Australia’s Nationwide Indian Movie Competition (NIFFA) is increasing into regional territories and has signed partnerships with India’s Nationwide Movie Growth Company (NFDC) and the Worldwide Movie Competition of India (IFFI) forward of its 2026 version.
The pageant, which spans seven Australian capital cities together with Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, will add six regional places for 2026: Damaged Hill, Alice Springs, Dubbo, Leeton, Griffith and Geelong. Extra regional facilities are being added in coming weeks, organizers mentioned.
NIFFA is signing a memorandum of understanding with NFDC India and IFFI on the WAVES Film Bazaar, positioning the pageant as a key platform for Indian cinema in Australia.
The growth comes as India has grow to be the biggest supply of latest migrants to Australia, with Punjabi now the fastest-growing language within the nation. Indian movies are presently outperforming Australian movies on the home field workplace, based on pageant organizers. The shift, mixed with the Australia-India Co-Manufacturing Treaty, has positioned Australia as a strategic gateway for Indian cinema.
“NIFFA was created to honor India’s many cinemas, not simply Bollywood, and to offer Australia a nationwide platform to have interaction with Indian storytelling,” mentioned Anupam Sharma, the pageant’s director and founder. “The love we obtain from cities and regional facilities throughout Australia reveals that this pageant isn’t rising — it’s exploding. With NFDC and IFFI approaching board, NIFFA 2026 would be the greatest nationwide celebration of Indian cinema exterior India.”
A brand new part titled “His Excellency Recommends” will characteristic 5 Indian movies curated by the Indian Excessive Commissioner for Australian audiences.
New programming features a Co-Manufacturing Pitch Discussion board connecting Indian and Australian producers with funding our bodies and studios, with one challenge receiving a co-production and distribution deal. Discussion board Movies, an Indian cinema distributor working in India, Fiji and New Zealand, will fund one distribution deal for the Australia-New Zealand territory.
Returning companions for 2026 embrace Dendy Cinemas, NDTV, SBS, Marriott, Murdoch College and the Australia India Enterprise Council, which celebrates its fortieth anniversary subsequent 12 months.
The 2026 version has assembled an advisory council together with Western Australia’s first Sikh Member of Parliament Parwinder Kaur, Kings Counsel Brian Hayes, and a number of other state legislators together with NSW Members of Parliament Warren Kirby and Charishma Kaliyanda, Northern Territory Minister Jinson Charls, and Movement Image Affiliation VP of communications for Asia Pacific Stephen Jenner.
Kaur described the pageant as embodying the spirit of Australia-India collaboration, weaving tales that transcend borders and have fun variety. “Tradition and creativity are the DNA of human connection,” she mentioned.
Hayes famous that movie is a significant element of the humanities business that opens up the world to sharing tales throughout boundaries. India and Australia share many frequent options, he mentioned, which mix to make NIFFA a perfect car for collaboration.
Kirby emphasised the large alternative for collaboration between Indian and Australian cinema. “We have now a number of the world’s finest manufacturing crews and storytellers, and there’s an thrilling future in higher ties between the 2 industries,” he mentioned.
Charls known as cinema one of the crucial highly effective methods to share tales, struggles, humor and hopes. “The National Indian Film Festival of Australia brings this extraordinary storytelling custom to new audiences, strengthening the cultural, social and people-to-people ties between India and Australia,” he mentioned. Within the Northern Territory, variety is well known as a power, and the pageant exemplifies how artwork can bridge distances and produce communities collectively, he added.
Jenner mentioned he’s excited to hitch the NIFFA advisory board at a time when Indian cinema is getting into a outstanding new chapter, with creativity surging throughout languages, genres and generations. “International audiences are paying consideration like by no means earlier than. This can be a second of growth, alternative and reinvention,” he mentioned. “NIFFA has an necessary position to play in showcasing this vitality to Australian audiences and constructing new bridges between our display screen industries.”
Kaliyanda mentioned she’s proud to assist drive a daring imaginative and prescient for the way forward for unbiased movie and artistic storytelling, working to construct a stronger, extra sustainable and modern business.
Australia India Enterprise Council chair Deepak Raj Gupta added: “AIBC seems ahead to collaborating with NIFFA for necessary conversations round commerce, cinema and tradition between Australia and India.”
The pageant takes place within the second half of March 2026, with movie submissions closing Jan. 20. This system will probably be introduced on Australia Day, which coincides with India’s Republic Day on Jan. 26.
