Indian film festival opens in city

US drama Paper Flowers has its Midlands premiere on the opening night of the festival

A film festival showcasing new Indian and South Asian independent cinema opens in Birmingham on Thursday.

Birmingham Indian Film Festival (BIFF) runs for eleven days, with screenings at six cinemas.

The festival is described as being part of the UK and Europe's largest platform for Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Sri Lankan independent films, with events also held in London, Manchester and Yorkshire.

Programming director Cary Rajinder Sawhney said BIFF was continuing its mission "to showcase and celebrate emerging and established filmmakers."

The first episodes of Canadian comedy Late Bloomer are being shown at the festival

The event launches at Midlands Arts Centre, beginning with the Midlands premiere of US drama Paper Flowers, followed by a question and answer session with the director Mahesh Pailoor.

Paper Flowers is based on the true story of a Gujarati American diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

The festival also features a showcase of LGBTQIA+ films, a film competition and a number of British Sign Language screenings.

Venues involved in the event include Cineworld Broad Street, Mockingbird Cinema, Light Cinema, Walsall, Birmingham Open Media and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire at Birmingham City University.

BIFF, which is supported by the British Film Institute, runs from 27 June to 7 July.