Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) – scheduled to be held from Nov. 7 to 10, 2024 – has become a cornerstone of India’s independent cinema landscape, evolving into a vital platform for filmmakers and film lovers worldwide. Here are just a few films screening at the festival.
Photo: DIFF 2023
Directed by Errol Morris and having premiered at the Venice Film Festival, this film screens on Nov. 8 at 3 pm. It "confronts one of the darkest chapters in recent American history: family separations," according to the festival description
Photo: DIFF 2024
A follow-up to the 2017 film catches up with the teenaged Dhunu in Assam. "A teenage girl passionately pursues her musical dream. However, life’s harsh realities challenge her innocence," a press release says about the film, airing Nov. 10 at 10 am.
Photo: DIFF 2024
State of Statelessness, the first-ever Tibetan-language anthology feature film, comprises four short segments exploring the experience of exile and statelessness, directed by Tibetan filmmakers living in exile in India, America and Vietnam. Screens on Nov. 9, 10 am.
Photo: DIFF 2024
Set in Nepal and revolving around a kidnapping that brings a detective from Kathmandu to solve the case, she arrives, the brewing political unrest and violent protests. She's forced to seek help from a local Madhesi policewoman. The closing night film airs on Nov. 10 at 4:45 pm.
Photo: DIFF 2024
Having its world premiere at DIFF 2024, the film directed by Onir screens on Nov. 9 at 2 pm. It tells the story of a blossoming but doomed love story between a security officer and a local in Kashmir.
Photo: DIFF 2024
Under the shadow of the US invasion of Afghanistan, an extended refugee family begins a new life in Iran, unaware of the ultimate price expected of them as outliers in an unwelcoming environment. Premiering in India at DIFF 2024, the film screens on Nov. 9 at 7 pm.
Photo: DIFF 2024
Set in the span of a day in Iceland, from one sunset to another, Una, a young art student encounters love, friendship, sorrow and beauty. Writer-director Rúnar Rúnarsson’s film screens on Nov. 9 at 10:15 am.
Photo: DIFF 2024
Directed by Dibakar Banerjee and set in different eras from the late Eighties to 2018 to 2042, three stories come to life in a way that the Love Sex Aur Dhoka filmmaker knows best. Banerjee will also be in conversation with actor Shahana Goswami at DIFF, with the film screening on Nov. 8 at 5:15 pm.
Photo: DIFF 2024
Screening on Nov. 8 at 6:45 pm, Australian filmmaker Kitty Green's The Royal Hotel is premiering at DIFF 2024 as part of a partnership with Sydney Film Festival. It follows two best friends from the U.S. backpacking in Australia, taking a temporary live-in job behind the bar of a pub in a remote Outback mining town.
Photo: DIFF 2024