IFFLA WILL OPEN WITH DEAR JASSI DIRECTED BY TARSEM SINGH
AND CLOSE WITH MAHARAJA DIRECTED BY NITHILAN SAMINATHAN STARRING VIJAY SETHUPATHI
Special Presentation of KILL produced by Karan Johar and Guneet Monga
U.S. premiere of docu-series DEFIANCE: FIGHTING THE FAR RIGHT produced by Riz Ahmed
Los Angeles, CA – The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) has announced its lineup for the 22nd annual festival, set to take place from June 27-30, 2024, at the Landmark Theatre Sunset in Hollywood. The festival, known for its diverse representation of South Asian cinema, will feature twenty films including seven narrative features, twelve shorts, and one docu-series, drawing from a broad range of stories and perspectives from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, and the United States. Passes for the event are now available, with tickets to galas and individual programs going on sale Monday, May 20.
A Dynamic Lineup of Films and Events
The festival will open with the Los Angeles premiere of “Dear Jassi,” a poignant forbidden romance directed by visionary filmmaker Tarsem Singh. This touching film tells the story of a Canadian-born Indian girl, Jassi, and her love for Mithu, a rickshaw driver from a lower social class in India. As they navigate the harsh realities of societal expectations, their journey becomes a testament to love’s resilience.
Closing the festival is the highly anticipated Tamil film “Maharaja,” an action-packed thriller directed by Nithilan Saminathan and starring celebrated actor Vijay Sethupathi, in his 50th role. The film explores themes of revenge and justice, with a stellar cast that includes maverick filmmaker Anurag Kashyap in a pivotal role. The closing night gala will take place at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills, with the director, producers, and cast in attendance.
IFFLA’s lineup also features several standout films that reflect the rich tapestry of South Asian culture. Among them is “Kill,” a stylized martial arts thriller directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat and produced by Karan Johar and Guneet Monga, which premiered at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival and is set for release in the United States on July 4. Another anticipated film is the Sundance winner “Girls Will Be Girls,” a coming-of-age story written and directed by Shuchi Talati.
IFFLA Industry Day: A Platform for South Asian Creatives
One of the most exciting additions to this year’s festival is IFFLA Industry Day, a day-long forum for South Asian film and TV executives and creatives. Scheduled for June 28, this first-of-its-kind event provides a unique platform for networking and learning, with opportunities for attendees to engage with industry professionals and hear expert advice. The pinnacle event of Industry Day is Launch Pad: A Pitch Competition, where the winner will receive a $10,000 development grant. The full Industry Day lineup will be announced in early June.
Celebrating Short Films and New Voices
This year’s shorts competition showcases a diverse range of female-centric stories with a total of ten films directed by women. Highlights include “Hema,” a world premiere directed by Ritvik Dhavale, which explores an Indian woman’s journey to find a new purpose in life after moving to Los Angeles, and “Bobby Beauty Parlour,” a comedic coming-of-age story directed by Shashwat Dwivedi and produced by Anurag Kashyap.
IFFLA is also hosting a special screening of two episodes from the documentary series “Defiance: Fighting the Far Right,” which shines a light on a powerful protest movement led by young British Asians in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The series is produced by Academy Award-winning actor and producer Riz Ahmed, with episodes directed by Primetime Emmy Award-winner Satiyesh Manoharajah and Rajesh Thind.
Experience the Vibrant Energy of South Asian Cinema
With its diverse lineup of films, premieres, and special events, the 2024 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles promises to be an unforgettable celebration of South Asian cinema and culture. Whether you’re a longtime film enthusiast or new to the world of Indian cinema, IFFLA offers something for everyone. Be sure to visit the festival’s website for more information and follow on social media to stay updated on the latest news and announcements.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.indianfilmfestival.org. Follow IFFLA on Facebook (/indianfilmfestival), Instagram (@indianfilmfestival), and X (formerly Twitter) (@iffla).
2024 IFFLA’S OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
GALA PRESENTATIONS
DEAR JASSI – LA Premiere
India | 2023 | 130 mins | Punjabi, English
Director: Tarsem Singh Dhandwar
Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Vipul D Shah, Ashwin Varde, Rajesh Bahl, Sanjay Grover, Tarsem Singh Dhandwar
Screenwriter: Amit Rai
Cinematographer: Brendan Galvin
Editor: Tarsem Singh Dhandwar
Cast: Pavia Sidhu, Yugam Sood
Visionary director Tarsem Singh presents a modern-day Romeo and Juliet inspired by true events and told in a Punjabi folk style.
MAHARAJA – LA Premiere
India | 2023 | 141 mins | Tamil
Director: Nithilan Saminathan
Producers: Sudhan Sundaram, Jagadish Palanisamy
Screenwriter: Nithilan Saminathan
Cinematographer: Dinesh Purushothaman
Editor: Philomin Raj
Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Anurag Kashyap, Mamta Mohandas, Sachana
A barber’s search for the trash can that saved his daughter’s life leads to startling revelations.
NARRATIVE FEATURES
BEN AND SUZANNE, A REUNION IN 4 PARTS – LA Premiere
USA, Sri Lanka| 2024 | 110 mins | English, Sinhala, Tamil
Director: Shaun Seneviratne
Producer: Doron JePaul Mitchell
Screenwriter: Shaun Seneviratne
Cinematographer: Molly Scotti
Editor: Joe Violette
Cast: Sathya Sridharan, Anastasia Olowin
The romantic reunion of Ben Santhanaraj and Suzanne Hopper is thwarted when Suzanne’s boss asks her to work during their holiday road trip.
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS – LA Premiere
India, France, USA, Norway| 2024 | 118 mins | English, Hindi
Director: Shuchi Talati
Producers: Claire Chassagne, Richa Chadha, Shuchi Talati
Screenwriter: Shuchi Talati
Cinematographer: Jih-E Peng
Editor: Amrita David
Cast: Preeti Panigrahi, Kani Kusruti, Kesav Binoy Kiron
A teenager’s sexy and rebellious exploration of adulthood is disrupted by her young mother, who never got to come of age herself.
A HOUSE NAMED SHAHANA – LA Premiere
Bangladesh, UK | 2023 | 117 mins | Bengali
Director: Leesa Gazi
Producers: Leesa Gazi, Arifur Rahman, Bijon Imtiaz, Abbas Nokhasteh, Faisal Gaz
Screenwriters: Leesa Gazi and Aanon Siddiqua
Cinematographer: Xoaher Musavvir
Editor: Alex Unai Arrieta
Cast: Aanon Siddiqua, Lutfur Rahman George, Iresh Zaker, Kazi Ruma, Kamrunnahar Munni, Mugdhota Morshed Wriddhi, Amirul Haque Chowdhury, Naila Azad, Arif Islam
A fierce, funny, and forthright divorcee in rural ‘90s Bangladesh defies social stigma and the burden of family honor to live on her own terms.
KILL
India | 2023 | 115 mins | Hindi, English
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Producers: Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Guneet Monga, Achin Jain
Screenwriter: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, Ayesha Syed
Cinematographer: Rafey Mehmood
Editor: Shivkumar V. Panikar
Cast: Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Tanya Maniktala, Abhishek Chauhan
A train becomes the battleground for a fight to the finish between two army commandos and a group of brutal armed dacoits.
UNDERCURRENT – International Premiere
India | 2023 | 121 mins | Malayalam
Director: Christo Tomy
Producers: Ronnie Screwvala, Honey Trehan, Abhishek Chaubey
Screenwriter: Christo Tomy
Cinematographer: Shehnad Jalal
Editor: Kiran Das
Cast: Parvathy Thiruvothu, Urvashi, Arjun Radhakrishnan, Alencier Ley Lopez
During a monsoon deluge in Kerala, a grieving mother and pregnant widow rise above their differences to forge a rare bond as they wait to perform a man’s last rites.
TV SERIES
DEFIANCE: FIGHTING THE FAR RIGHT – US Premiere
UK | 2024 | Episodes 1 & 3 (47 mins each) – 94 mins total | English
Directors: Satiyesh Manoharajah (Series Director), Rajesh Thind (Producer/Director of Episode 3)
Producer: Anoop Pandhal (Series Producer)
Cinematographer: Will Edwards
Editors: Brett Irwin (Series Editor), Sean Mackenzie, Asim Ali
Between 1976 and 1981, Britain’s Asian community stood tall against far-right violence and a rising tide of racist murders. Defiance: Fighting the Far Right lifts the lid on the events that led to the Southall protests, the killing of Blair Peach, the Battle for Brick Lane, and how ‘self-defense is no offense’ became a rallying call in Bradford.
SHORT FILMS
ADE (ON A SUNDAY) – US Premiere
India | 2024 | 17 mins | Tenyidie
Category: Narrative
Director: Theja Rio
Producers: Theja Rio, Dan Pusa, Nancy Nisa Beso
Screenwriter: Theja Rio
Cinematographer: Natdanai Naksuwarn
Editor: Yiwei Pu
Cast: Visalie Kuotsu, Kedo Kuotsu, Neithongunuo Sorhie, Razouselhou Rio
A carefree afternoon at the lake turns into a rude awakening for two curious young boys in Nagaland who skip Sunday school.
BOBBY BEAUTY PARLOUR – World Premiere
India | 2024 | 18 mins | Hindi, Punjabi
Category: Narrative
Director: Shashwat Dwivedi
Producers: Anurag Kashyap, Ranjan SIngh, Janhavi Asthana, Shashwat Dwivedi
Screenwriters: Shashwat Dwivedi, Janhavi Asthana
Cinematographer: Janhavi Asthana
Editor: Tanya Chhabria
Cast: Parul Rana, Adrija Sinha, Saksham Raj, Preeti Kochar
Two childhood friends navigate their changing relationship, as one is about to leave their small town for college, while the other is stuck working at a beauty salon.
CHAKRAS FOR SALE
USA | 2024 | 20 mins | English
Category: Narrative
Director: Punya Chatterjee
Producer: Toni Adeyemi
Screenwriter: Punya Chatterjee
Cinematographer: Xander Veguilla
Editor: Punya Chatterjee
Rishi Mahesh, Karan Menon, Maya Rangulu, Dani Lyle, Karthik Kal, Shamik Ganguly, Sam Roach, Weston Berger
Just as they are about to give up on their failing rock band, four Indian-American friends in 1960s San Francisco devise a rebrand that may finally catapult them to the fame they deserve.
HEMA – World Premiere
USA | 2024 | 16 mins | English, Marathi, Hindi
Category: Narrative
Director: Ritvik Dhavale
Producers: Aishwarya Sonar, Shaurya Nanavati, and Ritvik Dhavale
Screenwriter: Ritvik Dhavale
Cinematographer: Marcus Patterson
Editors: Raghav Puri, Aashish D’mello
Cast: Rajshri Deshpande, Samrat Chakrabarti, Kapil Talwalkar, and Neil Iyer
A chance encounter with ties to the homeland threatens the already fragile existence of Hema, a recent Indian immigrant in Los Angeles who struggles to make roots in America.
KASBI – LA Premiere
USA | 2023 | 12 mins | English, Urdu
Category: Narrative
Director: Farah Jabir
Producers: Arielle Friedman, Amelia Lim
Screenwriter: Farah Jabir
Cinematographer: Luc Ung
Editors: Kima Hibbert
Cast: Anna Khaja, Zina Louhaichy
A middle-aged woman may finally be able to liberate her latent sexual desires in a New Jersey motel room.
LAST DAYS OF SUMMER – LA Premiere
India, France| 2023 | 15 mins | Boti (Ladakhi)
Category: Narrative
Director: Stenzin Tankong
Producers: Flore Cavigneaux, Jérôme Blesson, Stenzin Tankong, Urgain Phuntsog
Screenwriter: Stenzin Tankong
Cinematographer: Jigmet Wangchuk
Editor: Stenzin Tankyong
Cast: Tsewang Chodak, Stanzin Thupstan, Padma Angmo
A mysterious recurring sound reverberates across the Himalayan mountains, but other than two discerning shepherds, no one else seems to be able to hear it.
LORI
Nepal, Hong Kong | 2022 | 15 mins | Nepali, Maithili
Category: Narrative
Director: Abinash Bikram Shah
Producers: Anup Poudel, Vinod Sekhar, Benjamin Grubbs, Darren Shaw
Screenwriter: Abinash Bikram Shah
Cinematographer: Ujjal Bastakoti
Editor: Suraj Paudel
Cast: Ankita Yadav, Sujita Sah, Priti Jha
In rural Nepal, a mother’s lullabies do little to soothe a preteen girl facing the grim patriarchal rule of her community.
LOVELY & TIP TOP – North American Premiere
India| 2024 | 30 mins | Hindi
Category: Narrative
Director: Yuki Ellias
Producer: Yuki Ellias
Screenwriter: Yuki Ellias
Cinematographer: Viraj Sinh Gohil
Editor: Nandini Dhar
Cast: Yuki Ellias, Shubham Chaudhary, Chakori Dwivedi, Saurabh Nayyar, Satchit Puranik
As a sinister new law is cheerfully put into effect by the Ministry of Belonging, Lovely, an enterprising woman in a sleepy mountainous village will stop at nothing to save her quirky lingerie shop.
OUT BEYOND – LA Premiere
Pakistan, USA | 2023 |6 mins | Urdu
Category: Narrative
Director: Salman Alam Khan
Producers: Sana Jafri, Salman Alam Khan
Screenwriters: Tahir Rashid, Salman Alam Khan
Cinematographer: Jaffer Raza
Editors: Salman Alam Khan, Nadeem Abbas
Cast: Hassan Raza
Stifled teenage expression finds an unlikely and explosive launchpad within the confines of a small bathroom.
STITCHED
USA | 2023 | 16 mins | English, Tamil, Hindi
Category: Narrative
Director: Lorena Lourenco
Producer: Naomi Sedgwick
Screenwriter: Pratima Mani
Cinematographer: Eurica Yu
Editor: Maria Freire
Cast: Pratima Mani, Vick Krishna, McKenna Cox, Fareeda Pasha, Suni M, Arindham Ghosh, Shravan Amin, Thomas Powers, Andy Khan May, David Carl, Dylan Lesch, Joel Ronson, Iliana Inocencio, David Walker
Tired of endless dating debacles and desperate for companionship, a young woman with a knack for the macabre has no other recourse but to stitch together the perfect boyfriend herself.
THIS IS TMI – LA Premiere
India| 2023 | 6 mins | English, Hindi, Nepali, Bengali
Category: Documentary, Animation
Directors: Subarna Dash, Vidushi Gupta
Producers: Subarna Dash, Vidushi Gupta
Screenwriter: n/a
Cinematographer: Pragadeesh Marimuthu
Editors: Subarna Dash, Vidushi Gupta
Cast: Sneha Das, Priyadarshini Subba
An animated and unfiltered chat amongst a group of women about all breasts, great and small.
WIRE & CLOTH – LA Premiere
USA | 2023 | 15 mins |English, Tamil
Category: Narrative, Documentary, Experimental
Director: Swetha Regunathan
Producers: Khaula Malik, Raj Trivedi
Screenwriter: Swetha Regunathan
Cinematographer: Lorena Durán
Editor: Swetha Regunathan
Cast: Devika Bhise, Samsara Leela Yett, Rebecca Hazlewood, Samrat Chakrabarti, Ajay Naidu
When opportunity comes knocking at her door, Hema, a fickle Indian immigrant mother in ’90s New York City, sets out to transform overnight into a glamorous career woman. But her preteen daughter has other plans for her.
ABOUT INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF LOS ANGELES (IFFLA)
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) brings to Los Angeles audiences the most innovative independent films coming out of South Asia and its diasporas, in a vibrant program comprising features and shorts, including narrative, documentary, and animated works.
In addition to film screenings, the festival offers stimulating discussions between filmmakers and audiences, as well as panel conversations and industry sessions. IFFLA also hosts original special programs, such as retrospectives, spotlights, and masterclasses, along with lively networking and social events, all aimed at fostering a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian and larger South Asian diaspora.
IFFLA was founded in 2002 as a non-profit organization with the aim to offer the Los Angeles community a unique opportunity to learn about India’s multifaceted culture and long history of filmmaking. Since then, IFFLA has grown into the premiere U.S. venue for discovering the best of South Asian cinema, as well as a vital hub that fosters an important dialogue among the most original independent storytellers from India and its diaspora, the greater South Asian diasporic community, and the international film industry at large.
#IFFLA #IndianFilmFestival #SouthAsianCinema #FilmFestival #LosAngeles #Hollywood #DearJassi #Maharaja #KillMovie #GirlsWillBeGirls #IndustryDay #ShortFilms #NewVoices #DefianceSeries #RizAhmed #AnuragKashyap #VijaySethupathi #TarsemSingh #NikhilNageshBhat #ShuchiTalati #RitvikDhavale #ShashwatDwivedi #SatiyeshManoharajah #RajeshThind
