Thamizh’s Seththumaan and Karishma Dev Dube's Bittu win top awards at IFFLA 2021

The winners of the 19th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) have been announced in a virtual ceremony. This year’s festival line-up included 40 films in 17 languages. 

Tamil director Thamizh’s debut Seththumaan (Pig) was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature. The features jury said, “The grand jury prize for best feature went to a film that impressed us tremendously, both in terms of filmmaking and dramaturgy. It's a phenomenal first feature, gentle and impactful, done with heart and guts, that is at the same time very candid and very mature and complex”, adding, “We see a bright future for Thamizh and we wish him the very best.”

Sajin Baabu’s Malayalam film Biriyaani received an honourable mention and the jury said, “After reviewing an exceptional and impactful program, we felt strongly and wanted to give an honourable mention to a film that gives a raw and unflinching look at the strife and hypocrisies experienced by a woman just trying to navigate her life. The film included an incredibly powerful performance by the lead, Kani Kusruti.”

Ajitpal Singh’s debut feature Fire In The Mountains won the Audience Award for Best Feature.

The 2021 features jury comprised Milan Chakraborty, head of film at Marginal Mediaworks; Nathan Fischer, founder of the Paris-based sales agency Stray Dogs; and Jenn Wilson, co-manager of the Film Independent Spirit Awards nomination process, and a senior programmer for the year-round member screening series Film Independent Presents.

Among the short films, the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short was awarded to Karishma Dev Dube for Bittu. “A spectacular film about a brilliant young girl with a foul mouth who discovers that her defiance is lifesaving. We found this film absolutely riveting and compelling. Based on a true story, Dube in an inimitable way managed to humanize the event, avoiding sensationalizing and ended up telling the story about a friendship between two girls. It's one of the most breathtaking things we've seen in a long time and we can't wait to see what she does next," commented the shorts jury.

Rima Das's For Each Other received the first honourable mention in the shorts category, with the jury stating, “It's a wonderful film with an amazing tempo and pacing and it really stood out in the jury's deliberations as a very keenly observed film with a very humorous voice.” 

The next honourable mention went to Wade by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya and Kalp Sanghvi and the final honourable mention went to Nivita Chaliki, the star of Forever Tonight. “Nivita delivered a subtly executed performance that brilliantly brought this character's life to the screen, illustrating the anxieties of being an Indian-American teenager. We are very excited to see her star rise,” stated the shorts jury. The Audience Award for Best Short film went to Aarti Neharsh’s queer love story, The Song We Sang.

The 2021 shorts jury was helmed by Tanuj Chopra (director, Punching at the Sun, Staycation, Showrunner of season 2 of Delhi Crime on Netflix), Nik Dodani (aActor, CBS revival of Murphy Brown, and Alex Strangelove on Netflix), and Sakina Jaffrey (actor, TNT’s Snowpiercer, and Defending Jacob on Apple TV+).

The 19th edition of IFFLA was held virtually from 20-27 May and available all over California. For the first time, a selection of films was available in India as well.