Highlights
- IFFM moves online due to COVID-19
- Movies to be screened online, free
- Not just in Melbourne, people anywhere in Australia can watch it
There won’t be an opportunity to meet the film stars, see them on the red carpet or an awards night but Indian Film Festival of Melbourne promises to bring the best of Indian cinema to Australia this year.
The festival will kick off on October 23 and go on till October 30 where over 60 films in 17 languages will be screened via IFFM's website.
“This year we are screening over 60 films in 17 languages, including 34 International Premieres and 56 Australian Premieres. This year HABADDI and Vidya Balan’s NATKHAT will open the festival,” IFFM Festival Director, Mitu Bhowmick Lange told SBS Hindi.
How to watch the films online explains Mitu Bhowmick-Lange:
Natkhat [meaning brat] is a 25-minute film produced by Bollywood star Vidya Balan. In the movie, Balan plays the role of an abused mother teaching her son about gender equality and empathy through a simple bedtime story.
The other opening movie is the Marathi-film HABADDI which focuses on a popular contact sport in Southern Asia, Kabaddi that first originated in ancient India.
The movie explores the journey of a 10-year-old boy with a speech impediment who plays the sport and showcases his struggle with winning the heart of a girl he adores during a trip to Mumbai while travelling with the Kabbadi team.
“Opening the festival are two outstanding films addressing disability and gender equality,” Ms Bhowmick-Lange says.
All films will be available for viewing free of charge on our website across Australia from October 23 to 30.
The 2020 Festival features five dynamic program streams of new and classic films from India and the subcontinent.
- ‘Hurrah Bollywood’, the best mainstream Hindi cinema from the last twelve months
- ‘Beyond Bollywood’, art-house and cinema in regional Indian languages
- ‘Films from the Subcontinent’, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal
- ‘Film India World’, focussing on Indian films that cross international borders
- A documentary section including several critically acclaimed documentaries
Stand out highlights include the micro-budgeted, guerilla-filmed noir, Lorni the Flaneur; the illegal, “a timely film about immigrants in the U.S”; Run Kalyani, a poetic and realist drama about duties, dreams and desires which opened the 2019 New York Indian Film Festival; The Miseducation of Bindu, a beautifully rendered dive into the peculiar and chaotic world of teenagers, and Moti Bagh, a documentary based on the struggle of a farmer in a remote Himalayan village, which is India’s official entry in this year’s Oscars.
A special tribute to Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput
“IFFM is delighted to present special tribute programs honouring the work of 3 of India’s finest actors Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput, all of whom sadly passed away this year.” Ms Bhowmick-Lange said.
The film festival will showcase films of the three stars who passed away this year.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
2020 IFFM Short Film Festival
‘Together’ is the theme of the 2020 IFFM Short Film Festival Competition which this year received over 3000 entries.
"A selection of the best films submitted will be available for viewing during the Festival and the winner will be announced on the final day of the Festival.
“The winning film is being judged by Varun Sharma, our 2011 Short Film Competition winner.
"This year, Varun is making his directorial debut with the feature film Bunty Aur Bubli 2, starring Rani Mukherji and Saif Khan. We are hugely proud,” said Ms Bhowmick-Lange.
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