TOP AUDIENCE AWARD GOES TO HARI OM JURY GRAND PRIZE WINNER IS BLACK FRIDAY

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles concluded Sunday night with HARI OM, director Bharatbala was in attendance, at ArcLight Hollywood with a Gala reception at SIR that included performances by Taal Dance Company, international renowned world music artist Girish, and an eclectic DJ set by Tej Gill, one of LA's emerging South Asian artists.

Although official attendance figures are still being tabulated, festival organizers have seen a 15% increase in Box Office receipts over the previous year and many of the films were sold out.

IFFLA 2005 kicked off on Wednesday, April 20, with the Hollywood Premiere of BLACK, directed by internationally renowned filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The festival showcased 30 films including 11 US Premieres and 5 World Premieres with many of the filmmakers and actors in attendance.

The director of the controversial film BLACK FRIDAY, Anurag Kashyap, surprised the festival audience by attending the Centerpiece gala screening and engaging with them in lively conversation afterwards.

JURY AWARDS

DRAMATIC FEATURE COMPETITION GRAND JURY PRIZE
BLACK FRIDAY Directed by Anurag Kashyap

Jurors: Mira Advani-Honeycutt, Cheng-Sim Lim and Peggy Rajski

Jury statement: "In recognizing this years winner, the dramatic feature jury wanted to be as poetic as the film that it is recognizing and are afraid we'll come up short."

"This years winner displayed original storytelling, innovative cinematic technique and boldness of vision in tackling a complicated social issue. It told a story with multiple and conflicting points of view and did it without ever being judgmental. The film commands admiration from us as filmgoers and human beings. This years award goes to BLACK FRIDAY."

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION GRAND JURY PRIZE
WHOSE CHILDREN ARE THESE? directed by Theresa Thanjan

Jurors: Noel Da Souza, Vinay Lal and Parminder Nagra

SHORTS COMPETITION GRAND JURY PRIZE
AMAL directed by Richie Mehta

Jurors: Gotham Chopra, Catherine Park and Paul Wolansky

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS

BEST FEATURE FILM
HARI OM directed by Bharatbala

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
THE NEW HEROES: INDIA, WITH ROBERT REDFORD, Directed by Carl Byker and Mitch Wilson

BEST SHORT FILM
RAJU AND I directed by Gayatri Rao

CHILDREN'S STORYBOARD CONTEST WINNERS

For the 2nd annual IFFLA Storyboard contest, California youths between the ages of 8 and 17 were asked to create a series of drawings based on an Indian Folk tale. The winners of each group (8-12 and 13-17) were awarded a cash prize, assorted DVD's and a weeklong filmmaking workshop from the New York Film Academy.

8 - 12 category
Winner Andy Yu, Fullerton, 8 yrs.
Runner-up Andrew Liou, Fullerton, 8 yrs.

13 - 17 category
Winner Annie Goodman, Studio City, 15 yrs.
Runner-up Jessica Na, Los Angeles, 14 yrs.