Focus Features Award
Focus Features will present the Best Film Award to one of the eligible films. Eligibility is open to all First Look-accepted films that have received commercial clearance, as the winning film will be featured for streaming on the Focus Features website. The winning film's director will also receive a $10,000 cash prize.
USC Jagat Murari Award for Outstanding Directing
The Jagat Murari Directing Award celebrates and encourages young filmmakers, a commitment that defined Jagat Murari’s life and work. This is also a homecoming – Jagat Murari earned his Master’s degree in Cinema at USC in 1947, and this award now honors his legacy as a filmmaker, educator, and visionary institution-builder whose contributions shaped Indian cinema, making it the global powerhouse it is today.
As a young film student in post-war America, Jagat Murari apprenticed under Orson Welles during the making of Macbeth in 1947, an experience that profoundly influenced his cinematic philosophy. Returning to a newly independent India, he became a celebrated documentary filmmaker, winning India’s first President’s gold medal.
But his biggest contribution, the one that transformed Indian cinema, was the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), which he built into an iconic film school. There, with unerring consistency, he turned out many of India’s legendary filmmakers, and came to be known as ‘The Maker of Filmmakers’. His students became the leading names of Bollywood and beyond. They spearheaded the Indian New Wave, kick-started regional language cinema, and helped usher television in India.
Jagat Murari believed that great cinema emerges not only from talent, but from curiosity, creativity, and discipline. This award celebrates that same spirit, recognizing outstanding student directors who push the boundaries of storytelling.