First Indian International Film Festival of Queensland (IIFFOQ) to be held from June 26 to July 4, 2014 would screen best of the independent Indian cinema including a world premiere and ten Australian premieres.
The nine-day long festival, to be held in Brisbane  will also hold several events and discussions to create opportunities for film graduates, students, Australian and Indian film directors and producers to meet and to establish international contacts for future projects.

The jury includes Martin Brown, Award-winning producer of Romeo Juliette and Moulin Rouge who will chair the judging panel along with Bollywood writer Farrukh Dhondy and Award-wining director Jean-Marc Surcin.
The festival will open with a critically-acclaimed Indian film, Manjunath. Festival Founder and Artistic Director Chayan Sarkar said “This is Australias first-ever independent, competitive Indian film festival and we are excited to share this rich and diverse cultural experience with the Queensland community."
"We are proud to present the Australian premiere of <em>Manjunath</em> as our opening film. Its a story about one man striving to maintain his honesty, integrity and principals. Its an inspiration for every honest individual whose path may be challenged by greed and corruption,” Sarkar stated.

Other films in the cinematic line-up include director Anup Singh’s Qissa: The tail of a lonely ghost  staring Irrfan Khan and Sudhin Thakur’s controversial film Pinky – Ek Satyakatha, the story of an award-winning female athlete who was charged with rape and accused of being a male.

IIFFOQ is being hosted by Queensland University of Technology (QUT), where opening ceremony and selected screenings will take place. QUT`s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Commercialisation) Arun Sharma said the festival reflected the deepening economic and cultural ties between Queensland and India.

“This is a landmark festival that will create collaborative opportunities for independent film makers, producers, distributors and other industry professionals from our respective creative sectors, as well as real-world industry connections for our creative industries students and graduates,” said Sharma, who is the festival’s Honorary Patron.

Source PTI