Several awards were announced during the four-day International South Asian Film Festival (iSAFF), held in Surrey from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1.
The festival featured a number of premieres — eight for the world, one North American, 27 Canadian and three for B.C.
“Pathbreakers” was the theme of the 2023 festival, which screened six features, four documentaries and more than 30 shorts at Landmark Cinemas in Guildford, a new venue for an event focused on South Asian stories, artists and filmmakers.
An opening-night gala at Surrey City Hall featured a dance performance by Gayatri Patel Bahl and Shiamak Vancouver Group, led by Glen D’ Mello, and a keynote speech by Gemma Martini, CEO of Martini Film Studios. Video of the “Purple Heart Gala” is posted to iSAAF Canada’s Youtube channel.
Three people were awarded for their contributions to cinema, including Nimisha Mukerji (Award of Excellence for Leadership in Film), Kamal Sharma (Lifetime Achievement) and Shakil Jessa (Emerging Artist). For his next project, Jessa was given an in-kind prize of $10,000 ($5,000 from Sparky’s Grip & Lighting, $5,000 from Brightside Cinema Inc.).
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A 13-member jury selected the festival’s award-winning films.
The closing-night movie “In Flames (directed by Zarrar Kahn) won Best Feature, with honourable mention for “Pine Cone” (Onir).
“My Mother’s Girlfriend” (Arun Fulara, director) won Best LGBTQ Short Award and $2,000 cash from Sher Vancouver, with honourable mention for “The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night” (Fawzia Mirza).
“Sweet Refuge (Maryam Mir) won Best North American Short, honourable mention for “Dosh” (Radha Mehta).
“Starch” (Ajai Vishwanath) won Best International Short, honourable mention for “Foreigners Only” (Nuhash Humayun).
Best Documentary went to “Against The Tide” (Sarvnik Kaur), honourable mention for “Call Me Dancer” (Leslie Shampaine, Pip Gilmour).
Festival producer Mannu Sandhu praised the filmmakers, jury, sponsors, the iSAAF team, volunteers and audiences for their work, loyalty and dedication.
“Just like our theme, ‘Pathbreakers,’ this year has been a path-breaking journey for the festival itself, a transformative chapter marked by everyone who was a part of it. Cheers to a community that breathes life into the magic of cinema.”
In June, Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival rebranded as iSAFF, and this year the festival dates were moved from November to September.