Grand Celebration of New Delhi Film Festival, 'Maa Kaali' Wins Best Feature Fiction Film Award

New Delhi: The 8th New Delhi Film Festival (NDFF) 2025, organized by JIFF Trust, was magnificently held at the India International Centre in the capital city on 22nd February. This prestigious festival saw the participation of 250 filmmakers from across the world.

The awards were presented to the winning filmmakers by Former Vice-President of FIAPF, Twice served as President of FFI, and Since 2006, President of IMPPA, Mr. T. P. Aggarwal, along with NDFF and Jaipur International Film Festival (JIFF) Founder, Hanu Roj.

Major Award Winners:

✅ Best Feature Fiction Film Award – Maa Kaali (Directed by Vijay Yelakanti, India)
✅ Best Documentary Feature Film Award – Brendan Gleeson's Farewell To Hughes's (Directed by Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, Ireland)
✅ Best Animation Feature/Documentary Film Award – Outsider. Freud (Directed by Yair Qedar, Austria)
✅ Best Animation Short Film Award – Baahubali: Crown of Blood Season 1 - Episode 6 (Directed by Jeevan J. Kang, Navin John, India)
✅ Best Short Fiction Film Award – Ansuni Chinkhe (Directed by Parthasarathi Mahanta, India)
✅ Best Documentary Short Film Award – The Poem We Sang (Directed by Annie Sakkab, Palestine)
✅ Best Mobile Short Film Award – Broken (Directed by Ayush Bansal, India)
✅ Best Web Series Award – Your Democracy (Directed by Gloria Jene’ Browne-Marshall, USA)
✅ Best Screenplay Award – Sons of Abraham (Written by Juliana Marchand, USA)

Festival Highlights:

➡️ Screening of five top films before the awards ceremony.
➡️ A massive crowd gathered to watch Raima Sen-starrer 'Maa Kaali'.
➡️ Maa Kaali follows a young journalist investigating the celebration of the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by a Bengali refugee camp. Her journey uncovers the dark events of August 16, 1946 – Jinnah’s Direct Action Day – which led to brutal massacres and forever changed the lives of Hindu Bengalis.

Industry Leaders’ Remarks:

🎙 T. P. Aggarwal: "I have been associated with the cinema industry for the past four decades. At one point, film culture in Delhi was nearly vanishing, but the New Delhi Film Festival has revived it. I hope the next edition will extend to three to five days."
🎙 Festival Founder Hanu Roj: "Yes! The next edition will be a three-day event!"

NDFF 2025 successfully showcased the best of Indian and global cinema, providing an unforgettable experience to film lovers in Delhi.