The capital welcomes two new film festivals this summer, serving up a refreshing opportunity for film lovers keen to step off the beaten track to discover international productions from the East and West.

As part of the City of London Festival, a celebration of the arts in the heart of the capital which takes place until 9 July, the Barbican and Ritzy Picturehouse are presenting a film season to celebrate the richness of Portuguese cinema.

Centered round the theme of traditional Portuguese music and its multiple influences, from Arabic to sub-Saharan sounds, the First UK Portuguese Film Festival (26 June - 9 July)offers a glimpse into largely unknown film productions to come out of Portugal. Six titles -including four UK premieres - will be shown throughout the two-week season titled 'Sound in Cinema - Music in Film', including the Buñuel-inspired The Cannibals, by internationally renowned director Manoel de Oliveira. Fado, Portugal's widely exported melancholic music, is the focus of Perdigão Queiroga's Fado, Story of a Singer as well as the documentary The Art of Amália, around Amália Rodrigues, considered the 'queen of fado' and one of Portugal's best known vocalists.

Completing the programme are Perpetual Movements: A Cine-Tribute to Carlos Paredes, a portrait of the Portuguese guitar genius, Our Beloved Month of August, a freewheeling documentary on the cultural pastimes of rural Portugal, and musical comedy My Voice.

Following shortly after, another new event will introduce an exotic flavour to the capital's festival scene. Sidelining itself from the Bollywoodiesque extravaganza, the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) - running from 15 to 20 July in various cinemas across the city - will concentrate on independent Indian productions from emerging alternative film hubs, such as Mumbai.

With screenings and special events happening at Cineworld Haymarket, Barbican, Watermans Genesis and the Nehru Centre, LIFF has the self-confessed intention of challenging the UK's preconceptions around Indian cinema - introducing indie productions from the region to London audiences. To this end, Dibakar Banerjee's Hindi fairlytale romance Love, Sex and Betrayal will open the festival, whilst coming-of-age drama Vihir (The Well), by award winning director Umesh Kulkarni and which had its world premiere at Berlin earlier this year, will close proceedings.

The First UK Portuguese Film Festival runs from 26 June to 9 July. For more information, please visit the Barbican and Ritzy websites.

The London Indian Film Festival runs 15-20 July at several venues. For full details, please visit the festival's website.

Find out more about film festivals and screenings through our events calendar, or sign up to the Film London Twitter feed.