It would be apt to say that IFFLA is probably the most reputed Indian Film Festival outside of India. Its growing at a phenomenal rate. I remember when I had moved to LA around 3 years back & I met this Indian Guy Gautam Mishra in my Cinema class. He suggested that I should volunteer at IFFLA as I was new to the city/country, it would be a great opportunity to make some friends. And I did. Since then the 3rd week of April has been the best week of the year in LA for me.
Gautam also gave me his gyan from having volunteered before. He suggested that we volunteer in transportation. That was the second best advise he gave me. 2005 was much smaller in scale compared to this year. Madhur Bhandarkar was probably the only famous guy from Bollywood at the festival & he didn’t bother much with the festival anyways. There was only me picking up filmmakers from the festival(atleast 80%). The flipside to that was I didn’t get to socialize with other volunteers or watch any film. The only film I watched during that festival was Black Friday. And that was my only request. I also made friends with 3 of my fav people from the Festival – Rani, Priya & Z. 2005 also had a short film from a Filmmaker from Canada- AMAL by Richie Mehta. It won the best short film that year. 2005 also had a science fiction short film SYSTEM OF UNITS by Richie. After watch 2 completely different genres of film by him IFFLA was floored. Richie will return to IFFLA next year with his music video ALL ROADS LEADS TO HERE. I couldnt find the video online, but I found some videos of the Tabla player Gurpreet Chana who inspired Richie. I remember after watching his music video I went upto him at the closing party & told him that its time for him to make his Feature. He said he is trying to make a feature out of Amal. Its 2008 & AMAL is the opening film at IFFLA. Its a classic example of a Festival helping filmmakers. AMAL boasts a very talented starcast of Koel Purie, Naseeruddin Shah, Roshan Seth, Seema Biswas. But what makes me happy is the lead is the same Rupinder Nagra. Rupinder was great in the short.
The press release on the IFFLA website is -

G.K. Jayaram, an eccentric tycoon disguised as a vagabond, searches for hope in humanity that he has yet to find among his shiftless sons and deceitful business associates. In the streets of New Delhi, he comes across a humble autorickshaw driver, Amal – a man perfectly content with his simple life. One fateful ride demonstrates Amal’s unflappable integrity leading Jayaram to bequeath his fortune to the anonymous public servant. Upon his death, lawyer, Ms. Agarwal is charged with locating Amal lest the fortune be forfeited to Jayaram’s undeserving sons. Meanwhile, an unsuspecting Amal struggles to find funds for an injured street urchin’s medical treatment and inadvertently stumbles upon the prospect of love with one of his regular passengers.

Richie Mehta’s award winning feature directorial debut is based on his 2005 IFFLA Grand Jury Prize winning short film AMAL and adapted from a short story by Shaun Mehta. This charming fable examines the true nature of happiness in a society obsessed with speed, technology and monetary wealth. In AMAL, Mehta introduces the rarest of heroes, one whose spirit will undoubtedly leave an indelible impact.

I’m not sure if I’ll make it to the festival tommorow, but I wish IFFLA, Richie & Rupinder my best wishes.