India, May 2 -- Regional films have amassed a wider audience ever since the boom of OTT in India. However, much before the advent of such platforms, the Habitat Film Festival (HFF) has been providing unwavering support to this realm of cinema and is now returning to the Capital for its 16th edition.

The 10-day-long gala, in partnership with HT City, has a line-up of 40 feature films, 10 documentaries and three short film sections. It opens today with the Marathi film Sthal (A Match) and Hindi film Berlin, which stars actors Aparshakti Khurana and Ishwak Singh. "When we started the festival in 2006, there was no space for regional cinema. The Habitat Film Festival, the only festival focusing solely on the best of pan Indian cinema, was co...