Love at First Sight- Yorkshire
IIFA, through celebrating the passion, drive and creativity of Indian Cinema, mirrored the same values and enthusiasm of Yorkshire, the hosts of IIFA Weekend 2007. An estimated 30,000 extra overseas visitors poured into Yorkshire for IIFA 2007. The IIFA Weekend 2007 was jointly hosted by the five world-class cities of Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, York and Hull to come together for a celebration that had never been seen before.

Here's a peek into some of the salient events that were lined up during the Weekend...

IIFA World Premiere
The World Premiere gave film aficionados the first glance into forthcoming blockbusters from Indian Cinema. The IIFA World Premiere 2007 gave the world a glimpse into the next big thing from Indian Cinema.

IIFA Film Festival
In the year 2005, IIFA instituted the IIFA Film Festival as part of its objective to give international audiences a flavour of Indian Cinema. The IIFA Film Festival showcases some of the best films Indian Cinema has to offer. The IIFA Film Festival 2007 presented an astounding panorama of Indian Cinema, with a special tribute to an Indian film superstar and a retrospective on the late Hrishikesh Mukherjee, one of the most popular filmmakers of Indian Cinema.
Spread over five cities of Leeds, the IIFA Weekend saw the fantastic IIFA 'Fringe Festival' with a host of activities like melas, theatre, music, fashion, shopping and food festivals and much more celebrating UK's cultural links with India

IFA-BAFTA Film Workshop
The IIFA Film Workshop gave students and amateur film professionals an opportunity to interact with the icons of the film industry. The Film Workshop was an open forum for film students, professionals, industry stalwarts to come together and discuss international cinema. The Film Workshop 2007 was dedicated to the legendary director Satyajit Ray who was honoured by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Film professionals discussed seminal works of Satyajit Ray, along with his filming techniques and approach to film-making.

FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum
The FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum 2007 was presented by Yorkshire Forward, the regional development authority, & featured global speakers discussing a range of topics like tourism, infrastructure and real estate, financial services and investment opportunities in India and Yorkshire, media, film, entertainment, IT and new media, retail and manufacturing.

IIFA Foundation Celebrity Charity Cricket Match
During the IIFA Weekend 2007, a special celebrity charity cricket match was held on the hallowed turf of Headingley - scene of some of the greatest test matches ever. Sports icons and film stars from India and the UK took part in this action-filled match, which was applauded by fans of cinema and cricket. Proceeds from the match were donated to reputed charities.

IDEA-IIFA Awards
The Idea - IIFA Awards 2007 was held in one of Europe's top event destinations, with a capacity of over 12,000. The venue provided a sensational environment humming with cutting-edge technology to celebrate Indian Cinema's achievements in a fittingly majestic manner.

Trivia:
One of the major highlights were the Doctorates presented to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, Minister of Civil Aviation Mr. Praful Patel, Mr. Yash Chopra & Ms. Shabana Azmi by Leeds Metropolitan University during the Fringe Festival.