The 6th Annual Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) runs November 2–5, 2017 and features thirty-six works from eighteen nations. DIFF has become one of India’s leading independent film festivals and draws audiences from across the world.
The opening night presentation is Shubhashish Bhutiani’s national award-winning feature Mukti Bhawan, followed by a Q&A session with its lead actor, Adil Hussain. The roster of seventeen dramatic features includes India and Nepal’s Oscar entries—Newton and White Sun. Highlights of the documentary program include the Academy Award-nominated Cameraperson, by Kirsten Johnson, and a newly restored version of Out of this World, journalist Lowell Thomas’ fascinating account of his travels in Tibet in 1949, which will be presented by filmmaker David Wright and Anne Donaghy, Lowell Thomas’s granddaughter.
DIFF 2017 also presents its fifth program of short films from India, selected by renowned Marathi filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni, and the second edition of the Royal Stag Large Shorts program. Over a dozen of the film directors are expected to attend. In addition to Q&A sessions, attending filmmakers will take part in a series of masterclasses and topical panel discussions.
DIFF founders (and veteran filmmakers) Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam said, “One of the joys of curating a small, bespoke film festival is the opportunity to watch an amazingly diverse range of films from every corner of the globe. It is also one of most rewarding ways of keeping one’s finger on the pulse of new trends in cinema,” they said, adding, “It’s been a painstaking process and the program we have put together hopefully once again reflects the eclecticism, adventurousness, and deeply personal directorial vision that have been the hallmarks of the films at DIFF.”
Attending DIFF is a highlight of visiting McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, India, now a global destination, the exile home of the Dalai Lama, the capital of the Tibetan diaspora, and more recently, an international cricket venue.
Buddhist Film Foundation is proud to serve as fiscal sponsor for DIFF.
