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The author further talks about his interpretation of the festival, right from the name to its staff etc. I am not going to cut the following paragraphs because it needs to be read in one flow.

“IFFLA stands for Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Its a carefully thought of name -INDIAN (proud to be one) FILM (a beautiful medium of expression) FESTIVAL (celebration)of LOS ANGELES (mecca of hollywood). There’s this observation I made during my flight to LA - every third person in LAX is an Indian (or even a pakistani/sri lankan). So that means Los Angeles (which is in USA) is brimming with people of Indian descent. Now what is more surprising is - the INDIAN film festival is run by a lovely lady, Christina Marouda, a lady of GREEK descent.

India & Greece - the only relation between the two is Alexander the great crossing the Indus river to enter India. Just like how Alexander the Great ‘discovered’ India, Christina Marouda ‘discovered’ independently made Indian films and shows them in a country which is brimming with Indian people. Its sort of a ‘discovery’ in itself - the integral part of IFFLA, that is. I know its confusing, but I am sorry, I don’t know how to simplify things. I have been told to ‘complexify’ (for the lack of words) things, in order to gain attention, fame and fortune.

So coming back to the festival, Christina, is one of the most humble and caring human being you would ever meet. She has been on the fore-front of showing films that have been overlooked by the media, distributors etc in our own India. She has been instrumental in discovering under-rated performers and in her own way, tries to give them what they deserve. She travels all around the world, trying to find films and film-makers who have a potential, but are kind of run down by the bureaucracy & politics that make one hate one’s industry. The thing that is synonymous with her and the festival - Love for cinema. Something that the film-makers that I have been fortunate to spend time with have in common. And when all this comes together, IFFLA becomes an experience to be ‘experienced’. And this love is not only found in her or the film-makers, it runs through each and every person involved in the ‘functioning’ of the festival -right from the volunteers, to the film-maker liaison, to the programmers etc. Everyone you meet will be full of love for cinema. And it is this love that makes them blind - blind enough to see short films as FILMS, to see music videos as FILMS and to see film-makers as HUMAN BEINGS (and not GOD as we are told to!). I know of certain film-makers, whose films have been a part of the festival, making trips each year just to experience this euphoria (even if its for one day). Its the thin red line between KNOWING that you’re in a festival, and at the same time NOT KNOWING that you’re surrounded by film-makers. ”

The author seems content with his experience. He doesn’t show dismay but a hope. A sense of belonging is what he’s trying to combine with the festival. In his next few paragraphs, he has again gone back to the “director’s house”, which in all probability is where maximum fun & conversations took place. He mentions in one of the sentences that I have not included here - “IFFLA 2008, for me, were films & orchid house - you couldn’t take the two away from each other!” He also further explains the whole “…to see film-makers as HUMAN BEINGS” bit in the next few paragraphs. It makes me jealous & envious of the author and at the same time belittles me for not knowing about this festival - in spite of being ’so well aware of films, film-makers & film festivals’ around the world!

(To be continued)