Raam Reddy’s directorial debut, Thithi wins the Jury Grand Prize at Mumbai Film Festival, 2015. The Kannada-language film, which made its Asian Premiere at Mumbai Film Festival, 2015, was the only Indian feature to be selected in the International Competition.The film had its international première at Locarno International Film Festival in August this year and won two top awards – Pardo d’oro Cineasti Del Presente Premio Nescens” (Golden Leopard, Filmmakers of the Present Competition) and “Swatch First Feature Award” for the best debut feature in the festival.Excited about the winning one of the top awards at this year’s MAMI, Raam says, “Thithi’s journey so far has been nothing short of magical, and premiere at MAMI has continued this dream-come-true. It was already such an immense honour to be included in the wonderfully curated selection of the International Competition including films like Land and Shade that won the Camera d’Or at Cannes and Ixcanul Volcano than won in Berlin. It was truly a selection of some of the strongest films from around the world this year, so winning an award in this category is really overwhelming. In addition to the award, it was also so encouraging to see how Thithi seemed to be universally enjoyed as theatrical experience by the audiences in MAMI, with so much more laughter in the theatre that my team and I ever expected.”
All the screenings of Thithi were sold out, with audiences lining up three hours before the start of the film in the final screening. Thithi’s reputation in the world cinema circles has steadily grown ever since winning the Work-in-Progress Fiction Lab in NFDC Film Bazaar 2014. After the Locarno wins, the 26-year-old director was very excited to be felicitated by Karnataka’s Honorable Chief Minister Sri Siddaramaiah.
In addition to its critical accolades, Thithi has backing of a renowned international producer from the USA, Sunmin Park of Maxmedia, Los Angeles. She, along with Tom Cruise, produced The Others starring Nicole Kidman directed by Alejandro Amenabar, A Night in Old Mexico starring Robert Duvall, and many other films with globally acclaimed directors from around the world.
