COLOURFUL LAUNCH UNVEILS MASSIVE, DIVERSE LINEUP FOR IFFSA 2017

Toronto, ON : April 25, 2017

THE BLACK PRINCE, directed by KaviRaz will open IFFSA Toronto 2017. Starring SatindarSartaj and ShabanaAzmi, the film is a tragic yet fascinating tale about the last king of the mighty Kingdom of Punjab, Maharaja Duleep Singh. KaviRaz along with SatindarSartaj will be attending the Canadian Premiere.

Full lineup of this year’s festival was unveiled at a colorful launch event organized at Living Arts Centre, Mississauga. 100+ films and 40+ events will take place from May 11 to 22 during 12 days of continuous excitement.

Widely recognized as the Voice of South Asian Cinema in Canada, IFFSA 2017’s impressive program reflects the rich diversity of South Asian cinema, as well as the future of South Asian filmmaking, with cutting-edge filmmakers bringing their acclaimed films.

Alankrita Shrivastava’s LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA, a film that revolves around four small town women, who try to steal a piece of freedom from within the confines of their restrained liveswill have its Canadian Premiere at a VIP screening in downtown Toronto.

Shahrbanoo Sadat’s WOLF and SHEEP set in rural Afghanistan where people are storytellers who make up tales and tell each other tales of mystery and imagination to explain the world in which they live, has already made a splash around the world after winning the CICAE Award at the 2016 Cannes International Film Festival.

Bengali films, the hard hitting LIVE FROM DHAKA by Abdullah Mohammed Saad and the musical THE GOLDEN WING by Bobby Sarma will be making its North American and Canadian premiere respectively. AnanyaKasaravalli’s CHRONICLES OF HARI, a beautiful film about a renowned theater actor’s struggle with gender identity is also making its Canadian Premiere.

The festival pays tribute to OM PURI, the veteran Bollywood and Hollywood actor, by hosting a special screening of a remastered Punjabi classic CHAN PARDESI, directed by Chitrartha Singh. This was one of the key films that provided Om Puri the launchpad for his illustrious career.

Amberdeep Singh’s LAHORIYE starring Amrinder Gill along with AkshayRoy ‘s MERI PYARI BINDU will have their North American Premieres on May 11 at the festival before these are released worldwide on May 12.

The festival is hosting a special ensemble of featurettes from the Zeal for Peace initiative that brought together filmmakers from India and Pakistan on a single platform in a reflection of the love, unity & peace between both the nations. Specifically, SILVAT, KHEMAE MEIN MAT JHANKAIN and GUDDU ENGINEER will have their North American Premieres at the festival.

The festival will close with Amit Masurkar’s feature NEWTON. Rajkummar Rao and Anjali Patil starrer political satire Newton had its world premiere at the 67th Berlin Film Festival where it won the International Federation of Art Cinemas (CICAE) award in its Forum segment.

In addition festival also announced a series of glamourous galas, receptions, concerts and industry events.

IFFSA Toronto expressed gratefulness to all its sponsors, which include title sponsor Bank of Montreal, exclusive automotive sponsor KIA Canada, Toronto Star, CBC, Telus, OLG, Canada Post, Sheridan, OMDC, Uber, The Beer Store, Unilever, Dove, Metroland Media and Turkish Airlines.All these partners have contributed immensely to make IFFSA Toronto the largest South Asian film festival in North America.

Festival details and full schedule is available at www.iffsatoronto.com