'Chuskit' wins Grand Prize at Stony Brook Film Festival
"Chuskit," directed by Priya Ramasubban, won the Grand Prize at the Stony Brook Film Festival. Jigmet Dewa Lhamo, pictured left, plays the role of Chuskit. Credit: Wishberry Films
A rare Grand Prize went to the South Asian drama "Chuskit" at this year's Stony Brook Film Festival, only the ninth such award in the festival's 24-year history.
The Grand Prize is given when both the jury and the audience give their highest rankings to the same film.
Priya Ramasubban's "Chuskit" tells the story of a young girl in a remote Himalayan village who becomes paraplegic after an accident. The film, in Ladakhi with English subtitles, has done well on the festival circuit, picking up at least nine awards to date.
"In God I Trust," Maja Zdanowski's drama about race and religion in a small Idaho town, won the Jury Award for Best Feature. "The Silent Revolution," which recounts the true story of students punished for a small gesture of protest in Soviet-controlled Germany, won the Audience Choice for Best Feature.
In the shorts categories, the Jury Award Best Short went to "Toke is Cheap," Kerry van der Griend's 23-minute film about a teenage pot-dealer, while the Audience Award Best Short went to Cyrus Neshvad's "The Portraitist," about a man who puts his plans for suicide on hold to help an ailing granddaughter.
