Ifrah
EXCLUSIVE: The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is pleased to announce that Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Sundance Institute, Roadside Attractions and Film Independent are partners for its inaugural Industry Day.
The festival’s Industry Day, which takes place on June 28th, will also feature partners including Macro, The Salon, ColorCreative and CAPE.
The Industry Day aims to bring together filmmakers from South Asia and the region with the event’s partner film executives. The lineup of events will include a pitch competition, panels, roundtable discussions and a keynote address by Moira Shourie, executive director of the non-profit organisation Zócalo Public Square.
The pitch competition, Launchpad, will feature creative teams with projects in development pitching to a panel of executives and a live audience, with one project expected to win a $10,000 development grant from Joy of Sharing and the Tarsadia Foundation.
“Launchpad: The Pitch Competition attracted over 200 South Asian writers from across the U.S. and we were blown away by the quality of the submissions,” said Nupur Sinha, Festival Producer, IFFLA. “The South Asian artist community is incredibly talented and eager to bring new stories to the big screen. We’re thrilled to provide a platform for these inspiring voices and projects in Los Angeles and facilitate meaningful connections with the industry.”
The India Center Foundation, which recently merged with IFFLA, funded the launch of the festival’s Industry Day. Warner Bros. Discovery is a major sponsor and will host key events at the forum. Other sponsors include SAGindie, Disney, Joy of Sharing and Tarsadia Foundation.
The day will conclude with a special screening of Lucy Walker’s latest film, Mountain Queen: The Summit of Lhakpa Sherpa, ahead of its release on Netflix. Walker and Lhakpa Sherpa Sunny Dijmarescu, who stars in the film, will be in attendance.
Now in its 22nd year, IFFLA said it aims to be a key home for South Asian cinema at the heart of the entertainment industry and foster connections between filmmakers and Hollywood decision-makers. Filmmakers such as Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur, Sacred Games) and Richie Mehta (Delhi Crime, Porcher) have previously found representation in the US through IFFLA’s “One on One” program, the festival said.
IFFLA Executive Director Christina Marudha said, “This is a first not only for IFFLA as an organization but for the film industry at large. We are excited to create a platform that will bring together industry luminaries and South Asian filmmakers to exchange inspiring stories and ideas, gain mentorship, and build collaborations in Los Angeles, the epicenter of the US film and television industry.”