IFFI 2017 Handbook

ICFT-UNESCO
Gandhi Medal
The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2017 in collaboration with the International
Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication (ICFT), Paris, will
present a special ICFT prize consisting of the UNESCO Gandhi Medal awarded to a
film which reflects the ideals promoted by UNESCO.
Broad guidelines for the selection of the films are -
• Have a strong ethical component
• High aesthetic value
• Exhibit artistic excellence in screenplay, in film technique and music
• Attract a wide audience, especially among youth, whose view of media is
distorted by violent imagery and showy techniques which are devoid of
intelligent and critical discernment
• Additionally include an educational component to cope with the flood of
inappropriate imagery commonly marketed
• Awareness of the role of the filmmaker confronting a declining society; because
it is recognized that cinematographic and video images are much more powerful
than any other means of communication
About the UNESCO Gandhi Medal
In 1994, UNESCO issued a commemorative medal marking the 125th anniversary
of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, India’s “Father of the Nation” and the world’s
advocate of non-violence, peace and tolerance. The General Conference of one
of the previous years had adopted a resolution calling for a series of activities
around the “great world personality whose thought and creative modes of
non-violent action have shaped socio-economic and political currents in the 20th
century”.
The medal bears a portrait of Gandhi engraved by the French artist Pierre-Yves Tremois.
Etched underneath is the Mahatma’s message of hope: “In the midst of darkness light
prevails”. The reverse side carries the UNESCO Logo.
22 INTERNATIONAL CINEMA IFFI 2017