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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline MAY 02, 2025 | The Indian Eye 22

New York Indian Film Festival

Marks 25th Anniversary with

Powerhouse Lineup

NYIFF Pays Tribute to Shyam Benegal and Features Special Film on James Ivory

OUR BUREAU

New York, NY
he New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF),
the longest-running and most prestigious
TU.S. festival dedicated to Indian indepen-
dent cinema, returns for its milestone 25th edition
from June 20–22, spotlighting bold new voices,
storied auteurs, and urgent narratives from the In-
dian subcontinent and its global diaspora.
Screenings will take place at Manhattan’s Vil-
lage East by Angelika, with tickets and full pro-
gramming details now live at nyiff.us. All the films
have English subtitles.
The 2025 lineup includes 22 feature-length
films—18 narratives and 4 documentaries—span-
ning more than a dozen languages and regions.
From Tamil and Odia to Assamese, Hindi, and
Malayalam, the selection reflects both the diver-
sity and the evolving language of Indian cinema.
The festival program also includes 21 short narra-
tive and documentary films.
Opening Film Showcases Emerging Voices
The festival opens with the East Coast pre- stars Rasika Dugal (Delhi Crime, Mirzapur) and li Bose and Nilesh Maniyar documenting physi-
miere of The Fable, Raam Reddy’s visually ar- Gulshan Devaiah (Hunterrr, Ulajh), who will be cian-assisted suicide in Switzerland. Other stand-
resting drama that debuted at the 2024 Berlina- in attendance alongside the crew. outs: Marching in the Dark (Marathi), on widows
le. Starring Manoj Bajpayee, Priyanka Bose, and Off-Screen Celebration at Chatti of suicide-struck farmers; Renaissance Man, about
Deepak Dobriyal, the film merges surrealism and Following the closing night, the festival will parliamentarian Vivek Tankha; and Turtle Walker,
psychological tension against the Himalayan back- host its official after-party at Chatti, a buzzy new which follows a conservationist’s mission to pro-
drop. Reddy, whose debut Thithi won the Golden Manhattan hotspot by chef Regi Mathew. Known tect India’s sea turtles.
Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival and an Indi- for its contemporary twist on Kerala cuisine, the Legacy and Looking Ahead
an National Film Award, returns with what critics venue offers an intimate setting to toast the future “What began as a grassroots platform is now a
have called a “lyrical, genre-defying triumph.” The of Indian cinema. global stage for Indian independent cinema,” says
Fable recently took home Best Film at the Leeds Festival Director Aseem Chhabra. “This year’s
International Film Festival. Honoring Master Storytellers: Shyam lineup is one of our most powerful and wide-rang-
With haunting performances and a stellar en- Benegal and James Ivory
semble including Tillotama Shome in a cameo, The festival pays tribute to Shyam Benegal, a ing to date. From deeply personal documentaries
to regional narratives that rarely reach global au-
The Fable sets the tone for a weekend of cinema titan of Indian parallel cinema who passed away in diences, the 25th edition of NYIFF reflects the
that is as thought-provoking as it is emotionally 2024. NYIFF will screen a 4K restoration of Man- evolving language of Indian cinema. We are espe-
resonant. than (1976), his landmark film about India’s White cially proud to welcome back stalwarts like Gou-
Centerpiece and Closing Films Revolution, restored by the Film Heritage Foun- tam Ghose, Rima Das, Suman Ghosh and Nikhil
Bring Star Power dation. The film premiered at the Cannes Classics Mahajan, while also shining a spotlight on extraor-
Kennedy, the noir thriller that bowed in in 2024. dinary new talent making their debut. And we are
Also, on the slate is An Arrested Moment, a
Cannes’ Midnight Section, headlines as the cen- short documentary from The Metropolitan Mu- thrilled to have actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who
terpiece. Anchored by Rahul Bhat’s intense lead seum of Art, directed by Dev Benegal. The film has won two NYIFF best actor trophies, attend
performance—building on his recent acclaim for explores Oscar-winner James Ivory’s enduring fas- this year’s festival.”
the series Black Warrant—the film is directed by cination with Indian art and culture. Adds Suman Gollamudi, Executive Director
Anurag Kashyap, stars Sunny Leone and tackles of the Indo-American Arts Council, which pres-
corruption and inner demons. Documentaries Spotlight ents NYIFF: “This festival has long been a space
The closing night film, Little Thomas, is a Urgency and Humanity where India’s cinematic legacy meets its most dar-
coming-of-age dramedy set in 1990s Goa, mark- NYIFF’s nonfiction programming includes A ing futures. At 25, we are not just celebrating the
ing the directorial debut of Kaushal Oza. The film Fly on the Wall, a deeply personal film by Shona- past—we are investing in what’s next.”

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