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FANDRY receives Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature,
POWERLESS receives Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary.
Best Short Film winner, ALCHEMY, will receive a cash grant from HBO.
Audience Choice Awards go to SIDDHARTH, FAITH CONNECTIONS, and KUSH
The 12 annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) concluded on Sunday evening (April 13) with a red carpet and gala fete that included the Los Angeles premiere of Amit Gupta’s JADOO and the presentation of the festival’s Grand Jury and Audience Choice Awards.
This year the festival showcased more than 30 film features, documentaries, and shorts at ArcLight Hollywood, home of IFFLA since its inception. “The awards are bittersweet, as this means the festival has reached its conclusion,” said IFFLA Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani.
“We’ve had an incredible six days celebrating Indian cinema, creating dialogue between our filmmakers and our wonderful Los Angeles audiences, and building bridges for our filmmakers with industry professionals.”
FANDRY, directed by Nagraj Manjule, took home the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature, with an honorable mention for Richie Mehta’s SIDDHARTH. The Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary went to co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar for POWERLESS.
The prize for Best Short, which included a cash grant from HBO, was presented to ALCHEMY, directed by Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat, and Janmeet Singh.
An honorable mention was given to LOVE. LOVE. LOVE., directed by Sandhya Daisy Sundaram.
The Narrative Films jury stated:
“All of the films were a pleasure to watch. We are in awe of and inspired by the stories that the filmmakers brought to us. So many of the films dealt with the exploitation of children, such as child labor. The film we chose – FANDRY – features stunning cinematic quality and powerful story-telling, capturing the inner life of its young hero, and providing a detailed and intimate illustration of the social power structure of his village.”
The statement from the Documentary Film Jury reads:
“For its portrayal of a community faced with a power struggle over limited resources and its complex web of stories, the jury gives the documentary award to POWERLESS.”
Regarding the Short Film Awards, the jury stated:
“The Honorable Mention goes to LOVE. LOVE. LOVE., a well crafted documentary from a fresh filmmaking voice that seamlessly transports us from character to character and touched our hearts along the way. The Grand Jury Prize is presented to ALCHEMY. Culturally rooted and formally inventive, this film used mixed media to create a one of a kind film-going experience.”
The 2014 narrative film jurors were: award winning actress Shoreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog, House of Saddam), writer and prolific television actress Meera Simhan (Miss India America), Variety film journalist and educator David Chute, and Head of Digital Development for Crackle and Sony Pictures Television John Orlando. The Best Documentary Award was decided by award-winning writer, producer, and director Brian Knappenberger (The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz), film festival programmer Dilcia Barrera (Sundance, AFI FEST, LACMA), and producer Chris Salvaterra (The Visitor, Syriana, Good Night and Good Luck). Judging the short films were Senior Vice President of Post-Production at HBO Entertainment Gena Desclos, award-winning director and writer Kamal K.M.(I.D.),and Sundance and Palm Springs International ShortFest programmer Heidi Zwicker.
GRAND JURY AWARDS
BEST FEATURE: Fandry
HONORABLE MENTION: Siddharth
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Powerless
BEST SHORT FILM: Alchemy
HONORABLE MENTION: Love. Love. Love.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
BEST FEATURE: Siddharth
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Faith Connections
BEST SHORT: Kush
