hope Dies Last in War having won international accolade.

“The selected filmmakers were asked to explore the wall, which can be metaphorical, political or wall of any kind,” Sen said. “The festival had invited 15 filmmakers out of the 180 who had submitted their concepts. We had a pitching session with the producers following which the five projects were selected,” he said.

Tags: Berlin Film Festival, Berlin Today Award, berlinale, Supriyo Sen, Wagah

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