Little Terrorist wins an Oscar nomination

at the 77th annual Academy Awards 2005

At 5.38 pacific time, director Ashvin Kumar was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Live Action Short Film category. Ashvin leaves for Los Angeles in the mid February to join producer Judith James to lobby for a win which will be the second for an Indian in a competitive catgory. The Academy's entire active and life membership is eligible to select the winners but members can vote only after attesting they have seen all of the nominated films in the category.

In the past, only Satyajit Ray (Lifetime Achievement) and Bhanu Athiya (Best Costumes - Gandhi) have received the Oscar, while Mira Nair (Saalam Bombay), Ashutosh Gowartikar (Laagan), Mehboob Khan (Mother India) have been nominated to the Best Foreign Film Category and Vidhu Vinod Chopra, nominated for Best Short Film.

"..overwhelming, an honor and I am delighted.. its vindication of the past three years trying to convince people about the 'local yet universal' international cinema I want to make.."

 

Little Terrorist makes Oscar short list,

wins Tehran

BOMBAY, DEC 11TH 2004 - A midnight phone call from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to Ashvin Kumar and Markus Huersch (director and cinematographer) that their film LITTLE TERRORIST had made it into the final twelve. Five of these twelve films will be nominated.

Earlier this month LITTLE TERRORIST added a fourth 'grand prize' to its haul by winning the Tehran Intl Short Film Festival. "Winning Tehran is particularly significant - Little Terrorist was inspired by the wonderful films of Kiraustami and Makhmalbuff and its special to be acknowledged in that country" said Kumar.

Huersch and Kumar were in Bombay in pre-production of their feature film THE FOREST. Their collaboration began with ROAD TO LADAKH two years ago when Kumar put up a post on the UK based internet resource Shooting People looking for film crew.

 

Little Terrorist wins UIP Prix 2004 Ghent

 

GHENT (October 12, 2004). On Monday evening, Ashvin Kumar won first prize in the UIP Prix Ghent 2004 short film competition with his short film Little Terrorist. He managed to impress the international jury with this contemporary drama, based on a true story. It is a story in which hope and humanity conquer hate and fear. In addition to the prize money of € 2,000, Kumar also landed a nomination for the Prix UIP for Best European Short.

 

Little Terrorist tells the moving story of a Pakistani Muslim boy who accidentally crosses the Pakistani-Indian border which is riddled with landmines. He ends up in a strange country that regards him as a terrorist. The old orthodox Hindu Bhola takes him in and hides him from the Indian soldiers. However, traditions and prejudices about Muslims remain an obstacle in the relationship between Bhola and the boy. Ultimately, humanity triumphs over prejudice when Bhola risks his own life to help Jamal cross the border again. This symbolic story of hope is a tale of human solidarity conquering all artificial boundaries.

 

Ashvin Kumar's Little Terrorist also won first prize for best short film at the Montreal Film Festival. In addition, it is scheduled at numerous other leading international film festivals. Due to the limited budget, a group of authentic Rajasthani musicians were recruited to provide the music for the film. What started as an experimental cost-saving impulse eventually resulted in a lyrical and unique fusion of Indian folk and a more traditional western composed film score.

This short film is not Ashvin Kumar' first piece. In 2002 he directed the successful film Road to Ladakh , for which he received acclaim at various film festivals, including Cannes.

 

This is the fourth edition of the UIP Prix Ghent. With this international competition, the Festival intends to give European producers of short films a helping hand . The winner is automatically nominated for the Prix UIP for Best European Short Film, competing with the winners of another eleven film festivals for the first prize of €  10,000 that shows the work of the next generation of film makers who will follow in the footsteps of directors such as Lukas Moodysson, Nanni Moretti and Pedro Almódovar.

Ashvin Kumar said "we're on a ride since the win at Montreal qualified us for the oscars, this one goes a step further - we're automatically nominated to the European Academy awards!" When asked how he feels about the win, Kumar said "The film has obviously touched a chord internationally. Its the dedication of the cast and crew working tirelessly throughout its production, entirely unpaid and, at times, dedicating their personal funds to see it completed that is being awarded"

Little Terrorist will show at six other festivals in the next two weeks: London Film Festival, Asiana Film Festival (Korea), Berlin International Short Film Festival, Chicago International Children's Film Festival, Cork Film Festival and Hawaii International Film Festival.

The International Jury was chaired by French composer Maurice Jarre and included Indian director Shekhar Kapur, Irish actor Colm Meaney, south-african actor/director John Matshikiza and Bosnian short film director Stefan Arsenijevic.

Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent
31st Edition from October 5 to 16, 2004
More information on www.filmfestival.be
Leeuwstraat 40b, 9000 Ghent - Belgium
Tel: (+32)9 242 80 60 Fax: (+32)9 221 90 74 - E-mail: info@filmfestival.be

                                                                                                                                                      

'THE TIMES'

LITTLE TERRORIST ONE OF SIX NOT TO MISS AT THE

LONDON FILM FESTIVAL

Oct 21 - 14:00 National Film Theatre / NFT2
Oct 21 - 18:30 National Film Theatre / NFT2

IN A PROGRAM CALLED 'DIASPORA'

LITTLE TERRORIST WINS 1st PRIZE AT MANHATTAN, GETS FEATURE FILM FUNDING

Highlights

* 12 finalists, choosen from 621 films, showed to audience members in seven US states (Massachusetts, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Tennessee) who voted for their favorite film.
* From 1468 votes cast, Little Terrorist received the most votes and was announced winner on 19th of September in New York.
* the 1st prize is a FEATURE FILM PACKAGE (to enable the winner to make a feature film) includes a camera for two months, lighting and grip package, $50,000 worth of vouchers for lab-work and sound mixing and 8 weeks of post-production, editing.

When asked what he'd do with the prizes, writer/director Ashvin Kumar said, "...its a wonderful idea to give the winner a feature film package and couldn't have come at a better time for us - I am making my debut feature - a thriller set in the jungles of India called FOREST. I'd put the post-production vouchers into the budget - that's $75 - 85,000 less that we have to raise"

The feature film FOREST will be produced by Judith James, a Hollywood based producer, perhaps the first time a Hollywood producer will be making a Hindi language film. Irfan Khan who worked with Ashvin on his first short film Road To Ladakh and Salim, the protagonist of Little Terrorist, will both have leading roles in the film. Swiss Director of Photography, Markus Huersch, who shot both short films, will be the cinematographer on the FOREST.

UK PREMIERE - LONDON FILM FESTIVAL

Those based in London / UK please DO NOT miss the LITTLE TERRORIST'S UK PREMIERE at the LONDON FILM FESTIVAL. Book tickets early!! You can book online at:-

http://www.lff.org.uk/films_programmes.php?ProgrammeID=26.

It plays as part of a selection called DIASPORA, a programme of international short films on the theme of diaspora.

Oct 21 - 14:00 National Film Theatre / NFT2
Oct 21 - 18:30 National Film Theatre / NFT2

UPCOMING FESTIVALS

In the same week as the London Film Festival, Little Terrorist will play in the following others world-wide:

1. Flanders Film Festival
2. Cork Film Festival
3. Hawaii Film Festival
4. Chicago Children's Film Festival
In addition it has been selected to a most unusual film festival - in the air!
5. The Asisana Short Film Festival is the world's first in-flight film festival sponsored by Asiana Air-Lines, Korea - my guess is passengers will vote for the best short film...

___________________________________________________________________________

LITTLE TERRORIST WINS ON WORLD PREMIERE, QUALIFIES FOR BEST SHORT FILM OSCAR

Highlights -

* 1st prize for Short Films Montreal World Film Festival
* Qualifies for Academy Awards for the Best Short Film
* One of 12 shorts out of 3000 selected for Manhattan Short Film Festival
* In competition - Flanders Film Festival, Asiana Film Festival, Chicago International Children's Film Festival.
* Official Selection - Telluride Film Festival, London Film Festival, Bangkok Film Festival, Hawaii Film Festival, Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, Sao Paulo Short Film Festival.

Little Terrorist won top honors at the Montreal World Film Festival 2004 which concluded in a star-studded closing ceremony on the 6th of September.

The first prize for international short films was awarded to Ashvin Kumar, writer / director of Little Terrorist selected out of 157 short films from 72 countries. Director Kumar was present in Montreal earlier that week and said "Its an honor to be one of ten films selected for the world competition at Montreal, I hope I can take the award back to India for the first time".

Little Terrorist had its world premiere in Montreal, showing for the first time to capacity crowds.

Winning the first prize at Montreal makes Little Terrorist eligible to apply for the Academy Awards for short films. The academy has accredited select short film festivals around the world. Only the winners of those chosen festivals are allowed to apply for the Best Short Film Oscars. When asked about his plans for the Oscars, speaking from the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, Ashvin said "to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time an Indian short film has made itself eligible and I am going to go for it"

Next week Little Terrorist will play in front of 3000 people in Union Square Park, Manhattan, New York as one of 12 films chosen by the Manhattan Short Film Festival. Little Terrorist is also in the official selections of London and Hawaii Film Festivals in addition to being in competition in Flanders, Asiana and Chicago Children's Film Festivals.

When asked about his future plans, Ashvin said "I am in pre-production with my debut feature film which is a hindi language thriller that will shoot in India in January 2005 and my first short film Road To Ladakh that has been expanded into a feature film will begin shooting in the summer of 2005".