Mumbai, Feb 20 (IANS): The 18th edition of Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is all set to kick-start from April 1 to April 5, and audience will get to witness the insightful discussions between the renowned filmmakers Imtiaz Ali and Anurag Kashyap at the five-day gala.

The festival will open with 'An Evening with Imtiaz Ali'. He will be joined onstage by Kashyap to discuss the scope and influence of Imtiaz's career. The session will be followed by the screening of Imtiaz's hit movie "Highway".

"We are thrilled to open this year's festival with an insightful and unfiltered conversation with Imtiaz Ali, moderated by longtime friend of IFFLA Anurag Kashyap.

"Imtiaz's intuitive work with actors and independent spirit are a natural fit for IFFLA," Christina Marouda, IFFLA's Executive Director said.

IFFLA's closing night will see the Los Angeles premiere of "The MisEducation of Bindu", a delightful coming-of-age tale set in the American suburbs about a bright young Indian girl who resolves to test out of her high school, but must turn to the students who constantly torment her to raise the money for the test fee.

Vikrant Massey and Shweta Tripathi's sci-fi fantasy "Cargo" and Konkana Sen Sharma's "Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare" will be among many others to enthrall the audience.

"After SXSW, Austin, I am excited to show this film to another set of people. This film is a passion project and with every viewing for a new audience, I see the love for it quadrupling . I am looking forward to taking the film to LA and discussing it with cinephiles there," Arati Kadav, who directed "Cargo", happily expressed.