Indian Film Festival of Melbourne: 18 fascinating facts about IFFM 2018

The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2018 (IFFM 2018) will witness celebrated Bollywood stars Freida Pinto, Rani Mukerji, Vicky Kaushal, Ram Charan, Richa Chadha, RajKumar Hirani, Ali Fazal, Simi Grewal and Malaika Arora among others shine and sparkle at their best.

Here’s all you need to know about the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne: 18 facts about IFFM 2018

1. The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2018 will be held from August 10 to 22.

2. This year, the festival will screen over 60 movies in 22 languages during the 12 day long program, said IFFM director Mitu Bhowmick Lange.

3. IFFM 2018 will showcase Tabrez Noorani’s film "Love Sonia" as its opening night film.

4. “Love Sonia is a relevant film for the festival which is on the theme of inclusion,” Lange said.

5. Love Sonia star cast Pinto, Chadha, Mrunal Thaku and Noorani will be present on the night.

6. At IFFM 2018, the festival will honour late Shashi Kapoor and Sridevi.

7. Special screenings of their two iconic films “Siddhartha” and “Chandni” will be held.

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8. IFFM 2018 competition section of the festival will have six categories

9. In best director award segment, 12 filmmakers, including Rajkumar Hirani, Shoojit Sircar, Meghna Gulzar, R Balki, Rima Das, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Suresh Triveni will battle it out.

10. In best film award segment, eight films, including “Sanju”, “Raazi”, “Padman”, “Padmavat”, “Secret Superstar”, “Hichki” and “Mahanti” will compete.

11. In best actor award category, Ranbir Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan, Ranveer Singh, Shahid kapoor, Soumitra Chatterjee, Manoj Bajpayee and Fahad Faasil will contest.

12. Who are the nominees for best actress: Rani, Vidya Balan, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Zaira Wasim, Bhanita Das, Keerthy Suresh and Tillotama Shome have been nominated for the best actress award

13. Who are the nominees for best supporting performance, a newly incepted category: Vicky Kaushal, Ranvir Shorey, Pinto, Meher Vij, Chadha, Trimala Adhikari and Samantha Akkineni have been nominated in the newly incepted category of best supporting performance.

14. Nominees for the best Indie Film Award: Seven films - “Gali Galiya”, “Village Rockstars”, “Sir”, “Balekempa”, “Up, Down and Sideways”, “Mayurkashi” and “Garbage” will compete for the best indie film award.

15. Apart from this, two Assamese films “Ishu” and “Village Rockstars”, Malyalam film “The Summer of Miracles” and the Hindi film “The Cake Story” will have their Australian premiers in the Childrens’ film section along with other premiers.

16. As its annual feature, the festival will also celebrate Indian independence day on August 11 at the Melbourne’s iconic Federation square building with Rani hoisting the Indian flag.

17. Flag hoisting ceremony will be followed by its popular annual Bollywood dance contest which awards local dancing talents from Australia.

18. The IFFM 2018 will also feature masterclasses, panel discussions on cinema and conversations with guests stars including Hirani, Ram Charan and Rani.