iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announced its merger with the India Center Foundation (ICF) to promote visual storytelling on topics connected to the South Asian community. IFFLA and ICF aim to incubate and launch an industry development program to showcase the next generation of South Asian talent to studios, funders, and media executives. IFFLA’s 22nd film festival will be held on June 27-30, 2024.
“We saw an opportunity to scale our work nationally as one of the leading supporters of emerging creative talent in the diaspora,” said Priya Giri Desai, a co-founder of ICF. “By joining forces with IFFLA, we can bring much-needed resources to support the stories that must be told.”
Founded in 2016, The India Center Foundation (ICF) is a national, nonprofit organization focused on stories of the American diaspora. Based in New York City, ICF is a platform for established and emerging voices exploring South Asian identity and cultural expression. ICF has partnered with many prestigious organizations in the US – the Lincoln Center, the Asia Society, and the Museum of the Moving Image. In the spring of 2020, ICF launched The South Asian Arts Resiliency Fund which gave out grants to many diaspora artists whose work was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of this merger, Desai has joined the IFFLA Board of Directors, in part to steward the funding that ICF will provide to the combined venture over several years. She will bring her experience in creating documentaries and scripts connected to the South Asian community as well as her network to the IFFLA industry development program.
“We are thrilled to officially team up with ICF,” said Christina Marouda, IFFLA Board Chair. “I have personally worked with the organization since its inception on multiple film festivals and media projects. I respect the way they have thoughtfully and strategically developed the organization and selflessly supported diverse creative output. They have been a financial and creative partner to IFFLA over numerous festivals already, which makes this a natural fit. I do not doubt that we can bring even greater impact together.”
IFFLA was founded in 2002 as a non-profit organization to offer the Los Angeles community an opportunity to learn about India’s multifaceted culture and long history of filmmaking. Since then, IFFLA has grown into the premiere U.S. venue for discovering the best of South Asian cinema, as well as a vital hub that fosters an important dialogue among the most original independent storytellers from South Asia, the greater diasporic community and the international film industry at large.
“We couldn’t be happier to see this match between our two organizations. We care deeply about supporting serious artistry and find real kinship with what Christina and the IFFLA team have built over more than 20 years,” ICF President and co-founder Raoul Bhavnani said.
IFFLA has also announced the appointment of Anu Rangachar[Above] as Artistic Director. Rangachar heads the International Program at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, a festival she has been associated with for the past 15 years and one where she has facilitated many international collaborations. Before that, she attended a film school in New York City and worked with Rituparno Ghosh and Ashim Ahluwalia. She currently co-produces arthouse Indian independent films and has also been distributing prestigious arthouse world cinema titles in the USA.
“We are honored to be welcoming Anu to our team and cannot wait to work with her in developing exciting programs and meaningful partnerships in the future,” said IFFLA Board Chair Christina Marouda.
