The Jaffna International Cinema Festival 2019 was concluded on a high note recently and it was held for the fifth consecutive time from September 3 to 9 in Jaffna. 22 countries participated at this year’s festival by presenting nearly 70 films including feature films, documentaries and short films. The participating countries were Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, 
Egypt, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, UK and USA. Honouring the seniors and encouraging the young generation of filmmakers, the festival presented the following awards during the awards ceremony.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
V. K. Joseph (India)
Swarna Mallawarachchi (Sri Lanka)
BEST DEBUT FILM NOMINATIONS
‘Manohar and I’ by Amitabha Chaterji (India)
‘Soundless Dance’ by Pradeepan Ravindran (France/sri Lanka)
‘House of my fathers’ by Suba Sivakumaran (France/sri Lanka)
WINNER OF THE BEST DEBUT FILM
‘Soundless Dance’ by Pradeepan Ravindran (France/sri Lanka)
Prof. Neloufer de Mel (Sri Lanka), V. K. Joseph (India) and Cayathri Divakalala (Sri Lanka) served as the jury for adjudicating the debut films.
AUDIENCE AWARD FOR THE MOST POPULAR SHORT FILM
‘The Ruins’ by Vanitha Senathirajah
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM, NOMINATIONS
‘Forget me not’ by Anwar Johari Ho (Malaysia)
‘Elephant Bird’ by Masond Soheili (Iran)
‘Tenebrae’ by Nicole Midori Woodford (Singapore)
WINNER OF THE BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM
‘Forget me not’ by Anwar Johari Ho (Malaysia)
CEYLON THEATRES AWARD FOR BEST NATIONAL SHORT FILM NOMINATIONS
‘Waves Interrupted’ by Dimon John
‘Generations’ by Bavaneedha Loganathan
‘A Democratic Proposal’ by Chandana Prasanna
WINNER OF THE BEST NATIONAL SHORT FILM
‘Generations’ by Bavaneedha Loganathan
Helen Blakeman (UK), Asoka Handagama (Sri Lanka) and Robert Crusz (Sri Lanka) served as the Jury for adjudicating National and International short films.
