The 14th Norwegian Tamil Film Festival – Tamilar Awards 2023 was held from April 27th 2023 to April 30th 2023 and was a huge success. Festival Director Vaseeharan Sivalingam praised the support of Tamil relatives living in Norway for making the event possible. The festival featured a bigger programme than ever before, including short screenings, full-length film screenings, documentary screenings, international films screenings, video screenings, dances and songs.
Director Thiru Vetimaaran was the special guest of this year’s festival and was awarded the Tamil Awards for Best Director for the films Asuran (2017) and Asuran (2020). The festival also recognized Lillestrøm Kommune (Municipality) Chief Jørgen Vik and Lørenskog Kommune (Municipality) Chief Ragnhild Bergheim with the Tamil Award and Certificate for Asuran.
The festival screened a diverse selection of films, including “Shadow of the Night” directed by R. Parthiban, two short films produced by Eelam director Vimal – Suganthi, Ilul Athiyayam produced by Joshua Varad, “Palai Nilam” directed by Juttu Sukanthan, and the Malaysian film Sentozhan Sengathiravan.
Director Seenu Ramaswamy’s film “Mamanithan”, produced by Mala Manian, and poet Kutty Revathi’s film “Chiragu” were also screened for the first time in Norway. Other films, such as “Lock Up Death”, “A Home Away from Home”, and “Christmas Snow” were also showcased.
On the third day, the “Tamil Awards” event and the Innisai evening program received great response and immense applause from the audience. The event featured young artists living in Norway, Ajay Elango, Risena Dharmasekhar, and Aisa Gunapalan who visited from Denmark. The students of four art galleries entertained the crowd by performing all kinds of dances.
The closing day of the festival featured the screening of the documentary “Muthunagar Massacre” and the award-winning film “Do Over”, directed by Sharvi and produced by S Saravanan. Director Vetimaaran also answered questions and had conversations with the audience.
Overall, the 14th Norwegian Tamil Film Festival – Tamilar Awards 2023 was a resounding success. The festival showcased a wide range of films and cultural performances and recognized the talent of notable directors. The event brought together the Tamil community in Norway and celebrated the rich heritage and cultural contributions of Tamils worldwide.
