Editor

The 5th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles concluded on Sunday night at ArcLight Hollywood with the Los Angeles premiere of Rajnesh Domalpalli’s VANAJA, Best Debut Feature winner at the Berlin International Film Festival. At the post-screening Gala Reception at Level 3 in Hollywood, the Jury and Audience Choice Awards were announced.

JURY AWARDS
GRAND JURY PRIZE FOR BEST FEATURE
VALLEY OF FLOWERS directed by Pan Nalin
Special mention for Debut Feature: VANAJA directed by Rajnesh Domalpalli
Jurors: Naman Ramachandran, Mary Sweeney, Josh Welsh

GRAND JURY PRIZE FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY
Q2P directed by Paromita Vohra
Jurors: Lisa Leeman, Phillip Rodriquez, Meher Tatna
GRAND JURY PRIZE FOR BEST SHORT
TEA BREAK directed by Srinivas Sunderrajan
Special mention to PRINTED RAINBOW directed by Gitanjali Rao
Jurors: Radha Bharadwaj, Asher Goldstein, Ravi Kapoor
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS

BEST FEATURE FILM
OUTSOURCED Directed by John Jeffcoat

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
DIVIDED WE FALL directed by Sharat Raju

BEST SHORT FILM
MONSOON directed by Shyam Balsé
This year, the Festival paid tribute to acclaimed actress, poet, painter and writer DEEPTI NAVAL who has received widespread recognition for a career that has spanned nearly 30 years. As part of the tribute, IFFLA showcased three films of her most renowned performances that included KAMLA, PANCHVATI and I AM ALIVE (MAIN ZINDA HOON).

As part of the 5th year celebrations, the IFFLA added two new programs: "Bollywood By Night” which highlighted some of the most popular Bollywood Films of all times, including the 20th anniversary screening of Shekhar Kapur’s MR. INDIA. Presented by LA Weekly, the new program was a remarkable hit with both American and South Asian patrons creating a lively energetic audience that packed the theatres every night. The second addition was IFFLA EcoVision, a new program that aims to spread ecological awareness to coincide with Earth Day on Sunday, April 22.