Ritu Jha-
Christina Marouda, founder and executive director of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year by returning to in-person screenings and events from April 28 to May 1, was born in Greece and has no Indian or South Asian roots.
But growing up on the island of Crete, Christina watched a lot of Indian, mostly Hindi, films and fell so much in love with them that she eventually birthed this festival after moving to the United States.
In a conversation with indica, Marouda recalled how in 2001-02 she felt the time was right to introduce Bollywood to the home of the American mainstream and spoke of how the festival has grown over the past 20 years, with the offering being expanded to South Asia this year. Excerpts:
What led you to start IFFLA? What is it that you like about Indian cinema?
I watched Indian films while growing up in Crete, Greece, and loved them. However, the idea for an Indian film festival in Los Angeles developed around 2001. At that time there wasn’t a platform for Indian cinema in the U.S.
I worked at the AFI Fest, which screened over 150 films every year from all over the world, but Indian films were always overlooked. It was the same with other international film festivals across the country.
To me, this did not make sense given the volume, magnitude and legacy of Indian cinema. Also, 2001-02 was an interesting time for Indian cinema crossing boundaries with Lagaan (2001) being nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars and the success of Monsoon Wedding (2001) and Bend it Like Beckham (2002). I felt the time was right to launch IFFLA.
I am fascinated by the cultural diversity and nuances of regional Indian films. And these emerging filmmakers tell their deep-rooted and rich stories with depth and skill.
This is IFFLA’s 20th anniversary year. If you recall the two decades of your journey with Indian cinema, what has changed? And does it surprise you?
It has been an incredible journey, enlightening for me and everyone involved with IFFLA, and full of surprises.
In terms of what has changed, when we started this journey back in 2002, the international filmmaking community was not paying much attention to South Asian filmmakers and talent. That has dramatically changed, especially over the last five years. South Asian filmmakers, actors, executives are now becoming more and more of a norm everywhere you look.
Of course, the viewing experience and options people have, have played a key role in the access festivals have to new films and also the importance of a festival as a forum to bring together the filmmaking community.
As we are going back to an in-person festival after nearly three years, the importance of such a gathering of the community and the live interaction with the makers behind the films is exciting and essential.
How many movies did you start with 20 years ago, and how do you compare it with today’s participation?
IFFLA premiered in 2003 at ArcLight Hollywood presenting 20 films from or about India to almost 3,000 attendees. The fest this year includes 26 films plus six South Asian films. The last in-person fest in 2019 attracted over 5,000 attendees. Films by the vast and talented diaspora filmmakers were also included and have now become a major draw of the festival.
The number of movies has ranged between 20 and 30. But our ancillary programs have increased and evolved over the years to include workshops, industry events, post-screening discussions, live music performances and receptions, allowing festival attendees to watch films in a community environment and a vibrant setting.
We started working with all the studios, including HBO, Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros, Paramount, Sony, Amazon, NBC Universal, and through our One-on-One program, we bring high-level executives to the festival and connect them with our filmmakers.
This year we are taking it further. Our closing night will feature an event, not a film, and that is a live script reading of Alim Uncle, a feature by Kahlil Maskati, one of IFFLA’s diaspora alumni, directed by Fawzia Mirza with well-known diaspora actors reading the parts. We are also announcing a year-round filmmaker mentorship initiative this year.
This year you have added South Asian films as well. Are you expanding, and why? Is there a demand, need, or more participation from South Asians?
South Asian countries are all deeply inter-connected because of the similarities in their cultures, lifestyles, lived experiences and stories.
Indian cinema is, of course, the most evolved, but Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are also emerging, putting out some beautiful and path-breaking work. For example, the film Rehana that leads our ‘Spotlight on South Asia’ segment, is the first-ever Bangladeshi film to be premiered at Cannes Festival’s Un Certain Regard. It’s a riveting film.
We are also screening five outstanding shorts from other South Asian countries. We feel it’s the right time to broaden IFFLA’s scope and put a spotlight on South Asian cinema.