Official opening night media release, IFFM Program Sneak Peek

TWO OUTSTANDING FILMS ADDRESSING DISABILITY AND GENDER EQUALITY  STREAMING OCTOBER 23 AS THE OPENING NIGHT FILMS OF THE INDIAN FILM  FESTIVAL OF MELBOURNE  

Fes<val dates: October 23 – 30  

Vidya Balan’s NATKHAT and Nachiket Samant HABADDI will be available to stream on October 23 as the opening  night films of the Indian Film Fes<val of Melbourne. Over 7 days the fes<val will screen over 60 films in 17  languages, including 34 Interna<onal Premieres and 56 Australian Premieres, available to audiences across Australia  as this year’s fes<val moves online.  

IFFM Fes’val Director, Mitu Bhowmick Lange: “Indian filmmakers – from independent short film makers to our most  powerful directors – turn their gaze to issues of freedom and equality in the contemporary world and celebrate the  diversity that defines us all. Film is a powerful way to bring people together be they si@ng in a packed cinema or in  2020, in their own homes.”  

All films will be available for viewing free of charge across Australia from October 23 to 30. in recogni’on of the  pressures this year has placed on many people, IFFM is partnering with Mental Health Founda’on Australia and  encourages fes’val par’cipants to donate to MHF when booking.  

Chairperson, Vasan Srinivasan said :“The world of cinema is one that can bring joy. Some’mes siOng down and  watching a film, is a great way to prac’ce self-care and promote mental wellbeing. This is what the Mental Health  Founda’on Australia is all about. Cinema has the power to unite, and I wish the IFFM team all the very best in their  venture to do so.’’  

Minister for Crea’ve Industries Danny Pearson said: “The Victorian Government is proud to support the Indian Film  Fes’val of Melbourne. Each year the fes’val showcases the breadth and depth of Indian cinema and gives a plaUorm  for new talent through the short film compe”on. This year the fes’val is taking the celebra’ons to a new level,  opening up access to film lovers across the country through this incredible – and free – online program.”  

NATKHAT (transl The Brat) is a 25-minute film produced and starring Vidya Balan. One of India’s most powerful and  acclaimed actors, widely recognised as pioneering a change in the portrayal of women in Hindi Cinema, Balan plays an  abused mother teaching her son about gender equality and empathy through the telling of a simple bed’me story.  

“Natkhat makes you confront the reality that most women in this country live on a day to day basis and how we are  bringing up children and how if we want to see a change, we have to bring up our children differently.” – Vidya Balan 

The delighUul feature HABADDI focuses on Kabaddi a popular contact sport in Southern Asia that first originated in  Ancient India. When the news of his village’s Kabbadi team travelling to Mumbai breaks out a 10-year-old boy with a  speech impediment sees the opportunity to meet the girl he adores. But will he be able to chant kabbadi kabbadi  without stammering?  

“The story is loosely based on my adopted brother who grew up as an orphan, devoid of social skills and confidence,  but with an immensely inquisiJve and invenJve mind who loved to take apart and put together any gadget in sight. So  I developed an Oliver Twist like orphan who because of the bullying he encounters, has developed superior agility on  one side and stuMering speech on the other. The unique sport of Kabaddi requires both- fluent speech as well as speed.  This is how we arrived at the story of a ‘broken boy’ who has a knack for mending broken things and by extension his  broken life.” Director Nachiket Samant  

The 2020 Fes’val features five dynamic program streams of new and classic films from India and the subcon’nent.  ‘Hurrah Bollywood’, the best mainstream Hindi cinema from the last twelve months; ‘Beyond Bollywood’, art house  and cinema in regional Indian languages; ‘Films from the Subcon’nent’, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal; ‘Film India 

World’, focussing on Indian films that cross interna’onal borders, and the Documentary sec’on including a number of  cri’cally acclaimed documentaries. Stand out highlights include the micro-budgeted, guerilla-filmed noir ,LORNI THE  FLANEUR; THE ILLEGAL, “a ‘mely film about immigrants in the U.S” (Variety); RUN KALYANI, a poe’c and realist drama  about du’es, dreams and desires which opened the 2019 New York Indian Film Fes’val; THE MIS EDUCATION OF  BINDU, a beau’fully rendered dive into the peculiar and chao’c world of teenagers, and MOTI BAGH, a documentary  based on the struggle of a farmer in a remote Himalayan village, which is India’s Official entry in this year’s Oscars.  

To view the Fes<val program, and for booking guidelines go to  

Iffm.com.au 

Facebook – @IndianFilmFes’valOfMelbourne @FilmVic @MBFWorld  

Twi`er: @iffmelbourne @FilmVictoria @MBFWorld  

Instagram: @IFFMelb @FilmVic  

For more informa’on regarding this media release please contact Miranda Brown 

E: miranda@mbpublicity.com.au P: 0491 743 610