International Gujarati Film Festival in California and New Jersey

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The International Gujarati Film Festival which aims to promote the Gujarati cinema and culture across the world, is scheduled to be held in California June 7-9, and in New Jersey June 15-16.

After the success of the first edition at New Jersey in August 2018, where 4,500 people attended  with 4500+ attendee, 2^nd edition of The International Gujarati Film Festival is going to held in 2 venues, June 7-9 in California, and June 15 and 16 in New Jersey, according to a press release.

“This year, Gujarati Film Industry will reach Hollywood and show the land of dreams, the dreams possessed by the Gujarati filmmakers, actors and crew and tell the whole world that the Gujarati film industry is creating some of the most riveting cinema out there,” organizers said in the press release.

The initiative of the film festival was taken by Kaushal Acharya of Rostrum Media and 1947 Production and Entertainment Inc.

The Festival director is Umesh Shukla, writer and creator of many Gujarati plays and Bollywood films, who made his directorial debut with UTV Motion Pictures and directed films  like Oh My God, All is Well, and most recently, 102 Not Out featuring Big B Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor.

His blockbuster film Oh My God was adopted from his own Gujarati play Kanji v/s Kanji.

About the Jury:

Jury members of 2^nd edition of The International Gujarati Film Festival consist of wll-known and much-loved celebrities from both Gujarati and Hindi entertainment industry, the press release says, including – actress and director Gopi Desai, known for Mon Petit Diable, Jhoothi, 1942 A Love Story, and Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja. She is the recipient of the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film Mujhse Dosti Karoge (1992), and she has won Filmfare Award for Best Documentary Manzar (1995); Saumya Joshi, poet, writer, playwrite, director and actor, known in Gujarati theater for his play, Welcome Zindagi, and movie 102 Not Out. He has been awarded by Chandravadan Chimanlal Mehta Award for his contribution to Gujarati theater in 2013; and popular author, orator and proponent of cinema, Jay Vasavada, whose columns ‘Spectrometer’ and ‘Anavrut’ covering a wide range of subjects on  society and culture, run in “Gujarat Samachar”.

Along with the films screening Vadilal IGFF also includes the red-carpet event, awards ceremony and an opportunity to network.

This year Vadilal IGFF has added a special Short Films category to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Filmmakers can submit a film of 10 minutes or less, based on “The Ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.”

Following is the list of officially selected films to be screened in Vadilal IGFF 2019:

Feature films:

1. Natsamrat
2. Short circuit
3. Hve thahse Baap re
4. Paatra
5. Suryansh
6. Shu Thayu?!
7. I M A GUJJU
8. Back Bencher
9. Ventilator
10. Order Order out of Order
11. Family Circus
12. Saheb
13. Bajaaba

Short Films:

1. The Cycle
2. Mara Dada
3. Maavtar
4. Conscience
5. Gaanth

Documentary Films:

1. Mansi kutch
2. Visarti jati kala Bhavai
3. Satya ni prayogshala
4. GJ 1 Walls city to Morden city

Short Films on Ideals of Gandhiji:

1. Gandhi Hatya
2. Vaishnav Jan
3. Bapa ane bapu
4. Rebooting Mahatma
5. #Byebyeplastic