Chandigarh hosts 4th edition of South Asia’s first internationally travelling film festival

The 4th edition of Indus Valley International Film Festival (IVIFF), South Asia’s first borderless-internationally traveling film festival, was recently organised in Chandigarh from September 26 to October 2 in partnership with the UT administration.

The festival showcased films from 15 countries with a special emphasis on the South Asia region. Eminent filmmakers participated, interacted with audiences and attended several “panel discussions”.

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, actor Saurabh Shukla, producer Rahul Mittra, actor-producer-director Rajat Kapoor, actor Rajit Kapur, eminent Nepal actress Swastima Khadka, Bangladesh actress Bobby Haque, Sri Lanka filmmaker Visakesa Chandrasekaram and Malkeet Raumi, general secretary of ‘Punjabi Film & TV Actor’s Association (PFTAA)’ were some of the national and foreign film personalities who participated in the festival.
Ustad Gulfam, an artiste from Afghanistan presented Afghani folk music and Shri Subir Mallick from Delhi rendered some Bollywood Retro Music compositions during the fest.

This time, an acting competition-cum-workshop was also organised as part of the festival where local & aspiring actors were given an opportunity to showcase their talent to acting mentors and sharpen their skill during the 5-day acting coaching event. Finally, all of them were given a chance to attend a grand-finale masterclass with casting director Mukesh Chhabra.

The festival is an initiative of SAFACH (South Asia Forum for Art & Creative Heritage), an India-based NGO, having an objective to encourage creative and artistic collaborations among all South & South-East Asian countries.
There were about 50 films screened from about 15 countries, including Bhutan, Canada, US, Denmark, Australia, Italy, Iran, Serbia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Bardiya Sundari (Nepal) bagged the award for Best Debut Film; Chup (Hindi, India) received it for Best Script; Chup for Best Music; Koli Taal (Kannada, India) bagged Jury Special Mention Screenplay Award; Razaa (Punjabi, India) for Best Indian Language Film; Best Female Actor Award to Saba Qamar for Kamli (Pakistan); Best Male Actor Award to Arif Hasan for Zindagi Tamasha (Pakistan); Best Director Award to Sarmad Khoosat for Zindagi Tamasha (Pakistan); Best Film Award to Gangnam Girls (Bhutan), Best Director Documentary Award to Evdokia Moskvina: Forbidden Children (Russia); Best Documentary Film Award to The Sound of Us (United States); Best Sound Design Documentary Film Award to The Sound of Us, Best Science Film Award to Zero Gravity (US); Jury Special Mention Best Documentary Award to Admitted (Hindi/English, India) and Best Narrative award to Bulletproof Children (Sri Lanka) among others.

Overwhelmed with the success of the 4th edition, the festival organiser plans to bring IVIFF with exciting programmes and participation of eminent film personalities to Chandigarh again in October 2023.