The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announces the jury
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announced today its 2015 jury as well as the addition of Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s LABOUR OF LOVE to their line-up. Other highlights of the festival include a Nickelodeon Scavenger Hunt for TV Comedy Writers, and a secret screening for passholders only of one of the most exciting new films in contemporary Indian cinema.
The 2015 narrative film jurors are: director Sean Baker (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; Executive Vice President of Physical Production for Warner Bros. Pictures, Ravi Mehta; and author and film curator, Berenice Reynaud (Nouvelles Chines, A City of Sadness).
The short film jury includes: 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.
LABOUR OF LOVE, a lyrical portrait of one day in a married couple’s life, began its festival run with a win for Best Director of a Debut Film at Venice Days and has since become one of the most celebrated Indian films on the international circuit. With his debut feature, Sengupta displays the bold vision and masterful control of an auteur. In its U.S. Premiere, LABOUR OF LOVE will screen Friday, April 10 at 7:00PM at ArcLight Hollywood.
Four of IFFLA’s narrative features selections were recognized last week with National Awards, the highest film honor in India: LABOUR OF LOVE was awarded Best Debut Film for director Aditya Vikram Sengupta and Best Sound Design, KILLA won Best Marathi Film and received a Special Mention, THE CROW’S EGG (KAKKA MUTTAI) won Best Child Artist for J. Vignesh and Ramesh, and tied with ELIZABETH EKADASHI for Best Children’s Film.
This year IFFLA is also teaming up with the Nickelodeon Writing Program for a TV comedy writers scavenger hunt. The scavenger hunt is open to festival attendees and will take place Friday, April 10 through Sunday, April 12 at IFFLA. Each day, the first person to find Nickelodeon’s Orange Ticket at the festival at ArcLight Hollywood will win a script review with Nickelodeon VP Writing Program Development, Karen Kirkland, plus exclusive Nick swag. To participate, follow Kirkland each day on Twitter @karenkirkland for clues. Participants must be 18 or older and do not have to purchase tickets or a badge to IFFLA in order to participate.
Established in 2000, the Nickelodeon Writing Program is part of the company’s outreach efforts to identify and nurture up-and-coming talent, and provides salaried positions for writers for up to one year. The program receives more than 1,400 applications each year.
Finally, there will be a secret screening for passholders only on Sunday, April 12 at 2:00PM, offering a first look at a film that will be released later this year and has become a sensation at festivals around the world, winning numerous awards. Directed by one of the most exciting auteurs in contemporary Indian cinema, and featuring a powerhouse performance by one of India’s brightest young stars, this is a film IFFLA passholders won’t want to miss!
