IFFM- 2013 photo.
By News Desk
Melbourne: The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is becoming a competitive festival with international competition in 2014. The festival is the southern hemisphere’s greatest annual celebration of Indian cinema and takes place from Thursday 1 to Friday 11 May.
The inaugural Indian Film Festival Awards (IFFM Awards) will honour films in five categories: Best Film, Best Performance, Best Director, Best Independent Film and the People’s Choice Award. This will be the first Indian cinema awards of its kind in Australia.
A select number of narrative feature films will be invited into competition. The films will be judged by an International Jury of prominent Indian and Australian film industry figures from a wide range of backgrounds. The stellar list includes award-winning Australian director Phillip Noyce (Rabbit Proof Fence, Dead Calm, The Quiet American); world renowned Australian film editor Jill Bilcock (Strictly Ballroom, Elizabeth, Moulin Rouge, Red Dog and Shekhar Kapur’s upcoming Paani) and 2013 Gold Jury member for the Mumbai Film Festival; celebrated Indian film maker , Raju Hirani ( Munnabhai MBBS , Lage rahoo Munna Bhai and 3 Idiots ) Indian actress, producer and television presenter Simi Garewal; Rajeev Masand, one of India’s most respected film critics (The Indian Express, Star News, CNN-IBN, GQ India), and Indian actress, director, writer and producer, Suhasini Maniratnam. Winners of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards announced at the Festival.
Festival Director Mitu Bhowmick-Lange says, “We are thrilled to announce the inaugural Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards. The Awards will build the festival’s reputation as an important international showcase for contemporary Indian cinema.”
India’s most revered actress, Vidya Balan returns in 2014 as Festival Ambassador. This caps off a stellar year for the actress. Vidya was a 2013 Cannes Jury Member and in January was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award given by the Indian government. Vidya Balan will be in Melbourne to launch the festival program on March 28, says a media release.
IFFM continues to offer a window into the future of filmmaking. The Western Union Short Film Competition is now open to filmmakers from India and Australia. Go to www.iffm.com.au/comp.html for full application details.
The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne was established in 2012 as an initiative of the Victorian Coalition Government and presents a broad, curated program of more than thirty films, ranging from Bollywood to art house and the sub continent, as well as master classes. In 2014, the festival presents a world-class program of films across three Melbourne cinemas. The full IFFM program launches on March 28.
For more information go to www.iffm.com.au
Facebook :www.facebook.com/pages/Indian-Film-Festival and Twitter : twitter.com/#!/IndianFFMelb
– SAT News Service
