As the band Aerosmith once stated in a tune, “Gotta love the sweet taste of India.”
That lyric is what festival director Frankie Vayalumkal is hoping attendees will be saying once again this weekend at the 3rd annual India International Film Festival in Tampa, Florida.
Presented by the Indo-US Chamber of Commerce, IIFF will be setting up shop in the Channelside district beginning this Friday at 6:30 p.m. Opening night will commence upstairs at the movie theater entrance with a red-carpet/V.I.P reception for filmmakers and guests. The opening night film, Love, Wrinkle-Free, will begin at 8:30 p.m. and will be followed by a dinner & after-party at the Dolce Vita Lounge, also located inside Channelside cinemas.
Not much is changing for this year’s edition, and that’s actually a good thing. This young festival has a nice flow to it and it is very well-organized. Saturday and Sunday will consist of a full-day of films along with on-going interactive dance performances in the Channelside courtyard area. There will also be a variety of food vendors positioned around the area serving up Indian cuisine. And of course, there will be nightly after-parties.
“You go for the films, but you also experience a bit more than that when you leave. You have a full cultural experience,” says Frankie Vayalumkal.
And that’s been the mission for this festival since inception…
“The festival gives a better view of another culture; experiencing more than just Bollywood. Bollywood is the most commercial obviously, but this film festival gives you a more in-depth view of the India culture and getting to know another community here in Tampa.”
While the IIFF are sticking with what has worked the last couple years, the singular tweak they are adding to the fest is a special session for filmmakers to network. At many film festivals, the majority of networking happens in an informal manner and people are dealing with constant interruptions due to the hectic nature and/or atmosphere that occurs at a film festival. Having this dedicated networking session should please many of the industry professionals as they look to progress their respective careers.
People are traveling from all around the world once again to be a part of IIFF. And with that, this has led to a variety of genres being screened this year. There were 130 submissions – that’s up from 80 last year - and 27 were selected to be shown. They’ve come a long way from year one when they had to literally beg filmmakers just to get submissions.
They are expecting a bigger crowd this go-around thanks to a wider marketing campaign, but tickets are still available at this time.
Visit the India International Film Festival’s official site and Facebook page, for a detailed listing of the films and overall schedule for the three-day event.
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