Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

by MovieMaker Staff | Published December 18, 2006

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Dates: April 17 - 22, 2007
Call For Entries Deadline: January 9, 2007

Creating a niche film festival is a fine art. First, you have to make sure you have both a pool of participants to choose from, as well as an audience interested in watching what they have to offer. It’s hard to get more specific than the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, a festival that exemplifies the success you can find when catering to a hyper-specific audience. The IFFLA was founded as a nonprofit organization in 2002 in order to showcase the work of the Indian film community in a city that is considered the heart of American moviemaking.

â€œFestival director Christina Marouda felt there was a need for such a festival given the size of the Indian film industry, the lack of Indian films in international film festivals in the United States, the size of the South Asian community in Los Angeles and a personal interest in India,â€ explains Felicia Dickerson, director of programming. Over the past five years, the festival has grown to a six-day event and also hosts an additional side festival, the IFFLA KidsFest, which showcases the work of young Indian-American moviemakers from the LA area. To celebrate the festival’s fifth anniversary, the 2007 program will include live music and dance performances as well as “a few extra surprises” (in Dickerson’s words) that will be revealed at a later date. As a celebration of both the Indian moviemaking community and the cinematic hub that is Los Angeles, the IFFLA has truly perfected the art of the niche festival. For more information or to submit your film, visit www.indianfilmfestival.org.

Sound Off: The 2006 IFFLA featured films by top Indian moviemakers, such as Deepa Mehta’s Water and Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding. Who are some of the lesser-known Indian moviemakers’ you’d like to see gain recognition in the U.S. film world? Talk back in the comments section!