(New York, NY—March 5, 2012) Saving Face,Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Daniel Junge’s Oscar-winning short documentary about the plight of two Pakistani women who were victims of acid attacks, is one of more than 50 hand-selected films that will wow audiences at the 12th annual New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF). Presented by the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), NYIFF is scheduled from May 23 to 27 at Tribeca Cinemas in lower Manhattan. Formerly known as the IAAC and MIAAC Film Festivals, NYIFF has premiered some of the most well-known South Asian and foreign films, including Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, Bride and Prejudice, Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake, and several others. Some of the highlights of this year’s festival include:

May 23rd - Opening night red carpet screening at Paris Theatre & Gala Benefit at Essex House
May 24th – Industry Panels at Tribeca Cinemas
May 24th to 27th – NYIFF Screenings, post-screening events, parties, special events
Script-writing workshops
One minute cell phone films by NYU Tisch Film & TV students on Bollywood Music
Nightly networking parties at lounges around New York City
May 25th – Centerpiece screening & discussion: Tribute to Dev Anand –Hum Dono Rangeen
May 26th – Sidebar: Shyam Benegal Retrospective followed by post-screening discussion with director. Mamoo (1994), Sardari Begum (1996), and Zubeidaa (2001) – the first such programming of Benegal’s trilogy based on scripts by renowned critic, journalist, and filmmaker Khalid Mohamed. All three films are Mohamed’s personal stories about his mother, grandmother, aunt and grandaunt.
Children’s films afternoon screenings and discussions at Tribeca Cinemas
May 27th – Closing Night red carpet screening, discussion & awards ceremony at Skirball Center for Arts

“Our lineup of films, networking parties, and red carpet events this year will be bigger and better than ever,” says Aroon Shivdasani, IAAC Executive Director. “As the longest-running and most prestigious Indian film festival in the country, we are proud to provide a much-needed platform for independent filmmakers to showcase their talent and share their art with New Yorkers.” For more information about NYIFF, please visit http://www.iaac.us/NYIFF2012/

About the Indo-American Arts Council: The Indo-American Arts Council is a registered not-for-profit arts organization passionately dedicated to showcasing, building awareness, and celebrating artists of Indian origin in the performing, visual and literary arts. Annual festivals of art, dance, play writing and film are scheduled through the year, with several special events and book launches. For further information please visitwww.iaac.us. NYIFF was born in the aftermath of 9/11 in response to Mayor Giuliani’s call to New Yorkers to help rebuild a limping city. The First Annual film Festival opened its doors with Film Diaspora Godfather Ismail Merchant and closed with New York’s favorite Indian filmmaker Mira Nair.