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The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), North America’s most prestigious festival featuring cinema from the global India community has announced the full line-up for the 23rd edition which runs May 11-14 in New York City. This year’s festival lineup features 35 films that showcase the depth and range of contemporary Indian cinema, including cutting-edge dramas, documentaries, and shorts. The opening and other films will screen at Village East by Angelika, 181 2nd Ave., New York, NY 10003. The closing night film screening, followed by the awards function will be held at SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011.
“NYIFF is a must-watch event for anyone interested in Indian cinema and its growing impact on global cinema. It offers a unique opportunity to explore and appreciate the diverse cinematic voices emerging from India today, “ said Dr. Nirmal Mattoo, Chairman of the Indo-American Arts Council, the organization that presents the film festival.
“As we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander(AAPI) Heritage Month in May, the New York Indian Film Festival provides an ideal opportunity for audiences to experience the best of Indian cinema and gain a deeper understanding of the rich cultural heritage of AAPI communities and appreciate the unique perspectives that they bring to the world of cinema,” said Suman Gollamudi, Executive Director.
In addition to the previously announced opening and closing films, this year’s NYIFF will also feature a special world premiere screening of a new Hindi language film Bandaa starring Manoj Bajpayee. Five filmmakers present their debut features, while the festival also includes works by Indian-British and Indian-Canadian directors. Several well-known Indian film personalities will be featured in a wide array of works, including:
Opening Film leads Shefali Shah (DelhiCrime/Netflix), Jaideep Ahlawat (Pataal Lok/Prime Video) and Swanand Kirkire
Closing Film leads Kalki Koechlin (Margarita with a Straw) and Deepti Naval
Sharmila Tagore (Legendary Actress who worked in Satyajit Ray’s film, including The World of Apu), Manoj Bajpayee (Gangs of Wasseypur, Family Man, Satya, Aligarh) and Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi) in a special screening of Gulmohar.
Adil Hussain (Life of Pi) and Namisha Sajayan in Footprints on Water.
Radhika Madan (Kuttey/Netflix) and Pooja Bhatt (Bombay Begums/Netflix) in Sanaa.
Arjun Radhakrishnan in Vaat.
Prasenjit Chatterjee in Shesh Pata.
Anupam Kher (The Big Sick, New Amsterdam and Hotel Mumbai), Danish Husain and Zarina Wahab in a narrative short Retake.
Rajit Kapoor in the narrative short Birha.
“We aim to truly underscore the NYIFF commitment to diversity and cultural representation in film,” said Aseem Chhabra, NYIFF Festival Director. “This year, we will feature films in ten languages spoken in India: Bengali, English, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Nagpuri, Punjabi, Tamil. All films will have English subtitles.”
“NYIFF’s mission is to provide filmmakers, actors and industry professionals a platform to showcase their work, as well as foster an environment where filmmakers exchange ideas and interact with discerning and diverse audiences, journalists and aficionados,” Chhabra added.
‘The festival promises to offer a fresh perspective on Indian cinema, with many of the films tackling complex social issues with nuance and sensitivity. This year’s festival will also highlight the work of several emerging and established female filmmakers, who are pushing the boundaries of Indian cinema and redefining the role of women in the industry. I strongly encourage audiences to attend the New York Indian Film Festival, and explore the exciting and innovative cinema that is coming out of India today,” said Rakesh Kaul, IAAC Vice Chairman.
Feature Narrative Films
Bandaa (Hindi), dir. Apoorv Singh Karki, 138 mins., 2023
Follower (Hindi, Kannada, Marathi), dir. Harshad Nalawade, 99 mins., 2022
Footprints on Water (English, Malayalam, Tamil, Polish), dir. Nathalia Syam, 110 mins., 2022
Goldfish (English), Pushsan Kriplani, 101 mins., 2022
Gulmohar (Special screening) (Hindi), dir. Rahul Chittella, 132 mins., 2022
Mushroom (Bengali) dir. Samik Roy Choudhury, 64 mins., 2022
Opium (Hindi), dir. Aman Sachdeva, 75 mins., 2022
Pokhar ke Dunu Paar (Hindi), dir. Parth Saurabh, 104 mins., 2022
Sanaa (Hindi), dir. Sudhanshu Saria, 117 mins., 2022
Saudi Vellakka (Malayalam), dir. Tharun Moorthy, 134 mins., 2022
Hadinelentu (Seventeeners), dir. Prithvi Konanur, 122 mins., 2022
Shesh Pata (Bengali), dir. Atanu Ghosh, 120 mins., 2022
Siya (Hindi), dir. Manish Mundra,108 mins., 2022
Three of Us (Hindi), dir. Avinash Arun Dhaware, 98 mins., 2021
Vaat (Marathi), dr. Miransha Naik, 75 mins., 2022
Feature Documentaries
Call Me Dancer (Special screening) (Hindi, English), dir. Leslie Shampaine, 84 mins., 2022
Colonel Kalsi (English), dir. Geeta Gandbhir, Anand Kamalkar, 40 mins., 2022
To Kill a Tiger (Hindi, Nagpuri), dir. Nisha Pahuja, 125 mins., 2022
Urf (AKA) (Hindi), dir. Geetika Narag Abassi, 120 mins., 2022
Short Narratives
Shorts A (narrative) Program:
Retake, dir. Shweta Basu Prasad (Hindi), 28 mins., 2023
Running, dir. Arpita Mukherjee (English), 40 mins., 2022
One Small Visit, dir. Jo Chim (English), 30 mins., 2022
Outside Chance, dir. Michael Das (English), 11 mins., 2022
The Name, dir. Aaron Strand (English), 7 mins, 2022
Other narrative shorts, showing with features:
Birha – The Journey Back Home (showing with Vaat) (Punjabi), dir. Puneet Prakash Pandey, 25 mins., 2021
Chithi (showing with Mushroom) (Bengali), dir. Pubali Chaudhuri, 22 min., 2023
Little Wings (showing with Mushroom) (Tamil) dir. Nveen Mu, 21 mins., 2022
My Father’s Doctor (showing with Mushroom) (Kashmiri), dir. Danish Renzu, 18 mins., 2023
Preet (showing with Opium) (Hindi), dir. Jayesh Jaidka, 22 mins, 2022
Wagro (showing with Vaat) (Marathi), dir. Sainath Somnath Uskaikar, 10 mins., 2022
Shorts B (documentaries) Program:
Basti, dir. Parinaz Jal (English, Hindi, Kannada), 36 mins., 2021
Gopi, dir. Nishanth Gurumurthy (Kannada), 14 mins., 2022
Letters to My Grandma, dir. Divya Hemant Kharnare (Marathi), 26 mins., 2023
Raat: Night Time in Small Town India, dir. Third Eye Offline (English), 34 mins., 2022
Other short documentaries, showing with features:
Bring it to the People (showing with Colonel Kalsi) (English), dir. Luis Palomino, 35 mins., 2022
Kurosawa’s Grave (showing with Urf) (English) dir. Ben Lopez, 14 mins., 2021
About The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF):
NYIFF is the oldest, most prestigious film festival screening premieres of feature, documentary and short films made from, of, and about the Indian subcontinent in the independent, arthouse, alternate and diaspora genres. Four days of screenings, post-screening discussions, industry panels, award ceremonies, special events, after parties, red carpet galas, media attention and packed audiences build an awareness of Indian cinema, entertain and educate North Americans about the real India, and add to the amazing cultural diversity of New York City. For more information, please visit www.nyiff.us
