The ninth edition of the festival, which runs from the 9 to the 16 December, will include world premieres of Joy Mathew’s Shutter and Kaushik Ganguly’s Sound.
Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely, Rajan Khosa’s Gattu, Sourav Sarangi’s Char… The No-Man’s Island and Anand Gandhi’s Ship of Theseus, which have already screened on the festival circuit, will also be shown in Dubai.
Dubai’s director of Asia Africa Programmes Nashen Moodley said: “To commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema, we have selected a collection of unique films that reflect the richness, flavor and essence of Indian filmmaking.”
Artistic director of the festival Masoud Amralla Al Ali said: “DIFF’s Celebration of India Cinema programme gives our audience an opportunity to see the current developments in Indian cinema and pay tribute to a cinema that’s 100 years old.”
Al Ali also paid a tribute to the late Yash Chopra, the prolific Hindi filmmaker whose early film Waqt (1965) helped to pioneer the concept of ensemble casts in Bollywood.
Al Ali said: “This year the film industry lost one of the most incredible filmmakers of our time – Mr. Yash Chopra.
“Over the past five decades he touched the hearts and minds of millions around the world through the wonderful stories he brought to the screen and his work will continue to inspire filmmakers for years to come. For his body of work we remain forever grateful.”
