The London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) is the UK's and Europe's largest annual South Asian Film Festival. It showcases a rich assortment of entertaining and thought provoking Indian and South Asian independent new cinema along with outstanding masterclasses, panel discussions and industry events.

The 16 year old London Indian Film Festival is the UK and Europe's largest South Asian cinema event covering 6 UK cities and overall takes place in July - October, including a gaming festival and a new AI Film showcase.

Over the last 16 years LIFF has showcased a wide range of cutting-edge feature length films and documentaries including opening with world premieres of successful features such as 'Delhi Belly', 'Love Sonia' and 'Article 15'. Some of our special guests at the festival have included Irrfan Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Mani Ratnam, Gurinder Chadha, Sharmila Tagore, Gillian Anderson and Ashutosh Gowariker.

The festival's annual Satyajit Ray Short Film Competition is a celebration of new filmmaking talent that explores themes of South Asian experience, either in South Asia, or in the Asian diaspora. Other shorts programmes at the festival include New Brit-Asian shorts, spotlighting emerging South Asian stories and talent from the UK and Too Desi Too Queer, which the brings the best of showcasing inspiring, thought-provoking and empowering LGBTQIA+ short films from South Asia

This July, LIFF partners with AIFA Ventures to launch a curated showcase of AI films from South Asia. Through creative use of technology, these films push the boundaries of narrative form and aesthetics, exploring what becomes possible when new voices gain access to the tools of cinematic storytelling. The AIFA Innovation Award will be presented to one filmmaker whose work exemplifies cinematic innovation, drawing on the rich diversity of South Asian heritage or presenting a contemporary perspective on South Asian identity.

Awards & Prizes

Short films selected for the Satyajit Ray Short film Competition will be eligible for the prestigious Satyajit Ray short film award. The winner of the award will be selected by a Jury and announced at the closing night in London.

The AIFA Innovation Award will be presented to one filmmaker whose creative use of AI exemplifies innovation in storytelling and aesthetics. The award will be selected by a jury drawn from film production, technology, and cultural sectors. The winner will be announced at the BFI Southbank screening in July. Submissions must state how AI has been used in the production.

Rules & Terms

Rules & Terms

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF SHORT FILMS TO LONDON INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL

1. Dates and Venues

The London Indian Film Festival will take place from 09 July - October 2026. The festival extends from London to other UK cities including Birmingham and Manchester. By submitting your film, and upon selection, you are agreeing for your film to be screened at any one of our festival venues, in any city that the festival covers as well as any number of times during the course of our 2026 festival.

2. Formats

All films for consideration should be supplied on Vimeo link. Selected films will need to be supplied in DCP format. The film must arrive in the required format to the confirmed address no later than four weeks before the festival opening date.

3. Selection

For the Satyajit Ray Short Film Competition, New Brit-Asian Shorts and Too Desi Too Queer, the max runtime is 30 mins.

For the AIFA Innovation award the max runtime is 15 minutes.

**Mandatory for AIFA Innovation award: Submitters should mention up to 250 words in the overview section describing how emerging technologies such as AI and/or blockchain have shaped the production of your film.

The term 'South Asian' includes the following countries India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan. At least one member of the above-the-line production team (writer, director, or producer) must be from a South Asian community or of South Asian heritage.

You must have completed the work no earlier than two years preceding the date of submission deadline.

Your film must be a UK premiere and must not have been shown on a digital, or online platform before or during the Festival screenings. The Festival programming team reserve the right to pull the film out of the Festival at any time.

Non-English language films must have English subtitles.

Once selected the filmmaker(s) will be sent the London Indian Film Festival laurel insignia.

Filmmakers are encouraged to attend the screening of their work and participate in post-screening Q&A sessions. Travel and accommodation costs are the responsibility of the filmmaker unless otherwise agreed in writing.

4. Screening

A screening schedule will be announced after the final submission deadline. Please note we do not pay license, or screening fees.

5. Clearance & copyrights

By submitting your film, you confirm that:

You have the necessary rights, licences, and permissions to submit the work and agree to these terms;

The film is original and does not infringe the intellectual property rights or proprietary rights of any third party;

You have obtained all appropriate copyright clearances for music, images, footage, or other third-party materials used in the film.

Failure to provide adequate copyright clearance will result in disqualification.

The LIFF programming team reserves the right to withdraw a film from the festival at any time if issues arise regarding rights, clearances, or compliance with these terms.

6. Publicity

Selected filmmakers will be expected to:

Promote the screening on their own social media channels and website

Use the LIFF laurel insignia in promotional materials

Provide promotional assets (stills, poster, trailer, Director biography and headshot) in a timely manner

Encourage audience attendance and ticket sales

For the films selected for the AIFA Innovation Award, LIFF and AIFA Ventures reserve the right to use extracts from selected films and stills for publicity and marketing purposes before, during, and after the festival. This includes but is not limited to press releases, social media posts, website content, and printed materials.

For the films submitted for the Satyajit Ray Short Film Competition, New Brit-Asian Shorts and Too Desi Too Queer, LIFF reserves the right to use extracts from these submissions for festival publicity and marketing purposes, before, during and after the festival. This includes but is not limited to press releases, social media posts, website content, and printed materials.

The London Indian Film Festival is committed to supporting diverse voices in South Asian cinema. We welcome submissions from filmmakers at all career stages and from all backgrounds within the South Asian diaspora.

AIFA Ventures is a creative industries think tank. We build networks connecting artists, investors, and institutions to support innovation in film, music, fashion, and the visual arts.
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  • Marcus Flemmings

    Fantastic festival - one of the best festivals around, worldwide, at the moment.

    July 2024
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  • Josephine David

    We were happy and excited to have our short film "Kannagi" screen here.

    January 2024
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  • Sarah Li

    A film festival of its time. Important, powerful, on point. Everyone is friendly, the films themselves feel like family. With many of the filmmakers present the networking opportunities and hospitality are second to none.

    July 2022
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  • Iqbal Mohammed

    Thank you very much for screening my short film, Tasbeeh.
    From minute one, the communication was excellent all the way to the screening.
    The film was screened at the Barbican centre in London which exhibited great sound and picture. The Q&A after was also well co-ordinated.
    An amazing experience and I would advise anyone with a South Asian film to submit here.

    July 2022
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