JHFFF PRESS RELEASE

AND the winners are ....

The Jackson Heights Film and Food Festival is delighted to announce film winners for its 2008 fall festival are Juan Mejia's "Uprooted" for this year's Audience Award" and Masood Haque's "Stranger in Paradise" for Top Jury Award

In its third year, the JHFFF last month brought together hundreds of cinephiles and foodies from all five New York City boroughs, and the nation at large. In a single weekend, film directors, film buffs, and even a few film extras, packed Jackson Heights's own Bollywood-gone-multinational theater to celebrate films from Colombia, Burundi, France, the Netherlands, and our beloved home borough, Queens.

"I am very happy and excited to have won the audience choice award at the Jackson Heights Film and Food Festival," said Juan Mejia, winner of the JHFFF's "Audience Award."

"This is a unique film festival that truly strives to be a community forum where local residents can exhibit, watch, and discuss a variety of films, as well as a bridge for other New Yorkers to discover the immense diversity and talent of Jackson Heights," said Mejia, whose intimate documentary film gives voice to those caught in the middle of Colombia's internal conflict. Mejia is now at work on "The Battle for Land," which probes the forced displacement of black communities in Colombia.

"I am thankful to the jury for recognizing Stranger in Paradise,"  Masood Haque said. "The festival showcased work that was thoughtful, artistically adventurous, and emotionally resonant. It is always a thrill to be invited to JHFF festival."

"My film was just one among many other wonderful films," said
Haque, whose film tells the story of a young Pakistani man who wins the visa lottery, immigrates to New York, then gets caught in a 9/11 dragnet.

Stay tuned for upcoming information on the 2009 Jackson Heights Film and Food Festival.

The festival would like to thank Capital One for sponsoring the 2008 JHFFF..

For more information on the Festival, please visit www.jhfff.org.