The world premiere of Shlok Sharma’s feature directorial debut Haraamkhor will open the Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles (IFFLA) on April 8.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui stars in the story of a teacher who has an affair with his student.

Sharma is no stranger to the festival having won an award there for a short film in 2013. Anurag Kashyap and Guneet Monga produced Haraamkhor and Monga was also honoured at IFFLA in 2013 with the Industry Leadership Award.

The festival will close with the US premiere of Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dhanak (pictured), which screened recently in Berlin in Generation Kplus and earned a special mention. The story tells of a brother and sister who journey across Rajasthan in an attempt to meet Bollywood legend Shah Rukh Khan.

“We’re thrilled to kick off our 13th edition with the world premiere of Haraamkhor,” said IFFLA artistic director Jasmine Jaisinghani. “Shlok’s film resonates to something we all can understand – the beautiful complications of youth. It invigorates us to have a film-maker return to IFFLA, and especially so when their first feature is as powerful as this.”

The 13th edition of the festival is set to run in Hollywood from April 8-12.