FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE 13th ANNUAL INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF LOS ANGELES ANNOUNCES
2015 DISTINGUISHED JURY MEMBERS
Festival adds Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s award-winning LABOUR OF LOVE to line-up,and announces Nickelodeon Scavenger Hunt for TV Comedy Writers
LOS ANGELES, CA (April 2, 2015) – 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 placeFriday, 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!
Tickets and Passes
The 13th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) runs April 8-12 at ArcLight Hollywood, located at 6360 W. Sunset Blvd between Vine and Ivar. Festival Passes and tickets are currently on sale on the festival's website. Access to the Secret Screening is exclusively for passholders only. For more information please visit www.indianfilmfestival.org or follow us on:
About IFFLA
Now in its 13th year, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, honoring entertainment industry business executives, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.
The five-day festival is the premiere platform for the latest in cutting edge global Indian cinema and bridges the gap between the two largest entertainment industries in the world – Hollywood and Indian Film Industry. The festival will showcase more than 25 films from the Indian filmmaking community across the globe, host the highly anticipated opening and closing red carpet galas, and the closing awards ceremony. This year will feature again the wildly popular "Bollywood by Night" series, live music and dance performances.
About ArcLight Cinemas
ArcLight Cinemas, created by Pacific Theatres, is a privately owned Los Angeles based company with 60 years of theatrical exhibition history throughout California, Hawaii and Washington. ArcLight Cinemas operates five theaters in California including Hollywood, Pasadena, Sherman Oaks, El Segundo and La Jolla, and one theater in Bethesda, Md., with additional theaters under construction in Chicago and Santa Monica, California, slated for a 2015 opening. ArcLight also owns and operates the historic Cinerama Dome and programs the TCL Chinese Theatre and IMAX in Hollywood. Pacific Theaters currently operates theaters in Los Angeles that include The Grove and The Americana at Brand in Glendale, CA.
2015 JURY BY CATEGORY
NARRATIVE JURY
SEAN BAKER is the director of TAKE OUT, and PRINCE OF BROADWAY, both nominated for the John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award. He also directed STARLET, the recipient of the Robert Altman Independent Spirit Award. Baker’s latest film TANGERINE premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Baker co-created IFC/FOX's “Greg the Bunny” and its subsequent spin-off, MTV's “Warren the Ape.”
ABHAY DEOL is a celebrated Indian film actor and producer. His work has been honored with many awards including several Filmfares for DEV.D, the National Award for Best Popular film for OYE LUCKY! LUCKY OYE, and Special Screening at the Toronto International Film Festival for the ROAD MOVIE. Time Out Mumbai called him, ‘The New Face of Indian Cinema’. He is the champion of the smart Bollywood audience who appreciate interesting and off-beat cinema.
YORAM KAHANA is a long time member and frequent board director of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). He guides the Association's grants for movie restoration, and has represented the HFPA in film festivals around the world. Kahana has made more than 50 educational and commercial films about cultures, crafts, anthropology and art. He has traveled the world extensively as a photographer and writer.
RAVI MEHTA is an Executive Vice President of Physical Production for Warner Bros. Pictures. He has overseen production on such films as AMERICAN SNIPER, GANGSTER SQUAD and THE CAMPAIGN, among others. He most recently served as executive producer on GRUDGE MATCH, starring Sylvester Stallone and Robert DeNiro. Mehta’s entertainment career began at Paramount Pictures before he moved to Warner Bros. Pictures where he worked on films such as TRAINING DAY and ROMEO MUST DIE.
BERENICE REYNAUD is the author of Nouvelles Chines, and Hou Hsiao-hsien’s A CITY OF SADNESS. Her writing has been published in The New Urban Generation, The New Chinese Documentary Movement, Storia del Cinema Mondiale, Sight & Sound, Film Comment, andCahiers du Cinéma. She is a program consultant for The Viennale and the San Sebastian International Film Festival, as well as the Co-Curator of the film series at REDCAT. Reynaud teaches at the California Institute of the Arts.
SHORTS JURY
LUCY MUKERJEE-BROWN is an established British producer known for being an advocate of female directors and LGBTQ films. In 2015, Mukerjee-Brown joined Outfest as the festival’s Director of Programming. Prior to that, she was Vice President of Development at Cinelou Films (best known for the film CAKE). Mukerjee-Brown was previously an executive at After Dark Films where she oversaw a production slate for Warner Bros. and Lionsgate. Her next project, JACK OF THE RED HEARTS, starring Famke Janssen and AnnaSophia Robb, hits theaters in 2016.
LISA OGDIE is a Shorts Programmer at Sundance Film Festival, and also the Membership and Events Manager at BAFTA Los Angeles. She has been part of the Sundance shorts programming team since 2009, and has moderated Q&A discussions and panels for BAFTA LA, Sundance, Toronto International Film Festival and the American Pavilion at Cannes. With a keen eye for film, Ogdie has served on many festival juries including SXSW, Kansas City Film Festival, South Eastern European Film Festival, Rushes Soho Shorts Festival, Shnit International Shortfilmfestival in Switzerland, and The Smalls Film Festival in London.
DANNY PUDI has quickly established himself as a highly sought after actor in film and television. His character, ‘Abed’ in the hit comedy “Community” quickly emerged as a favorite of both fans and critics alike. Pudi’s other television credits include “Greek,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Royal Pains,” “Chuck,” and “ER.” His film credits include LARRY GAYE: RENEGADE MAKE FLIGHT ATTENDANT ROAD TRIP opposite Mark Feuerstein, Stanley Tucci and Marcia Gay Harden, KNIGHTS OF BADASSDOM, and VIJAY AND I opposite Patricia Arquette. Pudi’s first directorial effort, the short film UNTUCKED, premiered at 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
HEATHER MORRIS WASHINGTON is the Manager of the Emerging Writers Fellowship, a program at Universal Pictures that is designed to identify and cultivate new and unique voices with a passion for storytelling. In this position, Washington designs, implements and oversees all aspects of the year-long writers’ fellowship program. From 2010 to 2013, Washington honed her filmmaking skills in the Universal Pictures Leadership Program, a studio executive training program. She previously practiced entertainment and corporate law in Atlanta, Georgia.
LABOUR OF LOVE
India/2014/84min/Bengali
U.S. PremiereDirector: Aditya Vikram SenguptaProducer: Jonaki BhattacharyaScreenwriter: Aditya Vikram SenguptaCinematographer: Aditya Vikram Sengupta, Mahendra ShettyEditor: Aditya Vikram SenguptaSound Design: Anish JohnCast: Ritwick Chakraborty, Basabdutta Chatterjee
Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s lyrical portrait of one day in a married couple’s life began its festival run with a win for Best Debut Director in Venice, 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.
Set in Calcutta, where rising unemployment and income inequality have sparked outrage and protest, the story focuses on a husband and wife fortunate enough to have work. However, their competing schedules – she works in the daytime, he works a graveyard shift – keep them apart for nearly the entirety of every day. The film gracefully alternates between each of their daily routines, observing their solitude so closely and with such detail that the simple act of preparing a meal or washing clothes becomes a symphonic experience. Sengupta weaves arresting visuals, precise sound and music, and rhythmic editing into a one-of-a-kind experience that builds to a beautiful, dreamlike crescendo. This is a truly unique display of artistry from a gifted new filmmaker.
| 
Comments
Post a Comment