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2015 INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF LOS ANGELES
ANNOUNCES AWARD WINNERS
FOUR COLORS (CHAURANGA) receives Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature
Audience Choice Awards go to THE CROW’S EGG for Best Narrative Feature, TOMORROW WE DISAPPEAR for Best Documentary, and JOURNEY (SAFAR) for Best Short
Best Short winner is DANDEKAR MAKES A SANDWICH
The 13th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) concluded on Sunday evening (April 12) with a red carpet and gala fete that featured the U.S. premiere of Nagesh Kukunoor’s gorgeous tale DHANAK (RAINBOW) and the presentation of the festival's Grand Jury and Audience Choice Awards.
This year the festival showcased 25 film features, documentaries, and shorts at ArcLight Hollywood, home of IFFLA since its inception, including four world premieres, seven North American premieres, two U.S. premieres, and 10 Los Angeles premieres. The films hailed from six different countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Cuba, and of course India, and featured 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to German to Bengali.
FOUR COLORS (CHAURANGA), directed by Bikas Mishra, took home the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature, with Best Actress honors going to Kalki Koechlin for MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW, and Shweta Tripathi for HARAAMKHOR in a tie. The Best Actor prize, also a tie, was awarded to the young stars of THE CROW’S EGG, brothers J. Vignesh and Ramesh. A special jury mention was made for the stunning cinematography of LABOUR OF LOVE.
About FOUR COLORS (CHAURANGA), the narrative jury stated: “The jury appreciated the way the film sensitively introduces the audience into a world of cast divided rural India that many of us are not familiar with. Inspired by a real life incident, it develops portraits of credible, insightfully drawn and diverse characters that, as Renoir said, ‘all have their reasons’.”
The Grand Jury Prize for Best Short was presented to DANDEKAR MAKES A SANDWICH, directed by Leena Pendharker. An honorable mention was given to THE RABBIT (KHARGOSH), directed by Sudarshan Suresh.
Regarding the Short Film Awards, the jury stated: “We would like to present the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short to DANDEKAR MAKES A SANDWICH by Leena Pendharker, for immediately immersing us in the playful world of this complex and layered character, delivered with an impressive comedic sensibility. We also present a Special Mention to the THE RABBIT, for a moving and memorable debut film by Sudarshan Suresh.”
The 2015 narrative film jurors were: director Sean Baker (TAKE OUT, PRINCE OF BROADWAY, STARLET, TANGERINE); actor/producer Abhay Deol (ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA, DEV. D, and ROAD MOVIE), long time member and frequent board director of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) Yoram Kahana; author and film curator Berenice Reynaud (Nouvelles Chines,A City of Sadness), andRavi Mehta, Executive Vice President of Physical Production for Warner Bros. Pictures. Judging the short films were star of NBC’s hit show “Community” Danny Pudi, producer and Outfest Director of Programming Lucy Mukerjee-Brown, Shorts Programmer at Sundance Film Festival Lisa Ogdie, and Heather Morris Washington, Manager of the Emerging Writers Fellowship at Universal Pictures.
GRAND JURY AWARDS
Best Feature: FOUR COLORS (CHAURANGA),
Best Actor (tie): J. Vignesh and Ramesh for THE CROW’S EGG
Best Actress (tie): Kalki Koechlin for MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW and Shweta Tripathi for HARAAMKHOR
Feature Honorable Mention for Cinematography: LABOUR OF LOVE
Best Short Film: DANDEKAR MAKES A SANDWICH
Short Film Honorable Mention: THE RABBIT (KHARGOSH)
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Best Feature: THE CROW’S EGG
Best Documentary: TOMORROW WE DISAPPEAR
Best Short: JOURNEY (SAFAR)
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Chatelin Bruno 
