Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles

Join Us For The Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles 2025!

Schedule Of Events:

1:30pm - Launchpad: Pitch Competition 2025

Launchpad: A Pitch Competition 2025

$10,000 Development Grant

Meet The Five Finalists Selected To Present Their Project To A Panel Of Distinguished, Industry-Expert Judges In Front Of A Live Audience. The Pitches Will Receive Immediate Feedback From The Judge’s Panel, And One Winner Will Be Awarded A $10,000 Development Grant Presented By Joy Of Sharing And Tarsadia Foundation.

The Winner Will Be Announced At The Closing Night Gala And Awards Ceremony On May 10, 2025.

The Jury For The Pitch Competition:

Aanch Khaneja, Tv And Film Producer
Isaac Klausner, President Of Production At Temple Hill Entertainment
Santiago Marcos, Director Of Development, Gaumont Television
Madhuri Shekar, Writer (Three Body Problem, Evil Eye)
Chisom Ude, Development Executive, Inflection Point Entertainment

Mentors For The Pitch Competition:

Siobhan Flynn, Head Of Production And Development, Ventanarosa
Lakshmi Iyengar, Independent Producer And Film Executive
Killian Kerwin, President, Jaya Entertainment
Roshan Sethi, Director, Writer, Producer (7 Days, A Nice Indian Boy, The Resident)

The Finalists:
Now And Then (Feature)
Venk Potula (Director) Is An Award-Winning Writer, Director, And Producer. He Produced And Starred In The Feature Film Four Samosas, Which Premiered At The Tribeca Film Festival And Was Acquired By Ifc Films. The Film Is Now Streaming On Hulu And Disney+. His Short Films Have Screened At Over 25 Festivals, Including Urbanworld And The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. His Atlanta-Shot Short Woke Won Best Narrative Short At The Sacramento Asian Pacific American Film Festival. Venk Holds A B.A. From Ucla And A Dual Mba/Mfa From Chapman University, Where He Developed A Directorial Voice That Blends Artistic Vision With Strategic Production Insight.

Rena Patel (Writer) Is A South Asian American Writer And Producer Based In Los Angeles. She Graduated From Scripps College In Claremont, California, In 2019 With A Degree In English And Creative Writing. Her Diverse Body Of Work Spans The Page, Stage, And Screen. Her Romantic Comedy Stage Play, Pyar Aur Coffee, Was A Finalist In The 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival And Was Produced At The Long Beach Shakespeare Company’s New Works Festival In 2024 To A Sold-Out Run. In Addition To Her Writing, Rena Is Part Of The Creative Team At Bootleg Universe Media Group/Shankar Animation, Where She Works On Cutting-Edge Storytelling Projects. Her Prose And Poetry Can Be Found In Various Publications, Including Sanctuaries: An Anthology Of South Asian Survivor Stories, The Sunflower Station Press, And The Calendula Review. She Is Pursuing A Law Degree At Loyola Law School, Focusing On Entertainment Law.

The Secret Life Of Samira Sen (Television)
Minoti Vaishnav (Writer): Minoti’s Credits Include True Lies (Cbs) And The Equalizer (Cbs). As A Former Pop Star, She Released Three Albums. As A Former Unscripted Development Producer, She Produced Over A Dozen True Crime, Historical, And Paranormal Investigation Shows. Minoti Is Also A Published Short Fiction Author And Scripted Podcast Writer. She Has A Master’s Degree In Creative Writing From Oxford University And Is An Alumna Of The Paramount Writers Mentoring Program.

The Moth And The Fly (Feature)
Vankshita Mishra Is A Filmmaker, Actor, And Curator Based In Los Angeles And London. After Completing A Bachelor’s Degree In Natural Sciences (Physics & Chemistry) At Durham University, She Worked In Film, Publishing, And Briefly With Greenpeace Uk. In 2022, Vankshita Was Selected For A Fulbright Bafta Scholarship To Pursue An Mfa In Film Production At The University Of Southern California. While Pursuing Her Master’s Degree, She Has Been Awarded The Bafta-Pigott Scholarship And An Alfred P. Sloan Writing Award For Her First Feature Script.

Adult Children (Feature)
Kiana Rawji Is A Canadian Writer And Director Based In Brooklyn, New York. She Studied Film, History, And Literature At Harvard College. As A South Asian Muslim Woman And Daughter Of East African Asian Immigrants, She Is Drawn To Stories Of Diaspora, Identity, And Human Resilience. Her Documentary Long Distance (2021) Is About Migrant Workers At An Albertan Meat Plant. Mama Of Manyatta (2023) Follows A Woman Fighting Hiv And Gender-Based Violence In A Kenyan Slum. Both Have Premiered At Renowned Festivals. Her 2023 Fiction Film, Inside Job, Is About An Indian Woman Who Suspects Her African Domestic Workers Of Stealing Jewelry In 1970s Nairobi. The Film Premiered At The Chicago South Asian Film Festival. Kiana Is Developing Her First Feature, A Coming-Of-Age Drama Centered On An Intergenerational Immigrant Family.

Untitled Kolkata Film (Feature)
Alisha Bhowmik Is A Multi-Racial (Bengali Indian, Cherokee Nation) Artist From Arkansas Based In Brooklyn, New York. She Is A Graduate Of Nyu Tisch And The Atlantic Acting School. She Produced The Feature Film Blow Up My Life (Tubi), Which Premiered At The Austin Film Festival And Had A Limited Theatrical Release In 2023. She Has Produced Short Films That Have Been Awarded A Vimeo Staff Pick And Nobudge Best Of The Year 2022, And Directed Music Videos That Have Been Featured In Huffington Post, Refinery29, And Paper Magazine. Her Short Documentary Dot & A Feather Was The First Sundance Collab Challenge Winner. She Participated In Cine Qua Non Lab 2024 Storylines Lab For Her Debut Feature Screenplay. She Has Been Producing At The Acclaimed Advertising Agency Droga5, For Clients Like Chase, Essentia, Ad Council, And Atlassian

Location: Landmark Theatres Sunset #1 8000 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, Ca 90046

4:00pm - Dui Shaw + Masterclass

Bangladeshi Filmmaker Nuhash Humayun Has Reinvented Horror By Pushing Beyond Conventional Genre Boundaries, Seamlessly Blending Supernatural Elements With Biting Social Commentary – A Signature Style That Has Established Him As A Bold And Original Voice In Contemporary Horror.

His Internationally Acclaimed Short Moshari, Executive-Produced By Jordan Peele And Riz Ahmed, Became Bangladesh’s First Oscar-Qualifying Film, Cementing His Reputation As A Filmmaker Unafraid To Push Boundaries While Staying Deeply Rooted In South Asian Storytelling Traditions.

With Dui Shaw, His Latest Anthology Series, We Present The First Two Episodes – Gripping Narratives That Delve Deep Into The Human Psyche, Exploring Fate, Morality, And Human Nature That Reflects Upon The Societal Horrors We Inflict Upon Ourselves.

In Waqt, The First Episode, A Chilling Meditation On Consequence, Five Seemingly Unconnected Individuals Set Off An Eerie Chain Reaction That Forces Them To Confront Their Own Culpability.

In The Second Episode, Bhaggo Bhalo, A Palmist In Dhaka Unwittingly Unravels A Destiny Far More Ominous Than He Could Have Ever Predicted.

With Unflinching Direction And Razor-Sharp Storytelling That Serves As A Mirror To Our Darkest Impulses To Unearth The Real Monsters Lurking Within Us, Dui Shaw Further Solidifies Humayun As A Filmmaker To Watch.

Location: Landmark Theatres Sunset #1 8000 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, Ca 90046

4:00pm - Masterclass: From Dhaka To Hollywood: The Genre-Bending World Of Nuhash Humayun

Join Us For An Intimate Masterclass With Nuhash Humayun, One Of The Most Exciting Voices To Emerge From South Asia’s New Wave Of Filmmakers. A Maverick In Every Sense, Nuhash Has Carved A Singular Path From The Streets Of Dhaka To Hollywood Bringing With Him A Sharp Eye For The Subversive And Socially Biting Horror Stories.

His Breakout Short Moshari, A Genre-Defying Blend Of Horror And Social Allegory, Made Waves Internationally And Became The First Bangladeshi Film To Qualify For The Oscars, Earning Executive Producer Credits From Jordan Peele And Riz Ahmed. Since Then, Nuhash Has Been Developing New Projects That Blur Boundaries Between Cultures, Genres, And Expectations.

In This Masterclass, Nuhash Reflects On The Challenges Of Telling Bold, Local Stories That Resonate Globally, The Mechanics Of Working Across Industries And Geographies, And What It Means To Make Space For South Asian Horror In The Global Film Conversation. From Childhood Obsessions To Studio Pitches, This Is The Journey Of A Filmmaker Who Is Rewriting The Rules.

Location: Landmark Theatres Sunset #1 8000 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, Ca 90046

6:45 Pm - The Fable

Nine Years After Making His Debut Thithi, Which Was Received Rapturously Around The World, Raam Reddy Returns With His Much-Awaited Follow-Up: The Fable, Set In 1989 On A Himalayan Orchard Estate.

This Visually Arresting Film Follows Dev, A Stoic Estate Owner Who Makes Life-Sized Wings To Soar Above His Land, Grappling With Unexplained Fires Consuming His Land. The Idyllic Setting Gradually Reveals Its Hidden Complexities By Exploring Societal Hierarchies And Class Disparities Weighed Down By Colonial Inheritance And Ecological Concerns.

Shot On 16mm And Taking Inspiration From Literary Figures Like Gabriel García Márquez And Haruki Murakami, Reddy Crafts His Unique Brand Of Magical Realism By Immersing Viewers In An Otherworldly Yet Perceptible Experience, Leaving Us Guessing About The Boundaries Between Reality And Fantasy.

Location: Landmark Theatres Sunset #1 8000 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, Ca 90046

9:30pm - Village Rockstars 2

Rima Das Returns To The World Of Village Rockstars With A Beautifully Lyrical Sequel That Deepens The Themes Of Resilience, Longing, And The Quiet Strength Of Rural Childhood. In Village Rockstars 2, We Reunite With Dhunu As She Navigates The Cusp Of Adulthood, Her Dreams Still Flickering Amid The Unrelenting Realities Of Village Life. Das Once Again Crafts An Immersive, Sun-Drenched Portrait Of Assam, Where Nature Is Both A Sanctuary And A Force Of Reckoning.

Expanding On The Original’s Concerns – Gender, Economic Hardship, And The Defiant Pursuit Of Joy – The Film Finds New Depths In Its Meditative Rhythms And Intuitive Storytelling. With Her Signature Poetic Minimalism, Das Captures The Unspoken Tensions Between Tradition And Aspiration, Between Rootedness And The Desire For Flight. An Evocative Continuation, Village Rockstars 2 Cements Das’s Place As A Singular Voice In Independent Indian Cinema, Embracing Life’s Rough Edges With Tenderness And Unwavering Authenticity.

Location: Landmark Theatres Sunset #1 8000 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, Ca 90046

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