Gurinder Chadha’s upcoming film It’s a Wonderful Afterlife will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival later this month.

The director made the announcement this week.

But the film will screen outside of the competition during the festival, which takes place in Park City, USA from 21st January until 31st January.

She said: “I am delighted to premiere my film at Sundance having had such a long and happy relationship with the festival.”

She added: “Since it is the festival for independent filmmakers, I feel especially pleased because ‘It’s a Wonderful Afterlife’ is a truly independent British-Indian co-production.”

The ’supernatural’ comedy follows the story of a frantic Indian mother (Shabana Azmi, pictured centre-left below) whose obsession with finding a partner for her overweight daughter takes her into the world of serial murder.

The star cast also includes Goldy Notay (pictured far-right), Sally Hawkins (pictured centre-right), Sendhil Ramamurthy, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Zoe Wanamaker and Jimi Mistry.

Gurinder Chadha is producing and directing it through her own company: Bend it Films, which she founded in 2001 with her husband Paul Mayeda Berges.

The company says it has three other projects also in the pipeline.

It’s a Wonderful Afterlife will release in cinemas across the UK in April 2010.

Ethnic agency Media Moguls are handling PR for the film: 020 8902 5575.