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EXCLUSIVE: The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) have signed an MOU to support the second edition of the National Indian Film Festival of Australia (NIFFA) in 2026.
The festival is a multi-city event that, in this year’s inaugural edition in February, spanned seven Australian state capitals of Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and Brisbane. In 2026, it will take place from the second half of March and will add other cities including Broken Hill, Alice Spring, Dubbo, Leeton, Griffith, and Geelong.
Also expanding structurally, NIFFA is creating a national advisory council, comprising Australian members of parliament, community leaders, and other prominent figures. They include Western Australia’s first Sikh member of parliament Parwinder Kaur, Kings Counsel Brian Hayes, NSW member of parliament Warren Kirby, minister Ginsom Charls from Northern Territory, MPA vice president of communication Asia Pacific, Stephen Jenner and NSW state MP Charishma Kalyandi.
NIFFA will expand its screening programme with the addition of His Excellency Recommends, a curated section of five Indian films which the Indian high commissioner wants Australia to see.
It will expand its industry support efforts with a new Co-Production Pitch Forum, connecting Indian and Australian producers with funding bodies, studios, and platforms, and by offering an Australia and New Zealand distribution deal to one Indian feature. The deal is funded by Forum Films, a leading distributor of Indian cinema in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
“With NFDC and IFFI coming on board, NIFFA 2026 will be the biggest national celebration of Indian cinema outside India”, said Anupam Sharma, an Indian-origin filmmaker, who is the festival’s founder and NIFFA festival director.
The festival’s expansion come at a moment when Australia’s immigration narrative and its box office are rapidly evolving.
“With India now the largest source of new migrants to Australia and Punjabi becoming the fastest growing language, NIFFA has become a national platform for engaging with India, multicultural inclusion and diverse storytelling,” said Sharma. “The surge of Indian and South Asian communities into regional Australia has created both a cultural hunger and a cultural opportunity. Local councils, arts bodies, and screen agencies are turning to NIFFA to create a cohesive national platform for meaningful engagement, community-building, and cinematic celebration”.
These shifts, combined with the signing of the Australia–India Co-Production Treaty in 2023, have positioned Australia as a global gateway for Indian cinema.
A third-party study of Australian theatrical trends published last month showed that imported Indian films are consistently outperforming Australian-produced titles at the local box office.
“The consolidated gross box office dataset for 2023–2025 shows Indian titles grossed A$123m ($79.7m) compared with A$74m ($48m) for Australian films,” said the report. Its author Nick Hayes said, “Indian cinema’s success [is] built on consistent supply, community-driven marketing and reliable theatrical access”.
In addition to the new partners, NIFFA is supported by Dendy Cinemas, NDTV, SBS, Marriott, Murdoch University, and the Australia India Business Council.
“AIBC welcomed Australia’s first and only national Indian film festival early this year”, said its chair Deepak Raj Gupta. “AIBC looks forward to collaborating with NIFFA for important conversations around commerce, cinema and culture between Australia and India.”
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