NYIFF 2016

Tickets for all films: $15 general admission; $12 IAAC members

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.

Special Event : Three Generations of Filmmakers
Tuesday May 10, 6:00pm. Theater 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.

Raakh Redux
Directed by Aditya Bhattacharya
Feature Narrative
India 1989-2011, 114min Hindi (w/English subtitles)
Cast: Aamir Khan, Supriya Pathak, Pankaj Kapur, Jagdeep, Master Ahmed Khan, Naina Balsaver

Synopsis: One night in an unnamed Indian city, young Aamir Hussein is forced to watch in impotent frustration as his girlfriend Neeta is brutally gang-raped in an assault led by the scion of the Karmali mafia family. Aamir's inability to do anything about the crime sees him leave home and sink into the city's underbelly where he encounters the flotsam and jetsam of the decaying metropolis, chief amongst whom is taciturn ex-cop P.K., who, having his own axe to grind against the Karmali clan, helps the boy Aamir become a man and exact revenge. Writer/Director Aditya Bhattacharya's dystopian vision of modern India made Raakh an instant cult classic when released in 1989 and immediately became a benchmark film for gangster noir from which celebrated directors like Sudhir Mishra, Ram Gopal Varma and Vinod Chopra drew inspiration.

About the Director:

Aditya Bhattacharya is an independent writer/director/producer based in Mumbai and Barcelona. Bhattacharya’s award winning films have played internationally including at: The Rotterdam Film Festival, SXSW, The Cairo Int’l Film Festival, Seattle and Goa Film Festivals.
He has been an actor, renowned chef of Indian cuisine in Rome, Italy and a prolific photojournalist. His directorial debut RAAKH was Indian superstar, Aamir Khan’s (THREE IDIOTS, LAGAAN) first starring role and the first Hindi feature for acclaimed cinematographer Santosh Sivan (BEFORE THE RAINS) and for India’s top Editor, Sreekar Prasad. SENSO UNICO, his sophomore feature is the only Italian film ever made by an Indian. Following that Aditya made DUBAI RETURN, the first Indian film to star Irrfan Khan, (THE LUNCHBOX) which is presently awaiting release.

Tuesday May 10, 6:15pm. Theater 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.
- SOLD OUT

There will be a second screening on
Tuesday May 10, 9 pm. Theater 5, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.

Moh Maya Money (In Greed We Trust)- World Premiere
Directed by Munish Bhardwaj
Feature Narrative
India 2016, 1hr 48min Hindi (w/English subtitles)
Cast: Ranvir Shorey, Neha Dhupia, Devendra Chauhan, Vidushi Mehra, Ashwath Bhatt

Post screening Q&A with Director Munish Bhardwaj lead actress Neha Dhupia and Co-writer and Associate Director Mansi Jain

Synopsis: Delhi based Aman, employed as a real estate broker in a multinational, often skims money from his company because he is greedy for the good life. When he finds out about a huge deal in his company, he passes it on to Raghveer, a small time real estate broker and a thug, for a bigger piece of the pie. Through a series of unfortunate events, the deal snowballs out of his control putting his and his wife, Divya’s lives in danger. To fix everything he involves his begrudging wife in a desperate white collar crime which entangles completely innocent strangers in it, leading to an end neither could imagine.

About the Director:

A graduate of Film & Television Institute of India, Munish has assisted Kumar Shahani, Mani Kaul, Sashi Kumar and Rajat Kapoor in the past. Most recently, he was Executive Producer on the Rajat Kapoor directed 'Ankhon Dekhi'. Munish has been involved with Theatre for over 25 years. He has also written for Television and has produced and directed promotional films for Corporates for over 2 decades. Moh Maya Money is his first feature as a Writer and Director.

CENTERPIECE
Tuesday May 10, 6.30 pm. Theater 2, Village East Cinemas, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.

Highway - US Premiere
Directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni
India 2015, 2hr 17min, Drama
Cast: Girish Kulkarni, Mukta Barve, Sunil Barve, Tisca Chopra, Huma Qureshi

Post screening Q&A with director Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni and actor Girish Kulkarni

Synopsis: Highway is a story of a simple routine Mumbai- Pune journey that some people begin. Only it doesn’t quite end as expected by them. They all come from different walks of life, carrying the baggage of who or what they are. Everyone is in a hurry to reach the destination. But by night, unexpectedly, they all come to a halt caused by a traffic jam.This pause is something that has been missing from their busy city lives. It provokes the questions that were hidden deep down by all of them and they face the truth that brings them closer to their own self! Highway is a film of that escape which all of us yearn for. It’s an attempt to see us in today’s time.

About the Director:

Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni studied filmmaking at the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India where he specialized in direction. His diploma film Girni (The Grinding Machine) won the president’s gold medal for best short film and best direction in the year 2005. His short documentary Three of Us premiered in Berlinale 2008. His first feature film Valu (The Wild Bull) along with the other two films, Vihir (The Well) and Deool (A Temple) were premiered in Rotterdam 2008, 2010 and 2012 respectively. These films were extremely successful with critics as well as audiences. Vihir (The Well) was also selected at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2010. He has directed short films among which Gaarud (The Spell) and Vilay (Dissolution) have been selected in the short film festivals of Oberhausen and Clermont Ferrand. He also produced Masala (Spices) (2012) and Pune-52 (2013).

There will be a second screening of Umesh Kulkarni's Highway on May 11th at the Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11106. http://www.movingimage.us/

Tuesday May 10, 6.30 pm. Theater 5, Village East Cinemas, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.

Stories from across the border - Pakistan and New York

A Thin Wall
Directed by Mara Ahmed
2015, 1hr 5min, Documentary

Post screening Q&A with director Mara Ahmed

Synopsis: A THIN WALL is a documentary about memory, history and the possibility of reconciliation. It focuses on the Partition of India in 1947, but derives lessons that remain urgently relevant today. Shot on both sides of the border, in India and Pakistan, A THIN WALL is a personal take on Partition rooted in stories passed down from one generation to another. It is written and directed by Mara Ahmed and co-produced by Surbhi Dewan. Both filmmakers are descendants of families torn apart by Partition. The film is also a work of art infused with original animation, music and literary writing. 'Mara Ahmed's A THIN WALL is akin to a beautiful and powerful book of essays: many voices sharing poetic, personal, and political stories and viewpoints, woven together to convey a universal aching. It is a textural and tangible journey that captures a profound sense of loss for more than one generation. May we all embrace the lessons this film has to offer.' (Linda Moroney, Director, Greentopia Film).

About the Director:
Mara Ahmed has lived and been educated in Belgium, Pakistan and the United States. She has an MBA and another Master's in Economics. For most of her life she worked in corporate finance. In 2004, Mara resigned from her job in order to devote herself to her true passion: art and film. Mara's first film, THE MUSLIMS I KNOW premiered at the Dryden Theatre in 2008. It was meant to start a dialogue between American Muslims and non-Muslims. Her second film, PAKISTAN ONE ON ONE, opened at the Little Theatre in 2011. Shot entirely in Lahore, it is a broad survey of public opinion in Pakistan, about issues of interest to Americans. For more information about Mara's work, please visit NeelumFilms.com.

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Fifth Avenue – A Poem by Hasan Muktaba
Directed by Sofian Khan
4 min, Short Documentary
Cast: Arik Hartman

Synopsis: An exiled Pakistani poet finds fresh inspiration in his new home. In 1999, Hasan Mujtaba came to the US after receiving threats from the military regime in Pakistan for his investigative journalism. Alone, uninspired, he wandered the streets of New York, until he saw a man who looked like Allen Ginsberg walking with a parade of Krishna devotees on Fifth Avenue. This inspired him to start a new chapter of his life as an Urdu poet writing about his adopted city, and of the places he has left behind.

About the Director:

About the Director: Sofian Khan is the founder of Capital K Pictures -a New York-based production company focusing on documentary work. His shorts have appeared on PBS, The Documentary Channel, Fusion Network, The Atlantic and Huffington Post. He recently won best film in the 2015 Fusion Doc Challenge at Slamdance with his short Timeshifters. His first feature, The Dickumentary (2014) - a definitive history of the penis from its evolution millions of years ago, to today - was acquired by Breaking Glass Pictures in the US, and made its festival premiere at the Atlanta Film Festival. His second feature, Gaucho del Norte (2015), about South American shepherds recruited to work in the US, was released shortly after, co-directed with producing partner Andrés Caballero. Currently, Sofian and Andrés are at work on The Interpreter, about Afghan and Iraqi interpreters who served with US forces. The project was a recipient of the 2016 MacArthur Documentary Grant.

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Blindspot
Directed by Nilofer Qazi
9 min

Synopsis: A Pakistani young woman who has recently arrived in New York walks in Central Park. What you see may not always be what it is.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/nvCyNZ5zH4g

About the Director:

Nilofer Afridi Qazi from Pakistan recently graduated from the New York Film Academy. A public policy specialist decided after a career with Shell International, Ford Foundation, SAIS Johns Hopkins, United Nations and the Government of Pakistan, that Film and journalism would be her next adventure. A keen foodie, a social and human right activist, Nilofer has written, documented and now intends to film on issues that matter to her. Her blog niloferscorner.blogspot.com has many of her productions and publications she is active on twitter @ninoqazi

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Culinary Conversations
Directed by Nilofer Qazi
6 min

Trailer: https://youtu.be/TkepA5_4lLE

Synopsis: Nilofer Qazi explores what Pakistani cuisine means? Conversations with a Michelin star chef and a unusual restauranteur.

About the Director:
Nilofer Qazi

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A Palestinian Standup Comedian in New York
Directed by Nilofer Qazi
5 min

Trailer: https://youtu.be/Llf0tV8mi90

Synopsis: Comedy is tough, in New York the hardest city to make it in, how does Suzie Afridi a Palestinian comedian in New York do it?

About the Director:
Nilofer Qazi

Tuesday, May 10, 9:00pm Theater 2, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.

Nila - New York Premiere
Directed by Selvamani Selvaraj
Feature Narrative
India 2015, 1hr 36min Tamil (w/English subtitles)
Cast: Sruthi Hariharan, Vicky, Sarvesh Sridhar, Rajan Sekri, Srikanth, Pooja

Post screening Q&A with director Selvamani Selvaraj and actress Sruthi Hariharan

Synopsis: Vimal drives taxis at night. He is yet another lone dreamer in a big city. One night, he stumbles upon a beautiful woman who happens to be from his village. Even though their time together as kids was brief, what they shared with each other turned into a beautiful memory that he would often revisit. It has been fifteen years and the intimate innocence they shared seems to be now replaced with a matured distance. He picks her up from work and drops her home in the nights that follow. He tries to get close to her hoping to find the same little girl he fell in love with. Instead, he finds her wrapped in darkness and is now caught in a web of conflicted emotions. What ensues is a passionate tale of love, loss and acceptance.

About the Director:
Nila

Growing up in India films have a strong effect on you. I remember as a kid craving for that feeling of being blissfully lost in the magic of cinema. The people on screen who were strangers till a point became the ones who mattered the most. Their struggles and victories became mine. This effect influenced the way I looked at life and situations. I felt the need to share what I felt through them. Even before I realized I started making films. This is my first attempt at it. Nila is a mood-piece set almost entirely in the nights. It is an emotional narrative about love, loss and acceptance. The film was made with very little money but a great deal of passion exhibited by the entire crew. I could not have hoped for a better passionate start. The film being recognized by NYIFF would help the film reach a wider audience. It would give me the power to go further and explore.

Tuesday, May 10, 9:15pm Theater 3, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.

Shorts Program D - Absence and Other Stories

Babu's Dilemma
Directed by Collin D’Cunha
24 min, Short Narrative, Drama
Cast: Ravi Kaiwart, Dr. Shailesh Upadhyay, Harpal Singh, Hima Singh, Praveen Ramachandran

Synopsis: Babu is a Indian construction worker in Dubai. When one of his colleagues is going back to India, all the other workers decide to send gifts for their families but Babu doesn't have any money to send a gift for his wife.

About the Director:
Collin is an alumnus of the Film and Telvision Institute of India. He was the co-writer, associate director and editor of his diploma film ‘Shyam Raat Seher’ – winner of two National Film Awards. His short film- Mumbaikar Ganesh was awarded ‘Best Film - Dimesnions Mumbai’ at the Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI) in 2010. It also won best short film at the Bollywood and Beyond Film festival in Melbourne Australia and was screened at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Collin works as a freelance Assistant Director on Hindi Feature films. He has worked on films like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, PK and NH10.

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A Return Gift
Directed by Harshad Nalawade
15 min, Short Narrative, Drama
Cast: Rupali Bhave and Harshad Nalawade

Synopsis: Rishabh comes back from the U.S.A to visit his best friend’s mother after his death. Both try to deal with the tragedy in their own way and try to find answers to the emptiness the boy has left them with.

About the Director:
Harshad Nalawade is a writer and director, known for Short films like, A Return Gift (2016), Trivikrama (2013), and Kirdaar (2012). He has also edited I Am Offended (2014), a feature length documentary on the Stand-up comedy scenario in India.

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The Hospitality of Love
Directed by Tushar Patel
9 min 22 sec, Drama

Synopsis: A lonely motel owner struggling to make ends meet, daydreams of his late wife and comes to the conclusion that love does not just come and go like many of his motel guests.

About the Director:
Tushar Patel is an Indian-American writer, director, and producer residing in Los Angeles. “The Hospitality of Love” is the first short film he has written and directed. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at the California State University Long Beach and a Film & Television Producing Certificate at the University of California Los Angeles.

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Carmen
Directed by Urs Baur, Sara Baur Harding
6 min 32 sec, Short Narrative, Drama
Cast: Vijaya Lakshmi, Michael Irby

Synopsis: Classical Indian dancer, Vijaylakshmi, embodies CARMEN. Here, Carmen is a classical Indian dancer, portrayed by Mohiniyattam dancer Vijaylakshmi, who must find her own self worth and overcome the control of her demeaning manager portrayed by actor, Michael Irby . Through her dance she transforms as the enchantress finding inner strength and her own voice.

About the Director:
URS BAUR: A filmmaker, and co-founder of the Topanga Film Festival & Institute and is Co founder and head of communications for energy company, Eco where he heads up communications, brand development and community engagement. Prior to founding Energizing Co., Urs had a 20 year career in leading international brand initiatives for global companies Urs trusts in the combined power of technology and storytelling to inform, empower, and inspire and is in his element when travelling to document culturally unique forms of expression.

SARA BAUR HARDING

An artist, filmmaker, and co-founder of the Topanga Film Festival & Institute Sara is interested in multicultural narratives and multi dimensional modes of expression. This her first feature documentary started with the unprecedented conversation with Vijayalakshmi and her mother and guru Bharati Shivaji. And which provides the framework for a portrait of mother and daughter in a definitive story of two uniquely relevant classical Indian dancers and the unusual dance form, Mohiniyattam. Subsequently,

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And then they came for me
Directed by Devashish Makhija
7 min 6 sec, Short Narrative, Drama
Cast: Abhishek Banerjee, Rasika Dugal, Trimala Adhikari, Tushar Pandey, Gazal Dhaliwal, Mirat Trivedi

Synopsis: Today, the slum-dwellers have managed to stall the illegal demolition of their shanties. Tomorrow, they must take their non-violent fight for justice to the high court. Tonight, someone is making sure that never happens, one deathly scream at a time.

About the Director:

Devashish Makhija has researched and assisted on 'Black Friday' (dir. Anurag Kashyap) and was the chief assistant director on 'Bunty aur Babli' (dir. Shaad Ali). He has written numerous screenplays, notably Avik Mukherjee's 'Bhoomi' and Anurag Kashyap's 'Doga'; has had a solo art show 'Occupying Silence'; written Tulika's bestselling children's books 'When Ali became Bajrangbali' and 'Why Paploo was perplexed' and a Harper-Collins collection of short stories 'Forgetting'. He has also written 'By Two', a story featured in the omnibus 'Mumbai Noir'; written and directed the acclaimed short films 'Rahim Murge pe mat ro’, ‘El'ayichi' and ‘Agli Baar’; and recently wrote and directed the full length feature film 'Oonga'.

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The Space Between
Directed by Will Sankhla
14 min, Short Narrative, Drama
Cast: Will Sankhla, Prabhat Raghunandan

Synopsis: A gay man in India confronts the mounting pressure on his relationship.

About the Director:

Born and raised in India, Will Sankhla studied theater and philosophy in the United States. He is a recipient of a Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program Grant.

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India Calling
Directed by Vinay Pujara
20 min, Short Narrative, Drama
Cast: Hesh Sarmalkar, Sneha Ramchander, Vidula Munekar

Trailer: https://youtu.be/mvZFpt8LiSE

Synopsis: Abhishek Paranjpe living in New York City with his wife Shruti, gets worried when his mother living in Pune city India calls him in the middle of the night because she saw a bad dream about her son. They dream of having children & giving them the best of life in USA, but they don't want their kids to adopt American culture where kids grow up & leave their parents’ house.

About the Director:

Vinay Pujara is an India born filmmaker. Having started in Bollywood as an actor and then as an Assistant Director to the esteemed Asha Parekh Productions & Renowned Bollywood writer Sanjay Chhel’s Production. Vinay used what he had learned when he immigrated to the US. Starting again at the bottom of the New York indie filmmaker community Vinay decided to focus on being a crew member with the intention of running his own productions and telling his stories. After taking classes at NYU's filmmaking school as well as others, he has since completed four short films and is in production for his first feature. His company "Sun Om Productions Inc." is quickly outputting content with strong themes. Vinay has valued his films in the sense of being fearless pieces that tell a story from a view that is not often seen.

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Walking the Walk
Directed by Moses Tulasi
32 min 38 sec, Short Narrative, Drama

Synopsis: In India, the LGBTQ movement celebrates its growth and successes with a series of pride marches in various cities and small towns across the country. Unlike parades, these events draw inspiration from India’s anti-casteist and feminist movements, acting not only as celebrations, but also as political protests in which everyone marches and no one is simply a spectator. Like in the west, these marches are also spectacular displays of color, costume, and resilience. Walking the Walk follows the participants of Hyderabad’s queer pride march in February 2015. The walk draws inspiration from the most recently successful social movement which led to formation of a brand new state in India, Telangana. This film demonstrates how a collective of activists do more than talk the talk; they set into motion a political movement that celebrates small successes, demands resources for working-class transgender people, stands up to police violence, and allows the community to grieve for lost loved ones.

About the Director:

Born and brought up in a small town, Warangal in the state of Telangana, India and inspired by the Hindi parallel cinema of the 80’s, Moses Tulasi had always wanted to get involved in making films that had social relevance. After spending over a decade in US with a career in technology, Moses pursued his passion for film making at Chicago Filmmakers in 2012. He had served on the board of Trikone-Chicago for six years, a support group for LGBT individuals of South Asian heritage and allies. In the winter of 2014, Moses took a sabbatical from work and traveled to India, tracing his roots back, in search of a socially relevant subject for his first film. Moses was inspired to give a platform to socio-politically charged queer rights movement in the city of Hyderabad, set against the backdrop of recently successful social movement which led to formation of a new state in India, Telangana in June 2014. This is how the documentary film Walking the Walk was made.

Tuesday, May 10, 9:30pm. Theater 4, Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th street, NYC.

Cities of Sleep - New York Premiere
Directed by Shaunak Sen
Documentary
India 2015, 1hr 14min (w/English subtitles)

Synopsis: The film follows two individuals, Shakeel and Ranjeet. Shakeel, a beggar by profession is something of a renegade sleeper who for the last 7 years has slept in a diverse cross-range of improvised sleeping places in Delhi: under flyovers, subways, deserted pipelines, vacant car garages, empty animal cages in zoos and so on. For over the last year he has been sleeping with the ‘sleep mafia’ in Meena Bazaar (a famous market area in Old Delhi): these are people who control who sleeps where, for how long and what quality of sleep can be achieved on the streets. The film starts with his struggles with Jamaal Bhai, the head of an area in which thousands of homeless sleep on rented cot-beds and blankets everyday. We track Shakeel’s struggles as nearly all places in the city where safe sleep used to be offered start scrunching up just around the time the infamous winter rains of Delhi are due. Ranjeet lives in LohaPul in Delhi, a 200 year old double-storeyiron bridge in Delhi straddling the banks of the river Yamuna. Around 9 years ago, Ranjeet opened up a shanty cinema in a thin strip of the land under the bridge. These cinemas are meant to primarily provide comfortable resting/sleeping spaces for the 140-150 people who usually inhabit the area. This is a community built primarily by sleepers, homeless people who come together to sleep there everyday. Over time, this community, led by Ranjit, has improvised ways and means to meet their infrastructural and economic requirements, in the face of official disapproval from the local civic authorities. We follow this community's attempts to survive while also facing the annual threat of the river flooding during the monsoon season.

About the Director:
Shaunak Sen is a filmmaker, video artist and scholar based in Delhi. ‘Cities of Sleep’ is his first feature length documentary, funded by the Films Division of India. He has edited various other documentary and experimental fiction/non-fiction films including 'Squad's Fall Guys' (2013), 'Old Town' (2013), 'T&Lily' (2014). He co-curated a live-event installation called Downtime held simultaneously at Delhi and Berlin (at the Goethe Institute in New Delhi and Neukölln in Berlin) in November 2014. This event was co-curated by Frank Oberhaußer and Amitesh Grover. He also co-curated a live performance/video installation event 'Notes on Mourning' at Khoj Studios in January 2015 (co-curated by Arnika Ahldag and Amitesh Grover). He attended the Copycat Academy Residency, curated by Hannah Hurtzig at the Luminatos Film Festival in Toronto in June 2015.