CIFF 2024 | Vijay Sethupathi, Sai Pallavi bag best actors award

CHENNAI: The 22nd Chennai International Film Festival, which began on December 12, concluded with a grand closing ceremony on December 19. Over eight days, the festival showcased 123 films from 50 countries, providing cinephiles with an immersive and enriching experience.

The event wasn’t just about film screenings; the Master Classes and Master Talks held throughout the festival offered valuable learning opportunities for aspiring filmmakers.

The festival’s director, AVM K Shanmugam, stated in his speech that over 6,000 delegates were registered, marking the highest attendance ever for CIFF.

The festival featured powerful political speeches by Pa Ranjith and Mari Selvaraj, filmmaking expertise shared by Venkat Prabhu and Thota Tharani, and success stories of small-budget films like Lubber Pandhu by Tamizharasan Pachamuthu and Nandhan by Era Saravanan, among others. The closing ceremony featured an awards distribution for both regional and world cinema. Amaran won the highest number of awards. In the regional films category, the Best Actor (Male) award was won by Vijay Sethupathi for Maharaja, while the Best Actor (Female) award went to Sai Pallavi for Amaran. Amaran also won the Best Feature Film and CH Sai bagged the Best Cinematographer award as well.

Receiving the award, Vijay Sethupathi said, “This is my second award at CIFF. It brings back many memories and valuable lessons.” He added, “This recognition belongs to Nithilan Saminathan for his vision of creating a film like Maharaja.” In her acceptance speech, Sai Pallavi shared, “The amount of love I am receiving for Amaran is indescribable. Thank you to the jury for honouring me with this award, despite so many outstanding performances.”

The Favourite Actor award was given to Arvind Swamy for Meiyazhagan. The Special Jury Award for Best Director was presented to Pari Elavazhagan for Jama, while Pa Ranjith received the Special Jury Award for Best Director for Thangaalan. The Best Entertainment Film award went to Vettaiyan and the Best Social Issue Film award was conferred on Nandhan.

Filmmaker Mari Selvaraj earned the Special Mention Jury Award for Children’s Film (Vaazhai). Additionally, the Best Writer award was secured by Nithilan Saminathan for Maharaja, and the Best Supporting Actor awards were won by Attakathi Dinesh and Dushara Vijayan.

In the world cinema category, the Best World Feature Film award was claimed by In the Arms of the Tree (Iran). The Best Student Short Film was bagged by Kayamai.

The 23rd Chennai International Film Festival is scheduled to be held from December 11 to 18, 2025.