Northern Territory Govt welcomes first annual Indian Film Festival in Darwin, Alice Springs with support of NIFFA
PTC News Desk: In a major new milestone for India–Australia cultural ties, the Northern Territory Government has welcomed the arrival of the first annual Indian film festival in Darwin and Alice Springs, with Tourism and Events NT and Screen Territory coming on board in support of NIFFA.
The move gives the National Indian Film Festival of Australia (NIFFA) a powerful new foothold in one of Australia’s most distinctive and internationally recognisable regions, as the festival expands its activities in the Territory with NT Minister of Arts Hon Jinson Charls opening the festival in Darwin on 30 April and Alice Spring to open on 11th June.
It is a strategic cultural partnership that places Darwin and Alice Springs inside the fast-growing India/Australia screen conversation at a time when cinema, tourism, diaspora engagement and co-production opportunities are becoming increasingly connected.
Welcoming NIFFA to the Northern Territory, Hon Marie-Clare Boothby MLA, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality and Minister for Major Events said “The National Indian Film Festival is the only festival of its kind in Australia, celebrating connection, community, and cinema in its many forms. The Finocchiaro Government is proud to support the National Indian Film Festival and will continue to back Territory stories and Territory talent. ”
Festival Director and Founder of NIFFA Anupam Sharma said “For the Northern Territory Government to back NIFFA across multiple years is a powerful vote of confidence in the future of India–Australia cultural engagement and my team’s vision and hard work. As a film maker who shot one of the first Bollywood films in NT, I am delighted to bring Indian cinema to the Top End and the Red Centre. This is exactly the kind of ambitious bridge-building NIFFA was created to do.”
The NT chapter, which has also received support from the Indian Consulate General (Perth), will open with a red carpet gala at the iconic Deckchair Cinema in Darwin, one of the world's most iconic open-air cinemas. Screenings will then continue at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) before the program travels to the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs, which is also supporting the festival.
NT Government support is further strengthened with a range of Indian community associations in the Northern Territory, which have also rallied behind NIFFA’s arrival in NT, welcoming the festival as a long-awaited platform for Indian storytelling, cultural celebration and community visibility. There will be an NT Cinema Committee to guide NIFFA and its activities in the coming year.
Beyond screenings, NIFFA will expand its footprint in the Territory through celebrity visits, influencer engagement, community forums, and workshops to explore how Indian cinema can deepen people-to-people ties while also opening pathways in tourism, screen business and cultural exchange.
Darwin and Alice Springs are not only spectacular Australian destinations, they are also places where questions of identity, culture, community and belonging feel immediate and alive. By bringing Indian cinema into these landscapes, NIFFA is positioning the Territory as part of a broader, more dynamic relationship between India and Australia.
As Australia’s engagement with India deepens across trade, migration, education and culture, NIFFA’s Northern Territory expansion signals that Indian stories are no longer confined to traditional metropolitan circuits, but are welcomed into some of Australia’s most iconic and meaningful cultural spaces.
The NT chapter of NIFFA begins in Darwin on 30 April and concludes in Alice Springs on 14 June. Program details are available at www.niffa.com.au.
- PTC NEWS
