Greater than 120 Indian filmmakers and producers have united to ascertain the Impartial Filmmakers Assn. of India, a not-for-profit collective designed to enhance theatrical entry, distribution pathways and streaming visibility for the nation’s impartial sector.
IFAI made its formal public debut on the Cannes Film Festival, with actor-producer Anshuman Jha and filmmaker Devashish Makhija representing the physique on the announcement. Based as a democratic, member-driven entity, IFAI will work by way of devoted teams addressing advocacy, exhibition, distribution, public coverage, mentorship and viewers improvement.
The formation was partly prompted by the theatrical struggles that surrounded director Kanu Behl’s “Agra” in late 2025. The movie debuted at Cannes in 2023. Regardless of sturdy essential help, it was allotted restricted showtimes and minimal exhibition backing — a state of affairs its makers got here to see as emblematic of wider structural failures confronting Indian indie cinema.
“What started as a small WhatsApp conversation between a handful of filmmakers organically grew into a larger movement,” the founding members mentioned in a joint assertion. “We realized that independent films in India are surviving not because of the system, but often in spite of it. What we needed was a collective voice.”
The founding board spans a broad cross-section of India’s art-house panorama. Members embrace administrators Aarti Kadav (“Cargo,” “Mrs.”), Alankrita Shrivastava (“Lipstick Under My Burkha,” “Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare”), Jha (“Lord Curzon Ki Haveli,” “Lakadbaggha”), Bauddhayan Mukherji (“The Violin Player,” “Manikbabur Megh”), Harsh Agarwal (“Nasir,” “Rapture”), Honey Trehan (“A Death in the Gunj,” “Punjab ’95”), Behl (“Titli,” “Agra”), Parth Saurabh (“Pokhar Ke Dunu Paar”), Ruchi Narain (“Kal,” “Hanuman Da Damdaar”) and Sudhanshu Saria (“Loev,” “Ulajh”), amongst others. The broader membership additionally contains Nandita Das and Abhay Deol.
“Independent cinema is where new voices, new forms, and uncomfortable truths emerge first,” mentioned Behl. “We need to nurture and protect that space, for the next generation of cinematic experimentation and expression.”
Alongside its advocacy work, IFAI plans to run workshops, mentorship applications, and group initiatives for rising expertise. The physique is open to administrators and producers in any respect profession levels.
“The idea is to create an ecosystem where independent filmmakers don’t feel isolated while making deeply personal cinema,” mentioned Jha. “Beyond creating films, we hope to share resources, knowledge, collective experience around marketing, distribution and audience-building — because independent cinema in India can only grow stronger if filmmakers grow together.”
“I feel the space for the independent-spirited, alternative film is shrinking. And that bothers me,” mentioned Shrivastava. “I feel, as a society, we need to have a vibrant cinema culture with all kinds of films. Diverse and alternate films need to have space to thrive. I’m excited to be part of a collective where filmmakers are coming together to find ways to help nurture a space and a system for these vital films.”
IFAI’s formation represents some of the organized collective efforts but mounted by India’s impartial filmmaking group, because the sector continues to navigate shrinking theatrical home windows and a extra cautious streaming setting.
