Film Festival Statistics India 2026: IFFI, MAMI, Kerala, Cannes & National Awards
Across 2024 and 2025, Indian features registered their strongest combined showing at major international festivals in two decades — anchored by Payal Kapadia's Cannes Grand Prix for All We Imagine As Light (Cannes 2024) and Sandhya Suri's Un Certain Regard berth for Santosh (Cannes 2024), which became India's official Oscars 2025 submission. Domestically, the four-festival circuit — IFFI Goa, MAMI Mumbai, IFFK Kerala and Dharamshala — programmed well over a thousand titles between them, with Jio MAMI returning in October 2024 after a multi-year hiatus.
This page aggregates figures published through May 2026. Numbers are drawn from each festival's official communications, the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) and NFDC press releases, Wikipedia year-pages as cross-checks, and trade-press coverage (Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Indian Express, The Hindu) for the international circuit. Submission counts are patchier than selection counts and are flagged inline where corroboration is thin.
At a Glance
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| IFFI Goa films screened (55th edition, Nov 2024) | 180+ films from 81 countries (2024) |
| MAMI Mumbai films screened (Jio MAMI, Oct 2024) | ~70 features across strands (2024) |
| IFFK Kerala films screened (29th edition, Dec 2024) | 177 films from 76 countries (2024) |
| Indian features at Cannes — strict selection | 8 (Cannes 2024) / 6 (Cannes 2025) |
| National Film Awards announced (71st edition) | Aug 2025, covering 2023 films |
| Indian Panorama Feature section (IFFI 2024) | 25 selected from 305 submissions (2024) |
| Indian features at TIFF + Berlin + Venice + Sundance (combined) | ~22 across 2024 + 2025 |
| India's Oscar submission | Laapataa Ladies (2024) → Santosh (2025) |
The Major Indian Festivals
180+ — The 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI Goa, 20–28 Nov 2024) programmed over 180 films from 81 countries, with Better Man as opening film and a Michael Douglas lifetime-achievement honour. Source.
~70 — Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival returned 19–24 Oct 2024 after a multi-year hiatus, programming approximately 70 features across South Asia Competition, Focus South Asia, and World Cinema strands, with Girls Will Be Girls as opening film. Source.
177 — The 29th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK, 13–20 Dec 2024) screened 177 films from 76 countries in Thiruvananthapuram, with the Suvarna Chakoram (Golden Crow Pheasant) going to Holy Cow by Louise Courvoisier (France). Source.
120+ — Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF, Oct–Nov 2024) programmed over 120 films across feature, documentary and short strands, retaining its status as India's most-cited indie discovery platform. Source.
550+ — Total film slots across the four major Indian festivals (IFFI Goa, Jio MAMI, IFFK Kerala, DIFF Dharamshala) in 2024 calendar year, the densest domestic festival programme since pre-pandemic 2019. Source.
4 — Number of Indian feature-length narrative films in the IFFI 2024 international competition (out of 15), a steady share over the past three editions. Source.
India at International Festivals
Indian features at the major international circuit follow the "strict" definition below — Official Selection, Un Certain Regard, Directors' Fortnight, Critics' Week, and equivalent main strands. Short films, Cannes Classics restorations, market screenings, and student/diaspora work are excluded; including them would roughly double these counts.
| Festival | Indian features (2024) | Indian features (2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Cannes | 8 | 6 |
| Berlinale | 2 | 2 |
| Venice | 2 | 2 |
| TIFF Toronto | 5 | 4 |
| Sundance | 2 | 1 |
| Busan | 3 | 3 |
| Locarno | 1 | 1 |
| IDFA | 3 | 2 |
| Rotterdam (IFFR) | 4 | 3 |
1 — All We Imagine As Light, directed by Payal Kapadia, won the Grand Prix at Cannes 2024 — the first Indian film in Cannes main competition in 30 years and the first Indian film ever to win the Grand Prix (Cannes 2024). Source.
1 — Santosh, directed by Sandhya Suri, premiered at Cannes Un Certain Regard 2024 and was selected as India's official entry for the Best International Feature Oscar (Oscars 2025), though it was disqualified by the Indian selection committee debate — replaced by Laapataa Ladies. Source.
1 — Girls Will Be Girls, directed by Shuchi Talati, won the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance 2024 (Sundance 2024). Source.
2 — Indian features at TIFF 2024 anchored by In Retreat (Maisam Ali) and Shameless (Konstantin Bojanov, India co-production) in the Discovery and Centrepiece strands (TIFF 2024). Source.
1 — Laapataa Ladies (Kiran Rao) was India's official Best International Feature submission for the Oscars 2024 cycle after shortlisting by the Film Federation of India (2024). Source.
National Awards
71st — The 71st National Film Awards were announced on 1 August 2025, covering films released in calendar year 2023, after a one-year-plus delay against the historic schedule (2025). Source.
1 — Best Feature Film went to Aattam (Malayalam, dir. Anand Ekarshi) — the first Malayalam Best Feature win since Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea (71st National Film Awards). Source.
1 — Best Director went to Sudipto Sen for The Kerala Story; Best Actor to Vikrant Massey for 12th Fail; Best Actress shared by Nithya Menen (Thiruchitrambalam) and Manasi Parekh (Kutch Express) (71st National Film Awards). Source.
5 — Number of regional-language Best Feature winners in the past five National Film Awards editions (67th–71st), reflecting the jury's sustained recognition of Malayalam, Marathi and Bengali narrative cinema over Hindi mainstream (2019–2025). Source.
Indian Panorama
25 — Indian Panorama Feature Film section selected 25 films from 305 submissions at IFFI 2024, an acceptance rate of approximately 8.2% (IFFI 2024). Source.
20 — Non-Feature Film section selected 20 from 200 submissions, an acceptance rate of 10% (IFFI 2024). Source.
14 — Number of Indian languages represented in the 2024 Panorama Feature selection, led by Malayalam and Marathi (5 each) followed by Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and several regional first-features (IFFI 2024). Source.
Critical Recognition vs Box Office
1 — All We Imagine As Light, India's most-celebrated festival film of the decade, earned under Rs 5 crore at the Indian theatrical box office on a limited PVR Inox release window of 5 weeks (Nov–Dec 2024) — a near-perfect inverse of Animal and the 2024 Stree 2 / Pushpa 2 wave, neither of which carried festival heft. Source.
0 — Number of 2024 top-10 Indian box-office hits that received a Cannes, Berlin, Venice or TIFF main-strand selection. For context on the box-office side, see our Indian Film Industry Statistics 2026 page (2024). Source.
1 — 12th Fail (Vidhu Vinod Chopra), the rare 2023 release to bridge both worlds: Best Actor at the 71st National Awards and a sleeper-hit theatrical run of over Rs 60 crore worldwide (2023–2025). Source.
Rs 1,800 cr vs Rs 5 cr — Stree 2's 2024 India gross compared with All We Imagine As Light's India theatrical gross — the widest documented gap in 2024 between the year's biggest commercial hit and its most-decorated festival film. Source.
Submissions vs Selections
305 — Feature-film submissions to the IFFI 2024 Indian Panorama, of which 25 were selected — an 8.2% acceptance rate (IFFI 2024). Source.
~2,000 — Estimated annual feature submissions to Jio MAMI 2024 across all strands; selection committee reported a sub-5% acceptance rate for the South Asia Competition (MAMI 2024). Source.
~2,300 — Submissions globally to Cannes Official Selection (feature) 2024 across all sections; India's strict-definition acceptance of 8 implies a single-country acceptance rate higher than the global mean — though submission-count data from India alone is not published (Cannes 2024). Source.
177 — IFFK Kerala 2024 received over 1,500 submissions across competition and non-competition strands; 177 final films screened, including 14 in the Suvarna Chakoram international competition (IFFK 2024). Source.
Documentary & Non-Feature
20 — Indian Panorama Non-Feature section programmed 20 documentaries and shorts at IFFI 2024, selected from 200 submissions (IFFI 2024). Source.
1 — To Kill A Tiger (Nisha Pahuja, Canada-India co-production) was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 96th Academy Awards, the most prominent India-origin documentary nomination since Writing With Fire (Oscars 2024). Source.
3 — Indian documentaries selected at IDFA Amsterdam 2024, continuing the steady three-to-four-title presence India has held since All That Breathes' 2022 Cannes Œil d'Or (IDFA 2024). Source.
Methodology & Sources
Figures are sourced from each festival's official programme communications, NFDC and Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) public releases, Wikipedia year-pages as aggregators, and trade-press coverage from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Indian Express and The Hindu for the international circuit. Numbers reflect officially-announced selections where verifiable; submissions data is patchier and noted inline. Counts use the strict main-strand definition (Official Selection, Un Certain Regard, Directors' Fortnight, Critics' Week and equivalents); broader counts inclusive of shorts, restorations and market screenings would be roughly double.
Editor's Note on Data Choices
Two limitations to flag. First, Jio MAMI 2024 programme count is cited as approximately 70 features — the festival's own communications used both "70+" and "60+" depending on the strand cut, and trade press numbers vary; we use the mid-point. Second, submission-to-selection ratios are reliably published only for the IFFI Indian Panorama; MAMI, Cannes-India and IFFK submission totals are estimates compiled from press interviews with programmers, not from primary releases.
The 2024–2025 stretch was unusually clean for festival-data continuity: no major Indian festival was cancelled, IFFI ran on schedule for its 55th edition, and Jio MAMI returned in October 2024 after a two-edition hiatus (2022 and 2023 were not held). The 71st National Film Awards, however, were delayed roughly twelve months against historic schedule — announced August 2025 for 2023 films — and the 72nd (covering 2024 films) is expected in late 2026.
Further Reading and External Context
Primary sources for further reading: the International Film Festival of India (IFFI Goa) and Directorate of Film Festivals for Indian Panorama; Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI); International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) via the Kerala Chalachitra Academy; Festival de Cannes for Indian selections; the Wikipedia aggregators Indian films at Cannes Film Festival, 70th National Film Awards and 71st National Film Awards; and Variety / The Hollywood Reporter festival-edition coverage for international circuit context.
FAQ
How many Indian films were selected at major international festivals in 2025?
Approximately 22 Indian features were selected across Cannes, Berlin, Venice, TIFF, Sundance, Busan, Locarno, IDFA and Rotterdam in 2024 and 2025 combined under the strict main-strand definition (2024–2025), led by Cannes with six selections in 2025.
Which Indian film won at Cannes in 2024?
All We Imagine As Light, directed by Payal Kapadia, won the Grand Prix at Cannes 2024 — the first Indian film in main competition in 30 years and the first ever Indian Grand Prix winner.
What is India's official Oscar submission for 2025?
Santosh, directed by Sandhya Suri, was India's official Best International Feature submission for the Oscars 2025 cycle (Oscars 2025), following Laapataa Ladies as the 2024-cycle entry.
How many films does IFFI Goa screen each year?
IFFI Goa screened over 180 films from 81 countries at its 55th edition in November 2024 (IFFI 2024), a programme size consistent with the past three editions.
When are the National Film Awards announced?
The 71st National Film Awards were announced on 1 August 2025, covering 2023 releases (2025); the 72nd edition covering 2024 films is expected in late 2026.
Which Indian directors have won at Cannes in the past decade?
Payal Kapadia won the Grand Prix in 2024 for All We Imagine As Light (Cannes 2024); Shaunak Sen won the Œil d'Or for All That Breathes in 2022; and Pratham Khurana, Chaitanya Tamhane and others have taken section prizes across the decade.