Valley of Flowers wins IFFLA
European co-production Valley of Flowers [+see also:
trailer
film profile], directed by Pan Nalin, won the Grand Jury Prize for best feature at the recently concluded fifth edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA). The jury cited breadth of vision and originality of thought while announcing the award. Rajnesh Domalpalli’s Vanaja, which won best debut film at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, was accorded a special mention.
Valley of Flowers was funded by a raft of European companies, including Pandora Filmproduktion and France 2 Cinéma, with the participation of Eurimages and the MEDIA programme of the European Union.
Nalin, a filmmaker of Indian origin who lives in Paris, is best known for his successful debut feature Samsara (2001). His documentary Ayurveda: Art of Being played for over two years in Parisian cinemas.
Made on an estimated budget of just €4.4m, the epic Valley of Flowers has the look and feel of a film made for five times the amount. Filmed in the Himalayas, 20,000 feet above sea level, and Tokyo, the film is a haunting, ethereal love story that traverses two centuries.
Nalin said: “I like to make big, epic films, films that make us dream. Somehow this journey started in the Himalayas. Mountains are a reminder of how small we are in front of Mother Nature. I always cast locations for the film like the way I cast my actors. They play a vital role in the story like characters.”
The Hindi and Japanese language film stars the UK/Indian actor Milind Soman while French actor Mylene Jampanoi is the female lead.
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