The festival will screen over 70 films, shorts and documentaries. "It is a phenomenal growth," said Shivdasani.
"The festival is much more than screening of interesting films for New York audiences. It is also an informal film lab," she said.
Madhur Jaffrey, the eminent actress echoes those thoughts.
"The festival never ceases to impress me, especially because of the young talent that comes to it," says Jaffrey, who plays a mentally disturbed person in Hiding Divya, (above) directed by Rehana Mirza.
The film starts with 33-year-old Palini 'Linny' Shah (played by Pooja Kumar) who returns home with her 16-year-old daughter Jia to attend his funeral of her father. Estranged from her mother Divya Shah (Jaffrey) since her teenage pregnancy, Linny has been resisting renewing her relationship with her mother.
Linny discovers that she is entitled to an inheritance of $20,000, but must wait two weeks before she can collect it. Penniless, Linny has no choice but stay on at her mother's home. Life becomes complicated for her when Divya faces serious mental illness.
Linny prefers to keep a distance between her mother and herself and her daughter. But Jia bonds with the grandmother and, in trying to understand her problem, sets a challenge for her own mother.
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