The silver jubilee year of the Association of Kannada Kootas of America (AKKA) is bringing a special focus to cinema, with the AKKA CineKannada Film Festival creating a global platform for films from Karnataka and its different languages.
As part of AKKA’s 25th anniversary celebrations, 10 films selected for the festival will be screened at the AKKA conference in the US in September. Ahead of the international showcase, an awards ceremony honouring the winning films and artistes was held in Bengaluru, with several prominent names from the Kannada film industry in attendance.
Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce president Dr Jayamala, writer and editor Jogi, journalist and News 1 head Ravikumar, actor Nirup Bhandari, filmmaker Mansore, and AKKA conference directors Yamuna and Thimmapapagowda were among those who presented the awards.
Festival director P Sheshadri, organisers, and Devendra Badiger, jury members, sponsors, award winners and marketing head Kandaiah Shetty were also present.
The festival received 51 entries, from which the jury shortlisted 10 films to be screened at the AKKA conference. According to P Sheshadri, the top three films were awarded cash prizes of ₹1 lakh, ₹50,000 and ₹25,000 respectively, along with trophies. A Special Jury Award and honours in seven individual categories were also presented.
The 10 films selected for the AKKA conference are Amara Premi Arun, Elumale, Nadubettu Appanna, Nimma Vastugalige Neeve Javabdaararu, Pidaayi, Bellichukki Halli Chukki, Mahima, Sri Jagannathadasaru Part 2, Kshame Irali Tande and 4 by 4.
Elumale emerged as the Best Film, winning ₹1 lakh and a trophy. Nimma Vastugalige Neeve Javabdaararu was named the Second Best Film, while the Tulu film Pidaayi won the Third Best Film award, along with ₹25,000 and a trophy. Bellichukki Halli Chukki received the Special Jury Award.
The festival also recognised individual performances and technical contributions. Veena Sundar won the Thoogudeepa Srinivas Award for Best Villain for Bellichukki Halli Chukki. Padmaja Srinivas was named Best Female Singer with the S Janaki Award for Nimma Vastugalige Neeve Javabdaararu, while Mahalingam won the PB Srinivas Award for Best Male Singer for Elumale.
D Imman received the Rajan-Nagendra Award for Best Music Director for Elumale, while Puneeth Rangaswamy won the Shankar Nag Award for Best Director for the same film. The B Sarojadevi Award for Best Actress went to Shilpa Manjunath for Nimma Vastugalige Neeve Javabdaararu, while Dileep Raj was named Best Actor for the film. With these 10 films now headed for the AKKA conference, the CineKannada Film Festival is taking Kannada and other regional-language films from Karnataka beyond the usual festival circuit and placing them before a global Kannada audience.
