The Dharamshala International Food Festival (DIFF) has collaborated with Inflatable theatre company Picturetime to offer a better experience to the audience during the 11th edition of the film festival, to be held from November 3 to November 6 at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala.

DIFF will be held in physical mode after a gap of two years, and two of Picturetime’s inflatable theatres will be screening films at the foothills of the Himalayas during the four-day festival. The company has also provided audio-visual equipment to the newly built auditorium at TIPA, DIFF said in a press communique.

DIFF director Ritu Sarin said, “Before we teamed up with Picturetime in 2018, we had no way of showing DCPs, the preferred digital screening format internationally. Our partnership with Picturetime helped us to overcome that technical hurdle. Picturetime's state-of-the-art digital facilities and its knowledgeable technical team have really helped DIFF move to the next level. This year, we’re more excited than ever because we’re adding a second Picturetime mobile digital cinema, and expanding even further our capacity to screen films at the highest quality.”

DIFF, in partnership with Picturetime, will screen an excellent lineup of features, documentaries and short films, including the Indian premieres of Saim Saqid’s Cannes Jury Prize winner Joyland. Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s third feature Once Upon A Time In Calcutta, Rintu Thomas-and-Sushmit Ghosh's searing documentary Writing with Fire and Parth Saurabh's debut feature Pokhar Ke Dunu Paar — to be presented by Anurag Kashyap — will also be screened in the inflatable theatres.

Talking about his association with DIFF, Sushil Chaudhary, founder & CEO, Picturetime Digiplex, said, “A good film festival requires good technology to do justice to the cinematic experience. When we first associated with DIFF, the idea was to add value by bringing the best digital facilities. We have fulfilled this mission over five wonderful years so far. This year, too, we are adding value by making new changes to the cinema theatres in the sound, visual and seating systems.”