London Indian Film Festival marks 10th anniversary, Ayushmann's 'Article 15' opening film

The annual London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) announced its 10th anniversary line-up on Sunday, with the world premiere of Anubhav Sinha's "Article 15" opening the gala on June 20.

The film's title, which features Ayushmann Khurrana, is a reference to an article of the Indian Constitution that prohibits discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, race or sex.

The 2019 edition of LIFF will include 25 feature films, covering 11 South Asian languages and six UK premieres.

"From the perspective of our 10th birthday the festival has dynamically opened the UK mainstream media and audiences to Indian and South Asian independent cinema in all its linguistic diversity and that's something we are extremely proud of," said Cary Rajinder Sawhney, Executive & Programming Director of LIFF.

"Punching above our weight as always, this year is probably our strongest programme ever with exciting world premieres, rarely seen archival masterpieces, and some seriously cutting-edge dramas and documentaries, in 23 venues across five UK cities and towns," he added.

The films have been distributed across four broad strands of 'Young Rebel', 'Bengal Tigers', 'Extra-Ordinary Lives', and 'Film, Power & Politics' and cover entries from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the UK, the US and Poland.

"We look forward to sharing with you a fantastic programme championing women filmmakers, emerging cinematic voices and Bengal's unique contribution to cinema," said Alka Bagri, Trustee of the Bagri Foundation, the title sponsor of the film festival.

The event, which will run through July 8, will include guest filmmakers such as Anurag Kashyap and Gurinder Chadha and close with the English premiere of Ritesh Batra's Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra-starrer "Photograph".