It's a wrap for the 2025 edition of Goa's International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which unspooled in Panaji from 20-28 November. The gathering's top honour, the Golden Peacock for Best Film, went to Ash Mayfair’s Skin of Youth, a Vietnamese-Singaporean-Japanese co-production exploring intergenerational trauma and female resilience. Set in 1990s Saigon, the film follows San, who is determined to save enough money for a sex-change operation that would allow her to finally live in a woman’s body. Meanwhile, her lover Nam fights in illicit dog-cage matches to help support her dream.

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This year, European filmmakers left a strong imprint, with Eirik Svensson’s Safe House clinching the ICFT–UNESCO Gandhi Medal and Akinola Davies Jr’s UK-Irish-Nigerian co-production My Father’s Shadow [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Akinola Davies Jr.
fiche film] securing the Special Jury Award.

Among other prominent accolades, India’s Santosh Davakhar snagged Best Director for Gondhal, whilst acting awards went to Ubeimar Rios (A Poet [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Simón Mesa Soto
fiche film]) and Jara Sofija Ostan (Little Trouble Girls [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Urška Djukić
fiche film]). Moreover, Estonia contributed to the awards list through Tõnis Pill, whose debut feature, Fränk, earned one of the two gongs for Best Debut Film of a Director, shared with Iran’s Hesam Farahmand for My Daughter’s Hair.

Meanwhile, this year’s Waves Film Bazaar (20-24 November) expanded its footprint as South Asia’s key market for collaboration and project mobility.

In the Co-Production Market, the Ladakhi-language project Idiot – an Indian-French co-production – claimed the top $10,000 cash award. The second prize (worth $5,000) went to Madam, an Indian-French-Canadian collaboration.

As for works that make use of artificial intelligence, a major theme in this year’s programming, this category also saw some European winners. German filmmaker Mark Wachholz scooped Most Innovative Use of AI for The Cinema That Never Was, whilst French artist Guillaume Hurbault received Best AI Short Film for Nagori. Notably, the AI Film Festival and CinemAI Hackathon drew submissions from over 18 countries, signalling an increasingly borderless creative field.

Across both the festival and the Bazaar, officials highlighted the need for deeper cross-regional cooperation and the growing alignment between Indian and European independent sectors. With panellists and juries including international guests such as Garth Davis, Rachel Griffiths and Jérôme Paillard, the event positioned itself squarely as a global meeting point for artistic exchange and market development.

Here is the list of this year's main award winners:

IFFI awards

Golden Peacock (Best Film)
Skin of Youth – Ash Mayfair (Vietnam/Singapore/Japan)

Best Director
Santosh Davakhar – Gondhal (India)

Best Actor (Male)
Ubeimar Rios – A Poet [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Simón Mesa Soto
fiche film] (Colombia/Germany/Sweden)

Best Actor (Female)
Jara Sofija Ostan – Little Trouble Girls [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Urška Djukić
fiche film] (Slovenia/Italy/Croatia/Serbia)

Best Debut Film of a Director (ex-aequo)
Hesam Farahmand – My Daughter’s Hair (Iran)
Tõnis Pill – Fränk (Estonia)

Best Debut Director of an Indian Feature Film
Karan Singh Tyagi – Kesari Chapter 2 (India)

Special Jury Award
My Father’s Shadow [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Akinola Davies Jr.
fiche film] – Akinola Davies Jr (UK/Ireland/Nigeria)

ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal
Safe House – Eirik Svensson (Norway)

Best Web Series Award
Bandish Bandits (Season 2) – Anand Tiwari (India)

Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award
Rajinikanth (India)

Special Recognition for Contribution to Bharatiya Cinema Award
Nandamuri Balakrishna (India)

Waves Film Bazaar industry awards

Co-Production Market awards

Top Award
Idiot – Stenzin Tankong (India/France)
Producers: White Crane Films, La Belle Affaire

Second Prize
Madam – Paromita Dhar (India/France/Canada)
Producers: Zero Degree Arts, Trikut Films, Dosomik Visions, Damned Films

Netflix Documentary Grant
A Drop of Nectar – Amitabha Singh (India)
Producer: Amitabha Singh

Red Sea Fund awards

Development Grant
The Manager – Sandeep Sreelekha (India)
Producers: Eleeanora Images, EKA Cinemas

Work in Progress Awards – $5,000 (ex aequo)
Azhi – Hessa Salih (India)
Producer: Artfarmers Cultural Habitation

Ustad Bantoo – Arsh Jain (India)
Producer: 1719 Film Factory

Platoon One Studio – Script Development Grant
Nazma Ka Tadka – written by Sapan Taneja (India)

Screenwriters’ Lab Award
White Guy – Niharika Puri (India)

UNESCO City of Film Award (with BMC + NFDC)
7 to 7 – Nemil Shah, Rajesh Shah (India)
Producer: Farting Films

Nube Studio – DI & Colour Grading
Feather Men – Vishwendra Singh (India)
Producer: Future East Film

Matchbox GAP – Post-Production Soft Financing
Echoes of the Herd – Dipanker Jain (India)
Producers: Fiza Chawla, Dipankar Jain

Special Jury Award – Full Post to First Print + Mentorship
Like a Feather in the Wind – Chahat Mansingka (India)

M5 Global Film Fund Award for Festival Strategy & Marketing
The Soul Whisperer – Leo Thaddeus (India/Australia)
Producers: Loverly Frames, Stop Whinging, Uncombed Buddha

Reborn India Film Distribution – Theatrical Release Across Ten Screens
Chingam – Abhay Sharma (India)
Producer: Verse Studios

AI Film Festival awards

Best AI Animation
Kyra – Meta Puppet (USA)

Most Innovative Use of AI
The Cinema That Never Was – Mark Wachholz (Germany)

Best AI Short Film
Nagori – Guillaume Hurbault (France)

Special Jury Mentions
The Last Backup Final Part – Sreerithanya M (India)
Miracle on the Kachua Beach – Shivanshu Nirupam (India)