The Indian Film Festival of Ireland, IFFI 2010, is Ireland’s first Indian Film Festival.  IFFI aims to celebrate the presence and increase the potential of Indian film in Ireland by introducing Indian Films to Irish audiences.

India is the world’s largest producer of films.  The Indian film industry is the most progressive film industry in the world with over 3.5 billion viewers worldwide.  It produces close to a thousand films annually and is worth over five billion dollars and according to a study undertaken by Ernst & Young; over 70% of the industry believed that the film business is expected to grow by more than 15% in the next three years.  The international market has become extremely important to the industry with most films realising 15% – 20% of their income from overseas.

Indian films are now truly international in terms of their presence in the world. Bollywood Ireland, an independent production and distribution company, owned by Siraj Zaidi, started the development, production; exhibition and distribution of popular Indian film in Ireland as far back as 1989 leading to the first Indian film screening in Ireland, at the Irish film Institute in 1999.  In the last ten years, there has been a tremendous growth and awareness of Indian cinema in the Ireland with the screening of Indian films have been exhibited in Waterford, Galway, Limerick, Cork and Belfast, IFI, Ormonde, Savoy, UCI, The View, and other cinemas in Ireland.

The Indian festival has been created in Ireland to celebrate the presence and increase the potential of Indian film in this country. The idea took a definite shape to create the first Indian Film Festival in Ireland – IFFI in 2010.  It is a small scale local film festival aim to introduce Indian Films to the indigenous Irish audience.  Indian films screened in the Ireland entertain, educate and inform Indians as well as mainstream Irish about India, life in India and Indian culture. IFFI is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, honouring entertainment industry performers and business executives, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diasporas.  Right from the start a Corporate Social Responsibility element is being built into the very first IFFI with a percentage of the profits of the festival being donated to an orphanage in India.