Dharamshala International Film Festival


The Dharamshala International Film Festival is an international film festival showcasing the best of recent Indian and world cinema, including fiction, documentaries and shorts. DIFF debuted on 1 to 4 November 2012 in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, India. The second edition was held from 24 to 27 October 2013. The third edition took place from 30 October to 2 November 2014. The fourth edition was held from 5 to 8 November 2015. The fifth edition took place from 3 to 6 November 2016. This year, the festival was held from 2 to 5 November.
The festival was conceptualized by filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam of White Crane Films as a means of bringing quality contemporary, independent cinema to the culturally diverse location of Dharamshala. DIFF will be presented through their trust White Crane Arts & Media, which promotes contemporary art, cinema and independent media practices in the Himalayan region.

Background

As long-term residents of Dharamshala, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam have long believed that the culturally eclectic town would make an ideal location for an international film festival. Nestled in the hills of the Dhauladhar Himalayan mountain range, it is a small but cosmopolitan town populated by local Gaddis, Rajputs, Tibetan refugees and foreign expatriates from around the world. Home to the Dalai Lama and the capital of the Tibetan diaspora, Dhamashala is a unique converging point of various cultures, religions, ethnicities and languages. Sarin and Sonam aspire to establish DIFF "as a world-class film festival where filmmakers and film lovers can interact in an intimate, creative and informal way" and to "promote and encourage local filmmaking talent."
Held in a town with no cinema, the festival’s primary audience is the local Indian and Tibetan population. Addressing the lack of access to high-quality, non-commercial cinema, DIFF offers the town’s residents a window into the world of contemporary film, enriching their knowledge and understanding of other places and cultures. Apart from sharing their love for cinema, Ritu and Tenzing aim to fill the cultural gap small towns face in terms of cinema and arts.

DIFF 2012

The first edition of DIFF screened 26 feature films, shorts and documentaries from around the world, drawing over 5000 film-lovers from across India. In addition to the film screenings, the festival included panel discussions and master classes with filmmakers from India and abroad, such as Jennifer Fox, Karim El Hakim, Guy Davidi and Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni.
The 2012 edition was preceded by an international artists’ workshop jointly organized by White Crane Arts & Media and the Delhi-based held in Dharamshala from 20 October to 1 November. It also featured a live music performance by Tibetan traditional folk musicians
FilmCountryYearGenreDirectorDuration
Miss LovelyIndia2012DramaAshim Ahluwalia102 min
5 Broken CamerasPalestine/Israel2012DocumentaryEmad Burnat & Guy Davidi90 min
My ReincarnationUSA2010DocumentaryJennifer Fox82 min
½ RevolutionDenmark/Egypt2012DocumentaryKarim El Hakim & Omar Shargawi72 min
Nostalgia for the LightChile2010DocumentaryPatricio Guzman90 min
PinaGermany2011DocumentaryWim Wenders106 min
HaHaHaSouth Korea2010DramaHong Sang-soo116 min
SennaUK2010DocumentaryAsif Kapadia106 min
Oka!USA2011DramaLavinia Currier106 min
DeoolIndia2011DramaUmesh Kulkarni135 min
GattuIndia2012DocumentaryRajan Khosa90 min
When Hari Got MarriedIndia2012DocumentaryRitu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam75 min

DIFF 2013

The Second Edition of the festival was held from 24 to 27 October 2013. Approximately 30 fiction, documentary, short and experimental films were showcased.
An unusual and exciting feature of DIFF 2013 was a series of films made by leading contemporary international artists that are rarely seen outside the gallery space, presented by the Vienna-based Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation.
A sidebar showcased the best of recent short films from India, curated by noted Indian filmmaker Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni. A number of acclaimed Indian and international filmmakers and industry professionals invited to attend DIFF interacted with the audience through Q&A sessions, panel discussions and filmmaking masterclasses.
FilmCountryYearGenreDirectorDuration
Gulabi GangIndia2012DocumentaryNishtha Jain96 min
Menstrual ManIndia2013DocumentaryAmit Virmani63 min
To Let The World InIndia2013DocumentaryAvijit Mukul Kishore93 min
Jai Bhim ComradeIndia2011DocumentaryAnand Patwardhan199 min
USA/China2012DocumentaryAlison Klayman91 min
The Act of KillingDenmark/Norway/UK2012DocumentaryJoshua Oppenheimer59 min
UK/Russia2013DocumentaryMike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin88 min
The RocketAustralia2013DramaKim Mordaunt96 min
LastingPoland2013DramaJacek Borcuch95 min
With You Without YouSri Lanka2012DramaPrasanna Vithanage90 min
The Strange Little CatGermany2013DramaRamon Zürcher72 min
FandryIndia2013DramaNagraj Popatrao Manjule103 min
Tasher DeshIndia2012DramaQ112 min
Crossing BridgesIndia2013DramaSange Dorjee Thongdok103 min
Neighbouring SoundsBrazil2012DramaKleber Mendonça Filho131 min
Thursday till SundayChile/Netherlands2012DramaDominga Sotomayor96 min

DIFF 2014

The third edition of DIFF showcased 27 full-length feature films and documentaries, and a selection of short animation films, selected from the best of contemporary independent cinema, from 30 October to 2 November 2014.
The 2014 edition of the festival counted with 12 filmmakers from India and abroad, film critics, and industry and media personnel, to attend the festival and participate in Q&A sessions. There were also Masterclasses and Workshops, including a Special Animation Workshop conducted by India’s leading animation filmmaker, Gitanjali Rao.
This edition marked the start of the DIFF Film Fellows Programme, in which a selected number of young filmmakers from the Indian Himalayan regions were selected to come to the festival, attend film screenings, masterclasses and workshops, and engage in one-on-one mentoring sessions with established filmmakers. Additionally, there were special Outreach Programmes to ensure participation and involvement of local schools and colleges in the festival, as well as a Food, Arts and Crafts Fair for the duration of the festival at DIFF's main venue, the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts.
FilmCountryYearGenreDirectorDuration
Ankhon DekhiIndia2013NarrativeRajat Kapoor107 min
CityLightsIndia2014NarrativeHansal Mehta126 min
CourtIndia2014NarrativeChaitanya Tamhane116 min
Eat Sleep DieSweden2012NarrativeGabriela Pichler100 min
KillaIndia2014NarrativeAvinash Arun105 min
Liar's DiceIndia2013NarrativeGeetu Mohandas103 min
OmarPalestine2013NarrativeHany Abu-Assad97 min
Only Lovers Left AliveUK, Germany, Greece2013NarrativeJim Jarmusch123 min
PapuszaPoland2013NarrativeJoanna Kos-Krauze & Krzysztof Krauze131 min
Remote ControlMongolia, Germany, USA2013NarrativeByamba Sakhya90 min
SunriseIndia, France2014NarrativePartho Sen-Gupta85 min
Vara: A BlessingBhutan, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka2013NarrativeKhyentse Norbu96 min
Zinda BhaagPakistan2013NarrativeMeenu Gaur & Farjad Nabi114 min
A Gesar Bard's TaleFinland2013DocumentaryDonagh Coleman & Lharigtso82 min
A World Not OursPalestine, Lebanon, UAE2012DocumentaryMandi Fleifel93 min
Bringing Tibet HomeSouth Korea, USA2013DocumentaryTenzin Tsetan Choklay82 min
Cambodian SonCambodia2014DocumentaryMasahiro Sugano90 min
ChimerasFinland2013DocumentaryMika Mattila87 min
NabarunIndia2014DocumentaryQ83 min
NirnayIndia2012DocumentaryPushpa Rawat56 min
Return to HomsGermany, Syrian Arab Republic2013DocumentaryTalal Derki94 min
The BeekeeperSwitzerland2013DocumentaryMano Khalil107 min
The DossierChina2014DocumentaryZhu Rikun128 min
The Last AdieuIndia2013DocumentaryShabnam Sukhdev90 min
The SquareUSA2013DocumentaryJehane Noujaim95 min
To Singapore, with LoveSingapore2013DocumentaryTan Pin Pin70 min
Watermarks: Three Letters from ChinaSwitzerland2013DocumentaryLuc Schaedler80 min

As with the previous edition of the festival, there will be a sidebar dedicated to the best of new Indian short films curated by filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni, and an additional selection of animation films from around the world curated by animation filmmaker Gitanjali Rao.
Indian short films include:
Animation films include: