Indus creed

The 7th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles to ride high on the phenomenon called India

The Indian phenomenon is catching up,and now that Slumdog Millionaire’s hit the jackpot at Oscars,the international circuit at the 7th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) for the year 2009 edition is all set to fire up with all things desi. The six-day festival,which will be on April 21 at ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas,LA,will be the first to showcase Anand Surapur’s The Fakir Of Venice. While the festival finale will see Megan Doneman’s Yes Madam,Sir,a documentary profiling Dr. Kiran Bedi,the first woman to join the Indian Police Service and a controversial and inspiring figure in India,IIFLA will include five world premieres,five features which will make a US premiere and five in an LA premiere. Curated by a highly qualified team including India-based senior programmer Uma Da Cunha,IFFLA will in all showcase 20 features (15 narratives and five documentaries) and 16 shorts for a total of 36 films representing five countries. And the highlight,is of course,the best from the Indian cinema,especially films from high-profile women directors including Nandita Das’s directorial debut,Firaaq,Deepa Mehta’s Heaven On Earth,Sooni Taraporevala’s Little Zizou (executive produced by Mira Nair),and Nina Paley’s animated Sita Sings The Blues. Piyush Jha’s ‘Sikandar’,a poignant story from strife-torn Kashmir will also be screened. A co-production between Big Pictures and Sudhir Mishra’s production house CineRaas Ltd,the film is a suspense thriller about an adolescent whose life changes drastically when he comes across a gun.

The festival will also salute Bollywood legend Anil Kapoor and screen some of Kapoor’s classic films including the evergreen Lamhe (1991) and Virasat (1997) as well as the world premiere of the English version of Gandhi,My Father (2007). “With the incredible success of Slumdog Millionaire,the timing could not be better. I feel as though I have come full circle,” shares Kapoor. Adds IFFLA Festival Director Christina Marouda,”IFFLA is solidifying itself as a key touchstone in the US for the Indian entertainment industry at a time when the Indian film industry and the film business community in Hollywood are truly coming together.”

As part of IFFLA’s ongoing commitment to support and showcase restored prints of Indian classics,the festival will pay homage to BR Chopra by screening his Naya Daur. Another interesting part of IFFLA is the launch of Kahani Movement by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Suneel Gupta. The brothers are co-founders of the film project to capture and share stories from Indians that immigrated to the United States. Kahani accomplishes this by motivating second-generation Indian Americans to pick up a camera,interview their parents,and then post that footage to a central website. Do log on.

Jaskiran Kapoor