Shyam Benegal to be honoured at silver jubilee edition of New York Indian Film Festival
The Hindu
The NYIFF, the longest-running and prestigious US festival dedicated to Indian independent cinema, will celebrate its milestone 25th edition from June 20–22
The legacy of legendary Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal will be honoured at the New York Indian Film Festival, which will celebrate its silver jubilee this year with a repertoire of diverse cinematic works featuring celebrated artists such as Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, James Ivory and Rasika Dugal.
The festival, the longest-running and prestigious US festival dedicated to Indian independent cinema, will celebrate its milestone 25th edition here from June 20–22, spotlighting “bold new voices, storied auteurs, and urgent narratives” from the Indian subcontinent and its global diaspora.
"What began as a grassroots platform is now a global stage for Indian independent cinema,” Festival Director Aseem Chhabra said in a press statement Monday.
"This year’s lineup is one of our most powerful and wide-ranging to date. From deeply personal documentaries to regional narratives that rarely reach global audiences, the 25th edition of NYIFF reflects the evolving language of Indian cinema.” The festival will pay tribute to Benegal, a "titan of Indian parallel cinema”, who passed away in December 2024 at the age of 90. NYIFF will screen a 4K restoration of Manthan, Benegal's landmark 1976 film about India’s White Revolution, restored by the Film Heritage Foundation. The film premiered at the Cannes Classics in 2024.
It will also honour the work of Oscar-winning film director James Ivory, with An Arrested Moment, a short documentary from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, directed by Dev Benegal. The film explores Ivory's “enduring fascination with Indian art and culture.”
The 2025 NYIFF lineup includes 22 feature-length films—18 narratives and four documentaries—spanning more than a dozen languages and regions. The festival program also includes 21 short narrative and documentary films.
From Tamil and Odia to Assamese, Hindi, and Malayalam, the selection of the works to be showcased at the festival “reflects both the diversity and the evolving language of Indian cinema,” it said. Chhabra said Siddiqui, who has won two NYIFF best actor trophies, will be attending this year’s festival.
Iranian director in exile, Mohammad Rasoulof, has already started working from his adopted country exploring themes around the autonomy of an artist
Anirudh Ravichander launches Albuquerque Records and announces a nationwide concert tour celebrating 15 years of his musical career.
Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan hospitalized in Mumbai; family and Salman Khan visit amid updates on his condition awaited.
Actors Rahul Bhatt and Sunny Leone open up on essaying complex characters in Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Kennedy’, all set to stream on Zee5
Acclaimed Tamil filmmaker Thiagarajan Kumararaja has reunited with his Super Deluxe star Vijay Sethupathi for his upcoming film, Pocket Novel
Legendary actor Robert Duvall, known for iconic roles in "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now," dies at 95.
The film is set to release in 2027 and is produced under Bhansali Productions and Maya Movies, with Mehta also serving as a writer on it
The concert is part of Kanye West's global run of headline performances and will take place in New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Sinclair Daniel and Mark O'Brien speak of their experiences of working on 'The Copenhagen Test', balancing the action with emotion, and the challenges of filming in extreme weather
Tamil film producer V. Tamil Azhagan, known for iconic films, passes away at 70; Rajinikanth expresses deep condolences.
Arundhati Roy withdraws from Berlin Film Festival, criticizing Wim Wenders' stance on Gaza and the role of politics in art.
‘My Lord’ movie review: Except for a contrived pre-climax sequence, Raju Murugan’s film intersperses social satire and political commentary with wit, heart, and conviction
Why film adaptations that end Wuthering Heights with Catherine’s death, including Emerald Fennell’s version with Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie, miss the point of Emily Brontë’s novel