The festival has introduced a special category, “Short Film on Ideals of Mahatma.”
In the past few years, cinema in India has undergone a sea change. The entertainment industry, once only recognized by western labels toting, nouveau rich as represented in Bollywood, has now also given way to gritty and realistic stories. A new generation of independent, alternate cinema from India has been making its presence felt at global film circuits and buoyed by the success of this niche class of cinema, regional cinema from India seems to have also gotten a new lease of life.
Presenting one such welcome change in Indian cinema would be the upcoming edition of the International Gujarati Film Festival that will be held in Los Angeles from June 7 to 9. It will be the second edition of the festival that aims to promote Gujarati culture and cinema on a global scale.
The festival dates were announced at a press conference in India by festival director Umesh Shukla, who is a filmmaker, writer and actor.
With Gujarati Americans forming a considerable portion of the Indian immigrant population in America, the film festival would likely have many patrons. But this aside, the organizers also are taking this as an opportunity to bring a rarely showcased side of the Indian entertainment outside of its regional reach.
IGFF is the first Gujarati film festival to take place in the United States and will include feature, short and documentary films. This year, marking the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the festival has introduced a special category, “Short Film on Ideals of Mahatma.” New, emerging and amateur film makers are invited to submit their short films on ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.
The festival would also have awards in various categories. The 2018 edition of IGFF saw 4,500 attendees and 23 film screenings.