The 8th edition of Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) will open with Alankrita Srivastava's Lipstick Under My Burkha. Shrivastava's film will be a part of an initiative to celebrate women's empowerment, for the second year in a row. Other films to be showcased under this section are A Death In The Gunj and Doctor Rakhmabai.
The festival will be held from 10-22 August.
While the theme for this year is 'Diversity in Cinema', the makers have decided to continue celebrating their previous year's theme of women's empowerment as well.
The year gone by "was our year of women empowerment and we are continuing that celebration this year too with a key focus on the subject," Mitu Bhowmick Lange, director of the film festival, said in a statement.
"We have selected some of the best films that resonates with the idea of women empowerment, some with great subjects and some with great women (film) makers helming the projects. The festival is delight to present these different voices," Lange added.
Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will be felicitated at IFFM for her contribution to global cinema.