Waheeda Rehman to attend inaugural Indian Film Festival of New Zealand; Teesri Kasam to open, Pakeezah to close the fest

New Zealand, where almost 5 per cent of its population is of Indian origin, will finally get its own Indian film festival.

Spread across 3 days and 3 cities, the Indian Film Festival of New Zealand promises 30 film screenings, industry panels, Q&A post-screenings, networking events, and an awards evening.

The first edition will showcase 10 features, 16 shorts, and 4 special screenings.

With 11 languages, including Gujarati, Bengali, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, French, Japanese, Hindi, English, Nepali, Kashmiri, Punjabi, and Kumaoni, and even a silent film, the festival is celebrating languages and storytelling from across India.

The highlight for the year is celebrating films that have been restored by Film Heritage Foundation and NFAI-NFDC.

The opening film is Teesri Kasam, which was recently restored by NFAI-NFDC and has legendary actress Waheeda Rehman and Raj Kapoor in lead roles.

The first edition will have legendary actress Waheeda Rehman attend the opening night screening on Oct 22, as the festival honors her contribution to Indian cinema.

Waheeda Rehman QUOTE, "Cinema has always had the power to bring people and cultures closer.

I am delighted to see TIFFNZ celebrating the richness and diversity of Indian cinema in New Zealand.

Teesri Kasam is a film very close to my heart, and I am especially pleased that it will open the festival, allowing a new generation of audiences to discover its timeless story and poetry." Festival director Petrina D’Rozario said, "For the closing, Pakeezah, which was restored by the Film Heritage Foundation and founder director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, has kindly given us the film for the NZ audience.

Our festival would be the second festival in the world to have screened the film after it’s been restored.

We are excited to be one of the first audiences to watch this iconic film from 1972.

Many of whom may have never seen these films before." Petrina D’Rozario further adds, "TIFFNZ is more than a celebration of Indian cinema; it’s a bridge between India and NZ! Through the festival we want the NZ audience to discover India, and our extraordinary stories to travel to the furthest part of the world.

At its heart, TIFFNZ is about bringing people, stories, cultures, languages together through cinema." The festival will be a one-of-a-kind annual event for discussions that bridge the screen industries and geographies, fostering collaboration and driving more screen opportunities and cultural exchange between New Zealand and India.