Santosh Sivan Becomes First Asian To Get Cannes Cinematography Award

CANNES, (IANS) – Preity Zinta presented Santosh Sivan, who shot her debut film ‘Dil Se’ in 1998, the prestigious Pierre Angenieux ExcelLens in Cinematography award in the presence of India’s Ambassador to France, Jawed Ashraf, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 24 night.

Sivan became the first Asian to be awarded the prize named after the inventor of the zoom lens that revolutionized cinematography.

Preity looked every inch elegantly dressed in a blush-pink saree as she went on stage at the Palais de Festivals to present the honor to Sivan.

Before Sivan was given the award, the ambassador pointed out in his welcome speech how the “greatest film festival” had become “a very special one for India” in its 77th year.

Sivan was dressed in a tuxedo with a felt hat to complete his look for the occasion. Upon receiving the award, he said: “It is the most awesome time I have had in my life. It is an amazing place to receive this … for the Cannes Film Festival is the most beautiful festival I have attended.”

He added: “Like Preity said, I also don’t want to say too much except that I am hoping my father, mother, and brother, who are no more, are smiling.” Admitting that he had been “a really bad husband because I have been filming all the time”, Sivan said his family was with him and that “they must be really happy”.

Sivan thanked his home state, Kerala, “from where I come from because it is that culture that I imbibed”. He added: “And it is the Malayalam industry where I learnt the basics because cinematography is without language. From there I shifted to Tamil cinema and from Hindi to Hollywood. What is great about this profession is that it has no boundaries”.

A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India and Padma Shri recipient, Sivan has made 55 feature films and 50 documentaries, and has won a stack of national and international awards.