The 14th Annual New York Indian Film Festival will put the spotlight on British filmmaker Gurinder Chadha to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of her acclaimed film "Bhaji On The Beach".

The six-day festivities at the oldest and most prestigious film festival for Indian cinema in North America from May 5-10 will also include a retrospective of the filmmaker's documentaries, according to the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC).

After a star-studded opening night red carpet premiere at the Skirball Centre for Performing Arts, festival screenings, centrepiece, retrospective and special events will take place throughout the week at the Village East Cinemas.

The closing night selection to be followed by the annual awards ceremony and after-party would be held at Skirball Center for Performing Arts.

Final film selections will be announced by early April with tickets going on sale April 15.

Chadha of "Bend It Like Beckham" fame will be in attendance. Her acclaimed film "Bhaji On The Beach" is about a group of women of Indian descent taking a trip together from their home in Birmingham, England to the beach resort of Blackpool.

The women vary in ages from mid-teens to old, and initially have little in common. But the events of the day lead them to better mutual understanding and solidarity.

NYIFF will also feature a retrospective of Chadha's documentaries, co-presented by Third World Newsreel.

The featured documentaries include: "Acting Our Age", "I'm British But", "A Nice Arrangement", and "What Do You Call An Indian Woman Who Is Funny?"

"Gurinder Chadha is one of three 'Bhanji Brigade' (coined by Mira Nair) super star diaspora women filmmakers - the other two being Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta - all three of whom have been honoured for their talent by NYIFF in years past," said IAAC executive director Aroon Shivdasani.


Film festival director Aseem Chhabra added: "Gurinder explores the Asian Indian immigrant experiences in Britain, laced with humour, pathos and a lot of introspection.

"Her works are iconic representation that speak about immigration, living in the Diaspora, and the meaning of loss."

Another annual feature at NYIFF is the one minute cell phone films, sponsored by NYU Tisch Cinema Studies.

In addition, NYIFF will present a full day of industry panels exploring in depth such topics as distribution, production and financing in a global market, and will showcase experts in the film industry.