Rai’s ‘Shape Of Momo,’ Roy Duo’s ‘Room At The Farm’ Take Top Honors At IFFLA 2026

India-West News Desk

LOS ANGELES, CA –The 24th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) concluded at Landmark Sunset Hollywood with Tribeny Rai’s ‘Shape of Momo’ and Jasmine Kaur Roy and Avinash Roy’s ‘Room At The Farm’ taking the top jury awards.

The Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature was awarded to ‘Shape of Momo’. In its official citation, the features jury said it was “honored to award the Grand Jury Prize to a debut film that deftly creates a protagonist who inhabits the gray area between righteousness and humility, and delicately charts her journey through the complexities of class and gender in a place steeped in tradition.”

In the shorts category, the Grand Jury Prize went to ‘Room At The Farm’. The shorts jury described it as “a delicate and nuanced allegory of the fragility of human relationships when faced with the impact of modernization,” adding that the film “represents rural Punjab with a gaze rarely seen, one that centralizes humanity and desire.”

The IFFLA Industry Days Launchpad Pitch Competition awarded its $10,000 development grant to Amarik Singh Khosa for ‘Blind Tiger’. Priyanka Krishnan and Raman Nimmala received an honorable mention for ‘Thottal Poo Malarum (Flowers Bloom When Touched)’.

Audience awards, voted by attendees, went to ‘Breaking The Code’, directed by Ben Rekhi and Swetlana, for Best Feature, and ‘Rihanna’, directed by Suraj Paudel, for Best Short.

In the feature category, Sarmad Sultan Khoosat’s ‘Lali’ and Seemab Gul’s ‘Ghost School’ received honorable mentions. The jury said ‘Lali’ “surprises us at every turn with its provocative cinematic choices,” while describing ‘Ghost School’ as “a beautifully restrained, artistically precise debut feature that works both as a powerful political allegory and as piercing social realism.”

Among short films, Ananth Subramaniam’s ‘Bleat!’ and Sana Zahra Jafri’s ‘Permanent Guest’ were also recognized. The jury called ‘Bleat!’ “an absurdist commentary that throws into question our understanding of religion, gender, and cultural identity with a profoundly original vision,” and said ‘Permanent Guest’ “has crafted immense tension and finds both power and pain in what is left unsaid.”

The festival featured 27 films from multiple countries, including India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the United States. It opened with ‘Breaking The Code’ and closed with Anusha Rizvi’s ‘The Great Shamsuddin Family.’