First National Indian Film Festival Of Australia 2025 wraps up Announces winners, encore screenings and regional expansion

Sydney, 6 March – The National Indian Film Festival of Australia (NIFFA) has wrapped up its inaugural staging, creating history as the first and only annual national celebration of Indian cinema in Australia. From February 13 to March 2, 2025, the festival was an unprecedented seven-city tour across Sydney, Canberra, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne.

NIFFA concluded with a seventh red-carpet gala in Melbourne and the closing night screening of the Indian psychological drama Roam Rome Mein at Perth’s Murdoch University. However, as it winds down, the festival has extended its celebrations with encore screenings of select films at Dendy Cinemas over the coming weeks and the launch of NIFFA Regional, bringing Indian cinema to regional Australia annually for the first time.

“As the curtain falls on the inaugural National Indian Film Festival, we celebrate the incredible storytelling, creativity, and passion of Indian films that have graced our screens for the past couple of weeks.

Congratulations to all our winners and nominees—your work has inspired and captivated us. For those who want to relive the magic, don’t miss our upcoming encore screenings. Thank you to our Festival Directors, filmmakers, audiences, and partners for making this festival unforgettable. We look forward to seeing you again next year for another extraordinary celebration of Indian cinema,” said Sharon Strickland, CEO of Dendy Cinemas.

NIFFA’s all-woman Nomination Council, along with Festival Directors Anupam Sharma and Peter Castaldi announced the winner of NIFFA, with the Best Feature Film awarded to Superboys of Malegaon. The film’s director, Reema Kagti, expressed gratitude, stating “I would like to thank the National Indian Film Festival of Australia for choosing Superboys of Malegaon as the Best Film and for showcasing it in cities across Australia, helping the film reach a wider audience. We are glad that festival audiences resonated with this story of dream and determination.”

Throughout the festival, NIFFA was embraced by film institutions and audiences beyond the Indian diaspora, with partnerships and screenings at Perth’s Murdoch University, Mercury Cinemas in Adelaide, The Backlot Studios in Melbourne and Perth, along with national partners Dendy Cinemas and Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) supporting the national event. In addition, the festival received support from NFDC India along with the Indian Consulates of Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and the Indian High Commission in Canberra, with dignitaries inaugurating NIFFA in their respective cities. The Adelaide launch was also officially inaugurated by Minister for Trade & Investment, Joe Szakacs, who was representing the Minister for Arts Andrea Michaels.

Reflecting on the festival’s impact, Sarah Lancaster, General Manager of Mercury Cinemas Adelaide and screening sponsor of NIFFA in Adelaide, said: “The Mercury was pleased to be the exclusive Adelaide host for the first-ever National Indian Film Festival of Australia, with an exciting red-carpet gala and a dynamic selection of films. This celebration of the extraordinary world of Indian cinema has a bright future as an annual event."

David Scholefield, Engagement Partner, Murdoch University, echoed the statement by adding. "The richness of storytelling, the beauty of the locations, and the narratives within this year's films were simply exceptional. Through the School of Media and Communication, in partnership with the Indo-Pacific Research Centre, we reiterate our commitment to bringing the immense power of Indian film to audiences in Western Australia. Supporting our university community and the wider communities of WA, including the vital and growing network of Indian diaspora, to access the breadth and depth of films in this year's NIFFA collection is a great privilege. We look forward to productive, ongoing conversations to support NIFFA 2026.”

NIFFA’s Founder and Festival Director, Anupam Sharma, reflected on the festival’s success and the road ahead: "We are so happy that a festival which aims to promote Australian India film links through celebration of Australian stories has got two Australian winners who made their films between Australia and India. As we structure some more pioneering initiatives for next year, we cannot wait to take the amazing Indian films to regional Australia, again something that has never been done before."

NIFFA Co-Director, Peter Castaldi, added: “There was a huge demand across Australia for a new and inclusive celebration of global Indian cinema. We are overwhelmed by the extraordinary support for the very first edition of NIFFA. As with our selection panel and all of the team, everyone was delighted with the range and quality of our inaugural program; the reception in every city is testament to that. Now we have a bright and exciting future to look forward to and we hope that our audiences will grow and become ever more delighted by the sheer creative force of this international cinema powerhouse.”