About Dharamshala International Film Festival

Founded in 2012, Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) was originally conceived as a way to bring quality cinema into their remote mountain community, but has now grown into a support system and champion of Indian independent cinema. Truly a festival for the people, DIFF focuses on connecting individuals with films they can’t find elsewhere, offering robust, quirky, and unique programming as an alternative to mainstream cinema.

But with a massive Indian film industry to compete with, it can be difficult for independent filmmakers to break through and find an audience for their work. DIFF recognized the power a VOD platform could bring to not only broadening their festival’s reach, but in helping to fill a void in the Indian independent film community and give filmmakers a platform to showcase their work to national and international audiences. All they needed was a partner to help execute their vision.
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Opportunity to Champion Independent Indian Cinema

DIFF sought a VOD platform that would allow them to take their mission statement into the digital space and become the nation’s leading voice in Indian independent cinema. Shift72’s VOD platform helped them accomplish this transition in 2020, and in 2021 helped the spirit of DIFF to shine through audience’s screens with:

• A fully customizable VOD platform hosting 100 feature length and short films
• Live, one-on-one conversations between leading industry professionals
• Roundtable discussions with filmmakers

The 2021 digital event was so popular that, mid-festival, they expanded their dates by an extra 4 days to accommodate high demand from audiences.

“The back end of Shift72 made it look easy. You had more control over how you put up content...we're a very particular group of people and we like to have ocntrol over what we're doing. Shift72 was a really good fit for us.”
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Deepthi Pendurty, Festival Manager
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Looking Forward

The success of their 2020 and 2021 festivals opened new doors for DIFF. Not only did they accomplish their goal of connecting people with unique films, but they also cast a wider net and brought in new audiences from all over the world.

Dharamshala International Film Festival has continued plans to grow their VOD platform to:

• Showcase unique independent films in a year-round offering.
• Host learning programs for those in the industry.
• Create additional opportunities for the independent filmmaking community in the Himalayan region, India, and South Asia.
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“We've changed quite a bit in a year.  Even though we're very particular about who we are and our programming, you cannot deny it - [streaming] changed us and changed how we approach things.  You have to be in a digital space now, you can't not be. We're all engaged in this space now.”
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Deepthi Pendurty, Festival Manager