A feature film Desires of the Heart produced by Odisha-born film producer and writer Solila Parida has won the best foreign film award at the lA Femme Film Festival, los Angeles. Parida along with some casts and crew were present at the award ceremony held on Sunday.
Desires of the Heart is a love story which also portrays the serious issue of Sati, a despicable funeral practice among some Indian communities during ancient time, in a light manner with full of drama, suspense and great music. The film was shot both in the USA (Savannah, Georgia) and India (Bikaner, Rajasthan).
Hollywood stars Val lauren and Alicia Minshew along with veteran Bollywood actor Gulshan Grover and national award winning actor Harsh Mayar are in lead roles in the film, which is directed by award winning director James Kicklighter, co-directed by Rajesh Rathi in India and edited by Anthony Guerrero. Tim Gill has done the camera and Juan David Manotas is the line Producer (US) of the film. Jitendra Mishra from Odisha, who is well-known for his film I am Kalam and Sagar Sarhadi’s Chausar, has been the associate producer of this film.
The producers say, “We just finished the film in September 2013 and started getting invitations from several international festivals along with rave reviews. We are planning to release the film in India as soon as we get a likeminded distributor. We have tried to tell an untold story in an entertaining way.”
Solila Parida is a multitalented professional who has done Direction & Production course from the Hollywood Film Institute. She has been making crossover films for last 20 years and getting critical acclamations. Desires of the Heart is her fourth feature film after Vishkanya, Koi Hai and Bandit lovers. She is aiming to make international movies for the global market in English with both Hollywood and Bollywood stars. Desires of the Heart is the first-ever Hollywood film produced by an Odia producer and getting award in los Angeles.