Malayalam film wins Crystal Bear at Berlinale

Malayalam film Ottaal (The Trap) won a prestigious Crystal Bear award at the Berlin film festival on Saturday. An eleven-member youth jury (between 11-14 years of age) awards Crystal Bears to the best feature-length and best short films in the children’s category.

Ottaal, directed by Jayaraj Rajasekharan, tells the story of a young boy and his grandfather. It is adapted from Anton Chekhov’s story Vanka.

The jury said, “This exceptional movie touched us all with its irresistible images of nature, laid-back music and amazingly gifted actors. The unique way of filming certain details blew us away. We think it’s important that such a sad and serious topic be tackled in a movie, though the film also managed to capture the humour and joy of life.”