Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles announces first ever India pass

The 19th edition of the annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) has unveiled a line-up of 24 festival films that will be accessible to audiences in India for the first time.

The festival will be held online from 20–27 May 2021. The line-up has six features, including the multiple-award-winning Malayalam film Biriyaani and Aise Hee (Just Like That), the documentary A Rifle And A Bag, and 18 short films.

Some of the short films include the National award-winning Custody (2021); Angh, a period drama set in Nagaland which won a prize at Clermont-Ferrand 2021; Catdog (2019), which won the Grand Prix at Cannes’ Cinefondation; the Gujarati film Anita; Wade (2020), a dystopian animated film which was the winner at the Annecy Film Festival; the Rotterdam-selected Letter From Your Far-Off Country (2021); and For Each Other, the latest film by Assamese filmmaker Rima Das.

In addition to the films and their corresponding Q&As with the filmmakers, the India Pass will give audiences in India access to two panel discussions. The first is a conversation among industry executives navigating the world of film and television development in the US and in India. The second is a discussion among trans, non-binary and gender-nonconforming creators about the authentic representation of transgender and gender nonconforming stories on screen.

The India pass will be available for Rs150 ($2) and can be purchased from the festival's website.