The 20th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) came to a close on 1 May with the announcement of award winners.
Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s Once Upon A Time In Calcutta won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film while Anmol Sidhu’s Jaggi was the recipient of the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature. The latter also won the inaugural Uma da Cunha Award for Best Feature Film Debut.
Among the new programmes and initiatives introduced in the 20th edition of the festival, this new award was presented in honour of IFFLA’s founding member and advisor in India, Uma da Cunha. Regarding her selection of Sidhu’s Jaggi — which follows a schoolboy in rural Punjab who faces toxic masculinity and sexual abuse when he’s assumed to be gay — da Cunha, said, “Few independent films in India are made in the Punjabi language and fewer still find their way into festivals to reach a wider audience. This film needs to be seen in a milieu where sexual matters tend not to be addressed openly.”
In other awards in the feature film category, an honourable mention went to Shankar’s Fairies, Irfana Majumdar's portrait of the unconditional bond between a young girl and the gentleman who cares for her family.
In the short film category, the Grand Jury Prize went to Amrita Bagchi’s Succulent. The jury stated that the film “beautifully taps into our deep longing for genuine connection in a world that is increasingly artificial.” The Grand Jury Prize for Best Short in the inaugural Spotlight on the South Asia section went to Salar Pashtoonyar’s Bad Omen (Afghanistan/Canada). The jury remarked that it was “a raw and visceral film that showed us that above all else, honest filmmaking always wins.”
The honourable mentions in the short film category went to Megha Ramaswamy’s Lalanna’s Song and Akanksha Cruczynski’s Close Ties to Home Country.
IFFLA executive director Christina Marouda said, “This year’s edition of the film festival was wonderful in so many ways. The excitement felt by the reunion of so many of our filmmakers, patrons, and film fans back in the theatres was something we all shared. In the months and weeks leading to the festival, we weren't sure whether people would show up after a three-year break from an in-person festival. We were overwhelmed to see everyone coming back, eager to reconnect with the community and the IFFLA family, watch films and celebrate our 20th anniversary. We walk away from this year's festival feeling energized and filled with gratitude.”
Ritesh Mehta, the co-director of programming, added, "We're absolutely thrilled with these winners, especially the Audience Choice winner Jaggi, a story about themes no one talks about which desperately need attention, told with audacity and vulnerability from a first-time filmmaking team. What more can we programmers ask for? Stories come to us, enthral us, move our audiences, and now empower their creators to continue their narrative activism from their distinctive corners of the world."
The festival, which began on 28 April, featured a celebratory return to in-theatre screenings and presentations.