Ladakh International Film Festival 2014: The complete list of winners

Leh: The third edition of the recently-concluded Ladakh International Film Festival screened over 50 films, including Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's 'Bollywood: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told', Deepti Naval's 'Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish', and several Iranian and Korean films, and also included Asia premiere of Anurag Kashyap's much-anticipated film 'Ugly' starring Ronit Roy and Tejaswini Kolhapure.

While many were impressed with the selection of the films that were supposed to be screened at LIFF, last-minute changes in the schedule and simultaneous screening of important films did leave many annoyed and upset.

However, the announcement of winners at the closing ceremony of LIFF managed to spread some cheer. While 'Kaafiron Ki Namaaz (The Virgin Arguments)', which managed to wow the jury members, swept away four awards at the third LIFF, Iranian film 'Wet Letters' bagged three awards for Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Director categories.

Directed by Ram Ramesh Sharma 'Kaafiron Ki Namaaz (The Virgin Arguments)' is an independent feature film and was lauded by LIFF jury head Govind Nihalani. It is a thriller that revolves around the story of three men- an army officer who was court-martialed recently, a writer and his camera assistant. What begins as a dramatic discussion between the army officer and a writer, soon turns into a scary meeting raising some pertinent issues.

The full list of 2014 winners is below:

Best Director Short Film:

Director of "Villari" (India)

"For portraying a young man in a fresh style referring to the magic of Cinema"

Jury Grand Prize:

Director of "White Van Stories" (Sri Lanka)

For evoking the tragedy of missed loved ones"-"The Dead don't disappear only the living do

Best Documentary Film

"Roque Dalton - Let's Shoot The Night" (Cuba)

"For taking us back to a most important and vibrant period in Cuba & Latin America"

Grand Jury Prize:

Director of "The Homecoming" (Venezuala)

For showing us the violence in the everyday life of Latin America through the fate of a child left alone in the world

Best Debut:

Director of "The Virgin Arguments" (Kashmir, India)

For attracting us with a new and exciting voice in the relatively unknown cinematic landscape, the Kashmir

Best Actress:

"Wet Letters" (Iran)

For her sensitive portrayal of a woman's dreams shelved, as she is left to care for her mentally ill mother

Best Actors - 2 protagonists:

"The Virgin Arguments" (Kashmir, India)

For delivering two exceptional performances that carry the film

Best Cinematography:

"Wet Letters" (Iran)

For condensing a diverse Iranian reality to beautifully capture a wonderful aesthetic imagery

Best Screenplay:

"The Virgin Arguments" (Kashmir, India)

For unfolding the complexity of life through precise and intelligent dialogue

Best Director:

"Wet Letters" (Iran)

For sensitively unfolding in a sophisticated way, the inner life of a lonely woman

Best Feature:

Producer of "The Virgin Arguments" (Kashmir, India)

For a film that stands out for its effort to engage very important issues of religion, of sexuality, of personal vanity, of moral ambivalence and finding justifications for something that you wish to cover

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