Press release from Miranda Brown Publicity
The Indian Film Festival is delighted to announce the winners of its inaugural short film competition. S. Samson is the Indian winner for his film AASAI while director Veeran Naran and producer Lester Francois are the Australian winners for their film, SOY MILK. The New Zealand winner will be announced in Auckland next week. S. Samson has been flown to Australia this week and Lester Francois will later be flown to Bombay and have an internship on a Bollywood film. The winning films will screen in the festival and on World Movies India, World Movies Australia and Triangle TV (New Zealand).
The international competition, launched this year in conjunction with Bindass TV in India, World Movies and Indian Link in Australia and Triangle TV in New Zealand, was held in Australia, India and New Zealand. Applicants were asked to make a short film of less than 10 minutes on anything Indian.
AASAI (‘Aspiration’ in English) was shot in Tamilnadu, Southern India. It tells the story of a young boy, Selvam, who works away from home as a grocery delivery boy and is fascinated with telephones. Selvam aspires to call his mother and with the help of the STD booth lady works out how much it would cost to place a five minute call then starts saving his tips and rehearsing what he would say. Will Selvam speak with his mother or not?
SOY MILK was shot in Melbourne and looks at an Indian teenager in a western world who tries to balance his traditions and libido.
Responding to the news, Lester Francois said, ‘We are overjoyed to be the winners of the Indian Film Festival and can’t wait to fly to India to meet with Bollywood filmmakers.’
S. Samson said, ‘I was overjoyed to win this prize. It’s a dream come to true to come to Australia and be in the midst of such great filmmakers. This festival has given me international exposure which is just remarkable!’
Announcing the jury’s decision, Festival Director Mitu Bhowmick Lange said, ‘I am thrilled for our short film winners. We had a number of wonderful entries, not only from Australia and India, but from all over the world which was very exciting to see. Our judges had a hard time deciding. The Indian Film Festival is proud to not only showcase the best of Indian cinema but also be a platform to young film makers. I wish our winners all the very best. ‘
The five person jury, comprised of key figures in Indian cinema – director Kunal Kohli, director Kabir Khan, writer/director Rajkumar Hirani and writer/director/actor Imtiaz Ali – and Australian actor/writer/producer, Mick Molloy, decided between 12 short films including Red, Blunder Down Under, Priya, 12 Days of Christmas, Utah, and The Last Ride from Australia, and Run Leila Run and
Room 2611 from India.
Tickets and complete program available from www.cinemanova.com.au/festivals.html
www.iff2010.com