Washington, March 21 (PTI): An annual Indian film festival in Los Angeles promises to be a mega event this year with the Time Warner Cable sponsoring it in a show of support for Bollywood and South Asian cinema.

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), in its fifth year of bringing new Indian cinema to movie fans in southern California, will run between April 17 and 22.

The cable company, the second largest in the US, has teamed up with BODVOD, a firm that holds exclusive rights to popular Indian movies from top Bollywood studios such as UTV and Adlabs.

"We are truly delighted to be working with Time Warner Cable of Los Angeles this year," Festival Director Christina Marouda has said in a press release. "The availability of international films on demand is an important step towards highlighting Indian cinema. IFFLA's commitment to present quality Indian cinema creates an ideal partnership."

"Time Warner Cable is excited to sponsor the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles this year and proud to give our 1.9 million customers in southern California access to more Bollywood and South Asian movies," said Roger Keating, Executive Vice President, Time Warner Cable.

"By creating a separate international category to showcase films from around the world, Time Warner Cable connects people to the many diverse cultures represented in the southland on the most convenient, easy-to-use platform cable has to offer," he added in a press statement.

"This is a perfect strategic fit between Time Warner Cable and IFFLA and we are happy to bring them together," Anjali Jindal, head of programming for BODVOD Networks, the provider of Time Warner's and other cable operators' Bollywood on-demand category has said.