LIFFT India Awards 2020 to be held online on 25 December

Literature Illusion Film Frames Television & Theatre India (LIFFT INDIA) has announced its fourth edition. In the unprecedented circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was amongst the first to decide to go online back in May and announced 25 December as the date for declaring the LIFFT India Awards 2020.

As most of the film entries at the festival are unreleased, the organizers decided not to screen any films online as that would open them up to the risk of piracy. Instead, the selected films were given official status and made eligible for the awards.

There are over 100 categories of LIFFT India Awards, including some named for eminent film personalities Renu Saluja, Ismail Merchant, Khemchand Prakash, Samir Chanda, VK Murthy and Om Puri as a tribute. The Om Puri award for Best Actor is presented in conjunction with the Om Puri Foundation. A new award for Best Sound Design was instituted in the memory of the late Mangesh Desai in 2019.

LIFFT India founder director Riju Bajaj said, “Film festivals are striving to survive and showcase world cinema to a wider audience. The online space has come as a boon for festivals as we can get filmmakers from across the world and offer so much content on YouTube. While festivals in India offer international cinema to audiences, they are mostly star-driven. Our aim is to look at independent films and provide a dedicated platform for independent filmmakers.”

The festival selected over 425 films in various categories from over 50 countries. Then short lists were created for the various award categories. The winners will be announced online on the LIFFT India YouTube channel and Facebook page on 25 December at 9 pm India time.

Over the years, the festival has grown into more of a world culture fest than just a cine fest. Among other honours, the Lifetime Achievement LIFFT India award 2020 will be conferred upon Raman Kumar for his contribution to the Indian television industry.

The LIFFT India Honour 2020 for Theatre is being jointly conferred on Uma Jhunjhunwala and Azhar Alam. The award for Film Journalism this year is being conferred upon Ajit Rai. For Indian classical dance, the award is being presented to Kathak exponent Rujuta Soman. The LIFFT India jury comprised Ram Gopal Bajaj, Gyan Sahay, Rajesh Touchriver, Nayani Dixit and Abhimanyu Ray.

Sharad Mishra has been chosen for the LIFFT India Honour for Literature for his contribution “in the field of book distribution through Prabhat Book Centre, especially in Maharashtra. It is near impossible for literature to reach out to readers without book lovers like Mr Sharad Mishra.”

About Ajit Rai’s selection for the Film Journalism award, an official statement from LIFFT India said, 'Ajit Rai is one of the leading film and theatre critics and cultural journalists of India with wide and vast experience of more than 30 years in almost all leading national newspapers, reputed journals and electronic media as well as on cinema, theatre, literature and cultural discourses having over 5,000 published articles in film and cultural journalism. Some of his innovative reports have been debated in the Indian Parliament.”

LIFFT India Studios has also produced the short films Do You Love Me, RIP Rastor Image Processor and the web-series Saarthi Lifft India Taxicab. The production house has now begun principal shooting of its first feature film Kesro, featuring Shruti Bhardwaj and Sahitya Sahay in the lead. The film is being directed by Riju Bajaj who has also written the screenplay. The story and dialogues have been written by the Hindi playwright Tripurai Sharma.

The complete list of honours follows:

LIFFT India Honour 2020 for contribution to the Indian television industry: Raman Kumar
LIFFT India Honour 2020 for Theatre: Uma Jhunjhunwala and Azhar Alam
LIFFT India Honour 2020 for Film Journalism: Ajit Rai
LIFFT India Honour 2020 for Indian Classical Dance, Kathak: Rujuta Soman
LIFFT India Honour 2020 for Emerging Artiste of the Year in Fine Arts: Spandan Nath and Preeti Sethi
LIFFT India Honour 2020 for Literature: Sharad Mishra for his contribution to the field of book distribution through Prabhat Book Centre