The award-winning streak for The Indian Film Company-Mira Nair presentation, Little Zizou, continues. Writer turned director Sooni Taraporevala’s English feature won the audience award for Best Feature at the recently concluded Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA). The film was screened at the Arclight Theatre on Sunset Boulevard where it found an overwhelming response.
This is the fourth international victory for film, which previously clinched Best Director and Time Warner Best Screenplay at the 2008 Indo–American Art Council Fesitval in New York and The Best Producer Award at Asian–Pacific Festival of First Films held in Singapore.
Taraporevala’s debut directorial feature is set amongst Mumbai’s educated, eccentric and minority Parsi community. The fast-paced and exuberant yet poignant comedy, with a message of tolerance at its heart, is about a young boy whose only ardent wish is for his long-dead mother to bring his idol and French soccer star, Zinedine Zidane (Zizou), to Mumbai.
Sandeep Bhargava, CEO of the advisory company to The Indian Film Company commented, “We are proud of yet another honour conferred upon Little Zizou, a film which marked our humble foray into the international crossover films arena. The award is extremely gratifying, as it has been decided upon by the audience and not by a handpicked jury. It is an award given to the most popular film at the festival.”
An acclaimed screenwriter and still photographer, Taraporevala shot to fame with her first screenplay, Salaam Bombay, in 1988. She has, since, written the screenplays of landmark works as Such A Long Journey, Mississippi Masala and The Namesake, to name a few.
Little Zizou features Boman Irani, Sohrab Ardeshir, Shernaz Patel, Zenobia Shroff, Kamal Sidhu, Dilshad Patel, Iyanah Bativala and Jahan Bativala, among others. John Abraham makes a special appearance.
The Los Angeles-based agent, American World Pictures, has been entrusted with the world sales of Little Zizou. Limited market screenings have been set up at the forthcoming Cannes Film Market on May 13 and May 15.
