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The Australian Centre for Indian Cinema has announced an initiative to create the biggest celebration of Indian cinema in Australasia with Australia's first and only National Indian Film Festival of Australia (NIFFA). The festival will be held across seven cities in Australia from February 13-16 2025, with Australia cinema chain Dendy Cinemas, major Indian news media company NDTV and cinema advertising company Val Morgan, coming on board as stakeholders.
The festival is the brainchild of filmmaker and Australia's leading expert on Indian cinema, Anupam Sharma, who will head the festival with industry veteran Peter Castaldi serving as festival director.
"Australia was craving for a professional national celebration of Indian cinema, and it is an absolute honour to receive the support of mainstream Australia with Dendy as our major partner and NDTV as media partner. This will be one of the rare film festivals which will be produced by filmmakers," Mr Sharma said.
"One of the most important and exciting aspects of the festival will be the programming coverage on NDTV about Australia-India cultural and artistic ties, which will reach a potential audience of over 350 million across NDTV platforms. Money cannot buy such exposure for Australian cultural links with India," he added.
Sanjay Pugalia, NDTV's Director and Editor-in-Chief, said, "As NDTV expands globally and the Indian diaspora flourishes across Australasia, partnering with this premier celebration of Indian cinema felt like a perfect fit. We at NDTV are happy to amplify the festival's spirit worldwide, bringing it to Indian communities across the globe and celebrating the ever-growing impact of Indian filmmaking on the international stage."
Sharon Strickland, the CEO of Dendy Cinema, said, "Dendy Cinema is honoured to partner with the National Indian Film Festival of Australia, bringing the best of Indian cinema to audiences across Australia. With a resurgence of Indian films making a strong impact at the global box office, this collaboration highlights our commitment to showcasing diverse and culturally significant stories. We are excited to support this festival, celebrating the vibrant creativity and growing influence of Indian filmmaking on the world stage."
Festival Director, Peter Castaldi, said, "I am delighted to have been invited to take such an important role in this vital Indo-Australian cultural and business initiative. On the back of the co-production treaty, sparking a resurgence of film links and high box office revenue in Australasia for pan-Indian films, it makes sense to offer a national audience the opportunity to enjoy a professionally curated taster of the vitality of the amazingly rich and diverse Indian production sector. I look forward to working with the NIFFA to deliver exciting, informative and entertaining experiences for all Australians."
The NIFFA will see a weekend of celebrations and screenings around Australia in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Darwin and Hobart.
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