Dharamshala International Film Festival to continue till November 8

The 9th edition of Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) has now been extended till November 8; it was announced by the organisers recently. The festival has been the first Indian festival to go digital. The festival started from October 29 and was supposed to end on November 4, and has been broadcasting more than 100 feature films, documentaries, and short stories. Festival co-founders, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam decided to take this festival online due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

As such, audiences will now get additional four days to check out more films and short stories. Talking about taking the festival online, Sarin said the team took a chance by doing so and the response by the independent film community and film lovers has been positive. She added that the response has been tremendous, and that they have managed to reach out to audiences not only in India but also around the world.
The festival director also mentioned that they hope to see all the audiences next year in Dharamshala, when they will be celebrating the 10th edition in 2021.
Reportedly, the line-up of titles included documentaries, such as Pearl of the Desert, 76 Days, The Kingmaker, A Rifle and a Bag, Welcome to Chechnya, Softie, and much more.

The DIFF, with its wide range of films from 40 countries, has managed to successfully reach audiences across boundaries such as Russia, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Australia, and many more.
This time, DIFF has a Binge Pass that included a selection of 16 films, which was curated to suit the audiences, who don’t have ample amount of time to watch the entire line-up of more than 100 films.

Also, as part of its initiative to provide a platform to new filmmakers, the festival started the Audience Award for the Best First Film to promote Indian short films.