Mohanlal-Mammootty reunion: 'Patriot' to open IFFLA 2026

Malayalam espionage thriller Patriot, bringing together screen legends Mohanlal and Mammootty for the first time in 18 years, will open the 24th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), scheduled from April 23 to 26.

The festival, recognised as a leading platform for South Asian cinema in the US, will showcase 27 films this year, including seven narrative features, two documentary features, and 18 short films from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and the USA.

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Alongside Mohanlal and Mammootty, Patriot features Fahadh Faasil, Nayanthara, and Revathy in a star-studded ensemble, generating significant buzz ahead of its festival premiere.

IFFLA will close with the North American premiere of The Great Shamsuddin Family, directed by Anusha Rizvi of Peepli Live fame. The darkly comic social satire is set over a single day in a Delhi apartment, following a writer navigating a family in crisis against the backdrop of a pressing deadline.

The festival will also screen Pakistani director Seemab Gul's debut feature Ghost School, a story about a ten-year-old girl caught in the fallout of a supernatural rumour at her school, and Mahde Hasan's Bangladeshi drama Sand City, winner of the Proxima Grand Prix at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Anuparna Roy’s Songs of Forgotten Trees, which earned her the Best Director Award at the Venice Film Festival, will have its North American premiere at IFFLA. The film follows two migrant women forging an unlikely bond in Mumbai.

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Documentary highlights include Karla Murthy’s The Gas Station Attendant, winner of Best Documentary at the Nashville Film Festival, offering an intimate portrait of her immigrant father, and Breaking The Code, co-directed by Ben Rekhi and Swetlana, which traces Rekhi’s father’s journey from post-independence India to becoming a tech pioneer in Silicon Valley.

IFFLA Artistic Director Anu Rangachar said the 2026 lineup reflected “a remarkable surge of women filmmakers across the subcontinent and the diasporas.” Thirteen of the 18 short films in the programme are directed by women.

The short film slate includes world premieres of Nihaarika Negi's Tenfa, an intergenerational Himalayan tale, and Fatima Liaqat's Plain Folks, a comedy horror set at an American college. International selections include Bleat! by Ananth Subramaniam, winner of the Queer Palm at Cannes Critics' Week, and O'Sey Balamma by Raman Nimmala, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year.

IFFLA’s Industry Days forum will return alongside screenings, offering panels, masterclasses, and a USD 10,000 Pitch Competition Development Grant open to South Asian film and television creatives. The festival also runs IFFLA Connect, a programme linking South Asian projects with industry professionals for support in financing, production, and casting.

Executive Director Anjay Nagpal said the festival aimed to spotlight “the brilliant breadth and scope of South Asian storytelling” while connecting filmmakers with Los Angeles audiences and industry professionals.