Lucia, Director Pawan Kumar’s Kannada-language film Lucia has won the coveted Audience Award at the 4th London Indian Film Festival (LIFF, July 18-25). The inventive crowd-funded film, powered by UK-based online outfit Distrify, delighted sold out audiences across the city.
Pawan Kumar said: “To win this award in the face of such powerful competition is a dream come true for me. I thank the London Indian Film Festival for selecting the film for its world premiere and would also like to thank the London audience and the UK Kannada community for supporting the film.”
Anurag Goswami won the Satyajit Ray Foundation’s short film award, held in conjunction with LIFF, for Kaun Kamleshwar? (Who’s Kamleshwar?). The jury, comprising Atif Ghani (producer – Ill Manors), Kim Longinotto (director – Salma), Sunny Grewal (BBC London), Meghna Gupta (shorts director, Unravel) and Satwant Gill (LIFF), said: “The Satyajit Ray Foundation’s short film award goes to a film which was confident and ambitious in its storytelling, gave us engaging characters and was genuinely cinematic. Using some unforgettable images and off-beat humour the film explores how random decisions have the power to shape our lives.”
Anurag Goswami said: “It’s an honour and a great feeling that our efforts have been recognised at such a prestigious avenue. Short films are finding an audience like never before, courtesy festivals such as LIFF. It’s very encouraging and satisfying that our voices are being heard all over the world. Thank you LIFF!”
Special Jury Mention goes to Vikram Dasgupta for his entertaining, bold and vibrant interweaving of stories in the film Calcutta Taxi.
The London Indian Film Festival opened with Amit Kumar’s Cannes favourite Monsoon Shootout and closed with Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Bannerjee and Anurag Kashyap’s homage to the centenary of Indian cinema, Bombay Talkies. The sold out screening was preceded by a powerful speech by noted Bollywood and Hollywood actor Gulshan Grover, who described the wondrous journey of Indian cinema thus far to a rapt audience. Producer Ashi Dua participated in a lively Q&A after.
Gulshan Grover said: “The London Indian Film Festival makes me proud. As a member of the Indian film fraternity I feel that the festival is doing wonderful things for Indian cinema, especially the cutting edge, progressive cinema that needs a platform for visibility, for reaching out to more people and more hearts. The London Indian Film Festival is exactly doing that.” Gulshan Grover has four new releases coming up including Bullet Raja, Sooper Se Ooper, Yariaan and Baat Bann Gayi.
The festival stretched citywide, opening in the West End at the historic Cineworld Haymarket, and continued at BFI Southbank, Cineworld cinemas, Shaftesbury Avenue, Wood Green, Wandsworth, Staples Corner, and the O2 in Royal Greenwich, the Peckamplex and the ICA. The centrepiece ‘In conversation’ was with actor Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire, D-Day), and LIFF also featured a rare ‘Life in Pictures’ Masterclass, by the great South Indian Director Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
Our Major sponsors this year included O2 International Sim, and the festival is also grant funded for the first time, by the BFI Film Festival Fund.
Cary Rajinder Sawhney, Festival Director comments: “The Festival has gone from strength to strength. Its great to close with a wonderful fusion between Bollywood and independent films, different energies and ideas crashing into each other in dynamic ways; a perfect finale for audiences in an eclectic city like London.”
With sold out houses for every event it certainly easy to say the LIFF 2013 was a huge success! Watch this space because you can be sure that next year we will be there and once again bring you all the highlights about one of the coolest film festivals!
