The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) has announced that its 17th edition will run from August 13 to August 23, 2026. This year, the festival will kick off its celebrations with a special curtain raiser event a month ahead of the festival, commemorating 25 years of the Academy Award-nominated classic Lagaan.
The curtain raiser will be held on July 9 in Melbourne, where actor and producer Aamir Khan will attend a special screening of Lagaan at ACMI cinema, marking the official start of this year’s festival celebrations. Lagaan was the second Indian film to receive an Academy Award nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
IFFM is the largest celebration of Indian cinema outside India and is backed by the Government of Victoria. The festival has previously welcomed Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, A.R. Rahman, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Ram Charan, Vijay Sethupathi, Vicky Kaushal, Vijay Varma and Keerthy Suresh, along with filmmakers Rajkumar Hirani, Shoojit Sircar, Anjali Menon, Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, Zoya Akhtar, Rima Das, Onir and Kabir Khan.
Speaking about this year’s festival, Festival Director Mitu Bhowmick Lange said, “The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne has always celebrated stories that have made a lasting impact on audiences, and there could not have been a better way to begin our 17th edition than by celebrating 25 years of Lagaan. The film is a milestone in Indian cinema and continues to inspire generations of filmmakers and audiences around the world. We are delighted to welcome Aamir Khan to Melbourne for this special celebration and look forward to presenting another memorable edition of the festival that brings together the very best of Indian cinema.”
The 17th edition will bring together filmmakers, actors, industry professionals and cinema lovers through a programme of film screenings, premieres, conversations, masterclasses and cultural events. The festival runs from August 13 to August 23, 2026, following the July 9 curtain raiser.
Also Read: 25 Years Of Lagaan: Aamir Khan and Gracy Singh bring film’s nostalgia alive; watch
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