Mumbai, Jul 20 (IANS): Independent filmmaker Shadab Khan is off to Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival with his latest directorial feature.

Titled "Rabia And Olivia", the film is an Indo-Canadian venture and it has been officially selected for screening at the festival, to be held in August.

The film has already won 13 International awards at festivals like Los Angeles Film Awards, Depth of Field, Dumbo Film Awards, Florence Film Awards, and Indo Global Awards.

"The journey of an independent filmmaker is full of dark tunnels and it's really tough to survive, but the fire of storytelling always keeps it going. Such kind of appreciation from the film festivals keeps me motivated to make more meaningful films," said Khan, who has earlier directed the indie flick "B.A. Pass 2"

The writer-director's new film "Rabia And Olivia" is about Rabia, an illegal immigrant in Canada, and the nine-year-old mentally-stressed Canadian child Olivia, who lost her mother while fighting cancer.