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Vinod Kapri’s “Pyre,” an intimate drama about an elderly couple struggling to survive in the remote Indian Himalayas, has captured the best film audience award at both the London Indian Film Festival and Birmingham Indian Film Festival, which concluded this week at BFI Southbank and Midlands Arts Centre respectively.

“Pyre” had its world premiere at the 28th Tallinn Black Nights International Film Festival in November 2024, where it won the Best Film Audience Choice Award as the only Indian film in the Official Competition category. This was followed by its Indian premiere as the opening film at the 16th Bengaluru International Film Festival, where it received the Jury Special Mention Award in the Asian Cinema Competition. The film also had its Belgian premiere at the 12th Mooov Film Festival and North American premiere at the 25th New York Indian Film Festival, where both non-professional lead actors were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress.

The London Indian Film Festival will open its 16th edition with the U.K. premiere of “Little Jaffna.”

Directed by Lawrence Valin, the film, which he also co-wrote and stars in, explores the Tamil diaspora experience in France through the prism of gang culture in the area of central Paris known informally as Little Jaffna, named after the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan civil war, which ravaged the island nation from 1983 to 2009. The film has had considerable festival play including at Venice and Toronto.

The festival’s central gala will be the restored version of Peter Brook’s legendary interpretation of Indian epic “The Mahabharata.” The screening at BFI Imax aligns with the 100th birth year of Brook, with expectations that some of the original cast will attend from France.

Director Rima Das returns to the...

Somewhere high in the Indian Himalayas Padam (Padam Singh) lives with his wife Tulsi (Hira Devi) and an indeterminate number of goats in a ramshackle home. Elderly and increasingly frail, we meet them as Padam has marched Tulsi to the top of a cliff - one of many spectacular shots of the countryside captured by cinematographer Manas Bhattacharyya, featuring a waterfall in the background - with a view to them both jumping off it together. Like Samuel Beckett’s Vladimir and Estragon from Waiting For Godot, however, they do not move.

It’s not Godot that the pair are waiting for, but their son Hariya, who left their isolated village 28 years earlier. He probably wasn’t the first to leave and he most certainly isn’t the last as throughout this film a number of residents pack up their bags for various reasons. Vinod Kapri doesn’t need to emphasise the effect of urbanisation.

Silent City Driver Photo: Courtesy of Poff Mongolian drama Silent City Driver won the Grand Prix for best film in Tallinn Black Nights' Official Selection yesterday. The film, directed by Sengedorj Janchivdorj follows a hearse driver as he navigates his life.

The best director prize went to Nir Bergman's Israeli drama Pink Lady, which charts a marriage in an ultra-orthodox community that is rocked by a revelation, while Turkish drama Empire Of The Rabbits, by director Seyfettin Tokmak, won the cinematography and screenplay awards.

German director Steve Bache took the best first feature award for his coming-of-age drama No Dogs Allowed, with the prize for best Baltic film going to Lithuanian drama The Southern Chronicles, directed by Ignas Miškinis. Indian drama Pyre from director Vinod Kapri won the audience award. Diego Figueroa won the prize for best director in the First Feature section for his Chilean thriller A Yard of Jackals.

The 28th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has announced its winners, with Silent City Driver from Mongolian director Sengedorj Janchivdorj taking home the Grand Prix for best film in the official selection, along with the best production design honor for Munkhbat Shirnen.

The film follows a 32-year-old man who, after serving 14 years in prison for his involvement in a murder case, emerges to face societal rejection and health challenges from a prison beating, finding solace only in caring for stray dogs. The festival jury praised Silent City Driver as “a dark fairy tale from Mongolia” that broke new ground with its unique cinematic style.

German drama No Dogs Allowed by director Steve Bache took the best feature award, with Southern Chronicles from Lithuanian helmer Ignas Miškinis winning the prize for best Baltic film. Indian drama Pyre from director Vinod Kapri scooped the festival’s audience award.

Pirjo Lonka and Elina Knihtilä...

By Milani Perera

Vinod Kapri, renowned for his powerful portrayal of society’s overlooked individuals, returns with a profound meditation on love, loss, and isolation in “Pyre“. Kapri’s latest work shines with a poignant intensity that echoes his impactful films “1232 KMs” (2015) and “Pihu” (2016). Premiering at the 28th Black Night’s Film Festival, “Pyre” is a moving exploration of an elderly couple’s fragile existence in a remote Himalayan village, delving deep into the depths of their love and the weight of their loss.

Pyre is screening at Tallinn Black Nights

Padam Singh (Padam Singh) and Tulsi (Heera Devi), an 80-year-old couple, remain in a world that the younger generation has abandoned. Their days pass in quiet routines, their loneliness masked by fleeting moments of humour. Haunted by the absence of their son, their hope is reignited by a letter promising his return. When he finally arrives, the reunion shatters their expectations,...

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Poff) has selected a further 14 features, including 11 world premieres, to complete the lineup of its Official Selection Competition.

The new titles include the world premiere of Serhii Kastornykh’s Ukrainian feature The Mousetrap. Shot during a break between Kastornykh’s military service periods, the film follows a soldier trapped alone in a bunker on the frontline of the Russian war.

Scroll down for the full list of Poff Official Selection Competition titles

Also selected is the world premiere of Juris Kursietis’ third feature The Exalted, in which a world-renowned German organist uncovers her Latvian husband...