Cannes winner ‘The Buriti Flower’ to be screened at film festival in India

Indi(r)a's Emergency, directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Achal Mishra's third film Ri, and Cannes 2023 winner The Buriti Flower are part of the Dharmashala International Film Festival (DIFF) line-up this year.

The festival on Saturday announced the first eleven titles, part of its on-ground special programming, to be screened from November 4 to 7 in McLeod Ganj.

The Indian Programming highlights include Mishra's third film Ri, which will have its world premiere at DIFF; Rapture (Rimdogittanga), directed by Dominic Sangma, which premiered at the prestigious Locarno Film Festival and won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Cultural Diversity; and Shahrukh Khan Chavada's Which Colour?, which had its premiere at the 52nd International Film Festival Rotterdam.

The International Programming highlights at DIFF include the South Asian premiere of The Buriti Flower by Joao Salaviza and Renee Nader Messora, which won the Cannes Un Certain Regard Ensemble Prize 2023; CJ Fiery Obasi’s allegorical tale Mami Wata, the winner of Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Prize; Iranian-born director Sepideh Farsi’s animation feature The Siren; and acclaimed Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki's Fallen Leaves.

This edition will feature internationally acclaimed documentary films, including the Asia Premiere of I am Sirat, a collaboration between Oscar-nominated filmmaker Deepa Mehta and Sirat Taneja; the India Premiere of award-winning Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi’s Innocence; renowned Chilean documentary filmmaker Patricio Guzman’s My Imaginary Country, and Indi(r)a's Emergency by Motwane.

Mehta, Farsi, Sangma, Motwane, Mishra, and Chavada will be attending the festival, which will take place at the Tibetan Children’s Village, Upper Dharamshala.

DIFF also announced the selection of five South Asian projects for Filmlab South Asia 2023, a collaboration with Festival des 3 Continents' Produire au Sud (PAS) and Institut Francais.

These projects from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh join a prestigious training programme, emphasising international co-production, strengthening the Himalayan region's independent film scene, and underscoring DIFF and PAS's dedication to fostering independent cinema in South Asia.

The selected projects for FilmLab South Asia 2023 are Suraiya (Bangladesh), Last Time on Earth, Storm Bird, Terminal 3, and Son of a Honey Hunter (Nepal).

Film screenings, masterclasses, and discussions will take place in two auditoriums at the school campus, as well as in two of PictureTime’s mobile digital cinemas.