India, Sept. 15 -- Describing it as a "truly independent achievement", a jury presented a prestigious award to the Indian production Vimukt or In Search of the Sky, at the conclusion of the 50th anniversary edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sunday.

Set in a rural community in Madhya Pradesh and directed by Jitank Singh Gurjar, Vimukt won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Pacific Cinema (NETPAC). In its statement, the jury said it was selected for "offering an indelible tale of tolerance, desperation and faith, conveyed through a unique lens of realism and poetics, elevated by striking performances".

"The film transports the audience to rural central India, where an impoverished elderly couple contends wit...