It's that time of the year again – the 2023 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is here. Arguably the biggest celebration of Indian cinema in Australia, IFFM (running from August 11 to 20) will feature movie screenings, Q&A's and a spectacular awards night in the Victorian capital.
Audiences can watch at least 100 feature films, documentaries, and short films from various parts of India, going beyond the Bollywood stereotype that the West often upholds. Think Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telegu and Kannada films.
Moviegoers will also have the chance to see some of the talent in the flesh, with celebrities such as Kartik Aaryan, Rana Daggupatti, Bhumi Pednekar, Mrunal and Malaika Arora, Kanu Behl, Varun Grover, Angad Bedi, Saiyami Kher and Shabana Azmi attending IFFM events in Melbourne.
"We are delighted to welcome some of the most loved, respected and diverse voices from India to our festival this year," says IFFM Festival Director, Mitu Bhowmick Lange. "The vast variety of films and events has been carefully curated to ensure that there is something for everything and its truly representative of the depth and richness of Indian cinema."
Here are the festival’s key dates to pop into your diary so you can perfectly plan your weekend of movie marathons. Remember to also scroll down further for the IFFM Awards Night nominees.
Friday 11th August:
I FFM Press Conference, Melbourne CBDANZ Plus
Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards Night @ Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
Saturday 12th August:
Flag Hoisting Ceremony for the 76th Anniversary Indian Independence @ Alexandra Gardens, Peppercorn Lawn
IFFM Dance Competition @ NGV, Melbourne
IFFM Opening Night @ Hoyts District Docklands
Sunday 13th August
IFFM Talks @ NGV, MelbourneSunday 20th August:
IFFM Closing Night @ Hoyts District Docklands
Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards Night 2023 nominations:
Best FilmBhediya (Hindi)Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva(Hindi)Darlings (Hindi)Jogi (Punjabi)Kantara (Kannada)Monica, O My Darling (Hindi)Pathaan (Hindi)Ponniyin Selvan 1 & 2 (Tamil)Sita Raman (Telugu)
Best Indie FilmAatma-Pamphlet (AutobioPamphlet) (Marathi)Agra (Hindi)All India Rank (Hindi)Family (Malayalam)Gulmohar (Hindi)Hadinelentu (Seventeeners)(Kannada)Joram (Hindi)Pine Cone (Hindi)Tora's Husband (Assamese)The Storyteller (Hindi)Zwigato (Hindi)
Best Performance (Male) FeatureChiyaan Vikram for PonniyinSelvan 1 / 2 (Tamil)Dulquer Salmaan for SitaRamam (Telugu)Kapil Sharma for Zwigato(Hindi)Manoj Bajpayee for Gulmohar(Hindi)Manoj Bajpayee for Joram(Hindi)Mohit Agarwal for Agra (Hindi)Paresh Rawal for TheStoryteller (Hindi)Rajkummar Rao for Monica OMy Darling (Hindi)Rishab Shetty for Kantara(Kannada)Shah Rukh Khan for Pathaan(Hindi)Vijay Varma for Darlings(Hindi)
Best Performance (Female) FeatureAkshatha Pandavapura for KoliEsru (Kannada)Alia Bhatt for Darlings (Hindi)Aishwarya Rai Bachchan forPonniyin Selvan 1 / 2 (Tamil)Bhumi Pednekar for Bheed(Hindi)Kajol for Salaam Venky (Hindi)Mrunal Thakur for Sita Ramam(Telugu)Neena Gupta for Vadh (Hindi)Rani Mukherjee for MrsChatterjee vs Norway (Hindi)Sai Pallavi for Gargi (Tamil)Sanya Malhotra for Kathal(Hindi)
Best DirectorAshish Avinash Bende forAatma-Pamphlet (AutobioPamphlet) (Marathi)Anurag Kashyap for Kennedy(Hindi)Anant Mahadevan for TheStoryteller (Hindi)Devashish Makhija for Joram(Hindi)Don Palathara for Family(Malayalam)Kanu Behl for Agra (Hindi)Mani Ratnam for PonniyinSelvan 1 & 2 (Tamil)Nandita Das for Zwigato(Hindi)Prithvi Konanur for Hadinelentu(Seventeeners) (Kannada)Rima Das for Tora’s Husband(Assamese)Siddharth Anand for Pathaan(Hindi)Vasan Bala for Monica O MyDarling (Hindi)
Best DocumentaryAgainst The Tide (Marathi,Hindi)Be Kucheye Khoshbakht (And,Towards Happy Alleys)(Persian)Dharti Latar Re Horo (TortoiseUnder The Earth) (Santhali)Fatima (Hindi)To Kill a Tiger (Nagpuri, Hindi)While We Watched (Hindi,English)
STREAMING PLATFORM AWARDS
Best Performance (Male) SeriesAbhishek Bachchan in Breathe -Into the Shadows (Season 2)Abhay Deol in Trial By FireAparshakti Khurana in JubileeProsenjit Chatterjee in JubileeShahid Kapoor in FarziSidhant Gupta in JubileeVijay Sethupati in FarziVijay Varma in Dahaad
Best Performance (Female) SeriesRajshri Deshpande in Trial ByFireRasika Dugal in Delhi Crime S2Shriya Pilgaonkar in The BrokenNewsShefali Shah in Delhi Crime S2Sriya Reddy in Suzhal: TheVortexSonakshi Sinha in DahaadTillotama Shome in Delhi CrimeS2Wamiqa Gabbi in Jubilee
Best SeriesDahaadDelhi Crime S2FarziJubileeShe S2Suzhal: The VortexThe Broken NewsTrial By Fire
Tickets to the ANZ Plus Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards Night 2023 on August 11th are on sale now via Arts Centre Melbourne. Tickets to the festival screening and special screenings are now available here.