MUMBAI: The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) has announced the IFFLA Film Fund, a new program that seeks to help emerging filmmakers realize their feature-length narrative and non-narrative film projects that reflect universal themes inherent within Indian culture.

The fund parallels IFFLA’s mission statement by supporting projects by filmmakers of Indian and non-Indian descent telling stories with Indian cultural themes as well as Indian filmmakers whose films relate to non-Indian themes.

The IFFLA Film Fund will support projects in all phases of the filmmaking process including development, post-production, marketing and distribution. The first phase of the Film Fund is the Development Grant of up to $10,000 aimed at helping screenwriters develop and fine-tune their scripts as well as to strengthen these writers’ profile in the US.

"We are very excited to be launching an initiative that has been in our plans for years and elevates the profile of the organization to an institutional level. The IFFLA Film Fund exemplifies our commitment to nurturing emerging filmmakers and facilitating the creation and visibility of projects that highlight universal themes within the Indian culture," said festival director Christina Marouda.