19th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles expands its virtual 2021 line-up

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) has announced its full line-up of fiction features, documentaries and short films for the 19th edition of the festival, which will be held virtually and geo-blocked to California, from 20–27 May.

This year, the festival will screen a total of 40 films in 17 languages, which includes three world, eight North American, 5 US and 17 Los Angeles premieres. The line-up includes 16 films by women directors.

Ajitpal Singh’s debut feature Fire In The Mountains has been chosen as the opening film. It was screened at Sundance earlier this year. Academy award-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia will join Ajitpal Singh in a conversation and Q&A session.

The closing film is the Marathi feature Sthalpuran (Chronicle Of Space) by Akshay Indikar. The film was premiered at Berlinale 2020. Anurag Kashyap will join Indikar in a Q&A session.

Other features in the line-up include PS Vinothraj’s Pebbles, Thamizh’s Seththumaan (Pig), Bhaskar Hazarika’s romance-thriller Aamis (Ravening), the Bengali ensemble film Debris Of Desire, Pushpendra Singh’s Laila Aur Satt Geet (The Shepherdess And The Seven Songs), Sajin Baabu’s Malayalam film Biriyaani, Ashish Pant’s thriller Uljhan (The Knot) and Farida Pacha’s documentary Watch Over Me.

IFFLA will also present a special programme curated by Uma da Cunha, who has been the festival’s programming adviser since its inception in 2002. Titled ‘Childhood on Edge’, the section will present three features — Bridge, The Tenant, and Vanaja — along with three shorts Rettai Jadai, Kanya, and Rammat Gammat, films that feature characters on the verge of the momentous transformation from childhood to adulthood.

Christina Marouda, executive director of the festival, said, “This is a very special year for IFFLA. Taking the festival online has given us the freedom to curate programmes we would not have been able to present in a physical setting. We have expanded our reach to all California residents, doubled the shorts programme with a strong representation of films from the diaspora, added special programmes like 'Childhood on Edge', and curated discussions on timely and pressing topics, celebrating the independent film community from India and the Indian diaspora.”

Festival passes are available at www.indianfilmfestival.org.