Konkona Sensharma to present A Death In The Gunj at DIFF, lineup announced

The sixth edition of the Dharamshala International Film Festival, slated for 2-5 November, will feature award-winning documentaries and premiere Indian and South Asian films.

The first lineup for the festival was announced on Tuesday, 19 September, in a statement. The two award-winning documentaries to be showcased are Kirsten Johnson's Cameraperson and Rahul Jain's Machines.

There will be a special screening of A Death In The Gunj (2017), presented in person by director Konkona Sensharma.

That apart, there will be the India premiere of American film Out Of This World, a newly restored version of journalist and writer Lowell Thomas's account of his travels to Tibet in 1949. This film was originally released in 1954.

Deepak Rauniyar's Oscar entry from Nepal, White Sun (2016), will also be screened while South Asian premieres of three experimental films — Amar Kanwar's Such A Morning (India), Naeem Mohaiemen's Tripoli Cancelled (Bangladesh), and Singapore filmmaker Tan Pin Pin's In Time To Come — are lined up.

To be held in the mountain town of McLeodganj in Himachal Pradesh, the gala will also have films from Malaysia, Japan, Switzerland and Bhutan, among other countries.

Presented by White Crane Arts and Media, a trust founded by filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam to promote contemporary cinema, art and independent media practices in the Himalayan regions of India, this year's event is supported by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary and the Himachal Pradesh government through its departments of tourism and language, arts, and culture.

Sarin said in a statement: "Over the past six years, DIFF has carved out a niche in the landscape of Indian film festivals. It is loved by filmmakers and film buffs alike and we want to ensure that DIFF 2017 continues to build on the qualities for which the festival has come to be known — its intimacy, warmth, unpretentiousness and single-minded focus on highlighting good indie cinema, all within beautiful mountain surroundings."