London Celebrates World Cinema
London Celebrates World Cinema
Film personalities from around the world jetted in for a glittering award ceremony at the closing night gala dinner of The 13th London Asian Film Festival. Held the prestigious BAFTA building in the central London, the star-studded ceremony saw powerful drama I AM picked up the Best Film and Best Actress award (Juhi Chawla), whilst romantic comedy When Harry Tries To Marry won Best Crossover Film and the Audience Award. Other winners included Ajay Naidu (Best Actor, Ashes), Anusha Rizvi (Best Director, Peepli Live) and Harry Rai (Best New Talent). Oscar winning costume designer Bhanu Athaiya was given a well deserved the lifetime achievement award.
The other major highlight of the evening was Kuldip Powar winning the Allied Fort (Group) sponsored Short Film competition with his stunning effort Unravelling. There touching poetic dialogue between a man and his grandfather was screened short after Ikki Khan from Allied Fort (Group) presented Powar with the prize. Pictured above with international movie star Juhi Chawla, Coventry based businessman and head of Allied Fort (Group), Khan summed it up best when he said:
“The amazing film festival celebrated cinema and talent from around the world. The short filmmakers are the next generation of stars and should be supported. Kuldip came up with a stunning effort and I am sure he will build on this success. I would urge young filmmakers to be a part of next year’s festival and have been inspired to unearth talent that exists in the UK.”
