JURORS' NOTE ON SHORTS: This year's turnout of short films was not extremely overwhelming and certainly not as diverse and engaging as last year's. However, some films filled the void to some degree. In particular, Emily Dodge's animated take on animals' perspective of the Great Flood "Two By Two" was both visually and conceptually intriguing. Hasan Zaidi's film "Just Talk" went on to illustrate that it doesn't necessarily take a complicated idea to make a thought-provoking film. Other noteworthy entries were "Nadah" about a young girl's desire to play cricket like the boys, " Oranges and Lemons" and "Seen-Seeti, Seen-Seerhi."

JURORS' NOTE ON SHORT FEATURES: The jury felt that the overall category of Short Features was not as diverse and of the quality it could and should have been. Certainly for new filmmakers, short features can be a stepping stone towards full length features by providing a platform for them to display their creative talents. However, while the filmmakers took on some bold and socially important themes, generally the films in this category, in the opinion of the jury, were technically not up to par which prevented proper communication. Eventually, it must be remembered that the Festival is about films, not about intentions, however good they may be. Therefore the jury decided not to award a Best Short Feature Ciepie this year.

JURORS' NOTE ON DOCUMENTARIES: This year's documentaries presented a very tough challenge to the jury. The range of subjects and their treatment by the filmmakers was exceptional in every sense of the word. In truth it seemed almost wrong to choose merely one film out of the 24 in competition to be awarded the honour of Best Documentary - while some were bold and well researched political statements, others were meticulous portrayals of engaging personalities and still others were extremely personal takes on our social environment. In particular, the jury would like to make special mention of three films. One is "Aftershocks: The Rough Guide to Democracy" which was a spontaneous and sensitive record of the cruel opportunism of the Big Corporation in the face of misery for thousands in the aftermath of the Gujrat earthquakes. The second is "The Speaking Hand" which was a riveting look at the life and work of the Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain through his passion for music. The third, "A Few Things I Know About Her" is a subtle yet passionate story of a personal journey in search of Mirabai in the Rajasthan desert. The jury would also like to mention that the documentaries submitted from within Pakistan also manifested a burgeoning courage and promise in approaching subjects previously left undocumented. Amar Mahboob's "Doobti Jheelain" and Maheen Zia's "The People Vs Lyari Expressway" are important films in the Pakistani context and we hope this is just the beginning of a tradition of documentary in our country.

JURORS' NOTE ON FEATURE FILMS: The quality of the top films in competition this year was very high and certainly presented a challenge to the jury in adjudicating awards. The geographical spread of the source of the films may have been more limited than last year and in particular films from Iran and certain European countries were missed but it must be acknowledged that this constraint was due more to the absence of institutional legal frameworks available to the Festival rather than anything else. But the excellence of the films on offer as well as the obvious cross fertilization of talent on display from within South Asia and the South Asian diaspora more than made up for this constraint. The jury hopes that we continue to see more such cross fertilization of talent and ideas, between Pakistani filmmakers and Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan and Nepali filmmakers and even, as in the case of one film, between Western filmmakers and Afghani talent.