As part of the London Indian Film Festival’s (LIFF) on-going UK-wide events, we are delighted to launch the Manchester Indian Film Festival (MIFF) this Autumn. Featuring a pioneering South Asian computer gaming programme, in Liverpool, Manchester and Bolton, the Festival will also showcase a wealth of rare and ground-breaking footage from the North West Archive showcasing the British Asian experience exploring inter-cultural discourse and the challenges experienced by an immigrant community in making Manchester their home. We would like to thank the BFI Audience Projects Fund, awarding National Lottery funding, and Manchester Metropolitan Museum for their support and partners FORMAT, Tulsea, Bolton Library & Museums and many community partners.
As the second year of our collaboration with FORMAT—Europe’s largest gaming and nightlife event, we are this year moving with them to Camp & Furnace in Liverpool on 26th September. As a part of FORMAT, we will unveil an expanded South Asian Gaming Zone, which will feature the first international previews of new games from leading Indian developers. These games include Thirsty Suitors, Artifice War Tactics, Ghost of Yantra, The Palace on the Hill, Winds of Arcana, and Detective Dotson. To make these games more accessible to the South Asian community, we are working closely with various community groups to offer them the chance to experience FORMAT for free!
If you would like to get involved, please contact us via www.manchesterindianfilmfestival.co.uk
Collaborating with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) several Indian game specialists and developers will be talking about their work and how the Indian games industry is expanding. On September 27th at Geoffrey Manton Building, MMU, Manchester. Students of MMU and a gaming audience are invited.
Taking new games into the community, on 5th October we will be inviting South Asian young people and their families to explore and play with the latest South Asian computer games, culminating in a gaming tournament at High Street Library, Bolton (in collaboration with Bolton Libraries and Museums), located in the heart of the South Asian community. Sign-ups for the tournament start at 12pm, with the event commencing at 1.30pm. There will also be activities for younger children and free hot snacks (limited availability).
Our archival programme is entitled I’m British But… inspired by the pioneering documentary of legendary British filmmaker Gurinder Chadha. This new archival package of documentary footage and short film will be premiered on October 4th, at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Grosvenor East Building, MMU, Manchester from 6.00pm, before its regional tour. These films tell stories of struggle and resilience of South Asian people in and around Greater Manchester over the past 50 years. Come see what our parents and grandparents built and fought for. In addition, Manchester poet Anjum Malik and director Riccardo Sagitta will launch their new film, We Are Butterflies an anthem for the South Asian diaspora in the North. Other works include It’s Just NotCricket (a look at the South Asian diaspora and football), A Bit of This, A Bit of That (the story of Manchester ’s famous This and That café), Asian Women for Sale: Daily Mail’s First Picket (telling of South Asian women’s protests against racist media), and Immigration Wives and Fiancées Campaign: Asian Women Speak Out. Followed by a panel discussion debate on the films. Admission is pay what you can and for tickets check out: www.manchesterindianfilmfestival.co.uk
LIFF & MIFF Director Cary Rajinder Sawhney says: “It is great to be platforming the emerging computer gaming scene of South Asia, as far as we know the world’s first such showcase and to celebrate this in a uniquely Northern fun, informative and sociable way with our wonderful partner FORMAT. Meanwhile given the recent racial disturbances across the UK, our showcasing of films on British Asian experience and our contribution to Britain has never been more apt and urgent. We hope our archival showcase with Northern Film Archive will go on to tour and spark pride in remembering our history and create a healthy intercultural dialogue”.
