Film Festival of Queensland to host independent Indian films

Melbourne: First Indian International Film Festival of Queensland (IIFFOQ), which would screen best of the independent Indian cinema?including a world premiere and ten Australian premieres, will be held in Brisbane.

The nine-day long festival, starting from June 26, will also hold several events and discussions to create opportunities for film graduates, students, Australian and Indian film directors and producers to meet and to establish international contacts for future projects. Award-winning producer of?`Romeo + Juliette`?and?`Moulin Rouge`, Martin Brown, will chair the judging panel, alongside Bollywood writer Farrukh Dhondy and Award-wining director Jean-Marc Surcin. "This is Australia`s first-ever independent, competitive Indian film festival and we are excited to share this rich and diverse cultural experience with the Queensland community," festival founder and artistic director Chayan Sarkar said. The festival will open with a critically-acclaimed Indian film, `Manjunath`. "We are proud to present the Australian premiere of? `Manjunath`?as our opening film.?It`s a story about one man striving to maintain his honesty, integrity and principals. It`s an inspiration for every honest individual whose path may be challenged by greed and corruption," Sarkar said. The cinematic line-up also includes director Anup Singh`s?`Qissa: The tail of a lonely ghost`, which stars Bollywood star Irrfan Khan and Sudhin Thakur`s controversial film?`Pinky - Ek Satyakatha`, the story of an award-winning female athlete who was charged with rape and accused of being a male. IIFFOQ is being hosted by Queensland University of Technology (QUT), where opening ceremony and selected screenings will take place. QUT`s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Commercialisation)?Arun Sharma?said the festival reflected the deepening economic and cultural ties between Queensland and India. "This is a landmark festival that will create collaborative opportunities for independent film makers, producers, distributors and other industry professionals from our respective creative sectors, as well as real-world industry connections for our creative industries students and graduates," said Sharma, who is the festival`s Honorary Patron.