Pune International Film Festival


The Pune International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Open to the general public, screenings take place at venues such as the NFAI, INOX and PVR cinemas across the city. The festival is chaired and directed by Dr Jabbar Patel. The festival's trustees are Jabbar Patel, Satish Alekar, Mohan Agashe, Sabina Sanghvi, Ravi Gupta, Rajendra Kelshikar and Samar Nakhate. The deputy director — Programme and Films is Vishal Shinde, and the deputy director — International Cinema & Relations is Aditi Akkalkotkar.
The festival commences on the second Thursday and concludes on the third Thursday of January. First Edition of PIFF was started in year 2002 and has been running annually except for 2004.
Latest PIFF was concluded on 13 February 2025 in its 23rd edition. The theme of year was "celebrating the showman...Raj Kapoor".
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Festival categories

  • World Competition - Films released in earlier year compete for much-coveted 'Prabhat Best International Film Award'
  • Marathi Competition - Marathi films released in earlier year compete for 'Sant Tukaram Best International Marathi Film Award'
  • Student Section - Short films from film schools in India like FTII are screened.
  • Global Cinema - Non-competition category for cinema around the globe
  • Country Focus - A handful of films from one country
  • Theme Section - Films relating to the theme of the festival that year
  • Retrospective - Retrospective on Indian and Foreign director/actor
  • Indian Cinema - Offbeat films produced in India
  • Tribute Section - Tribute to film personalities passed that year
  • Special Screening
  • PIFF Workshops - Talks, Seminars, and Workshops on varied subjects by Film Industry persons.
  • Student Animation Section - Short animation films for competition by students.This section was for few years.

Awards

Sant Tukaram Best International Marathi Film Award winners

Since 2006, the Government of Maharashtra started awarding the best film in the Marathi competition section at the festival. An international jury watches the competing Marathi films to decide the winner. The award is named after the Marathi film Sant Tukaram, the first Indian entry to be screened at the 5th Venice International Film Festival.
PIFF EditionYearFilmDirectorRef.
42006Dombivali FastNishikanth Kamat
52007ShevriGajendra Ahire
62008TingyaMangesh Hadawale
72009Gabhricha PausSatish Manwar
82010NatarangRavi Jadhav
92011Baboo Band BaajaRajesh Pinjani
102012Ha Bharat MazaSumitra Bhave, Sunil Sukhtankar
112013KaksparshMahesh Manjrekar
122014FandryNagraj Manjule
132015Elizabeth EkadashiParesh Mokashi
142016Ranga PatangaPrasad Namjoshi
152017Lathe Joshi Mangesh Joshi
162018PimpalGajendra Ahire
172019ChumbakSandeep Modi
182020Anandi GopalSameer Vidwans
192021Happy My Son Makarand Mane
202022PotraShankar Arjunn Dhotre

Prabhat International Award Winners

The festival started an International Competition section from 2005. The Government of Maharashtra started awarding the best film and the best director in the International Competition. An international jury panel decides the awards. Select awards are listed below.
EditionYearAwardFilmDirectorRef.
32005Best FilmYesterdayDarrell Roodt
32005Jury AwardEarth and AshesAtiq Rahimi
32005Best DirectorDias de SantiagoJosué Méndez
42006Best FilmL'Enfant Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
42006Best DirectorL'Enfant Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
52007Best FilmThe Old BarberHasi Chaolu
52007Best DirectorThe AxeCosta-Gavras
62008Best FilmXXYLucía Puenzo
62008Best DirectorSleepwalking LandTeresa Prata
72009Best FilmLake TahoeFernando Eimbcke
72009Best DirectorTulpanSergey Dvortsevoy
82010Best FilmWhite Lightnin'Dominic Murphy
82010Best DirectorWho Is Afraid of the Wolf?Maria Procházková
92011Best FilmDooman RiverZhang Lu
92011Best DirectorReverseBorys Lankosz
102012Best FilmIf Not Us, Who?Andres Veiel
102012Best DirectorA SeparationAsghar Farhadi
112013Best FilmBarbaraChristian Petzold
112013Best DirectorThe DelayRodrigo Plá
122014Best FilmPapuszaKrzysztof Krauze & Joanna Kos-Krauze
122014Best Director PapuszaKrzysztof Krauze & Joanna Kos-Krauze
122014Best Director Foreign BodiesMirko Locatelli
132015Best FilmBehaviourErnesto Daranas
132015Best Director Like Never BeforeZdeněk Tyc
132015Best Director Test (Ispytanie)Alexander Kott
142016Best FilmImmortalSeyed Hadi Mohaghegh
142016Best DirectorThithiRaam Reddy
152017Best FilmLost in MunichPetr Zelenka
152017Best DirectorThe StudentKirill Serebrennikov
162018Best FilmFree and EasyGeng Jun
162018Best DirectorZamaLucrecia Martel
172019Best FilmGirls of the SunEva Husson
172019Best DirectorA TranslatorRodrigo Barriuso & Sebastian Barriuso
182020Best FilmA Son Mehdi Barsaoui
182020Best DirectorSupernovaBartosz Kruhlik
192021Best FilmShould the Wind Drop Nora Martirosyan
192021Best DirectorBarah By BarahGaurav Madan
202022Best FilmBetween Two DawnsSelman Nacar
202022Best Director107 MothersPeter Kerekes

PIFF Distinguished Award

PIFF Distinguished Award for Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema.
EditionYearAwardeesReferences
12002Dilip Kumar
Mrinal Sen---
22003Lata Mangeshkar
Dev Anand---
32005Waheeda Rehman
Shakti Samanta---
42006Vyjayantimala
Yash Chopra---
52007Asha Parekh
Dharmendra---
62008Sharmila Tagore
Shammi Kapoor---
72009Shashi Kapoor
Sulochana Didi---
Hema Malini---
82010Shriram Lagoo
Rajesh Khanna---
92011Shashikala
Saira Banu---
102012Amitabh Bachchan
Asha Bhosale---
112013Ramesh Deo
Jeetendra---
122014Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Vinod Khanna---
132015N. D. Mahanor
Shatrughan Sinha---
Tanuja Mukerjee---
Krzysztof Zanussi---
142016Soumitra Chatterjee
Shyam Benegal---
152017Aparna Sen
Seema Deo---
162018Ramesh Prasad
Ramesh Sippy---
Raj Dutt---
172019Dilip Prabhavalkar
Govind Nihalani---
182020B. P. Singh
Vikram Gokhale---
192021Ashok Saraf
232025Anupam Kher
Shubha Khote---

S.D. Burman PIFF Award

EditionYearAwardeesReferences
82010Pyarelal Sharma
92011Mohammed Zahur Khayyam
102012Ilaiyaraaja
112013Shivkumar Sharma
Hariprasad Chaurasia---
122014Hridaynath Mangeshkar
132015Anandji Virji Shah
142016Uttam Singh
152021Zakir Hussain
162017S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
172018Raamlaxman
182019Usha Khanna
232025Kavita Krishnamurti