The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles has announced the ten finalists for the first annual IFFLA Film Fund Development Grant. Each of the finalists was chosen by a jury of respected screenwriters. The winning film, announced in January, will receive $10,000.

With more than 70 submissions, the development fund jury selected the following ten films for the final round of competition for the $10,000 cash prize: Against Itself, Aravan, Engineers of Rock, Love in the Time of Genocide, Scandalous!, Sebastian Wants to Remember, The Story of Ram, Sweet Dreams, Untitled Desert War Film, and Untouchable Glory.

In addition to competing for the final cash prize, each of the finalists were awarded a copy of Final Draft and Sony Creative software; also, IFFLA will submit a dossier of each film to selected entertainment agencies, production firms and distribution companies.

“This is a robust indicator that IFFLA has become an institution that is recognized as a vital resource for filmmakers of Indian descent,” festival director Christina Marouda said in a statement. “The diversity of projects and talent represented in the finalist selection reveals where Indian cinema is heading and how our organization can play a critical role in the creation of content with worldwide appeal.”

Among the jurors considering each of the submissions included Gill Dennis (Walk The Line, The Tatooed Soldier), Anurag Kashyap (Dev D, Black Friday, Gulaal) and Soon Taraporevala (Salaam Bombay!, The Namesake, Little Zizou).

According to festival organizers, the IFFLA Film Fund “seeks to help emerging filmmakers realize their feature-length narrative and non-narrative film projects that reflect universal themes inherent within Indian culture.” The fund aims to assist projects throughout the entire film-making process while increasing the profile and exposure of such films in the United States.

The film fund is part of the annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. The 2010 version of the showcase is scheduled to take place April 20th-25th at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood.

Sponsoring this year’s film fund was Final Draft and Sony Creative Software.

Provided by IFFLA, the synopsis for each of the finalists is below:

Against Itself, written and directed by Kranti Kanade (India): A secular expatriate American schoolmaster in India struggles against a tide of anti-Christian sentiment that threatens his students, his school and his life.

Aravan, written by Raghu Jeganathan (USA): In the aftermath of a secret State-sponsored program involving the lowest strata of Indian society, three strangers with the same name get entangled in a plot to kill one of them who holds the key to incriminating evidence against the State.

Engineers of Rock, co-written by Sushrut Jain and John Thompson, directed by Sushrut Jain (USA): Based on a true story, Engineers of Rock recounts the journey of Adi and Pillai, two college-bound engineering students who take a detour to start the first Indian heavy metal band.

Love in the Time of Genocide, written and directed by Thenmozhi Soundararajan (USA): In this Bollywood sci-fi saga, it is 2099 and Mumbai is split into an elite city in the air and its destitute twin on the ground. Tensions soar when a naive reporter is kidnapped by an unlikely gang of rebels who reveal to her a dark truth and she must then choose her allegiance in the final battle to reunite the cities once and for all.

Scandalous!, written and directed by Claire Ince (USA): When the daughter of an Indian business tycoon falls in love with a young Soca musician, they battle her family’s skepticism about love by playing matchmaker to the family’s least likely sweethearts: a world-wisened pair of bickering friends.

Sebastian Wants to Remember, written and directed by Vasant Nath (India): Sebastian, a restless photographer suffering from amnesia, goes on a road trip in search of a woman from an old, seductive photograph he had once taken. He is accompanied by his wife Rose, and as they slowly uncover Sebastian’s past, she learns things about him that she perhaps would have never wanted to know.

The Story of Ram, written and directed by Ritesh Batra (USA): An ordinary tea vendor forms an extraordinary friendship over the radio waves with the Prime Minister of India. It is a friendship that transforms a nation.

Sweet Dreams, written and directed by Avani Batra (India): In the chaotic, bustling streets of Old Delhi, an unlikely union forms – Sultan, an old photographer, befriends Laila, a beautiful, young wayside trickster. In search of Laila’s past, the two embark on a voyage…but will coupling survive the expedition?

Untitled Desert War Film, co-written by Richie Mehta and Shaun Mehta, directed by Richie Mehta (Canada): Untitled Desert War Film is a fantasy-drama that follows four soldiers as they travel deep into enemy territory to capture and kill the barbarous enemy.

Untouchable Glory, written and directed by Mo Ramchandani (USA): Untouchable Glory tells the true story of Iqbal Masih who, at the age of four, was forced into bonded labor in a carpet factory. After escaping many years later, he became an international figurehead for the Bonded Liberation Front, a grassroots movement which would thrust the issue of legalized child labor into the international spotlight.