Toronto, ON (July 17, 2022) – BMO IFFSA Toronto, the largest South Asian film festival in North America, makes a grand return to in-person festivities this August! This celebration of returning to the BIG SCREEN is led by a screening of Last Film Show by Pan Nalin, a film about cinema that returns us to the excitement of sitting in the darkness and having our childhood sense of magic and innocence brought back to us in the flare of light on the screen. The other two amazing opening films are Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer No Land’s Man by Mostafa Sarwar Farooki, and Gurvinder Singh’s Adh Chanani Raat.
Running from August 11th to 21st at prestigious venues across the Greater Toronto Area, IFFSA 2022 will showcase over 120+ films in 22+ languages and 40+ captivating events across 11 days of continuous excitement!
The kaleidoscopic IFFSA 2022 lineup will explore deep questions about human emotions, South Asian identity, and societal strife. Honouring its role as the Voice of South Asian Cinema in Canada, the IFFSA 2022 programming features the best of South Asian filmmaking with works from cutting-edge filmmakers demonstrating the vast diversity of South Asian cinema. The films being screened at IFFSA this year promise to touch the hearts, minds, and souls of audiences as they are exposed to the wonders of this beautiful art.
The Orphanage, Rehana Maryam Noor, The Terrace, Pedro, Once Upon A Time In Calcutta, Saturday Afternoon, Dug Dug, Palyad, Shoebox, No Land Beneath The Feet, Deep6, Gandhi & Company and Invisible Demons are just a few of the 120+ internationally-recognized, award-winning films IFFSA patrons will have the pleasure of experiencing at this year’s festival.
With IFFSA’s commitment to help and support South Asian Canadian filmmakers, the festival this year will be celebrating and introducing Range Road 290 and Anatomy of a Warrior to deservedly larger audiences via gala world premieres.
Additionally, the festival will be hosting titans of the South Asian Film Industry including guests of honour Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar, as well as Anup Singh, Mostafa Sarwar Farooki, Gurvinder Singh, Pauli Dam, Shahrbanoo Sadat, Azmeri Haque Badhon, Nusrat Imrose Tisha and many more. These stars will be sharing their years of industry experience in the form of intimate workshops and masterclasses, and will also be bringing their star power to the glamorous galas, receptions, and industry events that make up this year’s celebrations.
In the words of IFFSA Ambassador Anup Singh, “We return to the BIG SCREEN at IFFSA, where boundless space of cinema once again allows us to expand our body and mind, and we might now as birds for so long in a cage unfold our unused wings to soar through the enchantments of our earth, and celebrate ourselves, our endurance and all the little gestures of mutual regard and caring that helped us live as a community even when we could not sit next to each other during the last two years of Covid in our lives.”
IFFSA is grateful to its supportive partners including title sponsor BMO Bank of Montreal, Bell Mobility, Savour Ontario, CBC, Toronto Star, Turkish Airlines, Government of Canada, City of Mississauga, Ontario Creates, and Telefilm, who help to make the festival’s vision a reality.
To view the full festival schedule, get passes, and partake in festival events visit www.iffsatoronto.com.
