26-year-old Omkar Modgi's maiden short film 'Avyakta' has made it to which acclaimed International film festival?

The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) nominated nine movies for this year's International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication (ICFT) UNESCO Gandhi Medal. Out of nine films, five are from India. They are Kshitij - A Horizon, Manusangada, Poorna, Railway Children and Take-Off from India. The foreign films in the fray are Amok from Poland, Khibula - a co-production of Germany, France and Georgia, The Last Painting from Taiwan and Women of The Weeping River - a joint production of the US and UK.

The French film on AIDS "120 Beats Per Minute", directed by Robin Campillo, has won the prestigious Golden Peacock award for best film at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2017), while the film's actor Nahuel Perez Biscayart won the Silver Peacock in the best actor male category in Panaji, Goa. Apart from this, Amitabh Bachchan was felicitated with the Indian Film Personality of the Year Award 2017 and the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan.

Veteran actress Saira Banu and actor Jackie Shroff have been named for the prestigious Raj Kapoor Lifetime Achievement and Raj Kapoor Special Contribution annual awards, respectively, by the Maharashtra government

Director Vasan Bala's action thriller 'Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota' (The Man Who Feels No Pain) has won the top award ie., Grolsch People's Choice Midnight Madness Award at the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This is the first ever Indian film to be screened in the Toronto festival's Midnight Madness programme.

The annual London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) opens today with the red-carpet world premiere of Hollywood-cum-Bollywood starrer "Love Sonia", a film by the Oscar-nominated producer of "Life Of Pi", David Womark. This year, there is also a special cinematic tribute to Bollywood star Sridevi, who died suddenly in February, with a screening of her 1987 box-office hit "Mr India". Another tribute screening is UK-based filmmaker Sangeeta Dutta's docu-feature "Bird of Dusk", in memory of the late Rituparno Ghosh.

Indian film "Halkaa" has won the 'Grand Prix de Montreal' award at the 21st Festival International du Film Pour Enfants de Montreal Film (FIFEM). "Halkaa" was directed by Nila Madhab Panda. Child actor Tathastu has acted as Pichku, the lead role. "Halkaa" was selected among seven international children's films in the official competition of the festival held from 8th to 11th March 2018.

The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has nominated 12 movies for this year's International Council for Film, Television and Audio-visual Communication (ICFT) UNESCO Gandhi Medal. Of these 12 films, two are from India and the rest are foreign movies. The two Indian movies competing for the honour are Tamil film Baaram and Ladakhi movie Walking with the Wind.

The new Oscar will be awarded for "Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film" and will be introduced this coming year, at the 91st Oscars. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, has added a new category after 17 years to recognise popular films. The last category to be added was 'Best Animated Feature Film'.

Best Film: Hotel Salvation (Mukti Bhawan) won the Best Film at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF). It is a movie about a man who accompanies his father on a journey to Varanasi and end the cycle of rebirth, by attaining salvation.