SBS celebrates the Festivals of Light

SBS celebrates the Festivals of Light highlighting its culinary titles, documentaries and movies which recognise diversity and facilitate greater cultural understanding.

Around the nation, SBS will also be on the ground at community events and festivals, partnering to deliver festive fun from the Diwali Street Festival in Wentworthville on Saturday 18 November to the Alice Springs Town Council Night Markets for Diwali on Thursday 9 November.

SBS is a proud partner for 11 events around the country in New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, to directly support celebrations and will be on the ground for an additional six events.

Managing Director, James Taylor said, “We’re thrilled to be the Australian home of the Festivals of Light for a second year and to share this wonderful cultural celebration with all Australians. We’re incredibly proud of this year’s vibrant and distinctive content across the SBS network which is unmatched in its in-depth perspectives and content breadth. SBS’s Diwali content will be in prime television slots from 5 October to 17 November and take-over SBS World Movies on Sunday 12 November. Our language programs will also publish explainers and articles to enhance cultural understanding in more than eight languages.”

SBS Audio’s Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Nepali, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu programs will produce a feast of new content including: explainers; a guide to community festivals in 2023; a new video series on what Diwali looks like in Australia with celebrity chef Kishwar Chowdhury; audience competitions; videos showcasing multifaith families and second generation Australians celebrating the festival in their own way; and a bespoke SBS podcast My Diwali featuring interviews with ex-Masterchef contestant Depinder Chibber, female dhol drum player Priya Gakhar and COO of One Future Football, Rohit Bhargava. The podcast will explore what it’s like celebrating Diwali in multicultural Australia including traditions, spirituality, food, games and more. SBS PopDesi will also provide the best playlist for a Diwali party.

SBS’s free online streaming platform, SBS On Demand, will feature a collection of movies inspired by themes of the festival including The Man Who Knew Infinity starring Dev Patel as Srinivasa Ramanujan, an exceptionally gifted mathematician navigating Trinity College in Cambridge; the rousing and true story of women in the film industry in Women Beyond Bollywood premiering on SBS VICELAND on Sunday 12 November at 9.30pm; acclaimed feminist comedy-drama Angry Indian Goddesses; Hindi romantic musical Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam starring celebrated Indian actors Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai as a married couple gone wrong; and Bangladeshi drama The Salt in Our Waters where progressive sculpture artist Rudro moves to a local village only to attract suspicion when the fish start to disappear.

Get ready for a SBS World Movie marathon on Sunday 12 November with non-stop feature films from Anandi Gopal (7.25am) to The Warrior Queen of Jhansi (10.25pm). and including the premiere of comedy-drama India Sweets and Spices (9.30pm), winner of the prestigious Academy Nicholl Fellowship in screenwriting and a Gold List Award for Breakout Indie Film.

A tastebud sensation curated by SBS Food will celebrate adventures to the land of spices, including the premiere of Luke Nguyen’s India (Monday 13 November, 7.30pm), two episodes of Anthony Bourdain No Reservations in India (Monday 6 November, 7.30pm and Wednesday 15 November, 4.30pm), Season One of David Rocco’s Dolce India (Monday 6 November – Friday 17 November, 4-4.30pm), Season One of Rick Stein’s India, India Unplated with acclaimed Indian-Australian chefs Helly Raichura, Adam D’Sylva and Sandeep Pandit, a special episode of Gordon Ramsay Uncharted in India and The Cook Up with Adam Liaw with episodes on Indian cuisine and Diwali. The feast continues on SBS Food online with recipes, stories of family and food with first-person memoir pieces, and a special three-part recipe series with Anchal Verma on sweets including kaju katli, mango ladoo and coconut rose barfi.

SBS Learn will celebrate Diwali with a ready-to-go resource for teachers on how to make a kolam or rangoli guided by primary school teacher Vakula Bhattar. The video is also available in Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Nepali, Punjabi and Tamil.