India delegation headed to 48th Toronto International Film Festival

India is set to take its films to the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), starting from Thursday, the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry has said.

The ministry said this year the focus will be on showcasing India ''as a hub of talent, content, and entertainment''. The official Indian delegation to the prestigious gala will be led by Prithul Kumar, Joint Secretary (Films), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, and Managing Director, National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

Six Indian films have been shortlisted in the official selection at TIFF.

These include Tarsem Singh Dhandwar's ''Dear Jassi''; ''Kill'', directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhatt; ''Thank You For Coming'', directed by Karan Boolani; ''Laapataa Ladies'' (''Lost Ladies''), directed by Kiran Rao; ''Sthal/ A Match'' by Jayant Digambar Somalkar, and ''Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam / The World is Family'' by Anand Patwardhan. ''Dil Hai Gray'', directed by Susi Ganeshan, will be screened in the market section of the festival, the press release stated.

India's participation at TIFF will get underway with the inauguration of the India Pavilion which has been designed by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

At TIFF, India will also host several sessions to showcase the country's creative as well as technological strengths and invite international stakeholders to co-produce films with India and to film in Indian locations. ''Come, Film in India'', an exclusive spotlight session, will be held in an attempt to highlight India's film policies and its single window mechanism to promote the ease of filming in the country. As a celebration of the cinematic achievements of India and host Canada, the countries seek to explore and promote the potential of filmmaking across mediums such as feature, short films, animation projects, OTT content, and web projects. The attendees will feature representatives from NFDC, Ontario Creates, Telefilm Canada, Indian producers and Canadian producers.

A session on 'India as a Land of Storytellers' and several meetings with international dignitaries is also planned, the ministry said in the release. TIFF will run through September 17.

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