INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF LOS ANGELES ANNOUNCES MERGER WITH THE INDIA CENTER FOUNDATION
FESTIVAL APPOINTS ANU RANGACHAR AS THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
AND SETS 2024 DATES
Los Angeles, CA (January 16, 2024) – Today, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (“IFFLA”) and The India Center Foundation (“ICF”) announced the merger of their assets to pursue joint projects centered on the theme of visual storytelling in the South Asian community. IFFLA also announced today that the 22nd edition will take place on June 27-30, 2024, welcoming to its team Anu Rangachar as Artistic Director.
Already long-time collaborators, IFFLA and ICF will, among other things, work closely to incubate and launch an industry development program to showcase the next generation of South Asian talent to studios, funders, and media executives.
“We saw an opportunity to scale our work nationally as one of the leading supporters of emerging creative talent in the diaspora,” said Priya Giri Desai, a co-founder of ICF. “By joining forces with IFFLA, we can bring much-needed resources to support the stories that need to be told in the media. Our stories.”
“We are thrilled to officially team up with ICF,” said Christina Marouda, IFFLA Board Chair. “I have personally worked with the organization since its inception on multiple film festivals and media projects, and I have such respect for the way they have thoughtfully and strategically developed the organization and selflessly supported diverse creative output. They have been a financial and creative partner to IFFLA over numerous festivals already, which makes this a natural fit. I have no doubt that we can bring even greater impact together.”
ICF President and co-founder Raoul Bhavnani commented on the announcement, “We couldn’t be happier to see this match between our two organizations. We care deeply about supporting serious artistry and find real kinship with what Christina and the IFFLA team have built over more than 20 years. I can’t wait to see what comes next.”
As part of this merger, Desai has joined the IFFLA Board of Directors, in part to steward the funding that ICF will provide to the combined venture over several years. She will bring her formidable talents in creating documentary and scripted South Asian content as well as an exceptional network, to the IFFLA industry development program.
IFFLA is excited to announce its new Artistic Director, Anu Rangachar. Rangachar heads the International Program at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, a festival she has been associated with for the past 15 years and one where she has facilitated many international collaborations. Before that, she attended a film school in New York City and worked with Rituparno Ghosh and Ashim Ahluwalia. She currently co-produces arthouse Indian independent films and has also been distributing prestigious arthouse world cinema titles in the USA.
“We are honored to be welcoming Anu to our team and cannot wait to work with her in developing exciting programs and meaningful partnerships in the future,” commented IFFLA Board Chair Christina Marouda.
About IFFLA
IFFLA was founded in 2002 as a non-profit organization with the aim to offer the Los Angeles community a unique opportunity to learn about India’s multifaceted culture and long history of filmmaking. Since then, IFFLA has grown into the premiere U.S. venue for discovering the best of South Asian cinema, as well as a vital hub that fosters an important dialogue among the most original independent storytellers from South Asia, the greater diasporic community and the international film industry at large.
www.indianfilmfestival.org
About The India Center Foundation
Founded in 2016, The India Center Foundation (ICF) is a national, nonprofit organization focused on the creativity and stories of the American diaspora. Based in New York City, ICF is a platform for both established and emerging voices exploring South Asian identity, cultural expression and meaning in a complex world. ICF has partnered with many of the most prestigious presenting organizations in the United States to mount work, from Lincoln Center to the Asia Society to the Museum of the Moving Image. In the spring of 2020, ICF launched The South Asian Arts Resiliency Fund which gave out grants to many diaspora artists whose work was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.theindiacenter.us
