India’s commercial Bollywood movie industry is the only foreign cinema that still has a flourishing theatrical presence in the U.S. But like all popular screening circuits, this one categorically excludes certain kinds of material. The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, which kicks off its fifth season on Tuesday, aims to fill gaps in our understanding of the most robust and prolific film factory on Earth. A realistic depiction of ordinary life and culture, for instance, is not something you expect to find in the commercial realm, which in India as elsewhere tends to be escapist. IFFLA has some rich offerings in that area but not, curiously, in the documentaries that were available for preview. In attempts like... More >>>