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Kiran Rao’s ‘Laapataa Ladies’ to be the opening film od 2nd IFFM Summer Festival!

CineBuster Online | Updated — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 09:41:28 +0000

#TheIndianFilmFestivalofMelbourne (#IFFM) recently announced the commencement of its 15th-year celebration, marking a milestone in showcasing the vibrant spirit of Indian cinema to audiences worldwide. In addition to its motive to constantly take on groundbreaking initiatives, Following the success of the first IFFM Summer Festival IFFM announces the launch of the Second IFFM Summer Festival.

Taking place from February 29th to March 2nd, this three-day celebration of cinema takes the larger festival that happens annually in August, transforming it into a biannual celebration. The festival will witness the opening film – Laapataa Ladies which is Kiran Rao’s directorial which made its world premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival and opened to rave reviews across. The film will have its Australian premiere on 29th February at the festival ahead of its release on 1st March 2024.

Kiran Rao expressed, “It’s a great honour for Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies) to be the Opening Film at IIFM. I am absolutely delighted and would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to the festival. I hope the Melbourne audience enjoys the film, and that I get to visit this great city in person soon!”

VicScreen CEO Caroline Pitcher said, “IFFM is the largest celebration of Indian cinema in the southern hemisphere, lighting up Melbourne every year with incredible films and unforgettable star power. VicScreen is proud to support the expansion of the festival, with the return of a three-day summer program, which includes the highly anticipated Australian premiere of Laapataa Ladies.”

Festival Director Mitu Bhowmick shares her enthusiasm for the IFFM Summer Festival, stating, “This festival’s summer edition this year will have Laapataa Ladies as an opening film, directed by the talented Kiran Rao. We are thrilled to kickstart our latest venture with Kiran’s nuances film of layered human relationships, celebrates women and the unexpected complexities that life throws at us. This is our continued endeavour to have a widespread year round celebration of Indian films down under and we are excited to have Kiran’s remarkable film be the opening film of the summer edition of our festival”.

The post Kiran Rao’s ‘Laapataa Ladies’ to be the opening film od 2nd IFFM Summer Festival! first appeared on Latest News, Breaking News, National News, World News, India News, Bollywood News, Business News, Politics News, Sports News, Entertainment News - CineBuster.

Nominations for Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2023 announced!

CineBuster Online | Updated — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 05:48:26 +0000

#TheIndianFilmFestivalofMelbourne (#IFFM) has announced the nominations for its highly anticipated 14th edition. As the largest Indian film festival outside of Indian soil, IFFM continues to captivate audiences worldwide. This year, the festival proudly welcomes a new addition to its esteemed jury panel, the Oscar-winning Australian filmmaker Bruce Beresford, renowned for directing acclaimed films such as “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The Contract.” IFFM is the only Indian film festival outside of the Indian soil that is backed by the government of another country and with that IFFM stands as a remarkable celebration of Indian cinema and cultural exchange. With its finger on the pulse of the industry, the festival has embraced the changing landscape of film consumption by introducing the OTT Awards in 2021. Now in its third year, the OTT Awards will honor outstanding achievements in three categories. The IFFM advisory committee after meticulous consideration of hundreds of films and series from across Indian cinema, have finalized the nominations of films and series which have released between 1st June 20222 to 31st May 2023. Leading the pack in the film categories, including Best Film, Best Actor, and Best Actress, are notable productions such as “Darlings,” “Monica O My Darling,” “Ponniyin Selvan,” and “Kantara.” These films have captivated audiences with their stellar performances, engaging storytelling, and artistic excellence. The nominations reflect the diversity and richness of Indian cinema, acknowledging the blockbusters and the indie gems on the same platform. In the OTT category, series such as “Trial By Fire,” “Jubilee,” and “Delhi Crime Season 2” have garnered the highest number of nominations. These exceptional series have made a significant impact with their compelling narratives, outstanding performances, and remarkable production values. For OTT nominations, only series on platforms which are available to be streamed in the Australian market have been considered. The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne has consistently pushed boundaries and showcased the best of Indian cinema to a global audience. With the support of its dedicated jury and industry professionals, the festival continues to champion innovation, creativity, cultural diversity and inclusivity. The winners of the prestigious IFFM 2023 Awards will be announced during the festival, at their annual gala night on 11th August 2023 which is set to be hosted at the iconic Hamer Hall in Melbourne, one of the world’s most sophisticated concert halls. Here is the complete list of nominees. Best Film….. Bhediya – Hindi Brahmastra – Hindi Darlings – Hindi Jogi – Punjabi Kantara – Kannada Monica, O My Darling – Hindi Pathaan – Hindi Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 2 – Tamil Sita Ramam – Telugu Best Indie Film….. Aatma Pamphlet – Marathi Agra – Hindi All India Rank – Hindi Family – Malayalam Gulmohar – Hindi Hadinelentu (Seventeeners) – Kannada Joram – Hindi Pine Cone – Hindi The Storyteller – Hindi Tora’s Husband – Assamese Zwigato – Hindi Best Director….. Anant Mahadevan – The Storyteller Anurag Kashyap – Kennedy Ashish Avinash Bende – Aatma-Pamphlet (Autobio-Pamphlet) Devashish Makhija – Joram Don Palathara – Family Kanu Behl – Agra Mani Ratnam – Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 2 Nandita Das – Zwigato Prithvi Konanur – Hadinelentu (Seventeeners) Rima Das – Tora’s Husband Siddharth Anand – Pathaan Vasan Bala – Monica, O My Darling Best Actor (Male)…… Dulquer Salmaan – Sita Ramam Kapil Sharma – Zwigato Manoj Bajpayee – Joram Manoj Bajpayee – Gulmohar Mohit Agarwal – Agra Paresh Rawal – The Storyteller Rajkummar Rao – Monica, O My Darling Rishab Shetty – Kantara Shah Rukh Khan – Pathaan Vijay Varma – Darlings Vikram – Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 2 Best Actor (Female)….. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 2 Akshatha Pandavapura – Koli Esru Alia Bhatt – Darlings Bhumi Pednekar – Bheed Kajol – Salaam Venky Mrunal Thakur – Sita Ramam Neena Gupta – Vadh Rani Mukherjee – Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway Sai Pallavi – Gargi Sanya Malhotra – Kathal Best Series….. Dahaad Delhi Crime Season 2 Farzi Jubilee SHE Season 2 Suzhal: The Vortex The Broken News Trial By Fire Best Actor (Male) – Series…. Abhay Deol – Trial By Fire Abhishek Bachchan – Breathe – Into The Shadows Season 2 Aparshakti Khurana – Jubilee Prosenjit Chatterjee – Jubilee Shahid Kapoor – Farzi Sidhant Gupta – Jubilee Vijay Sethupathi – Farzi Vijay Varma – Dahaad Best Actor (Female) – Series….. Rajshri Deshpande – Trial By Fire Rasika Dugal – Delhi Crime Season 2 Shefali Shah – Delhi Crime Season 2 Shriya Pilgaonkar – The Broken News Sriya Reddy – Suzhal: The Vortex Tillotama Shome – Delhi Crime Season 2 Wamiqa Gabbi – Jubilee Best Documentary….. Against The Tide Dharti Latar Re Horo – (Tortoise Under The Earth) Fatima Kucheye Khoshbakht (And, Towards Happy Alleys) To Kill A Tiger While We Watched

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#Ludo, #Sherni, #SooraraiPottru and God on the Balcony bag the top nominations in IFFM 2021!

CineBuster Online | Updated — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 12:47:40 +0000

#TheIndianFilmFestivalOfMelbourne, one of the biggest international Indian film festivals outside of the country, has just announced its nominations for its annual awards ceremony. The festival, which is presented by the Victorian Government, is an annual festival that takes place in Melbourne, Australia, and showcases the best of Indian films and the subcontinent that year. In its 12th edition to be held this month, the IFFM 2021 has gone virtual as well as physical due to the global pandemic. With over 100 films whose screening will be held during the event, this will be a celebration of diversity and the best of Indian cinema in all its forms.

Apart from the screenings, the most anticipated ‘IFFM Awards Ceremony’ will also take place during the course of the festival. All set to happen on the 20th of August, this year’s will witness more names than ever joining IFFM’s Roll of Honour, as they have broadened their horizons with new nomination titles to celebrate the Indian film industry holistically. Adding to its recognition of talent from across so sections of filmmaking, this year the festival is launching three categories under the belt of web shows. Keeping up with the growing trend of OTT shows dominating entertainment content consumption, the festival will recognize Best Series, Best Performance in a series each under the Actor and Actress category. The consideration of these shows is limited to only those platforms which are available to the Australian audiences. This what’s nominations will see films and content which were released between August 2020 to July 2021

This list of names includes extraordinary films of 2021 such as Ludo directed by Anurag Basu, the Vidya Balan starrer Sherni directed by Amit Masukar, Soorarai Pottru (Tamil) that is starred and produced by Suriya and directed by Sudha Kongara and God on the Balcony, an Assamese film starring Harish Khanna and directed by Biswajeet Bora. This years Best Documentary feature some of the most compelling stories including Shut Up Sona, W.O.M.B, About Mumma amongst others. Winners of Best Film, Best Indie Film and Best Documentary each win state of the art camera from Black Magic Design apart from the award. Another key highlight is that the Best Film winner automatically gets a nomination nod under the Best Asian Film category at the annual prestigious AACTA (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards)

Each year the festival celebrates this prestigious event in its physical form. However, in the wake of the current Australian border lockdown, the award ceremony will be hosted virtually. The IFFM has had the privilege of some of the biggest Australian film talents on the jury panel. This year’s festival jury boasts of jury members that will include names like global award-winning film editor Jill Bilcock, one of Australia’s renowned actors Vince Colosimo and multi award winning director Geoffrey Wright

The Nominations for 2021 are as listed below

BEST FILM

1. Kayattam (A’Hr) – Malayalam – Sanal Kumar Sasidharan

2. Lootcase – Hindi – Rajesh Krishnan

3. Ludo – Hindi – Anurag Basu

4. Sherni – Hindi- Amit Masurkar

5. Soorarai Pottru – Tamil – Sudha Kongara

6. Tasher Ghawr – Bengali – Sudipto Roy

BEST INDIE FILM

1. Fire in the Mountains – Hindi – Ajitpal Singh

2. God on the Balcony – Assamese – Biswajeet Bora

3. Laila aur Satt Geet – Gojri, Hindi – Pushpendra Singh

4. Nasir – Tamil – Arun Karthick

5. Pinki Elli? – Kannada – Prithvi Konnanur

6. Seththumaan – Tamil – Thamizh

7. Sthalpuran – Marathi – Akshay Indikar

8. The Great Indian Kitchen – Malayalam – Jeo Baby

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Ajitpal Singh – Fire in the Mountains – Hindi

2. Akshay Indikar – Sthalpuran – Marathi

3. Amit Masurkar – Sherni – Hindi

4. Anurag Basu – Ludo – Hindi

5. Arun Karthick – Nasir – Tamil

6. Biswajeet Bora – God on the Balcony – Assamese

7. Jeo Baby – The Great Indian Kitchen – Malayalam

8. Pithvi Konnanur – Pinki Elli? – Kannada

9. Sanal Kumar Sasidharan – Kayattam (A’hr) – Malayalam

10. Sudha Kongara – Soorarai Pottru – Tamil

BEST ACTOR

1. Benjamin Daimary – Jonaki Porua -Assamese

2. Harish Khanna – God on the Balcony – Assamese

3. Jitin Puthanchery – Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam – Malayalam

4. Koumarane Valavane – Nasir – Tamil

5. Neel Deshmukh – Sthalpuran – Marathi

6. Pankaj Tripathi – Ludo – Hindi

7. Rajkummar Rao – Ludo – Hindi

8. Suriya – Soorarai Pottru – Tamil

BEST ACTRESS

1. Kani Kusruti – Biriyaani – Malayalam

2. Nimisha Sajayan – The Great Indian Kitchen – Malayalam

3. Rasika Dugal – Lootcase – Hindi

4. Rima Kallingal – Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam – Malayalam

5. Swatika Mukjherjee – Tasher Ghawr – Bengali

6. Vidya Balan – Sherni – Hindi

7. Vinamrata Rai – Fire in the Mountains – Hindi

BEST DOCUMENTARY

1. A Rifle in a Bag – Gondi, Madiya, Hindu – Christina Hanes, Isabella Rinaldi and Arya Rothe

2. About Mumma – English – Maanvi Chowdhary

3. Borderlands – Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi, Other – Samarth Mahajan

4. Shup Up Sona – English – Deepti Gupta

5. Watch over Me – Hindi, Malayalam – Farida Pacha

6. WOMB – English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu – Ajitesh Sharma

BEST SERIES

1. Bandish Bandits – Hindi

2. Churails – Urdu, Hindi

3. Mirzapur Season 2 – Hindi

4. Mismatched – Hindi

5. The Family Man Season 2 – Hindi

BEST PERFORMANCE (MALE) – SERIES

1. Ali Fazal – Mirzapur Season 2

2. Divyenndu – Mirzapur Season 2

3. Manoj Bajpayee – The Family Man Season 2

4. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub – Tandav

5. Pankaj Tripathi – Mirzapur Season 2

6. Saif Ali Khan – Tandav

BEST PERFORMANCE (FEMALE) – SERIES

1. Neena Gupta – Masaba Masaba

2. Prajakta Koli – Mismatched

3. Rasika Dugal – Mirzapur Season 2

4. Samantha Akkineni – The Family Man Season 2

5. Shahana Goswami – Bombay Begums

6. Shweta Tripathi Sharma – Mirzapur Season 2

The post #Ludo, #Sherni, #SooraraiPottru and God on the Balcony bag the top nominations in IFFM 2021! first appeared on Latest News, Breaking News, National News, World News, India News, Bollywood News, Business News, Politics News, Sports News, Entertainment News - CineBuster.

The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne reschedules it’s dates

CineBuster Online | Updated — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 15:31:22 +0000

In 2019 the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne celebrated its tenth anniversary. In February this year pre-COVID, IFFM hosted an event in Mumbai where Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan awarded the four-year scholarship named after him to Gopika Kottantharayil Bhasi from Thrissur (Kerala), as a part of the festival’s long association with Melbourne’s La Trobe University. Now faced with restrictions and new opportunities the IFFM the team is working hard to develop new exciting elements to the year’s festival while ensuring the safety of festival attendees.

After a grand 10th year celebration last year with Shah Rukh Khan as their last chief guest, 2020 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne goes ahead rescheduling to October 30th to November 7th. This month the festival kickstarts a brand-new virtual event, the IFFM FILM CLUB featuring some of the finest filmmakers in India, discussing their films.

The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne today announced that this year’s festival will go ahead with dates rescheduled from August to late 2020 due to the ongoing COVID -19 pandemic. IFFM 2020’s program will be devised in line with public health guidance with plans for a compact schedule taking place over a week from October 30 to November 7. The festival is retaining the Short Film Competition and the popular dance competition (to be held on October 31, pending easing of restrictions) but the much anticipated IFFM Awards Gala will be postponed till 2021. More details of festival highlights will be announced shortly.

An exciting new innovation to the festival this year, in response to current challenges and opportunities, is the IFFM Film Club where fans of Indian movies can enroll for a virtual master class with leading filmmakers discussing their works in detail. This exciting new event is facilitated by noted journalist Rajeev Masand. Functioning like a book club, the festival asks participants to watch a classic film, and they then have an opportunity to discuss the film at the virtual film club with the filmmaker. The virtual talks are open for registration to festival-goers and accommodate 100 early bird users.

Previously, the festival has hosted masterclasses with acclaimed filmmakers including Raju Hirani, Rani Mukherjee, Karan Johar, Rima Das, Zoya Akhtar, Onir, Vijay Sethupathi , Nag Ashwin , Kabir Khan, and many others. With the launch of this year’s Film Club, IFFM continues to celebrate the spirit of diversity through cinema.

IFFM Festival Director Mitu Bhowmick Lange said, “This is a uniquely intimate way for film lovers to stay engaged, entertained and educated while at home in these unprecedented times. We already have a strong line up of filmmakers from various parts of India. Well-known film journalist Rajeev Masand will moderate the session as he opens the film and its maker to a world of questions from curious fans.”

Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley said: “Social distancing doesn’t mean social disconnection and through the screen, we can continue to be inspired by stories and perspectives from across the globe. I applaud the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne team for its commitment to continuing to bring the IFFM spirit to film lovers and for pivoting to a new model for 2020 in response to these challenging times.”

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