New York Indian Film Festival 2015


15th Annual NEW YORK INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL
May 4 - 9, 2015


SCREENING SCHEDULE
 

Tickets for all films at the Village East Cinemas: $15 general admission; $12 IAAC members

May 4:
Opening Night Celebrations 6 pm-midnight
May 5-8: Daily schedule in four theatres - screenings at 6 pm, 9 pm
May 9: Daily schedule in four theatres - screenings at 12 noon, 3 pm
May 9: Closing Night Celebrations 5 pm - midnight

Opening Night May 4th: Paris Theatre, 4 West 58th Street, New York City
& New York Athletic Club, 180 Central Park S, New York City

Closing Night May 9th: Skirball Center for Performing Arts,
La Guardia Place @ Washington Square Park, New York City

All other screenings, Special Events, Industry Panels: Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC

Festival Pass: $250 general admission; $200 IAAC members.
Includes all regular screenings and special events, Centerpiece and Closing Night screenings & parties.
Does not include Opening Night.
Festival Pass
 
Margarita-With-A-Straw

Margarita-With-A-Straw

Margarita-With-A-Straw

  Margarita-With-A-Straw

  Margarita-With-A-Straw

  Margarita-With-A-Straw
Opening Night Film
Monday, May 4, 2015, 6:00 pm, at the Paris Theatre, 4 West 58th Street, New York City.
Screening Tickets: Red carpet, cocktail party, film screening, post-screening discussion.
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There will be a post-screening discussion with Director Shonali Bose, Co-Director Nilesh Maniyar, Lead Actor Kalki Koechlin and actor Sayani Gupta.

Gala Benefit Dinner Tickets: Red carpet, cocktail party, film screening, post-screening discussion, Gala Benefit Dinner.
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Margarita With A Straw

Directed by Shonali Bose;
India 2014, 100 Minutes, Hindi/English (w/ English subtitles)
PRINCIPAL CAST- Kalki Koechlin, Revathy, Sayani Gupta, William Moseley.
SECONDARY CAST- Hussain Dalal, Tenzin Dalha, Kuljeet Singh, Malhar Khushu.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jacunUzJPj8

Synopsis: In this inspirational love story, a middle class Indian teenager born with cerebral palsy (Dev.D, That Girl in Yellow Boots) is determined to have a relationship. Unusual only because it's so rarely seen on screen, Margarita, with a Straw is an exceptional portrait of a woman discovering what she wants, and how to get it.

Laila (Kalki Koechlin) is a student, crafting lyrics and electronic sounds for an indie band at her Delhi University. Her cerebral palsy doesn't much get in the way of her life, although it sometimes does for others. When Laila's band wins a local contest, the condescending host says to her, "It must have been so hard for you. Can you share something with us?" Laila shares her middle finger.

Always seeking more freedom and new experience, Laila wins a place at New York University and leaves India with her mother (Revathy) for Manhattan. There she meets a fiery activist, Khanum (Sayani Gupta), who challenges her beliefs and sparks her creativity. For these two women, it's the beginning of a remarkable love story.

Margarita-With-A-StrawAbout the Director: Shonali Bose (Director / Writer / Producer) Shonali Bose did an MA in Political Science at Columbia University followed by an MFA in Directing from the UCLA Film School. As a student at UCLA she received a number of top awards. After graduating she taught at NYFA, Universal Studios for a year. Then she was accepted in Film Independent's Project Involve as she started raising funds for her debut feature - Amu.

Based on the 1984 genocide against Sikhs, Amu, written, produced and directed by Bose won two National Awards (Best Film, Best Director) – India's highest award given by the President of the country and the FIPRESCI Critics Award amongst ten international awards. The film was an official selection at the Berlin Film Festival, followed by Toronto (TIFF) and many others. She was asked by Penguin Publishers to convert the screenplay into a novel. The book, authored by her, released on the same day as the film – a first for an Indian writer.

Shonali is also the first Indian to receive the prestigious Sundance-Mahindra Global Filmmaker Award for the screenplay of her new film Margarita, with a Straw. The award was presented at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The film had it's world premier at the Toronto Film Festival where it won the NETPAC Jury Award for Best Asian Film. It has gone on to many other important festivals (such as London BFI, Busan, Brisbane) where it's received standing ovations. It won the Best Actress Award for Kalki at the Talinn Black Nights Film Festival and was selected as Best of the Fest out of 192 films at the Palm Springs film Festival. It has already sold to several countries for theatrical release including US, Canada, Spain, Japan, South Korea. It will have a big theatrical release all over India by a major studio, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, in early 2015.

Maqbool
  Maqbool

Special Event
Tuesday, May 5
, 6:00 pm. Theater 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Post-screening discussion with director Vishal Bhardwaj


Maqbool
Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj
India 2003, 127 minutes, Hindi (w/English subtitles)
Cast- Irfan Khan, Tabu, Pankaj Kapoor, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah


Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HRu5duDXI04

Synopsis:
Maqbool is an orphan who is adopted by a powerful underworld don and the aging leader of a criminal gang. When he strikes up forbidden romance with his foster father's mistress, he does not dare defy the don publicly. However, dangerous thoughts begin to percolate in Maqbool's mind.

Vishal BhardwajAbout the Director: Vishal Bhardwaj (born 4 August 1965) is an Indian film director, writer, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer, known for his works in modern Hindi cinema. He produces films under his banner VB Pictures. He has received four National Film Awards. His directorial debut Makdee was screened in the Spotlight on India section at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. He is well known for his Shakespearean-based trilogy set in contemporary India: Maqbool, Omkara, and Haider. His films have premiered at both the Cannes Film Festival as well as the Busan International Film Festival.
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Iftar

Iftar

Iftar
Iftar (short)
Directed by Girimohan Coneti
New York City, 2014, 10 minutes, Urdu/English (w/ English subtitles)
Cast: Ahmad Razvi, Farah Bala, Shekhar Kapur, Aseem Chhabra
Post-screening discussion with Director Girimohan Coneti


Trailer: https://vimeo.com/126039527
 
Synopsis: A sophisticated woman and a working class man, both muslim immigrants from two different parts of New York City are confounded by their dilemma to fast during the holy month of Ramadan (Ramzan).

IftarAbout the Director: Giri has formal training in screenwriting from Emory University's (Atlanta) department of film studies. He lives in Brooklyn, NYC.

He has been writing feature length screenplays for award winning directors. Most recently he co-wrote a feature screenplay called 'Sin and the art of zen' with Paul Hardart (Mary and Max) for Santosh Sivan (The Terrorist).

His films were screened at several film festivals including Cannes Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, South Asian International Film Festival, Hongkong and Ireland International festivals.  

Mohan Agashe Special Presentation
Tuesday, May 5
, 6:00 pm. Theater 5, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Dr. Mohan Agashe: Marathi Cinema @ NYIFF

Mohan AgasheIn the Regional Film Scene of India, Marathi Cinema has made a big come back in the 21st Century to remind us of the Golden time it enjoyed in the initial years of Indian Cinema. Thanks to the father of Indian Cinema Dada Phalke, Prabhat Studios, Damle-Fattelal, VShantaram & Others.


 
The present scenario since 'Shwas' followed by several other new and young directors and producers Marathi Cinema has made a tremendous impact in India and abroad alike, have received rave reviews and won myriad National & International Awards to to call it 'The Marathi Renaissance' Dr. Mohan Agashe will briefly cover this journey through the films screened at the New York Indian Film Festival in the last five years.

Daughters of Mother India Tuesday, May 5, 6.15 pm. Theatre 2, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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-- SOLD OUT
 
Special Presentation: Daughters of Mother India - Winner of the National Award for Best Film on Social Issues 2015
Directed by Vibha Bakshi
India, 2014, 45 minutes; English/Hindi (w/English subtitles)

Panel Discussion with Director Vibha Bakshi & President/CEO of Breakthrough Mallika Dutt


Winner 2014 National Award Best Film on Social Issues (non-narrative)

Trailer: https://youtu.be/7YLRqmbPiIs

Synopsis: 'Daughters of Mother India' is a filmmaker's journey through the aftermath of the horrific rape and murder of a 23 year old medical intern in Delhi on 16th December 2012. For weeks mass protests filled the streets of India and he country witnessed 'gender consciousness' and extraordinary solidarity by the ordinary citizens - like never before.

Vibha BakshiAbout the Director: Vibha Bakshi is a filmmaker and Co-Producer / Co-Director with Academy Award winner Maryann De Leo. A former business reporter for CNBC, Vibha has studied Journalism from Boston University and Certification in Broadcasting from New York University.

Vibha's passion lies in making films which change lives...one story at a time. Her films have aired on HBO and Lifetime TV in the United States.

Bey Yaar

Bey Yaar
Tuesday, May 5, 6:30 pm. Theatre 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Bey Yaar

Directed by Abhishek Jain
India 2015, 150 Minutes, Hindi/Gujrati (w/English subtitles)
Cast- Aarti Patel, Abhishek Jain, Amit Mistry, Darshan Jariwala, Divyang Thakkar, Kavin Dave, Manoj Joshi, Pratik Gandhi, and Samvedhna Suwaika


Trailer: http://youtu.be/aRyNGHbNsaY

Synopsis: In the desperation to earn quick money, two best friends put their moral values at stake and end up losing their pride and dignity. They then choose a wrong path to set things right and snatch back what was rightfully theirs.

Abhishek Jain About the Director: Abhishek Jain is a film maker and the founder of CineMan Productions Ltd. Abhishek has the unique distinction of working with some of the top-notch filmmakers of Bollywood. He was assistant director to Subhash Ghai for the films Yuvraaj and Black & White. Later, he was associate director with Sanjay Leela Bhansali Films for the movies Guzaarish and Chenab Gandhi. He has also assisted Ram Madhvani for advertising campaigns. He is awarded as the 'Best Director' at Big Entertainment Awards, Transmedia Annual Awards and Red Carpet Awards for the year 2012.

M-Cream

M-Cream

M-Cream
Tuesday, May 5, 9:00 pm. Theatre 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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M Cream
Directed by Agneya Singh
India 2014, 113 minutes, Hindi/English
Cast- Auritra Ghosh, Barry John, Beatrice Ordeix, Imaad Shah, Ira Dubey

Post-screening discussion with Director Agneya Singh

Trailer: https://youtu.be/jzQBoni94xY

Synopsis: Entangled in a web of drugged out delirium, Figs is the quintessential rebel. When a sudden scarcity of hash deprives Figs of his favorite pastime, Figs joins forces with his best friend Maggie on a quest to attain M Cream, a mythical form of hash only found in the far reaches of the Himalayas. While suffering numerous setbacks and disappointments, they discover that the journey is of greater consequence than the destination.

M-CreamAbout the Director: Agneya Singh is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter. He is often identified with the revolutionary new wave of Indian cinema. Starting out as a documentary filmmaker in New Delhi, he subsequently began to explore narrative structures in story telling. Focusing as a director and cinematographer, Agneya has worked on a multitude of subjects in both documentary and narrative film, providing commentary on various aspects of Indian society. His short films and videos have been screened at several film festivals and media showcases. Agneya is a graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.
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Bill Houlihan (short)
Directed by Sofian Khan,
USA 2015, 15 minutes, English
Cast - Aizzah Fatima, George West Carruth, Samuel Osterhout


Trailer: https://youtu.be/EPmtrdsTY9c

Synopsis: When Mindy asks Marc to look at a part of his anatomy he isn't willing to share, the couple's relationship goes south. Compromise isn't always easy, or more compromising than this!

About the Director: Sofian Khan is a director/cinematographer and founder of Capital K Pictures, based in New York City. His short films have played in festivals around the world, and have aired on the Documentary Channel and PBS. This year marks the release of his first feature length projects, "Gaucho del Norte" and "The Dickumentary".
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Int. Cafe - Night

Int. Cafe - Night

Int. Cafe - Night
Int. Café - Night (short)
Directed by Adhiraj Bose,
India 2014, 13 minutes, Hindi (w/ English subtitles),
Cast - Naseeruddin Shah, Shernaz Patel, Naveen Kasturia, Shweta Basu Prasad


Synopsis: Int. Cafe - Night is a 13 minute film exploring two stories set inside a cafe in Kolkata, India. It follows the conversations of an elderly couple who have met by chance after a long interval, and a younger couple who are meeting for the last tie on another table nearby. This is a story depicting the youthful, impulsive side of unfulfilled love as well as the maturity of ageless affection, which are explored simultaneously in one night at a cafe.

About the Director: Adhiraj Bose, 23, is an Indian director and screenwriter by profession. He has written and directed a number of short films. His short documentary film 'Goonj - The Empty Call' was officially selected for several festivals and has gathered a lot of appreciation and award. He has previously worked with Vishal Bhardwaj Pictures Pvt. Ltd. in the feature film direction team. He is currently co-writing two Indian feature length screenplays and distributing his latest short film, Int. Cafe - Night.  

Daughters of Mother India Tuesday, May 5, 9:00 pm. Theatre 5, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
Buy Tickets

 
Special Presentation: Daughters of Mother India - Winner of the National Award for Best Film on Social Issues 2015

Directed by Vibha Bakshi
India, 2014, 45 minutes; English/Hindi (w/English subtitles)

Trailer: https://youtu.be/7YLRqmbPiIs

Synopsis: 'Daughters of Mother India' is a filmmaker's journey through the aftermath of the horrific rape and murder of a 23 year old medical intern in Delhi on 16th December 2012. For weeks mass protests filled the streets of India and he country witnessed 'gender consciousness' and extraordinary solidarity by the ordinary citizens - like never before.

Vibha BakshiAbout the Director: Vibha Bakshi is a filmmaker and Co-Producer / Co-Director with Academy Award winner Maryann De Leo. A former business reporter for CNBC, Vibha has studied Journalism from Boston University and Certification in Broadcasting from New York University.

Vibha's passion lies in making films which change lives...one story at a time. Her films have aired on HBO and Lifetime TV in the United States.

Being Bhaijaan

Being Bhaijaan

Being Bhaijaan

Being Bhaijaan

Tuesday, May 5, 9.15 pm. Theatre 2, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Being Bhaijaan
Directed by Shabani Hassanwalia, Samreen Farooqui,
India 2015, 80 minutes, Hindi (w/English subtitles)
Cast - Shan Ghosh, Balram Gehani, Bhaskar Hedaoo


Trailer: http://youtu.be/oA-CVJ920Bg

Synopsis: Being Bhaijaan explores Indian masculinity by mapping the emotional, spiritual and philosophical contribution Salman Khan makes to the lives of three men in small-town India, who find themselves increasingly disassociated with a changing country, its competitiveness and its new woman.

Being Bhaijaan Being BhaijaanAbout the Director: Samreen Farooqui and Shabani Hassanwalia founded Hit and Run Films in 2005, an independent video production unit, which engages with changing socio-political-personal realities through documentaries, video art and intervention films.

Their first documentary, Out of Thin Air, on Ladakhi local cinema was an official selection at International Film festival of Rotterdam and was the opening film at Film South Asia, 2009, besides playing at numerous other festivals. Online and Available, released in 2012, told a story of an India-in-transition through its online identity formation and was an official selection at MIFF, 2012. Recently, they worked as associate directors and editors of Star, by Dibakar Banerjee, as part of the Bombay Talkies omnibus, to celebrate the 100 years of Indian Cinema.

They've worked with and been supported by The Films Division, India, Channel 4, UK, DFG Docs, UK, World Bank, Public Service Broadcasting Trust, India Foundation for the Arts, National Mission for Manuscripts, Nirantar, Centre for Gender and Education and UNESCO, UNDP, Natural Justice, World Bank, FAO, Ford Foundation. Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan. CHIRAG, Uttaranchal, WWF. Religious and Glocal Health Care, among others.

Their work with gender and sexuality involves Bioscope: Non-binary Conversations on Gender and Education and Bhaijaan, an under-production documentary that tries to understand Indian masculinity through Salman Khan.
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Asian American Film Lab's
The 72 Hour Shootout's THE COLOR OF MY HAIR
 
Post-screening discussion with Director and filmmakers
 
General Description: This was the 10th year of the shootout, a competition in which filmmakers have 72 hours to make a film related to the theme of the year. The competition is put on by the Asian American Film Lab, a non-profit dedicated to promoting and creating opportunities for Asian American filmmakers. The Shootout celebrates the creativity and genius of the directors, their casts and crews as they share stories by, about and for Asian Americans and other filmmakers of color with the world. You can vote for the audience choice awards. Check out the top 35 films and vote for your favorite. Watch for the rollout for these films at http://www.asianamericanfilmlab.org/72-Hour-Shootout.html, then vote by sending a tweet to @asamfilmlab using #72HrSO and the name of the film. THE COLOR OF MY HAIR includes these TOP TEN 72 Hour Shootout films and special Shootout presentation:

Shootout Presentation Film: I'm Not Colorblind, directed by Justin C. Lee
1. GRAND PRIZE: Return, Team Moon Jacket, directed by: Jesse Hsu
2. FIRST RUNNER UP: Himitsu, Third Curtain Productions, directed by: Steven Gee
3. SECOND RUNNER UP: Memory 317, Filter Switch Films, directed by: Michael Tang
4. Underneath the Grey, Enmaze Productions, directed by: Patrick Chen
5. Dyed, Team Romix, directed by Rommel Andaya
6. Five Years, Team Breaking Sky, directed by Howard Lui
*Also won Best Cinematography: D.B. Cheng; Best Actor: Victor Pham*
7. Family Matters aka Family First, Team Launch Pictures, directed by David Rock
8. The Split End, Team Soy Sauce Chicken, directed by Eddie Shieh
9. Take Out, Team J2, directed by Jonathan Lee *Also won Best Actress: Olivia Oguma*
10. America's Top Hairball, Team Dayside Productions, directed by Girard Tecson

Siddhant
 
Siddhant
 
Siddhant
 
Siddhant

Tuesday, May 5, 9.30 pm. Theatre 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Siddhant
Directed by Vivek Wagh
India 2014, 114 minutes, Marathi (w/English subtitles)
Cast - Ganesh Yadav, Kishor Kadam, Vikram Gokhale


Trailer: https://youtu.be/yKE7Dp77kGQ

Synopsis: 'Walk the talk...and glory shall follow' Appa Thosar, a renowned mathematics teacher in the Konkan embodied this principle all his life. He is extremely fond and proud of his grandson Vakratund who is a topper in Maths. To popularise this subject amongst students, Appa is trying to establish a Maths Academy.Coincidentally, Appa comes across a nerve-shattering truth – that Vakratund has been successful through unfair means. This one truth puts all of Appa's principles under a shadow of doubt. If you cannot nurture honesty in your own home, you have no moral or ethical right to preach such values to society. On one side Appa has the responsibility of designing Vakratund's future.and on the other he is remorseful that he failed in infusing good values in his own grandson. Burdened by the thought that principally he has no right to establish the Maths Academy, he thinks of abandoning the project. Battling on several fronts, Appa gets increasingly dejected.demoralised. At the same time, the weight of guilt is taking its toll on little Vakratund too. Appa's wife Mai, makes every possible effort to support both of them psychologically.Is Appa able to keep his life untainted? Is he able to make a new comeback in life along with Vakratund? Starting from his own home, is he successful in making students fond of mathematics? Is Vakratund able to fight and overcome his guilt? Is Mai able to reinstate her home?

Vivek WaghAbout the Director: Vivek Wagh hails from Pune, the culture capital of Maharashtra, India. He is an accomplished Director and Founder of Choice Film & Television Institute, Pune. His first foray as a Producer was a Marathi play -'Nakalat Sare Ghadle' which won the ZEE, Maharashtra Times and State Award for best play. With a natural flair for management, coordination and a keen business sense, the natural progression to larger scale was the entry into Marathi movies with back-to-back productions of 'Checkmate', Ringa-Ringa' & critically acclaimed and successful 'SHALA', 'Ajinkya', and 'FANDRY' as an Executive Producer. 'Siddhant'(Principles) is his first film as a Director.
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Seek & Hide (short)
Directed by Manoj K. Nitharwal
India, 2014, 29 minutes, Hindi (w English subtitles)
Cast: Mohan Agashe, Seema Biswas, Shalva Kinja Wadekar, Suleman , Khushboo Upadhyay, Shabnam Sukhdev


Winner 2014 National Award Special Mention

Post-screening discussion with Mohan Agashe

Trailer: http://vimeo.com/98559813

Synopsis: Seek and Hide is about the voyeuristic impulse turning on to the voyeurist. It explores the journey of a teenager who oscillates between his sanitized and largely impersonal middle class existence and the unfamiliar but far more exciting life in the neighborhood slum. His friendship with Chandan ,a boy from the slums takes an interesting and treacherous turn when Sid becomes a keen witness to the events unfolding in the complicated lives of two women in the slum. But the thrill soon forces him to witness the darkness around and within himself, changing his life forever.

About the Director: Manoj was a practicing forensic psychiatrist in London, UK when he fell in love with the magic of cinema. He left his practice  to train as a FIlm Director at the Film & Television Institute of India. His key preoccupation in cinema is , to explore the subversive and perversive aspects of human relationship with self and the external world. The madness underlying so called " Normality" challenges and excites him to no end. He is currently working on a feature script exploring the theme of loneliness and moral alienation in the background of rapid urbanization in India.

  Industry Panels:
Wednesday May 6, 12 noon. Theatre 4, Industry Panel on Films Distribution @ Time Warner

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Industry Panel on DISTRIBUTION: TRADITIONAL & CREATIVE @ Time Warner

Film Distribution has traditionally been handled by big studios who plan a marketing strategy to distribute films in movie theatres either nationally or in specific areas followed by TV programs thru broadcast syndication, DVD, VOD. Today, with myriad filmmakers with smaller budgets jostling for space and visibility, as well as a definite recognition of Independent Cinema, numerous new creative distribution strategies are popping up on a daily basis: counter programming, internet release, digital distribution, four-walling, direct download, youtube, streaming, direct to video and several other out-of-the-box strategies designed to give filmmakers visibility and get their movies before audiences.



 
Special Event
Wednesday, May 6, 6:00 pm. Theatre 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Omkara
Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj
India 2006, 155 minutes, Hindi (w/English subtitles)
Cast - Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Kareena Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma, Bipasha Basu, Naseeruddin Shah

 
Post-screening discussion with Director Vishal Bhardwaj

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DCM46Ytt2yw

Synopsis: In this crime thriller based on Shakespeare's Othello, Omkara is a bahubali, a political enforcer who carries out the political crimes of his employer. Chaos ensues after Omkara allegedly kidnaps Dolly, the daughter of a local advocate, who is already betrothed to another. Amidst plots of violence, revenge, and scandal, lines are blurred and misunderstandings could well prove to be fatal.

About the Director: Vishal Bhardwaj (born 4 August 1965) is an Indian film director, writer, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer, known for his works in modern Hindi cinema. He produces films under his banner VB Pictures. He has received four National Film Awards. His directorial debut Makdee was screened in the Spotlight on India section at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. He is well known for his Shakespearean-based trilogy set in contemporary India: Maqbool, Omkara, and Haider. His films have premiered at both the Cannes Film Festival as well as the Busan International Film Festival.

Chotoder Chobi

Chotoder Chobi

Chotoder Chobi
Wednesday, May 6, 6.15 pm. Theatre 2, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Chotoder Chobi
Directed by Kaushik Ganguly
India 2014, 107 minutes, Bengali (w/English subtitles)
Cast- Dulal Sarkar, Debalina Roy


Winner of 2014 National Award for Best Film on Social Issues (narrative)
 
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8xRKKtL2Oo 

Synopsis: Focusing on the predicaments of those born with genetic defect causing dwarfism, the film is the love story of Khoka and Soma. When Soma's father, Shibu, a circus trapeze is bed-ridden post a fatal accident and doesn't receive the deserved compensation, his junior Khoka lends a helping hand. Though this brings him closer to Soma but they are unable to deal with the relationship like another normal couple. Why is it so? Why do they need to rethink about a relationship when they know that they are the best companions? Kaushik Ganguly brings to you an unusual love story of two such 'little' lovers.

Kaushik GangulyAbout the Director: Kaushik Ganguly spent eight years as a teacher and freelance scriptwriter before turning director in 1995 with the teleserial "Rahaat". Making his feature film debut with "Waarish"(2004),Kaushik went on to garner much acclaim for his second film "Shunyo e bukey"(2005).He is known for his works like Ushnotar jonnye(2003) and Arekti Premer Golpo (2010). He became significant in Indian Cinema for his consecutive four film nominations in Indian Panoroma and his national award for "Shobdo". He was awarded with the Best Director award for his film"Apur Panchali" at IIFI 2013 and his last film-Chotoder Chobi won the silver peacock award for Dulal Sarkar,Best Actor in IFFI,Goa,India 2014 . Chotoder Chobi also won the National Award for Best Film on Social Issues recently.

Benegal's New Cinema

Benegal's New Cinema

Benegal's New Cinema

Benegal's New Cinema
Special Presentation
Wednesday, May 6, 6.30 pm. Theatre 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Benegal's New Cinema
Directed by Iram Ghufran
India 2014, 58 minutes, English
Cast- SHYAM BENEGAL, SHABANA AZMI, ANANT NAG, GOVIND NIHALANI, GIRISH KARNAD, VANRAJ BHATIA, RAJIT KAPUR


Post-screening discussion with Shyam Benegal

Trailer: http://youtu.be/2VhP9fcP_JQ

Synopsis: 'Benegal's New Cinema' is a documentary on the films of Shyam Benegal and explores the time, ethos and concerns of the New Cinema Movement in India through his oeuvre. A pioneer in the New Cinema Movement, within the Hindi film industry, Benegal's career spans four decades of consistent work. The film is a foray into the mind of this great filmmaker, and an attempt to understand his motivations and impulses for making cinema. This film brings into conversation Benegal's work from his first feature film, Ankur [1973] to the formally experimental Suraj Ka Saatvan Ghoda [1993]. Lying at the interstices of history and memory, 'Benegal's New Cinema' is an exercise in remembering the world of New Cinema of the 1970s and 80s and its relevance in the contemporary. Based on extensive interviews with Benegal, the documentary also features some of his closest colleagues including scriptwriter and filmmaker Girish Karnad, actors Shabana Azmi and Anant Nag, music composer Vanraj Bhatia, and cinematographer Govind Nihalani.

Iram Ghufran About the Director: Iram Ghufran is a Delhi based filmmaker and artist working on moving image, sound and text. Her work has been shown in several international art and cinematic contexts including the Berlin Film Festival, Experimenta India, World Social Forum and ISEA among others. As a member of the Media Lab at Sarai CSDS between 2004 and 2011, Iram was part of several experimental and multi-disciplinary processes and collaborations. Her first documentary essay film There is Something in the Air is the winner of several awards including the National Award for Best Direction and Best Editing.
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Villari

Villari

Villari
Villari (short)
Directed by Prashant Vanjani,
India 2014, 16 minutes, Hindi (w/ English subtitles)
Cast - Mohammad Sahidur Rahman, Oroon Das


Trailer: https://vimeo.com/74439794

Synopsis: A fugitive man takes refuge in a nondescript lodge. He doesn't step out of his room for a few days. In his thoughts, dreams, and hallucinations, the presence of another man is felt, who seems like the one expected to hunt him down. Does this other man arrive one morning?
Based on 'The Waiting', a short story by Jorge Luis Borges
Adapted for the Screen by Mustaqeem Khan & Prashant Vanjani

Prashant VanjaniAbout the Director: Before going to film school, Prashant worked as assistant director on a Bollywood feature film produced by Apoorva Lakhia. After a one year program in filmmaking at Prague Film School, he returned to India and joined a production house as an assistant director. He dabbled in live events all of 2011, organising and promoting theatre productions of Rage Theatre, and Motley in Gujarat. In 2012 and 2013 he worked as a freelance video editor in Delhi, during which time he also wrote, produced, directed, and edited a short film (fiction) based on a story by Jorge Luis Borges. The film has played at a bunch of festivals, including International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala, Tangier International Film Festival, and Ladakh International Film Festival. He produced, directed, and edited the first chapter of the Niladri Kumar Project- a music and travel based non- fiction film. The project is WIP at the moment. His most recent project was a history based non-fiction show for a recently launched TV channel; he directed three episodes.
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The Rabbit (Khargosh) (short)
Directed by Sudarshan Suresh
India 2014, 13 minutes, Bengali (w/ English subtitles)
Cast - Rabindranath Jana, Saptadisha Roy Chowdhury, Asoke Kumar, Madhu Prasad


Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQvAIUFhhqc  

Synopsis: A debt-ridden farmer struggles to keep afloat amidst mounting pressure from his lenders. When his young daughter decides to adopt a stray rabbit, the relationship between father and daughter is put to the test. What the child considers to be the loving companion she desperately needs, her father sees as an additional threat to the family’s meager existence.

Sudarshan SureshAbout the Director: Sudarshan began his career as a lawyer, working for a corporate law firm in Mumbai, India. An avid painter and artist, he quit the profession in 2012 to explore his love for storytelling and the arts. While freelancing as a video artist, he made several commercials and films for NGOs, corporates and more, before deciding to immerse himself in narrative filmmaking. He is currently in the second year of pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Film at Columbia University in New York City. 'Khargosh' is his debut short film.





Wednesday, May 6, 9.00 pm. Theatre 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Placebo

Directed by Abhay Kumar
India 2014, 96 minutes, Hindi/English (w/ English subtitles)

Post-screening discussion with Director Abhay Kumar

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=labsV3iPS7s

Synopsis: After witnessing an act of brutal violence, a filmmaker goes undercover in one of the greatest educational institutes of India to investigate the rising incidents of violence amongst some of the best minds in the nation. Four students agree to be filmed for a year as a part of this investigative experiment. 

What follows is a dark yet fascinating journey through the celebrated hallways of excellence, carved by ambition and success- and those who pass through it must battle monsters; both within and without. What the world outside sees as success is only a grand start to the battle which lies ahead. 

About the Director: Abhay Kumar is an independent film maker from Chandigarh. A mass communication graduate, Abhay is a three time winner at MAMI for his short films (2009-2011). His short film 'Just that sort of a day' won a National Award in 2012, won the best film prize at Busan, New York and Germany. An alumni of festivals like Rotterdam, Tribeca, his debut feature documentary 'Placebo' had its world premiere at International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA 2014).
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Nayan and the Evil Eye (short)
Directed by Shaleen Sangha
Canada 2014, 8 minutes, English
Cast - Alexandria Lindzen-King, Arjun Jain, Armaan Raina, Ashley Backal, David Wasse, Madison Grydges, Neil Bhaskaran, Tariq Sam

Post-Screening Discussion with Director Shaleen Sangha

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/96045343

Synopsis: When Nayan has some bad luck he thinks things couldn't get worse, until he finds a mysterious glass eye. Nayan soon discovers that it holds some dangerous powers: the wielder receives the gift of Evil Eye. Now Nayan can curse anyone he sets his eye on.

Shaleen SanghaAbout the Director: Shaleen haleen Sangha was born in England and moved to Canada when she was nine years old. This is when she began writing and directing, staging a play in front of her grade four class using her classmates as actors. She has continued to have this kind of passion and dedication to storytelling throughout her life. For example, she started a storytelling group in grade 6, a drama club in grade 7, a video yearbook club in high school, and produced a plethora of short films and stories in-between. More recently, while studying film at college, Shaleen wrote her award-winning screenplay for the short film "Sohni Sapna (Beautiful Dream)". The screenplay caught the attention of "Bollywood/Hollywood" co-star Jazz Mann who jumped on board to produce and brought with him Academy Award winning composer Mychael Danna ("Moneyball", "Life of Pi") to do the score. "Sohni Sapna (Beautiful Dream)" screened worldwide at festivals such as Short Shorts International (Japan and Mexico), Reelworld Film Festival (Toronto) and many more.

Haramkhor

Haramkhor

Haramkhor
Wednesday, May 6, 9.15 pm. Theatre 2, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Haraamkhor

Directed by Shlok Sharma
India 2014, 92 minutes, Hindi (w/English subtitles)
Cast- Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shweta Tripathi

Post-screening discussion with Director Shlok Sharma

Trailer: https://youtu.be/sNBO1JM7WAA

Synopsis: The Wretched is an innocent, illicit and emotionally driven story, set in the virginal desert territory juxtaposed against the lifeline of India's dream development. 15 yr old Sandhya is infatuated with her 35 yr old school teacher, Shyam. Kamal and Mintu, her classmates, emerge as the sole spectators of their secret love affair. While Kamal's love for Sandhya precedes all, Shyam's marital status takes over Sandhya's life. A criss-cross of stirring emotions across gender and age, The Wretched is an anecdote to the journey of three wretched souls in pursuit of love.

Shlok SharmaAbout the Director: This child prodigy as often referred to by the many who know him, Shlok Sharma made his entry into feature films at the early age of 14. Having written his first feature film script at the same age and with the zeal to learn, he began as a production assistant and soon found himself assisting Vishal Bharadwaj on 'Blue Umbrlla' and subsequently 'Omkara'. Since then, there has been no looking back for this young director. He subsequently went on to work with Anurag Kashyap.

Among the films he has worked on, include, Blood Brothers, Dev D, No Smoking and turning 2nd unit director with Gangs of Wasseypur among numerous others. Shlok has also demonstrated his storytelling abilities with his short films like Tubelight ka Chand, Hidden Cricket and Bombay Mirror going viral digitally. Since then, Sharma has directed various ad films and several award winning short films including "Sujata" which earned him various accolades in the film festival circuit such as IFFLA and Abu Dhabi Film Festival amongst others.

Bench Talkies

Bench Talkies

Bench Talkies

Bench Talkies

Bench Talkies

Bench Talkies
Wednesday, May 6, 9.30 pm. Theatre 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Bench Talkies

Directed by Anil Krishnan, Charukesh Sekar, Gopakumar, Monesh, Rathnakumar RM and Karthik Subbaraj;
India 2014, , Tamil (w/English subtitles)
Cast -
Vijay Sethupathi, Sananth Reddy, Rishinanth Rajendran, Guru Somasundharam, Vijaymuthu, Aravind
Harish, Sharathkumar

Trailer: http://youtu.be/dBzXzjScAwQ
  
Synopsis: Stone Bench Creations’ first collection of short films ‘Bench Talkies – the First Bench’ is the first-of-its-kind movie in Tamil directed by 6 independent short film makers with 6 different genres, an emotions are combined into an one feature.

The First film, “The Lost Paradise “by Anil Krishnan, is a silent film about a convict who is released from prison and makes his journey home. It is cloyingly sentimental and the background score is filled with wailing violins that keep nudging us to empathize with the character. Gopakumar's Agavizhi is a genuine involving a triangular romance that as the filmmaker puts it in the end is about the collision of subconscious minds. It if filled with inner monologues The evocatively titled Nalladhor Veenai, directed by Monesh, is about the dangers of paedophiles who lurk in the most unexpected places. In other words, it’s a message movie, and the message is inscribed on the head of a sledgehammer.

Puzhu is the story of two men who lie bleeding on a rocky hillside. Even as life ebbs out of them, they aim to kill each other. The director, Charukesh Sekar, is after something existential Madhu is totally mainstream. It is about a loser (someone who "has arrear in committing suicide") who tries to end his life one more time after the girl he is love with gets engaged, and his two friends try to stop it with the help of the girl. The director, Rathnakumar RM. The final film, Neer, is by Karthik Subbaraj and takes place on a fishing boat in mid-sea, and is about three fishermen (one of whom is played by Vijay Sethupathi) and their encounter with the Sri Lankan navy.

About the Directors:
Anil Krishnan, aged 26, working as an editor by profession and owns a Post production studio in Chennai, India and also a Director at the film industry, doing short films, Feature films, etc., I have edited almost 130 plus projects in Different Fields and have directed a short film and a Feature film.

Gopakumar, is a Creative head for an MNC, by profession. His passion is to make his mark in the world of cinemas with the aid of his varied skill sets including, Media Ideation, Visualization, Photography, and Music. He began his stint with short film making way back in 2009 and has Four Short Films to his credit till date. He has conceptualized the stories, written the screen play, adorned the cap of the director, directed the music, and edited his first 3 short films and in his fourth short film, he wrote the story, screen play and directed it along with a capable technical team. He continues in his dream journey to fulfill his passion both in the world of short films and feature films. He also has released a Tamil Music Album “Saaral”, a Saregamapa’s release along with Benny Dayal!

Charukesh Sekar, 29, an independent filmmaker based out of Chennai has been actively involved in making short films since 2009. His first, “Mr. & Mr. Iyer”, a satirical film made in support of the LGBT community was screened in multiple LGBT film festivals around the country. He then branched out to do corporate films and commercials for organizations such as Ford, Bajaj, Royal Enfield etc… A comeback into the world of short films happened in 2011 with “Life & Death Of A Rebel”, an art house film shot in Ladakh featuring Ashok Selvan in the lead. With this film, Charukesh Sekar found his voice and expression in making films. His latest short film, Puzhu, further strengthens his narrative style and cinematic language. Charukesh has also written lyrics for a few Tamil feature films including Santosh Sivan’s Inam and several jingles.

Since childhood has been driven by films and the techniques of film making. I have made 2 short films and one of my tele film is under post production right now. My short film NALLADHOR VEENAI has got me appreciation in different screenings in and around India. Which on the other hand was appreciated by the team bench talkies and is been screened in USA. Monesh’s Filmography: Seidhadhariyel,Nalladhor veenai, Magudi (Tele Film).

Rathna Kumar Worked as Associate Director in a Tamil Feature Film. Worked in a A.R.Rahman’s Music Video under direction department. Directed a Pilot Movie. Nearly 1 year Experience in film distribution in India. Short Film Direction and Editing Experience, Case studies. How to do something. How not to. Film Making, Film Market Research. Directed a pilot movie “MADHU” that runs for about 30 minutes. This pilot movie is the actual first 25 mins of a feature film “MADHU” scripted by myself. Worked as associate director to director Prabhu raja cholan (Shankar’s AD) in his tamil debut movie “KARUPPAMPATTI”. Ajmal did a dual role in it which got released on march 2013. Worked as Associate director in A.R.Rahman’s music video “Aabhi jaa” a song from the album “Ranuaq” directed by Amith Krishnan. Yami Gautam acted in it and Rahman scored music for it. Dubbing. Film Promotion. Film Distribution. Another way of doing something. Worked for nearly 1year as Technical assistant in a reputed film-importing agency Indo Overseas Films that has distributed hundreds of Korean, Thailand and Chinese films, which include almost all Jackie Chan, Jet li, and Bruce lee films in India. Movies: Haeundae, Chaw, Raging Phoenix, Power Kids, Lilly the Witch, Killer Bean Forever. In all the above movies I contributed in Most of the post production departments that includes Dubbing, Poster and Brochure Designs, Title registration, Censoring, Distribution and Promotion.

Karthik Subbaraj – started his career working as a software engineer in Bangalore working for Infosys. During this period he got interested in film making. He learnt the basics of film making, during a one-day workshop run by Sanjay Nambiar. In the course of his work as a software engineer, he was deputed to U.S. A where he further enhanced his film making skills by making a number of short films and assisting other Indie film makers. Once he was back in India, he made a short film "Kaatchipizhai" in Madurai, which was selected for "Naalaya Iyakunar". He went on to make his directorial debut with the 2012 thriller film Pizza which was a low budget film, but earned huge profits. His latest venture Jigarthanda which deals with the Madurai underworld was released in August 2014 and received critical acclaims. The film stars Siddharth, Lakshmi Menon, Bobby Simha and Karuna.
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The First Session (short)
Directed by Ryan Logan,
USA 2015, 6 minutes, English
Cast - Fawzia Mirza, Mouzam Makkar, Parvesh Cheena


Post screening discussion with Actor Fawzia Mirza

Synopsis: Two women attempt to repair their relationship with the help of an unconventional therapist and the healing power of the mango.

Ryan LoganAbout the Director: An LA-based film editor who has also directed and written numerous award-winning films garnering notice at over 100 festivals and museums worldwide. Notable screenings include the Chicago International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Shortfest and Seattle International Film Festival (and venues as diverse as the Director's Guild of America, Lincoln Center, Film Institute and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts). His work has been featured in Indiewire, Movie Maker Magazine, the Chicago Tribune and The LA Times.
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Dho Dala

Dho Dala

Dho Dala
 
Dho Dala
Dho Dala (short) The Sin Washer
Directed by Iram Parveen Bilal
Pakistan 2015, 14 minutes, Urdu (w/ English subtitles)
Cast - Mehwish Hayat, Salim Mairaj, Adnan Shah Tipu
Post-screening discussion with Director Iram Parveen Bilal

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/99949769

Synopsis: In the backdrop of a world where assassins disappear into blackholes, Dhona and Pari are launderettes who wash people's 'sins' away by washing away crime scenes and evidence. All is status quo until an unsuspected spy tries to wake them to justice.

Iram Parveen Bilal
Photo Credit: Mobeen Ansari
About the Director: Raised in Nigeria and Pakistan, Iram Parveen Bilal is a Physics Olympian turned filmmaker. She just directed her 2nd feature film, THE PHD MOVIE: STILL IN GRAD SCHOOL, a feature adaptation of the 7 million+-followed PhD Comics. Her first feature, JOSH, a 2012 Women in Film awardee, enjoyed theatrical and ancillary distribution success in multiple territories. Her next feature project, FORBIDDEN STEPS, a film about Islamophobia and Dance, is a Film Independent writer/director lab project, scheduled for filming in Spring 2016 in Chicago. She is also developing her TV Series THE PIONEERS which showcases the mass migration from South Asia to the UK in the 1950s in response to Queen Elizabeth's frantic call for labor from the commonwealth nations.  Iram was recently selected for the Women In Film/Sundance Financier's Intensive Program and is a co-chair on the Asian American Writer's Committee at the Writer's Guild of America. She also sits on the board of the community service organization, the Caltech Y. Bilal is the initiator and current member of the Pakistani Oscar committee and is also the founder of Pakistan's first professional screenwriting lab (QALAMBAAZ).

Haider

Haider

Haider
Special Event
Thursday, May 7, 6:00 pm. Theatre 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Haider

Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj;
India 2014, 162 minutes, Hindi (w/English subtitles)
Cast- Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Shraddha Kapoor, Kay Kay Menon, Irfan Khan

Post-screening discussion with Director Vishal Bhardwaj

Winner of 2014 National Awards for Best Choreography, Music Direction (Songs), Costume Design, Screenplay (Dialogues), Male Playback Singer.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xakmvJ0WPa4

Synopsis: Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptation of William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', Haider - a young man returns home to Kashmir on receiving news of his father's disappearance. Not only does he learn that security forces have detained his father for harboring militants, but that his mother is in a relationship with his very own uncle. Intense drama follows between mother and son as both struggle to come to terms with news of his father's death. Soon Haider learns that his uncle is responsible for the gruesome murder, what follows is his journey to avenge his father's death.

Vishal Bhardwaj About the Director: Vishal Bhardwaj (born 4 August 1965) is an Indian film director, writer, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer, known for his works in modern Hindi cinema. He produces films under his banner VB Pictures. He has received four National Film Awards. His directorial debut Makdee was screened in the Spotlight on India section at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. He is well known for his Shakespearean-based trilogy set in contemporary India: Maqbool, Omkara, and Haider. His films have premiered at both the Cannes Film Festival as well as the Busan International Film Festival.




 



Centerpiece
Thursday, May 7, 6:15pm. Theatre 2, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
Buy Tickets-- SOLD OUT
 
Saari Raat
- U.S. Premiere
Directed by Aparna Sen
India, 2015, 82 minutes, Hindi (w/English subtitles)
Cast: Anjan Dutt, Rittwik Chakraborty, Konkona Sensharma


There will be a post-screening discussion with Director Aparna Sen.

Trailer:
http://youtu.be/SvGcdSqSDI0

Synopsis: A couple on vacation gets caught in a storm and seeks refuge in a stranger's house. Through the long night they face issues past and present, after which nothing can ever be the same. The film is Director Aparna Sen's tribute to legendary Bengali playwright and theatre personality Badal Sircar.

The film SAARI RAAT is a part of ZEE's Peace Project which aims to bring together film makers, cultural exponents and thought leaders of both the neighboring nations of India and Pakistan on a single platform to facilitate an apolitical exchange environment of peace and harmony. This initiative is in line with Zee Entertainment's corporate brand philosophy of 'VASUDHAIVA KUTUMBAKAM' which means 'THE WORLD IS MY FAMILY.'

About the Director: Aparna Sen was born into a family of film lovers.Aparna made her debut as an actress in 1961 while she was still in school, in Satyajit Ray's Two Daughters. Aparna made 36 Chowringhee Lane, her first directorial venture, which she wrote herself, in 1981. It won the Grand Prix (The Golden Eagle) at the Manila International Film Festival in 1982 while the Kodak award for Cinematography went to Ashok Mehta for his photography in that film at the Hawaii International Film Festival in 1983. Aparna received the National Award for Best Direction and Ashok Mehta the National Award for Best Cinematographer in India for the same film. A prolific filmmaker, Aparna continues to write and direct her films in Calcutta and occasionally acts in films as well.
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Zor

Zor

Zor

Zor
Zor (The Fever) (short)
Directed by Sarat Talluri Rao,
India 2014, 20 minutes, (w/ English subtitles)
Cast - Rajesh Sarnaik, Vinay Kamat, Priyanka Naik, Adip Bhat, Sai Palondicar, Amit Kamat, Shyam Pagi, Rohidas Goemka


Trailer: https://youtu.be/lUdojV_9pDI

Synopsis: Somoni Dessai, a shopkeeper in a tiny Goan village is not in very good health. He consults the local doctor, who diagnoses that Somoni is fine, but that his shadow has a fever. Somoni is dazed and confused. He does not mention the shadow's predicament to his wife Parvati, but lies to her that he has a fever. They are not on the best terms and sleep in separate rooms. Somoni is obsessed with his illness and later confesses about the shadow's fever to his wife. She, at first, ridicules him and the doctor, but later seems to be convinced after Somoni remains cocooned in his predicament. A series of remedies, like local herbs, the village shaman, a repeat visit to the doctor, follows, but to no avail. Finally, the two discuss Somoni's problem. The frankness and communication dissipate the tension between them. That night Parvati enters the bedroom in which Somoni is preparing to go to bed. Somoni is pleasantly surprised and takes Parvati in his arms. The two have made up and the fever is forgotten.

Sarat Talluri RaoAbout the Director: Sarat Rao is a writer and director. A Masters in Quantitative Economics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta he began his work in films as a research intern on 'Sacred Numbers' a film by Dev Benegal on the life of the Indian mathematician Ramanujan. He has co-written the story for the feature film 'Oonga' (2013) which premiered at NYIFF 2013. He wrote and directed a short feature- 'The Fever' (2014) about a man whose shadow has fever. He has completed his new documentary 'Furiously Curious' filmed over several years on the phenomenon of quiz shows in India where he followed trivia-junkies across the country. "Dead, End" is his first feature credit as a co-writer with director Dev Benegal. The project won top prizes at HAF 2014, Hong Kong and NAFF 2014, South Korea.






Thursday, May 7, 6:30pm. Theatre 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Rough Book

Director: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan
India 2015, 100 minutes, Hindi (w/English subtitles)
Cast - Amaan Khan, Tannishtha Chatterjee

Post-screening discussion with Director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3u88nvNS1s

Synopsis:
In this look into one of the finest yet flawed educational systems, a physics teacher forms a bond with her pupils, who are in the D division - sarcastically referred to as Duffers by both the students and other teachers. Santoshi rebels against the system to fight for her students in this simple yet thought provoking film.

About the Director: Ananth Mahadevan is a screenwriter, actor and director of Hindi, Marathi films and television serials in India. Having been an integral part of the Indian television serials and Hindi movies since the 1980s, he is also actively involved in the professional English and Hindi theatre. Ananth, along with Sanjay Pawar, received the 2010 National Award for the Best Screenplay and Dialogues for the hit Marathi movie Mee Sindhutai Sapkal.
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Yari Road

Yari Road

Yari Road
Yari Road (short)
Directed by Samimitra Das
India 2015, 20 minutes, Hindi/English (w/ English subtitles)
Cast - Samrat Chakrabarti, Gaurav Dwivedi & Jatin Goswami

Post-screening discussion with Actor Samrat Chakrabarti
 
Trailer: http://bit.ly/1y88vNW

Synopsis: Three friends, who all started their acting career working on the same film, are reunited for 24 hours. A lot has changed for each one of them since they had last met 2 years ago. One has gone onto have a successful film career, one has left the acting field and one has become extremely bitter about being a struggling actor. What starts out as a harmless reunion of friends, quickly turns into a battle of egos with irreparable consequences.

Samimitra DasAbout the Director: Samimitra Das is an up and coming filmmaker who has worked extensively in the Indian Film Industry. He has served as an Assistant Director on many big budget films, including: Vikramaditya Motwane's "Lootera", Dilip Ghosh's "Commando" and Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's "Buno Haansh". Films that he has directed, include: "My Armenian Neighbourhood" and "Between The Rains". He is is a Graduate of The Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Calcutta, India.

O Kadhal Kanmani

O Kadhal Kanmani

O Kadhal Kanmani

O Kadhal Kanmani
Thursday, May 7, 9:00pm. Theatre 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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O Kadhal Kanmani

Directed by Mani Ratnam
135 minutes, Madras Talkies, Tamil (w/English subtitles)
Cast - Dulquer Salmaan, Nithya Menen, Prakash Raj, Leela Samson

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mBG4vlhcCc

Synopsis: OKK is an unconventional tale of romance mapped out in Mumbai, and weaves its lyrical tale through the fabric of the city’s drastically bipolar persona....
Set against the backdrop of Mumbai, the city that never sleeps, the film is contemporary, young, vibrant and colourful, much like the city, capturing its many moods and faces….
OKK deals with today’s youth, their attitude towards man-woman relationships set against the older values of tradition and marriage. It delves into the psyche of this generation.

Mani RatnamAbout the Director: The man who revolutionized Tamil-language cinema, Mani Ratnam is the biggest director in south India and one of the most respected directors in all of India. Each of his films contain its own unique style, with beautifully photographed songs and unique back-lighting. However, his films contain substance as well as style--Ratnam has dealt with a wide variety of topics, from the classic Indian love story to political thrillers.

CityLights

CityLights

CityLights
Thursday, May 7, 9:15pm. Theatre 2, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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CityLights

Directed by Hansal Mehta,
India 2014, 126 minutes, Hindi, Rajasthani (w/English subtitles)
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Patralekha, Manav Kaul, Sadiya Siddiqui

Post-screening discussion with Director Hansal Mehta
 
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fyO8OFK9yw

Synopsis: An Ex-Army driver who owns a garment store, Deepak Singh's life tangles in the midst of poverty, hopes and despair. Deepak's ever supporting wife and ittle daughter who tag along his journey to Mumbai as he is unable to return money to the people whom he had borrowed earlier for his store. With no contacts and addresses, except for a name of his friend, Omkar, Deepak agonizes extreme measures when stepping to Mumbai while searching for him.

Hansal MehtaAbout the Director: Hansal Mehta is an Indian film director, writer, actor and producer. Mehta started his career in television with his show Khana Khazana (1993–2000) and later moved onto movies like Jayate(1999) and Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar (2000). He is best known for Shahid for which he won the 2013 National Film Award for Best Direction.

A Moment of Mishearing

A Moment of Mishearing

A Moment of Mishearing

A Moment of Mishearing

A Moment of Mishearing

A Moment of Mishearing

A Moment of Mishearing
Thursday, May 7, 9:30pm. Theatre 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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A Moment of Mishearing

Directed by: Don Boyd and Amit Chaudhuri
India & UK, 2015, 90 minutes, English
Cast: Amit Chaudhuri and the Amit Chuadhuri Band (vocals Amit Chaudhuri, guitar Adam Moore, keyboards Matt Hodges, bass guitar Paul Williams, tabla Hanif Khan)

Post-screening discussion with Director Don Boyd

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmRcJW9yRwM 
 
Synopsis: Hibrow and Don Boyd present A Moment of Mishearing, a unique film that marries the literary and musical ideas of celebrated Indian writer Amit Chaudhuri, a novelist, critic, composer and singer trained in the Hindustani classical tradition and also the songwriter, singer and leader of The Amit Chaudhuri Band. It explores his awakening to the similarities between the ragas of his childhood with the familiar songs of western pop, jazz and blues.

A Moment of Mishearing is part memoir, part essay film and part performance. It is a chronicle in words, songs and images of Amit's personal journey through ideas, cultures and cities.


Don Boyd About the Director:
Don Boyd, film director and producer began his career at the BBC. He then directed over 40 commercials and two feature films, Intimate Reflections and East of Elephant Rock starring John Hurt premiered at the London Film Festival in 1976. In the 1980's he produced celebrated British films like Alan Clarke's Scum, Jarman's The Tempest, Lindsay Anderson's Look Back In Anger, and the Palme D'Or nominated opera film Aria with Robert Altman, Nicolas Roeg, Jean-Luc Godard, Ken Russell and Derek Jarman. He then returned to his directorial career with Twenty One written by ZoeHeller, Kleptomania, Lucia, My Kingdom written by the Guardian's Nick Davies starring Richard Harris and directed many documentaries including Andrew and Jeremy Get Married for BBC's Storyville. He is now a visiting professor at the University of Exeter, a Governor of the London Film School and Artistic Director of Hibrow, the online platform for the arts.

Amit ChaudhuriAmit Chaudhuri is a novelist, critic, and musician. His first novel, A Strange and Sublime Address, is included in Toibin and Callil’s Two Hundred Best Novels of the Last Fifty Years. His new novel, Odysseus Abroad, has recently been published in the UK and in India, and is due in the US in April. He is the winner of several awards, including the Commonwealth Literature Prize, the Betty Trask Prize, the Encore Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Sahitya Akademi Award.

As a musician, he has performed on most flagship cultural programmes on UK radio and television, including BBC 2's Late Review, BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends, and Radio 3's Late Junction. His second CD, Found Music, was an allaboutjazz.com Editor's Choice, 2010. His version of 'Summertime' was featured on the BBC 4 television documentary, Gershwin's Summertime: the Song that Conquered the World, alongside classic versions by Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Mahalia Jackson, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald.
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Following the Box

Following the Box

Following the Box
Following the Box (short)
Directed by Anirban Mahapatra
India 2015, 26 minutes. English/Hindi/Bengali (w/ English subtitles)

Post-screening discussion with Alan Teller and Jerri Zbrial

Trailer: https://youtu.be/b_mCpEt38YI
            https://vimeo.com/124373081
 
Synopsis: The documentary film Following the Box is based on artists Alan Teller and Jerri Zbiral’s chance discovery of a shoe box filled with 130 brown envelopes at an estate sale near Chicago and the contemporary art exhibit that it spawned. Each envelope contained an old 4x5' black and white negative. Stapled to the envelopes were gorgeous vintage photographs of temples, village life, portraits and a few military scenes. There was no information as to who took the photos or why. They were dated 1945 and all came from India. The box sat for several years before the couple fully understood its importance and decided to follow it, wherever it might take them.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150407/jsp/calcutta/story_13138.jsp#.VSdHMmb6nn-

Anirban MahapatraAbout the Director: Based in Kolkata, India, Anirban Mahapatra is a documentary filmmaker and multimedia journalist, producing short films and Internet videos on society, communities, culture, environment, travel and the arts. For seven years he was a travel writer for Lonely Planet – India. In the last decade he has provided photographic and video content for organizations such as the BBC, The Telegraph, Tetley / Tata Global Beverages and the Culture Ministry of the Government of India, among others. His short film titled "Anachasho: Food of the Wilds" was shortlisted for the 2014 Sundance Institute / Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Short Film Challenge. Other films include: "Azarak – A Musical Dream" and "Srishti."
Reviews:
How a mysterious box of photos sent an Evanston couple halfway around the world
Works inspired by box of pictures
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Hechki (short)
Directed by Kartik Singh,
USA 2015, 12 minutes, English
Cast - Mahira Kakkar, Roni Mazumdar
, Hesh Sarmalkar

Synopsis: Shankar has recently arrived in New York from Bangladesh. He makes a living selling roses. One day, he gets an incurable case of the hiccups.

About the Director: Kartik Singh was born to Sikh parents who immigrated to Kansas City, USA from Hyderabad, India. After film studies at the Sorbonne, Kartik started making short films in Paris. Kartik loves telling coming of age stories about unlikely encounters that can lead to strong human connections. After Hechki, Kartik hopes to make two feature films. His screenplay French Public School was invited to the Mumbai Mantra Sundance Screenwriting Lab. While fundraising for this project, Kartik began writing Bari (Home), another story that has deep personal resonance for him.

  Friday May 8, 10:30 - 5 pm. Theatre 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.
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Morning: Buy Tickets
Afternoon: Buy Tickets

Industry Panels:

11:00 am Registration

11:30am - 12:30 noon Film Distribution with Mark Urman 

With an abundance of Indian product to choose from, and a potentially vast South Asian audience at their disposal, it would appear that U.S. distributors have enormous opportunities when it comes to releasing Indian films in America. However, while there are very exciting technological developments that make it easier than ever to communicate about these films, there are still a number of cultural barriers and strongly-held traditions that prevent many worthy new Indian films from coming here--or from reaching a sufficiently diverse audience once they do. In this conversation, veteran distributor Mark Urman will discuss how Indian films make their passage to America these days, and will share some of his adventures, misadventures, travails, and triumphs bringing Indian films, of all shapes and sizes, to U.S. moviegoers.

 Urman is currently working with filmmaker raj Amit Kumar on the launch of Dark Frames, a new distribution venture created to release independent Indian films in North America. Their first project, UNFREEDOM, written, produced and directed by Kumar, opens theatrically and on a broad spectrum of digital platforms on May 29, 2015. 

1:00 pm - 2.30 pm Lunch

2:00 - 3:00 pm NYIFF Filmmakers Session.

3:15 pm - 4:15 pm Shooting in New York State:

Meet the team from the New York State Governor’s Office of Motion Picture & Television Development for a roundtable discussion of all things productive re: producing in New York State – tax credits, location scouting, finding stages and crew, and more. Whether you’re a first-time filmmaker wondering where to start or a veteran producer looking to catch up on the latest, this informal face-to-face Q&A is an invaluable opportunity to Meet Team NY and hear firsthand about all the great things New York State has to offer. 

Participants: Jerry Stoeffhaas (Deputy Director), Kathryn Fisher (Project Manager) and Dwight Craver (Locations Department Manager).


  Friday, May 8, 6:00 pm. Theatre 5, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Shakespearean Parallels
Professor James Shapiro will engage Director Vishal Bhardwaj in conversation about Shakespearean parallels in each of the three films: Maqbool (Macbeth), Omkara (Othello), Haider (Hamlet).

James S. ShapiroJames S. Shapiro is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University who specialises in Shakespeare and the Early Modern period. Shapiro has served on the faculty at Columbia University since 1985, teaching Shakespeare and other topics, and he has published widely on Shakespeare and Elizabethan culture.


Vishal BhardwajVishal Bhardwaj (born 4 August 1965) is an Indian film director, writer, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer, known for his works in modern Hindi cinema. He produces films under his banner VB Pictures. He has received four National Film Awards. His directorial debut Makdee was screened in the Spotlight on India section at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. He is well known for his Shakespearean-based trilogy set in contemporary India: Maqbool, Omkara, and Haider. His films have premiered at both the Cannes Film Festival as well as the Busan International Film Festival.

Coffee Bloom
Friday, May 8, 6:00 pm. Theatre 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Coffee Bloom

Directed by Manu Warrier
India 2014, 90 minutes, Hindi/English
Cast- Arjun Mathur, Sugandha Garg

Post-screening discussion with Director Manu Warrier

Trailer: https://youtu.be/zt64Maw5WSU

Synopsis: Dev sells his family coffee estate as a statement underlining his renunciation of the world. When his mother dies heartbroken, he vows to prove worthy of her before scattering her ashes, little realizing that that involves confronting the world he shunned and his turbulent past.

Manu WarrierAbout the Director: A post-graduate in marketing by qualification, Manu forayed into film-making with two short films while still working in USA. Having shifted base to India in 2005, Manu has since worked with new age directors including Owais Hussain and Anurag Kashyap to develop projects from story to screenplay. His most recent writing few episodes for Kashyap's recently concluded YUDH-TV series with Amitabh Bachchan. A writer pursuing the 10,000 hours of practice principal, Coffee Bloom is his full-length feature debut. He his currently scripting with director Leena Yadav for her next project and working on his next directorial venture, a political thriller unfolding through Indian bureaucracy. 

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Teaspoon (short)
Directed by Aban Bharucha Deohans
India 2015, 20 minutes, Hindi (w/ English subtitles),
Cast - Bomi Dotiwala, Sree Swara Vaquar Sheikh


Trailer: https://youtu.be/FMBhRpi-f5o

Synopsis: Rajiv, wife Kavita, and Rajiv's father, live in an apartment. Rajiv works as an insurance agent, and travels a lot. Kavita represents a cosmetic company and works from home, as she cannot leave her paralytic father-in-law alone. Also, a habit that Kavita hates is the manner in which the old man summons her. He mulishly hangs on to a Teaspoon,which he uses to bang on the bedpost to call her. And what's frustrating is that he never does this when Rajiv is at home. Hence Rajiv cannot understand Kavita's frustration. A fight over dinner escalates and the resentment is carried forward to the next morning. Series of incidents become ingredients for a Molotov cocktail that leads to a disturbing end.

About the Director: Aban majored in Psychology from St. Xavier's College and has done her Advertising and Marketing, and a Journalism diploma from XIC (Xavier's Institute of Communication.)She has worked in several Advertising Agencies as a Creative and has contributed short stories and articles to several magazines. Aban directs Advertising films for her Production House, Candid Creations. She is a theatre actress as well, and has acted in several English and Hindi plays.

Meet the Patels

Meet the Patels

Meet the Patels
Friday, May 8, 6.15 pm. Theatre 2, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.
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Meet the Patels

Directed by Ravi V. Patel
USA, 2014, 87 minutes, English/Gujarati (w/ English subtitles)
Cast – Ravi Patel, Geeta Patel, Champa V. Patel, Vasant V. Patel, Audrey Alison Wauchope
Post-screening discussion with Directors Ravi and Geeta Patel
 
Synopsis: MEET THE PATELS is a laugh out loud real life romantic comedy about Ravi Patel, an almost 30 year old Indian American who enters a love triangle between the Woman of his dreams and his parents. Filmed by Ravi's sister in what started as a family vacation video, this hilarious and heartbreaking film reveals how love is a family affair.

Margarita-With-A-StrawAbout the Director: Ravi V. Patel directorial debut is the real-life romantic comedy MEET THE PATELS, Executive Produced by Academy Award Winner GeralyDreyfous. The Film features Ravi's family and his comedic take on a sequence of events that involve his mother and his love-life. An as actor, Ravi is most recognized for his work on SCRUBS, IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA, TRANSFORMERS, POWDER BLUE, and THE NEW NORMAL. In 2013, he co-founded THIS BAR SAVES LIVES – with actors Ryan Devlin, Todd Grinnell, and Kristen Bell – which gives a meal to a starving child for every granola bar they sell. Ravi also co-manages an investment group which focuses primarily on health, wellness, and social enterprise startups. Prior to joining the entertainment industry, Ravi was an investment banker and later founded the popular poker magazine ALL IN. He graduated from the University of North Carolina with double majors in Economics and International Studies. A die-hard Bears fan, he wants his own talk show, with Mike Ditka as his sidekick.

Margarita-With-A-StrawGeeta Patel - Geeta is known for her emotional, form-pushing, and nontraditional style that merges documentary and dramatic forms. She is writer/director of the upcoming feature film MOUSE, produced by Grant Hill (THE MATRIX, TREE OF LIFE), choreography by Jeff Imada (FIGHT CLUB, BOURNE IDENTITY). Geeta also directed the real-life comedy MEET THE PATELS, Executive Produced by Academy Award Winner Geralyn Dreyfous. Prior to this, Geeta made her directorial debut with the documentary war thriller, PROJECT KASHMIR, which led to directing fellowships at Sundance and Tribeca. Geeta started as writer’s assistant in TV, and then served as Associate Screenwriter for Universal Pictures, ABC, NBC, and Twentieth Century Fox on titles that include THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS and BLUE CRUSH.  A graduate in Comparative Area Studies from Duke, Geeta was inspired to enter storytelling by Anthony Minghella, who she met while studying in Berlin. Geeta was recently Visiting Artist in Belarus and Turkey as one of 29 filmmakers chosen for President Obama’s film delegation.
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Sugarless Tea (short)
Directed by Sai Selvarajan
USA, 2015, 5 minutes, English
Cast - Hari Kondabolu


Trailer: http://wdrv.it/1t8mfW2  

Synopsis: Fifty four years of separation tethered together by a red string of fate and ten years of humble restraint.

About the Director: Sai was born in Sri-Lanka on a Wednesday night during a coup d'etat. He grew up in Nigeria playing soccer and eating bananas.

Gour Hari Daastan

Gour Hari Daastan
 
Gour Hari Daastan

Gour Hari Daastan
Friday, May 8, 6:30 pm. Theatre 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Gour Hari Dastaan

Directed by: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan
India, 2013-2014, 111 minutes, Hindi (w/ English subtitles)
Cast: Vinay Pathak , Konkana Sen Sharma, Ranveer Shorey, Tannishta Chatterjee, Rajit Kapur, Vikram Gokhale , Siddharth Jadhav, Mohan Kapur, Saurabh Shukla

Post-screening discussion with Director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan

Trailer: https://youtu.be/7svhHOT2ZCA

Synopsis: The film sees the story of India, as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma with a joke at its core. At least that is how it will appear for Hari Gaur Das, a veteran freedom fighter, who finds himself having walked into what looks like a politically incorrect joke of a country.

GOUR HARI DASTAAN, the film, swings back and forth like a pendulum uncovering one end of the time spectrum that only remains as sepia toned golden moments, with the other end that is ,despite its colour, rather bleak. While one one hand, the freedom fighters had the independence struggle figured out , men like Hari Das haven't a clue how to deal with the situation in a nation they had fought hard to win back. The irony of the proceedings makes for black comedy, heart wrenching drama and a shocking denouement where even the toughest of freedom fighters return disillusioned.

About the Director: Ananth Mahadevan is a screenwriter, actor and director of Hindi, Marathi films and television serials in India. Having been an integral part of the Indian television serials and Hindi movies since the 1980s, he is also actively involved in the professional English and Hindi theatre. Ananth along with Sanjay Pawar received the National Award (2010) for the Best Screenplay and Dialogues for the successful Marathi movie Mee Sindhutai Sapkal'. The Marathi film " Mee Sindhutai Sapkal " also fetched him the special jury award at the National Film awards 2010.

He latest film " Gour Hari Dastaan was part of the Indian Panorama at the International film festival of India (2014), Goa, INDIAN CINEMA TODAY- at the International Film Festival of Kerala IFFK (2014), International Film Festival of Bangalore and International Film Festival of Chennai 2014. He next film ROUGH BOOK has already created enough excitement at the festival circuit and the Film Bazaar recently held at Goa.
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Nayantara's Necklace (short)
Directed by Jaydeep Sarkar
India 2014, 20 minutes Hindi (w/English subtitles)
Cast: Konkona Sen Sharma, Gulshan Devaiah, Tilllotama Shome
Post-screening discussion with Director Jaydeep Sarkar

Trailer: https://youtu.be/mS_GcNGpFK4

Synopsis: Set in Mumbai, Nayantara's Necklace explores the friendship between Alka and her new Dubai-returned neighbour Nayantara. As their friendship grows, Alka finds herself wanting to be more like Nayantara. But what Alka doesn't know is the price that she might have to pay for this obsession of hers.

About the Director: Jaydeep Sarkar started his career as a screenwriter for films such as Sudhir Mishra's 'Khoya Khoya Chand' and Samar Khan's 'Shaurya'. After completing two years with Red Chillies Entertainments, where he was heading fiction content for television, Jaydeep Sarkar directed music videos for Kailash Kher's album 'Rangeele'. He has directed numerous television commercials since January 2012, for clients such as Horlicks, The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's 'Bharat Nirman' campaign among others. His recent work #dontlookaway for Delhi based NGO 'Bachpan Bachao Andolan' went viral within two days of it's release and touched more than a million views in one week.

'Nayantara's Necklace' is his first short fiction film.




 

 

 

 
Friday, May 8, 9:00 pm. Theatre 5, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Miss India America

Directed by Ravi Kapoor
USA 2015, 97 minutes, English
Cast:
Tiya Sircar, Hannah Simone, Kosha Patel, Meera Simhan, Bernard White, Satya Bhabha, Sameera Eligeti, Cas Anvar, Rizwan Manji, Anjali Bhimani, Kunal Sharma, Anushka Rani, Anna George
Post-screening discussion with Ravi Kapoor

Synopsis: LILY PRASAD is graduating from her Orange County high school at the top of her class. And she has a plan, "The Lily Plan". She will become a brain surgeon like her father. Her sweet, lost boyfriend KARIM will become a petroleum engineer. They'll get married. Have kids. Live happily ever after.

But the plan is thrown into confusion when KARIM becomes smitten by and runs off with RESHMA, the reining Miss India National beauty queen. Not happy about losing at anything, Lily decides that she herself must become the new Miss India National! So talents must be learnt, dresses must be stolen, lies must be told and the competition must be crushed! But LILY will discover you're not always a winner when you win, and there maybe more to learn when you lose.

The film touches on many relevant themes but especially focuses on the concept of ambition and what it means to win in both the South Asian community and at large. This is both a South Asian story, and an American story with universal appeal. The film touches on many relevant themes but especially focuses on the concept of ambition and what it means to win in both the South Asian community and at large. This is both a South Asian story, and an American story with universal appeal.

About the Director: Ravi Kapoor (IMDB Link) was a series regular on ABC's Gideon's Crossing and then on NBC's Crossing Jordan which lasted six seasons. After shadowing a number of directors he directed in
the final year of the show. His short films Victor Ramirez, Asesino and The 5 have been playing at a number of national and international film festivals including Mill Valley, IFFLA (Jury Honorable Mention), San Diego Asian Film Festival, San Francisco Asian American Film Festival, River to River Film Festival in Florence, London Asian Film Festival, Taos Shortz Film Festival (Honorable Mention), Topanga Film Festival and the Bollywood and Beyond Film Festival in Stuttgart. Ravi was born and raised in Liverpool, England. At the age of eighteen he received a grant to study at the East 15 Acting School in London. After graduating he worked for eight years as an actor in England doing a mix of film, TV (including a number of BBC dramas) and theater. All which took him as far a field as Tokyo and Delhi. During this time he began writing and directing verse plays, one of which, Oh Sweet Sita, was successfully mounted and performed in both London and Toronto. His last play "O!Edipus" had a well received run at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

His other acting credits include the Robert Zemeckis film Flight, Raspberry Magic, and Wild West. He has guest stared on a number of shows including 24, Flashward, Touch, Grey's Anatomy, Fringe, and The Mentalist.
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Bloody Moustache (short)
Directed by Prosit Roy
India 2014, 12 minutes, Hindi (w/ English subtitles)
Cast - Jameel Khan, Nisshan Nanaiah, Priyanka Setia


Trailer: https://vimeo.com/126143375

Synopsis: Sundar loves his moustache. It is his pride and joy - or rather, was. The grey hairs betray his age, not the image of virile masculinity he wants it to portray. Much like the legendary Samson, his strength lies in that moustache. So off it goes - perhaps its time for a new chapter. While he comes out sporting a clean shaved look, his wife and his brother are oblivious to the change. Both of them claim the same thing - he never had a moustache, ever. What starts off seemingly as a practical joke, quickly takes a horrifying turn as Sundar sinks deeper, trying to unravel the mystery of his bloody moustache.

Prosit RoyAbout the Director: Prosit Roy is a film-maker from Kolkata, who has been a chief assistant to film-makers like Vishal Bharadwaj and Ashutosh Gowariker. Prosit came to Mumbai after finishing a course in film-making, right after his graduation. He has come up the ranks, working in various films like Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Delhi 6, What's Your Raashee?, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, and Ek Thi Daayan , which he was the Associate Director for. Prosit has written many short films and has made a documentary called 'Baaghbazar', which has won him the prestigious award at Calcutta Film Festival. Prosit believes in cinema which is entertaining at the same time relevant, a fine mix of different schools.

I Am Steve Lopez

I Am Steve Lopez

I Am Steve Lopez

I Am Steve Lopez
Friday, May 8, 9:00 pm. Theatre 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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I Am Steve Lopez

Directed by Rajeev Ravi
India 2014, 116 minutes, Malayalam (w/English subtitles)
Cast- Ahaana Krishna, Farhaan Faasil


Synopsis: The film is set in capital city of the south Indian state of Kerala. Steve Lopez, a typical teenager is the son of an influential police officer. He leads an unruffled life, dominated by a relationship with Anjali, daughter of another police officer. Steve happens to witness a fight between two rival gangs. He is involved in taking a fatally injured man to the hospital. This events leads him gradually into the lives of the gangsters who have nothing extraordinary in their lives except their acts of crime. Hari, the gang leader is captured by his father with his help, but he disappears from the police custody with no news. Steve is obsessed with the fate of Hari. In his quest to find what happened to Hari, he gradually comes to realise that the gangsters and the police including his father, are two faces of the same coin. There is an intricate web of interrelationships, bargains, trust and breach of trust between them. Steve's quick glimpse of this network is enough to unsettle him. His fate too is sealed once he touches this web.

Rajeev Ravi About the Director: National Award winning cinematographer and director Rajeev Ravi's second directorial venture NJAN STEVE LOPEZ – I AM STEVE LOPEZ had its all India release on Aug 15th with English subtitles. Rajeev won the National award for Liar's dice directed by his wife Geetu Mohandas. He is an acclaimed Bollywood cinematographer who has bagged the Bafta award, Filmfare and other popular mainstream awards for his work in Dev D and Gangs of Wasseypur. His current venture is Bombay velvet directed by Anurag Kashyap, is in post production stage.

Chauranga

Chauranga

Chauranga
Friday, May 8, 9:15 pm. Theatre 2, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Chauranga

Directed by Bikas Mishra
India 2014, 113 minutes, Hindi (w/English subtitles)
Post-screening discussion with Director Bikas Mishra

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/113367313 (password: CHAURANGAAFT2015)

Synopsis: Set in the dark hinterland of India where tradition and modernity collide precariously, FOUR COLOURS is inspired by a real incident. Fourteen year old Santu wants to go to school like his older brother Bajarangi. Their mother works as a maid at the mansion of the upper-caste village headman with whom she is having a dangerous, secret liaison. When Bajarangi comes home from boarding school on holiday, he exposes him to the dreams of city life. But his destiny was prewritten in a village that's steeped deep in caste-hierarchy and debauchery. Unaware of the consequences, he is nurturing defiance and courting a few dangerous infatuations that can topple the equations of caste in the village. How far will his defiance take him?

Imran GhufranAbout the Director: Bikas Ranjan Mishra is an Indian screenwriter, director, and film critic. He is the editor and founder of DearCinema.com and has been a member of programming and selection committees of MAMI. His writings regularly appear on Mint Lounge, and DearCinema.com.

Bikas's short film "Dance of Ganesha" had its world premiere at the 16th Busan International Film Festival, and its European premiere at the 41st International Film Festival Rotterdam. His new feature film, "Chauranga" was developed at the Screenwriters' Lab organized by National Film Development Corporation of India in collaboration with Locarno Film Festival and the ScriptStation of Berlinale Talent Campus, a part of Berlin Film Festival. The Film won Golden Gateway of India Award for Best Film (India Gold 2014) at the 16th Mumbai Film Festival.
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Chhote Saab ( Little Master) (short)
Directed by Malay Prakash,
India 2014, 15 minutes, Hindi (w/ English subtitles)
Cast - Aalok Aarav, Rahul Roushan, Rakesh Kapoor, Rupa Singh, Tanisha Sharma, Umesh Srivastava

Post-screening discussion with Director Malay Prakash

Trailer:
 https://vimeo.com/124679560

Synopsis: Ankit, a 14-year-old rich boy from Patna finds it difficult not having a normal life like all other kids at his school. The reason being his rich and influential father who keeps track of his smallest movements. He is a Prince with no friends. He tries to blend in but gets into trouble with a bully at school. The story is about the extent Ankit goes to, to prove his manhood and break out of the bubble his father tries to keep him in. Going through this grind helps Ankit evolve and come of age.

Malay PrakashAbout the Director: Malay Prakash is an Indian Writer-Director-Cinematographer who has recently graduated from the prestigious film conservatory MFA program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Asia in Singapore. Over the past three years, Malay has shot, directed and crewed on over 30 short films, television commercials, music videos around the world including India, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong. Malay's short film Little Master which was completed during his time at NYU Tisch is the recipient of the 2014 Kodak Student Cinematography Gold scholarship. Malay is currently employed as a Director-Cinematographer-Producer at Black Sheep Live which is the in-house production company for Bartle Bogle Hegarty which is widely regarded as one of the top advertising agencies in the world.




 

 

 

 
Friday, May 8, 9:30 pm. Theatre 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
Buy Tickets
 
Miss India America

Directed by Ravi Kapoor
USA 2015, 97 minutes, English
Cast:
Tiya Sircar, Hannah Simone, Kosha Patel, Meera Simhan, Bernard White, Satya Bhabha, Sameera Eligeti, Cas Anvar, Rizwan Manji, Anjali Bhimani, Kunal Sharma, Anushka Rani, Anna George

Synopsis: LILY PRASAD is graduating from her Orange County high school at the top of her class. And she has a plan, "The Lily Plan". She will become a brain surgeon like her father. Her sweet, lost boyfriend KARIM will become a petroleum engineer. They'll get married. Have kids. Live happily ever after.

But the plan is thrown into confusion when KARIM becomes smitten by and runs off with RESHMA, the reining Miss India National beauty queen. Not happy about losing at anything, Lily decides that she herself must become the new Miss India National! So talents must be learnt, dresses must be stolen, lies must be told and the competition must be crushed! But LILY will discover you're not always a winner when you win, and there maybe more to learn when you lose.

The film touches on many relevant themes but especially focuses on the concept of ambition and what it means to win in both the South Asian community and at large. This is both a South Asian story, and an American story with universal appeal. The film touches on many relevant themes but especially focuses on the concept of ambition and what it means to win in both the South Asian community and at large. This is both a South Asian story, and an American story with universal appeal.

About the Director: Ravi Kapoor (IMDB Link) was a series regular on ABC's Gideon's Crossing and then on NBC's Crossing Jordan which lasted six seasons. After shadowing a number of directors he directed in
the final year of the show. His short films Victor Ramirez, Asesino and The 5 have been playing at a number of national and international film festivals including Mill Valley, IFFLA (Jury Honorable Mention), San Diego Asian Film Festival, San Francisco Asian American Film Festival, River to River Film Festival in Florence, London Asian Film Festival, Taos Shortz Film Festival (Honorable Mention), Topanga Film Festival and the Bollywood and Beyond Film Festival in Stuttgart. Ravi was born and raised in Liverpool, England. At the age of eighteen he received a grant to study at the East 15 Acting School in London. After graduating he worked for eight years as an actor in England doing a mix of film, TV (including a number of BBC dramas) and theater. All which took him as far a field as Tokyo and Delhi. During this time he began writing and directing verse plays, one of which, Oh Sweet Sita, was successfully mounted and performed in both London and Toronto. His last play "O!Edipus" had a well received run at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

His other acting credits include the Robert Zemeckis film Flight, Raspberry Magic, and Wild West. He has guest stared on a number of shows including 24, Flashward, Touch, Grey's Anatomy, Fringe, and The Mentalist.
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Blue Like Me: The Art of Siona Benjamin

Blue Like Me: The Art of Siona Benjamin
Blue Like Me: The Art of Siona Benjamin (short)
Producer/Director: Hal Rifken
India/USA 2015, 30 minutes, English
Post-screening discussion with Director Hal Rifken
 
Trailer: https://youtu.be/P2GN_BLc6QQ

Synopsis: Blue Like Me is a documentary that profiles Indian-American artist Siona Benjamin. Raised in the small Bene Israel Jewish community in Mumbai, India, Benjamin’s art fuses world religions with eastern myths and western pop culture to create vibrant new worlds. Blue Like Me travels with Siona to Mumbai, revisiting the Bene Israel Jews portrayed in her Fulbright project.

About the Director: Hal Rifken is a media producer who creates content and provides services for leading corporate, commercial, entertainment, non-profit and art organizations in the US and abroad. When not on assignment, Hal focuses his camera on subjects that reflect his interest in education, intercultural understanding, community development, and conflict resolution.
 

Elizabeth Ekadashi

Elizabeth Ekadashi

Elizabeth Ekadashi
Special Children's Afternoon
Saturday, May 9, 12 noon. Theatre 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Elizabeth Ekadashi

Directed by Paresh Mokashi
India 2015, 90 minutes, Marathi (w/English subtitles)
Cast- Shrirana Mahajan, Saili Bhandarkavthekar, Pushkar Lonarkar, Nandita Dhuri, Vanmala Kinikar, Chaitanya Badve, Durgesh Badye-Mahajan, Chaitanya Kulkarni, Ashwini Bhalekar


Trailer: https://youtu.be/phAj7wdp8NE

Synopsis: Elizabeth Ekadashi is Maharashtra's home-grown World Cinema. With an international sensibility but impregnated with Marathi folklores & 'Saint Culture'Ekadashi is a unique offering.  At the core of the film are basic human emotions of mother & child and a child's struggle to help his struggling single mother financially. Though the theme is universal, the presentation is such that it is very close to the Marathi soil and all the characters feel our very own. This feeling of belongingness to one's own culture, language & tradition is the superior achievement of this film. Set against the backdrop of Pandharpur Elizabeth Ekadashi is a modern poem on the silver screen that explores children's scientific curiosity viz-a-viz the spiritual teachings of the land; such that it becomes a take-away for both parents & children equally.

Paresh MokashiAbout the Director: Paresh Mokashi started as an actor in his college days. he worked with the Pune based theatre organization, theatre academy for some time. he shifted to mumbai and tried to pursue acting career but soon found out that writing and directing are his real interests. paresh is known for his plays 'sangeet debuchya muli', 'mukkam post bombilwadi', 'lagnakallol', 'mangalavarache mundake' and 'samudra'. he ventured into film making and made 'harishchandrachi factory', an adventure of dadasabeh phalke, in making of india's first feature film. He is presenting his second marathi film 'elizabeth ekadashi' soon. paresh is more interested in objective research of ancient history. he has currently undertaken a big project of creating a database cum encyclopaedia on the ved, ramayan, mahabharat and other historical writings of antiquity.

Yeh Hai Bakrapur
 
Yeh Hai Bakrapur
Saturday, May 9, 12.15 pm. Theatre 2, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Yeh Hai Bakrapur

Directed by: Janaki Vishwanathan
India, 2014, Hindi (w/ English subtitles)
Cast : Anshuman Jha, Asif Basra, Suruchi Aulakh, Faiz Khan

Post-screening discussion with Actor Anshuman Jha

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpwpyA23bWE

Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of rural India this social satire dwells on the relationship between eight year old Zulfi Qureshi and his pet goat Shahrukh. It humorously challenges the complex belief systems in our society and the conflicts that ensue thereon.
 
About the Director: Janaki Vishwanathan is a journalist turned filmmaker from Chennai, India. Her first film 'Kutty' (Little One) won her the Special Jury National Award in 2001 and also the Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial National Award for the Best Debut Director. Janaki is also the recipient of a Ford Foundation grant for documentary filmmaking. She has worked as a freelance feature writer for both the Indian Express and the Times of India and also worked full time with TV Today, a specialized TV magazine from the India Today group. She has also been a print journalist with ANI and TV 18, where she worked on shows telecast on Star Plus, Sony and also BBC.
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  NYU One Minute Cell Phone Films
 

Family Party

Family Party

Family Party
Saturday, May 9, 12.30 pm. Theatre 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Families and Other Short Stories - Family Party + Should Be Tomorrow + Mardistan
 
Family Party
Directed by Pari Mathur
USA 2014, 51 minutes, Hindi/English (w/ English subtitles)
Cast: Hunter Milano, Jai Ahuja, Jaya Prasad, Rahul Nalamasu, Rajiv Nema, Shruti Tewari, Vishal Vaidya

Post-screening discussion with Director Pari Mathur

Synopsis: A group of Indian-American teens get dragged to a family party and plan to sneak out once they realize they all have tickets to the same local concert.

Pari MathurAbout the Director: After pursuing an MFA in Film Production from Chapman University, Pari Mathur began producing branded content for companies like Facebook, Google, Toyota and Pinterest and more. He is currently creating content on the marketing team for education company, Coursera. Family Party is his first feature film.
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Should Tomorrow Be

Should Tomorrow Be

Should Tomorrow Be
Should Tomorrow Be
Directed by Malini Goel
USA 2014, 23 minutes, English
Post-Screening Discussion with Director Malini Goel


Trailer: https://vimeo.com/110649023
 
Synopsis: Should Tomorrow Be is a short documentary film that recounts the story of a retired Indian-American cardiologist who suffers a simple fall at home that leaves him paralyzed from the neck down and dependent on a ventilator to breathe. As he processes this devastating reality, he struggles with the choice to live as a vent-dependent quadriplegic or exercise his right-to-die by withholding life-sustaining treatment. Should Tomorrow Be tells the story of how his family and friends rally around him as he deliberates his decision, letting the audience into the most moving, laughable, joyful, painful and intimate of moments as they experience them. Filmed, narrated, directed and produced by his daughter, the film uses original hospital footage from 2006 to tell the story.

Malini GoelAbout the Director: Born and raised in the U.S. but having visited family in India consistently over the course of her life, Malini holds degrees in Communications; Law; and International Environment and Resource Policy. Social and environmental justice issues are particularly important to her and she has worked for several years with the United Nations and is also founder of a line of eco-friendly, educational toys for children. However, she has always had a creative side – including poetry, short story writing and photography. In 2006, when her father suffered a fall, she reached for her video camera and start filming their “last moments and conversations” in the hospital. Later, what she found surprised her and she realized she had to tell the story - for herself and for others. She took a filmmaking class in New York City and set about learning the tools to create her first documentary, Should Tomorrow Be, which has garnered awards including Best Short Documentary at the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival in Spain and a REMI Award at WorldFest Houston.
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Mardistan

Mardistan
Mardistan
Directed by Harjant Gill
India 2014, 28 minutes. Punjabi (w/ English subtitles)


Trailer: http://youtu.be/EJ16hle9EiM

Synopsis: Mardistan (Macholand) is an exploration of Indian manhood articulated through the voices of four men from different generations and backgrounds. A middle-aged writer trying to make sense of the physical and sexual abuse he witnessed studying in an elite military academy, a Sikh father of twin daughters resisting the pressure to produce a son, a young 20-year-old college student looking for a girlfriend with whom he can lose his virginity, and a working-class gay activist coming out to his wife after twenty years of marriage. Together, their stories make up different dimensions of what it means to be a man in India today. Mardistan (Macholand) starts a conversation on critical issues including patriarchy, son preference, sexual violence and homophobia in a nation increasingly defined by social inequalities.

Harjant GillAbout the Director: Harjant Gill is an assistant professor of anthropology at Towson University, Maryland. He received his PhD from American University. His research examines the intersections of masculinity, modernity and migration in India. Gill is also an award-winning filmmaker and has made several films that have screened at film festivals and academic conferences worldwide. His films include Milind Soman Made Me Gay which explores the notion of home and belonging among gay South Asians in diaspora, and Roots of Love which looks at the changing significance of hair and turban among Sikhs in India.

Kaakaa Mutai

Kaakaa Mutai

Kaakaa Mutai

Kaakaa Mutai
Special Children's Afternoon
Saturday, May 9, 3.00 pm. Theatre 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Kaakaa Mutai

Directed by: Manikandan M
India, 2014, 99 minutes, Tamil (w/English subtitles)
Cast: Ramesh Thilaganathan, Vignesh , Aishwarya Rajesh


Synopsis: When a pizza parlor opens on their old playground, two carefree slum boys are consumed by the desire to taste this new-fangled dish called 'pizza'. Realizing that one pizza costs more than their family's monthly income, they begin to plot ways to earn more money – inadvertently beginning an adventure that will involve the entire city.

ManikandanAbout the Director: Manikandan M was born February 13, 1982 in a small village in the South of Tamil Nadu in India. His career in directing started with WIND (2010) a critically acclaimed fictional short film which was an official selection in many renowned film festivals. Impressed with Wind, director Vetri Maaran and actor Dhanush got together to help produce Manikandan's first feature film 'The Crow's Egg of which he is the writer, director and cinematographer.

SALF @ NYIFF 2015

SALF @ NYIFF 2015

Special Event
Saturday, May 9, 3.15 pm. Theatre 2, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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SAFL @ NYIFF 2015

The South Asian Film Lab (SAFL) is partnering with NYIFF 2015 to present staged readings of excerpts of three scripts-in-development by Vinny Anand, Uday Jhunjhunwala and Shetal Shah. Fresh on the heels of a successful partnership with IFP and Writers Guild of America-East earlier this year, SAFL is thrilled to introduce the Lab to the global South Asian film community. For more information please visit http://www.iaac.us/NYIFF2015/salf-nyiff.htm

ABOUT SAFL The South Asian Film Lab (SAFL) is a group of writers, filmmakers and actors committed to developing and encouraging stories by and about South Asians in the United States. The lab functions as a collaborative workshop environment, as well as a resource and talent pool to support the emerging independent voices of South Asian and South Asian-American cinema. By supporting projects in every stage from development through to distribution/marketing, the South Asian Film Lab aims to become a leading organization dedicated to nurturing the diverse and compelling stories of tomorrow.
SALF @ NYIFF 2015 BADGE&CHAIN by Vinny Anand
Cast: Vinny Anand, Richard Dery, Chris Dunlop, Aizzah Fatima, Kamran Khan, Lipica Shah
 
Log Line: Burned by Corporate America, Srikanth "Shrek" Busireddy stumbles on an invention that will revolutionize recycling. Determined to get his idea off the ground, Shrek must avoid getting sucked back into Corporate America while finding a way to keep his unemployment from getting cut off.

Bio: Vinny Anand is a Writer, Actor and Comedian who has worked with the likes of Tracy Morgan, Tina Fey and Kevin Bacon. He studies Acting/Writing at New York Conservatory and has performed his Stand Up comedy routines at prestigious comedy clubs all over the city. To check out more of his work please visit his website at www.vinnyanand.com.
SALF @ NYIFF 2015 THE EXECUTION OF LOVE By Uday Jhunjhunwala
Cast: Vandit Bhatt, Samrat Chakrabarti, Meetu Chilana, Kabir Chopra, Andrew Guilarte, Sanjiv Jhaveri, Omar Rahim, Ami Sheth
 
Log Line: An orphaned Israeli boy and a Palestinian refugee girl struggle with their identities as they fall in love amidst the uncertainty and tragedy of the Occupation.

Bio: Uday Jhunjhunwala is a screenwriter and playwright living in NYC. In addition to his featured screenplay, "The Execution of Love," and his play, "Our Land," he is currently working on a play and a film, both of which take place in Kashmir. He has had several short films and plays produced including, "Saving Hinduism," "Soul Saving Sundays," and "Waiting for It." He also helped produce a feature documentary, "The Only Real Game," about baseball in Manipur.
SALF @ NYIFF 2015 BY THE SPOONFUL by Shetal Shah
Cast: Purva Bedi, Nikki Chawla, Gary Hilborn, Soneela Nankani, Rahoul Roy, Shetal Shah

Log Line: Eugenie is a hoarder. The new volunteer at her soup kitchen has a devastating secret that could either save Eugenie from herself or send her over the edge for good.

Bio: Shetal Shah is a filmmaker whose most recent work focuses on climate change in South America and a web skit series highlighting NYC's idiosyncrasies. When she's not behind the camera, Shetal loves acting in films, TV and Theater. She is a proud member of the InViolet Theater Company. Acting credits include: Theater: Truth Be Told (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Parts and Parts of Stitches (MT Works), Caitlin and the Swan (The Management), The Living Room Series (HERE Theater) and select readings with Second Stage Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, and the Indo-American Arts Council. Film: Arya (2005 SAMA Winner for Best Actress) and Loins of Punjab Presents. TV: The Daily Show, VH1 Denmark, ARY's In-Scene host and co-producer. She also performs poetry, most notably at Lincoln Center and with Poetic People Power.

Labour of Love

Labour of Love

Labour of Love

Labour of Love

Labour of Love
Saturday, May 9, 3.15 pm. Theatre 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
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Labour of Love
Directed by Aditya Vikram Sengupta
India 2014, 83 minutes, Silent film set in Calcutta
Cast : Ritwick Chakraborty, Basabdutta Chatterjee


Trailer: http://youtu.be/PFObwB9TAwc 
 
Awards
National Film Awards – Indira Gandhi Award for Best Film by a Debut Director
National Film Awards – Best Sound Designer
FEDEORA Award for Best Film by a Debut Director – Venice IFF
Best Director – Marrakech IFF
Jury Special Mention – Abu Dhabi FF
Honourable Mention – BFI London FF
Grand Jury Honourable Mention – IFFLA (Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles)
NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film – Bangalore IFF
Best Film – Jaipur IFF  

Synopsis: Set in the crumbling environs of Calcutta, LABOUR OF LOVE is a lyrical unfolding of two ordinary lives suspended in the duress of a spiralling recession. They are married to a cycle of work and domestic routine, and long stretches of waiting in the silence of an empty house. They share each other's solitude in pursuit of a distant dream that visits them briefly every morning. Incorporating poignant political undertones, director Aditya Vikram Sengupta creates a stylistically beautiful film that depicts the challenges of sustaining love in a fast transitioning world via a simultaneous sensation of breathlessness and space.

Aditya VikramAbout the Director: Aditya Vikram Sengupta studied literature at Calcutta University before pursuing design studies at the National Institute of Design. After specialising in Graphic Design, he trained himself in animation and film. His student shorts have screened at various international festivals including Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival, Animafest Zagreb and Sao Paulo International Film festival. His paintings have been showcased in galleries across India and one of his posters is exhibited at the Religious Art Museum, Tehran.
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Letter to the City Yet to Come

Letter to the City Yet to Come

Letter to the City Yet to Come
Letter to the City Yet to Come (short)
Directed by Gorav Kalyan
India 2015, 11 minutes, Hindi/Urdu (w/ English subtitles)


Synopsis: Shot in the weeks following the deadly gang-rape of a young woman, Letters to the City Yet to Come provokes reflection on the past, present and future of New Delhi, India. The film is a city symphony composed of three letters written in three languages (Hindi, Urdu and English) by an artist, an academic and an activist. Each letter is intimately addressed to a loved one in the future, describing the city as it is today, as it might become tomorrow. Juxtaposing voice-over narration, music and rich imagery, the film immerses the viewer in the daily rhythms of the city. It explores historical relics, street life, political protest, and other vivid urban scenes to complete a portrait of this vibrant yet violent city.

Gorav KalyanAbout the Director: Gorav Kalyan is a New York-based filmmaker and co-founder of Nonetheless Productions. Gorav studied philosophy at the College of New Jersey, studied Film Directing at the California Institute of the Arts, and was a 2013 Film Independent Project: Involve fellow in Directing. He recently finished his debut narrative feature, Old Enough, a coming of age tale set in Haryana, India. And Gorav is in pre-production on his first documentary feature, The Biography of the Philosopher, about French philosopher Alain Badiou.

My Big Fat Bride

My Big Fat Bride

My Big Fat Bride

My Big Fat Bride
Closing Night Film
Saturday, May 9, 2015, 5:00 pm, at Skirball Theatre for Performing Arts, NYC.
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My Big Fat Bride (Dum Laga Ke Haisha)
Directed by Sharat Katariya
India 2015, 89 minutes, Hindi (w. English subtitles)
Cast- Ayushmann Khuranna, Bhumi Pednakar, Chandrabhan Tiwari, Sashi Tiwari, Nain Tara


There will be a post-screening discussion with Director Sharat Katariya.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/GJYS9_FBM1k

Synopsis: Drop out cassette shop owner Prem is married against his will to overweight but educated Sandhya. Despite Sandhya’s honest attempts to get Prem interested, he is overwhelmed by embarrassment and mockery from friends and family alike. Tension and frustration mount on both sides, until divorce and separation are imminent. Husband and wife are forced to face the question: Can love come in all sizes?

Sharat KatariyaAbout the Director: Sharat Katariya (born 15 June 1978) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. Katariya started out as an assistant director to Rajat Kapoor during the making of Raghu Romeo. He also worked in as a lyricist on the film. Apart from this he has written dialogues for films Bheja Fry and Sunglass. His directorial debut film 10 m Love (2010) was based on William Shakespeare's play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.
   

New York Indian Film Festival
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