‘Village Rockstars’ ‘Lovesick’Among Winners at 2018 Indian Film Festival of Los Angls

“Village Rockstars” and “Lovesick” were among the films that took home top prizes at the 2018 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles on Sunday.


The 16th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles featured a Los Angeles and official Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. premiere screening of “Village Rockstars,” directed by Rima Das, which won the Grand Jury Award for best feature film. “Lovesick,” directed by Priya Giri Desai was presented the Audience Choice Award for documentary.


Other winners from the evening were Mahesh Narayanan’s “Take Off,” which the audience chose as their favorite narrative feature, and Ruthy Pribar’s “The Caregiver,” the grand jury’s choice for short film. The event took place from April 11-15 at Regal L.A. Live: A Barco Innovation Center in Los Angeles.


Film critic Carlos Aguilar, director Haifaa Al Mansour and actor Sujata Day served as members of the narrative jury, while the shorts jury consisted of producer Giulia Caruso, director Aneesh Chaganty and screenwriter Guinevere Turner. The festival’s Grand Jury and Audience Choice Awards were presented by HBO.


The five-day festival, which included opening and closing red carpet galas, concluded with the closing awards ceremony that recognizes global Indian cinema that helps connect entertainment industries in Hollywood and India. The festival showcased more than 25 films from the global Indian filmmaking community.


See the full list of winners below.


GRAND JURY AWARDS


Best Feature: VILLAGE ROCKSTARS, directed by Rima Das
Features Special Mention: Sushama Deshpande’s lead performance in AJJI
Best Short Film: THE CAREGIVER, directed by Ruthy Pribar
Short Film Special Mention: COUNTERFEIT KUNKOO, directed by Reema Sengupta


AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS


Best Feature (Narrative): TAKE OFF, directed by Mahesh Narayanan
Best Documentary: LOVESICK, directed by Priya Giri Desai and Ann S. Kim
Best Short: AN ESSAY OF THE RAIN, directed by Nagraj Manjule