NEW YORK, NY, May 3rd, 2023 â€“ The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), North Americaâ€™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 yearâ€™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.

â€œNYIFF 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, â€œ said Dr. Nirmal Mattoo, Chairman of the Indo-American Arts Council, the organization that presents the film festival.

â€œAs 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 yearâ€™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:

â€¢ Opening Film leads Shefali Shah (DelhiCrime/Netflix), Jaideep Ahlawat (Pataal Lok/Prime Video) and Swanand Kirkire
â€¢ Closing Film leads Kalki Koechlin (Margarita with a Straw) and Deepti Naval
â€¢ Sharmila Tagore (Legendary Actress who worked in Satyajit Rayâ€™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.
â€¢ Adil Hussain (Life of Pi) and Namisha Sajayan in Footprints on Water.
â€¢ Radhika Madan (Kuttey/Netflix) and Pooja Bhatt (Bombay Begums/Netflix) in Sanaa.
â€¢ Arjun Radhakrishnan in Vaat.
â€¢ Prasenjit Chatterjee in Shesh Pata.
â€¢ Anupam Kher (The Big Sick, New Amsterdam and Hotel Mumbai), Danish Husain and Zarina Wahab in a narrative short Retake.
â€¢ Rajit Kapoor in the narrative short Birha.

â€œWe aim to truly underscore the NYIFF commitment to diversity and cultural representation in film,â€ said Aseem Chhabra, NYIFF Festival Director. â€œThis 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.â€

â€œNYIFFâ€™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,â€ 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 yearâ€™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,â€ said Rakesh Kaul, IAAC Vice Chairman.

Ticket prices are $20 for regular film programs and $50 for opening and closing films. Tickets will be on sale at nyiff.us or at Eventbrite

NYIFF 2023 Promo Video:

Feature Narrative Films

1. Bandaa (Hindi), dir. Apoorv Singh Karki, 138 mins., 2023
2. Follower (Hindi, Kannada, Marathi), dir. Harshad Nalawade, 99 mins., 2022
3. Footprints on Water (English, Malayalam, Tamil, Polish), dir. Nathalia Syam, 110 mins., 2022
4. Goldfish (English), Pushsan Kriplani, 101 mins., 2022
5. Gulmohar (Special screening) (Hindi), dir. Rahul Chittella, 132 mins., 2022
6. Mushroom (Bengali) dir. Samik Roy Choudhury, 64 mins., 2022
7. Opium (Hindi), dir. Aman Sachdeva, 75 mins., 2022
8. Pokhar ke Dunu Paar (Hindi), dir. Parth Saurabh, 104 mins., 2022
9. Sanaa (Hindi), dir. Sudhanshu Saria, 117 mins., 2022
10. Saudi Vellakka (Malayalam), dir. Tharun Moorthy, 134 mins., 2022
11. Hadinelentu (Seventeeners), dir. Prithvi Konanur, 122 mins., 2022
12. Shesh Pata (Bengali), dir. Atanu Ghosh, 120 mins., 2022
13. Siya (Hindi), dir. Manish Mundra,108 mins., 2022
14. Three of Us (Hindi), dir. Avinash Arun Dhaware, 98 mins., 2021
15. Vaat (Marathi), dr. Miransha Naik, 75 mins., 2022

Feature Documentaries
1. Call Me Dancer (Special screening) (Hindi, English), dir. Leslie Shampaine, 84 mins., 2022
2. Colonel Kalsi (English), dir. Geeta Gandbhir, Anand Kamalkar, 40 mins., 2022
3. To Kill a Tiger (Hindi, Nagpuri), dir. Nisha Pahuja, 125 mins., 2022
4. Urf (AKA) (Hindi), dir. Geetika Narag Abassi, 120 mins., 2022

Short Narratives
Shorts A (narrative) Program:
1. Retake, dir. Shweta Basu Prasad (Hindi), 28 mins., 2023
2. Running, dir. Arpita Mukherjee (English), 40 mins., 2022
3. One Small Visit, dir. Jo Chim (English), 30 mins., 2022
4. Outside Chance, dir. Michael Das (English), 11 mins., 2022
5. The Name, dir. Aaron Strand (English), 7 mins, 2022
Other narrative shorts, showing with features:
1. Birha - The Journey Back Home (showing with Vaat) (Punjabi), dir. Puneet Prakash Pandey, 25 mins., 2021
2. Chithi (showing with Mushroom) (Bengali), dir. Pubali Chaudhuri, 22 min., 2023
3. Little Wings (showing with Mushroom) (Tamil) dir. Nveen Mu, 21 mins., 2022
4. My Fatherâ€™s Doctor (showing with Mushroom) (Kashmiri), dir. Danish Renzu, 18 mins., 2023
5. Preet (showing with Opium) (Hindi), dir. Jayesh Jaidka, 22 mins, 2022
6. Wagro (showing with Vaat) (Marathi), dir. Sainath Somnath Uskaikar, 10 mins., 2022

Shorts B (documentaries) Program:
1. Basti, dir. Parinaz Jal (English, Hindi, Kannada), 36 mins., 2021
2. Gopi, dir. Nishanth Gurumurthy (Kannada), 14 mins., 2022
3. Letters to My Grandma, dir. Divya Hemant Kharnare (Marathi), 26 mins., 2023
4. Raat: Night Time in Small Town India, dir. Third Eye Offline (English), 34 mins., 2022
Other short documentaries, showing with features:
â€¢ Bring it to the People (showing with Colonel Kalsi) (English), dir. Luis Palomino, 35 mins., 2022
â€¢ Kurosawaâ€™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

About Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC):

The IAAC supports all the artistic disciplines in classical, fusion, folk and innovative forms influenced by the arts of India. We work cooperatively with colleagues around the U.S. to broaden our collective audiences and to create a network for shared information, resources and funding. Our focus is to help artists and art organizations in North America as well as to facilitate artists from India to exhibit, perform and produce their work here. The IAACâ€‚is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law. For information, please visit www.iaac.us.

Exploring the best of Indian cinema: NY Indian Film Festival offers fresh perspective