ABOUT US
Started in 2016 IMFF@austin is Indie Meme's signature event. The 8th Annual South Asian Film Festival is scheduled from April 12-16, 2023.
Awarded the “Best International Passport - 2016" by The Austin Chronicle, the Indie Meme Film Festival continues to grow as the 'go to' destination for unique, powerful stories from South Asia. Cinema enthusiasts come to watch the carefully curated programming to experience slices of life from countries like India, Nepal, Pakistan, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Iran & more and to mingle with the filmmakers in attendance & be a part of the Indie Meme community. IMFF aims to entertain and engage the community by showcasing different perspectives through the lens and provide a platform for post-screening audience & filmmaker discussions.
The Indie Meme Community is the driving force behind the festival that encouraged the IMFF team to keep the festival alive through the pandemic!
From going virtual within a month of the scheduled in-person festival (canceled last minute) in 2020 to moving to an exciting new interactive, customized platform and virtual festival experience in 2021 - IMFF has actually managed to thrive under the hardest of circumstances.
We even moved a 4-day festival to a 2-weekend festival in 2021 and a HYBRID IMFF2022!
This year, the festival will once again be buzzing with film premiers, red carpet events, filmmakers in person, member mixers, audience discussions, networking events and parties.
Indie Meme has been screening new age cinema with unique and fresh themes, bringing to light remarkable issues. Indie Meme events have over the years gained quite the reputation for the audience interaction and participation from various local non profits.
Since its inception, IMFF@Austin has been funded in part by a grant from the City of Austin. This year Indie Meme is supported by an ARP Grant.
IMFF is so proud to add to the diverse cultural landscape of Austin!
IMFF2023 TEAM
Festival Founders
Tripti Bhatnagar & Alka Bhanot
Festival Programming Co-Director
Animon Jose
Festival Finance Director
Ram Raghavan
Festival Outreach Director
Shawn Siram
Festival Tech Director
Parth Acharya
Festival Design Director
Animon Jose
Indie Meme Interns
Jana Henson, Uma Riddle, Amanda Hutchings
Programming Team
Kathrine Tinggaard, Ramdas Menon, Animon Jose
Our flagship event
IMFF@Austin
Indie Meme Film Festival
An award winning festival, organized in April in Austin Texas, IMFF is a 4 day fest celebrating excellent cinema, filmmaker interactions, panels, parties, networking and discussions.
IMFF2016 - Awarded Best of Austin Chronicle
IMFF2020 - Setting a new bar for online film festivals
IMFF2021 - A trailblazing virtual event
In addition to the Indie Meme Film Festival we organize year-round screenings & events in Austin and Dallas. We also do co-presentations with area festivals and other organizations. In 2018 we launched a youth initiative and its success had led to IMFF Youth.
Members get FREE access to our online screenings - BECOME A MEMBER
Find out how YOU can get involved
THE STORY
In February of 2013, Indie Meme LLC was set up as a product of passion for cinema, and the compulsive desire to make independent films available in the US for everyone and not just the festival goers. The idea germinated as a dear friend, Surabhi Sharma, had a screening of her lovely film in Austin and very few people knew about it…The world of fb informed me of amazing films being done in India by old friends and acquaintances and I had no way of watching them…The need to watch something more rewarding than what was usually available, made me believe that surely there were others like me – who seek good meaningful cinema from India…This simple thought led to Indie Meme, which has evolved & grown every day from that first idea, like an organic being living off the environment it is thrown in.
Tripti Bhatnagar, the co-founder and the force that keeps Indie Meme growing and thriving is what had led to what Indie Meme is today!
It's been such an incredible journey so far. The tremendous support from the community has enabled us to continue to move ahead - one screening at a time! The support from family, old friends and new has been steadfast. And every Indie Meme event has been led by volunteers, who ran the show and truly cared about what we were trying to build. They motivated us to carry on every time the going got tough!
For giving me the coolest name for my first entrepreneurial venture, I must credit my brother, Alok Bhanot.
Thank you for reading!
Now quickly come on board - become a member, a volunteer, a donor, a sponsor and come meet us at the next screening!
Alka Bhanot
