Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles Merges With India Center Foundation

Photo: Anu Rangachar

India-West Staff Reporter

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (“IFFLA”) and The India Center Foundation (“ICF”) on January 17 announced the merger of their assets to pursue joint projects centered on the theme of visual storytelling in the South Asian community.

IFFLA also announced that the 22nd edition will take place on June 27-30, 2024, welcoming to its team Anu Rangachar as Artistic Director.

Already long-time collaborators, IFFLA and ICF will, among other things, work closely to incubate and launch an industry development program to showcase the next generation of South Asian talent to studios, funders, and media executives.   

“We saw an opportunity to scale our work nationally as one of the leading supporters of emerging creative talent in the diaspora,” said Priya Giri Desai, a co-founder of ICF.  “By joining forces with IFFLA, we can bring much-needed resources to support the stories that need to be told in the media. Our stories.” 

“We are thrilled to officially team up with ICF,” said Christina Marouda, IFFLA Board Chair.  “I have personally worked with the organization since its inception on multiple film festivals and media projects, and I have such respect for the way they have thoughtfully and strategically developed the organization and selflessly supported diverse creative output. They have been a financial and creative partner to IFFLA over numerous festivals already, which makes this a natural fit. I have no doubt that we can bring even greater impact together.”

ICF President and co-founder Raoul Bhavnani added,  “We couldn’t be happier to see this match between our two organizations. We care deeply about supporting serious artistry and find real kinship with what Christina and the IFFLA team have built over more than 20 years. I can’t wait to see what comes next.”

As part of this merger, Desai has joined the IFFLA Board of Directors, in part to steward the funding that ICF will provide to the combined venture over several years. She will bring her talents in creating documentary and scripted South Asian content as well as an exceptional network, to the IFFLA industry development program.

Rangachar heads the International Program at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, a festival she has been associated with for the past 15 years and one where she has facilitated many international collaborations. Before that, she attended a film school in New York City and worked with Rituparno Ghosh and Ashim Ahluwalia. She currently co-produces arthouse Indian independent films and has also been distributing prestigious arthouse world cinema titles in the USA.