Los Angeles | Malayalam espionage thriller "Patriot", which brings together screen legends Mohanlal and Mammootty for the first time in 18 years, will open the 24th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), scheduled from April 23 to 26.
The festival, recognised as a leading platform for South Asian cinema showcase in the US, will screen 27 films this year, including seven narrative features, two documentary features, and 18 short films from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and the USA.
Alongside Mohanlal and Mammootty, "Patriot" features Fahadh Faasil, Nayanthara, and Revathy in a star-studded ensemble.
The festival will close with the North American premiere of "The Great Shamsuddin Family", directed by Anusha Rizvi of "Peepli Live" fame. The darkly comic social satire is set over a single day inside a Delhi apartment and follows a writer navigating a family in crisis against the backdrop of a pressing deadline.
Pakistani director Seemab Gul's "Ghost School", her debut feature about a ten-year-old girl caught in the fallout of supernatural rumour at her school, and Mahde Hasan's Bangladeshi drama "Sand City", which won the Proxima Grand Prix at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, will be screened at the festival.
Anuparna Roy's "Songs of Forgotten Trees", which earned Roy the Best Director Award at the Venice Film Festival, will also have its North American premiere at IFFLA. The film follows two migrant women forging an unlikely bond in Mumbai.
The documentary segment features Karla Murthy's "The Gas Station Attendant", winner of Best Documentary at the Nashville Film Festival, an intimate portrait of the filmmaker's immigrant father pieced together from archival footage and late-night phone calls.
A second documentary, "Breaking The Code", co-directed by Ben Rekhi and Swetlana, will have its world premiere at the festival. The film retraces the journey of Rekhi's father from post-independence India to becoming a tech pioneer in Silicon Valley.
IFFLA Artistic Director Anu Rangachar said the 2026 lineup reflected "a remarkable surge of women filmmakers across the subcontinent and the diasporas." Thirteen of the 18 short films in the programme are directed by women.
The short film slate includes world premieres of Nihaarika Negi's "Tenfa", an intergenerational Himalayan tale, and Fatima Liaqat's "Plain Folks", a comedy horror set at an American college.
International selections include "Bleat!" by Ananth Subramaniam, winner of the Queer Palm at Cannes Critics' Week, and "O'Sey Balamma" by Raman Nimmala, which premiered at Sundance this year.
IFFLA's Industry Days forum will return alongside the screenings, offering panels, masterclasses, and a USD 10,000 Pitch Competition Development Grant open to South Asian film and television creatives.
The festival also runs IFFLA Connect, a programme linking projects from South Asia and its diasporas with industry professionals for support in financing, production, and casting.
Executive Director Anjay Nagpal said the festival aimed to spotlight "the brilliant breadth and scope of South Asian storytelling" while connecting filmmakers with Los Angeles audiences and industry professionals.
The festival is supported by the Joy of Sharing Foundation, Tarsadia Foundation, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.