Today the sixth Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) (www.indianfilmfestival.org) announced the winners of last weeks 2008 program. “Amal”, a film by director Richie Mehta, was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature. Mehta’s film tells the story of Amal, an auto-rickshaw driver in New Delhi whose life changes drastically after he unexpectedly inherits a great deal of wealth. Shivajee Chandrabhushan’s “Frozen” received a Special Mention in the Best Narrative Feature category. Yunus Vally’s “The Glow of White Women” was named as the winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary with Liz Mermin’s SHOT IN BOMBAY receiving a Special Mention.
Audience Awards were given to Manish Acharya’s “Loins of Punjab Presents” for Narrative, Christopher Mitchell’s “Super 30” in the Documentary category, and Preeya Nair’s “Quamar – Working to Live” in the Short Film category.
Christina Marouda, IFFLA Director, said, “This year’s slate of films represented the most diverse and wide spectrum of style and art being produced by the Indian filmmaking industry today. This year’s festival took a significant step toward not just presenting the filmmakers works to the public but also becoming an important business portal to India. ”
Jury Awards:
Best Narrative Feature: “Amal”
Directed By: Richie Mehta
Cast: Rupinder Nagra, Vic Sahay, Koel Purie, Roshan Seth, Vic Sahay, Naseeruddin Shah, Seema Biswas
Special Mention: “Frozen”
Directed By: Shivajee Chandrabhushan
Cast: Danny Denzongpa, Gauri, Angchuk, Raj Zutshi, Yashpal Sharma, Shakeel Khan, Shilpa Shukla
Best Documentary Feature: “The Glow Of White Women”
Directed By: Yunus Vally
Special Mention: “Shot in Bombay”
Directed By: Liz Mermin
Best Short Film: “Midnight Los and Found”
Directed By: Atul Sabharwal
Audience Awards:
Narrative: “Loins of Punjab Presents”
Directed By: Manish Acharya
Cast: Shabana Azmi, Ajay Naidu, Ayesha Dharker, Darshan Jariwala, Samrat Chakrabarti, Michael Raimondi
Documentary: “Super 30”
Directed By: Christopher Mitchell
Short: “Quamar – Working to Live”
Directed By: Preeya Nair