America
New York Indian Film Festival to showcase 30 films
By
By Arun KumarWashington, March 25
The longest-running, most
prestigious South Asian film festival in the US, New York Indian Film
Festival (NYIFF), will open May 4 with Shonali Bose's "Margarita With A
Straw."
Aparna Sen's "Saari Raat" will be the centrepiece film of
the 15th annual showcase of ground-breaking, thought-provoking,
independent cinema, to be screened at prestigious venues around New York
City May 4 -9.
Starring Kalki Koechlin, Revathi and Sayani
Gupta, "Margarita" is the poignant portrayal of a rebellious young woman
with cerebral palsy who leaves her home in India to study in New York,
unexpectedly falls in love and embarks on an exhilarating journey of
self-discovery.
Starring Anjan Dutt, Rittwik Chakraborty and
Konkona Sen Sharma, "Saari Raat", a play in three acts by the legendary
Bengali playwright and theatre personality Badal Sircar, is also Sen's
tribute to Badal, who passed away in 2011.
Special screenings and
events include Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespeare trilogy of "Maqbool",
"Omkara" and "Haider" followed by a discussion between Bhardwaj and a
Shakespearean expert.
A special screening of "Daughters of Mother
India", a documentary film focused on the aftermath of the Delhi rape
incident, given India's ban on the broadcast of the BBC rape documentary
"India's Daughter."
Also featured would be "Benegal's New
Cinema", a documentary on Shyam Benegal's films, followed by a
discussion with Benegal about the New Cinema Movement and South Asian
Film Lab: launch, special short film screening, live reading of a
screenplay.
"Every year, we strive to make our programming unique
and relevant, based on the incidents that are occurring around the
world, in South Asia and in our own backyard, New York City," said
festival programmer Aseem Chhabra.
"These selected films, which
have won a combined total of nine National Awards, serve as a mirror,
and we hope that our audiences can see their lives reflected in these
stories."
The complete line-up of 30 films for the festival
includes National Award winners "Chotoder Chobi" (Best Film on Social
Issues -Narrative);
"Daughters of Mother India" (National Award
Winner for Best Film on Social Issues - Non-Narrative): "Elizabeth
Ekadashi" (Best Children's Film); "Haider "(winner of five National
Awards) and Kakka Muttai (Best Children's Film & Best Child Artist).
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])