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, Melbourne
Sunday 20th August:
IFFM Closing Night @ Hoyts District Docklands
Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards Night 2023 nominations:
Best Film
Bhediya (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 Film
Aatma-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) Feature
Chiyaan Vikram for Ponniyin
Selvan 1 / 2 (Tamil)
Dulquer Salmaan for Sita
Ramam (Telugu)
Kapil Sharma for Zwigato
(Hindi)
Manoj Bajpayee for Gulmohar
(Hindi)
Manoj Bajpayee for Joram
(Hindi)
Mohit Agarwal for Agra (Hindi)
Paresh Rawal for The
Storyteller (Hindi)
Rajkummar Rao for Monica O
My Darling (Hindi)
Rishab Shetty for Kantara
(Kannada)
Shah Rukh Khan for Pathaan
(Hindi)
Vijay Varma for Darlings
(Hindi)
Best Performance (Female) Feature
Akshatha Pandavapura for Koli
Esru (Kannada)
Alia Bhatt for Darlings (Hindi)
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for
Ponniyin 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 Mrs
Chatterjee vs Norway (Hindi)
Sai Pallavi for Gargi (Tamil)
Sanya Malhotra for Kathal
(Hindi)
Best Director
Ashish Avinash Bende for
Aatma-Pamphlet (AutobioPamphlet) (Marathi)
Anurag Kashyap for Kennedy
(Hindi)
Anant Mahadevan for The
Storyteller (Hindi)
Devashish Makhija for Joram
(Hindi)
Don Palathara for Family
(Malayalam)
Kanu Behl for Agra (Hindi)
Mani Ratnam for Ponniyin
Selvan 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 My
Darling (Hindi)
Best Documentary
Against The Tide (Marathi,
Hindi)
Be Kucheye Khoshbakht (And,
Towards Happy Alleys)
(Persian)
Dharti Latar Re Horo (Tortoise
Under The Earth) (Santhali)
Fatima (Hindi)
To Kill a Tiger (Nagpuri, Hindi)
While We Watched (Hindi,
English)
STREAMING PLATFORM AWARDS
Best Performance (Male) Series
Abhishek Bachchan in Breathe –
Into the Shadows (Season 2)
Abhay Deol in Trial By Fire
Aparshakti Khurana in Jubilee
Prosenjit Chatterjee in Jubilee
Shahid Kapoor in Farzi
Sidhant Gupta in Jubilee
Vijay Sethupati in Farzi
Vijay Varma in Dahaad
Best Performance (Female) Series
Rajshri Deshpande in Trial By
Fire
Rasika Dugal in Delhi Crime S2
Shriya Pilgaonkar in The Broken
News
Shefali Shah in Delhi Crime S2
Sriya Reddy in Suzhal: The
Vortex
Sonakshi Sinha in Dahaad
Tillotama Shome in Delhi Crime
S2
Wamiqa Gabbi in Jubilee
Best Series
Dahaad
Delhi Crime S2
Farzi
Jubilee
She S2
Suzhal: The Vortex
The Broken News
Trial 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.
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