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13th Annual NEW YORK INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL Thursday May 2, 2013 PLEASE NOTE THE SWITCH IN TIMINGS BETWEEN "HANSA" AND "SHUNYO AWANKO".   Delhi Diaries, Thursday, May 2, 2013, 4:00 pm, Theatre 1 at Tribeca Cinemas. Three Dates Directed by Shubhra Prakash. USA 2013, 13:11 minutes, English. Ash is looking to go on a nice date, meet the right girl, but nobody believes he is Indian! and To-Let Directed by Spandan Banerjee. 60 mins, Colour, Hindi with English subtitles. World Premiere. Post-screening discussion with director Spandan Banerjee. Six cats and a city in flux. TO LET is about spaces. Empty, Crowded, Real, Imagined, Urban, Liminal, Nostalgic. A film about moving, renting and living. About cities as they live elsewhere and inside the artist's head. A single man, a couple, a music band and the filmmaker try to understand what home means in the continuous cycle of migration and flux. All of them are at various stages of settling, moving, shifting as a part of their displaced city identities. What is home for those who only know their immediate urban reality? What is home when there is nowhere else to go? What is the identity of a 'tenant' to those who engage in a life of art living in a city in India? TO LET is about spaces, people, cats, and the stories woven around them. Stories that become a film, a song, a memory; as physical spaces replace themselves and addresses change houses. About the Director: Spandan Banerjee drew cartoons, T- shirts, and ads, before doing what he always wanted to do, realize stories into film. After several awards and years in advertising, making own films under his alternative independent outfit OVERDOSE. He has produced and directed over 100 commissioned films and his independent fiction and documentary films have travelled across film festivals. His last film YOU DON'T BELONG also won various awards including the Special Jury at the National Film Awards. He now lives in Delhi and is now putting together a platform, OVERDOSE LOCAL to develop an independent film scene in a city with no defined film space. His latest film is a fiction on Delhi, CITY OF DARK. www.overdosefilms.com    and    Much Ado About Knotting Directed by Geetika Narang Abbasi and Anandana Kapur. India, 2012, Documentary Film, 55 Minutes, English and Hindi. New York Premiere. Born into a society obsessed with marriages, a young girl, a not-so-young man and an NRI (Non-Resident Indian) couple are compelled by tradition to look for matches via classifieds, matchmaking bureaus and websites. Confronted with innumerable criteria that determine who is acceptable and who isn't, they question themselves and their choices. As they introspect, the melee of the matchmaking industry continues. At every turn, there are service providers who are ready to snoop, style and solicit potentials on their behalf. People are searching for the ideal one endlessly and the oft-heard question is – When are you getting married? Much Ado About Knotting is a lighthearted chronicle of this very predicament that almost every Indian faces. About the Director: Born and brought up in Delhi, India, Geetika Narang Abbasi pursued advertising after completing her graduation in English Literature from Delhi University. Soon, her love for films led her to the field of filmmaking. Having worked on various genres of filmmaking, from documentaries to TV commercials, she ventured into independent filmmaking with her first short fiction, the multiple award-winning Good Night (2008). Subsequently, she has edited and directed several documentaries that have been recognized and showcased nationally as well as internationally. Her next venture is a film about cross-border marriages between Indians and Pakistanis. Anandana Kapur is an independent filmmaker and social scientist based out of New Delhi, India. She has previously worked in broadcast television and is a published author on Media, Art and Gender. As part of a cultural diversity initiative she holds lectures on Cinema and Culture for exchange students from US, Canada and Europe. Anandana is also a wiki-educator and her latest works include a group exhibition on Re-envisioning in Nicosia, Cyprus and the critically acclaimed and award-winning documentary The Great Indian Jugaad (2009). Anandana likes to travel, photograph and collect folklore. She is currently working on a film on grass roots innovation in India. Thursday, May 2, 2013, 4:00 pm, Theatre 2 at Tribeca Cinemas. Daadi Directed by David Andrew Stoler. USA 2013, 18 Minutes, English. She was a star during Bollywood's Golden Age; now, she's an 87-year-old grandmother living in a senior home in Harlem. Daadi is the true story of magic and memory, and the difference between living and being alive. and Shunyo Awnko Directed by Goutam Ghose. India, 2013, Feature Film, 128 Minutes, Bengali and Hindi with English subtitles. U. S. Premiere. Cast- Priyanshu Chatterjee, Konkona Sensharma, Priyanka Bose, Soumitra Chatterjee. Post-screening discussion with director Goutam Ghose. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g3btyGndLw Are these two tales of one country? Or, are there two countries -- distinct and different? Two Indias, one...confident, vibrant and growing. Where liberalism is the order of the day, where consumerism tells the last word, where the future shines bright. Another pushed to the margin. Poor, helpless, denied of even basic necessities of existence. The two 'countries' stare at each other. With hope and despair, belief and suspicion, joy and tears manifest in the faces of their people. Against this backdrop, we find six principal characters that every now and then recall their past memories, are bound by daily compulsions, yet have dreams of varying colours and shades. At the same time issues of insurgency, infiltration and proxy wars co-exist in tandem. The film, set in stark contrast through a maze of visual imagery, complex characters and changing landscapes, wakes us to a lofty realization -----"One whom you keep beneath will only tie you down ... One whom you keep behind will also drag you backwards". About the Director: Goutam Ghose has made 13 feature films and over 30 documentaries and shorts. Made his first documentary – New Earth in 1973 followed by Hungry Autumn which won him the main award at the Oberhausen Film Festival. Has won 15 National Awards, 3 Filmfare Awards and many others. Won the Golden Peacock at IFFI 2010 for "Moner Manush. His International awards include the Silver Balloon Award at Nantes Film Festival, UNESCO Award – at Cannes Film Festival, Grand Prix - Golden Semurg at Tashkent, UNESCO Award at Venice, Fipresci Award, the Red Cross Award at Verna Film Festival and his last Bengali feature film Moner Manush (The Quest) had won the Golden Peacock award in IFFI, Goa in 2010. Also the only Indian to win the coveted Vittori Di Sica Award. Was awarded the Knighthood of the Star of the Italian Solidarity in July 2006. Centerpiece, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, Thursday, May 2, 2013, 6:00 pm, Theatre 2 at Tribeca Cinemas. Shahid Directed by Hansal Mehta. India, 2012, Feature Film, 123 Minutes, Hindi with English subtitles. New York Premiere. Cast- Raj Kumar Yadav, Prabhleen Sandhu, Baljinder Kaur, Tigmanshu Dhulia, KK Menon. Post-screening discussion with director Hansal Mehta and actor RajKumar (Talaash, Kai Po Che). Trailer: http://youtube/NiFEpIujrL4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsAlxHKVnWI "Shahid" traces the true story of slain human rights activist and lawyer Shahid Azmi. In the backdrop of communal violence that was unleashed on the city of Mumbai since 1993 we see a remarkable tale unfold. From attempting to become a terrorist to being wrongly imprisoned under a draconian anti-terrorism law to becoming a criminal lawyer Shahid traces the inspiring personal journey of a boy who became an unlikely messiah for human rights while following the rise of communal violence in India. The story of an impoverished Muslim struggling to come to terms with injustice, inequality and rising above his circumstances is an inspiring testament to the human spirit. About the Director: Hansal made his debut with Jayate (Victory, 1998), a languid tale on the Indian judiciary, medical malpractice and ordinary human lives in the city of Bombay. This was followed by the dark, tragic and funny DilPe Mat Le Yaar (Don't Take It To Heart, 2000), a film that reflected Hansal's concern for the increasingly marginalized immigrants in the city of Bombay. This film (and Hansal) ran into trouble with intolerant political parties in Bombay because of an innocuous section of dialog. Shahid (2012) is the result of this soul-searching mission and a return to roots for Hansal. Shahid is a deeply personal story that reflects Hansal's anger and concern towards religious/class based/racial intolerance around the world. Thursday, May 2, 2013, 6:30 pm, Theatre 1 at Tribeca Cinemas. Sati Directed by Aniruddha Chatterjee. USA 2013, 7 Minutes, English. A peek into a woman's mind as she's getting ready to be a Sati. Here, the illusion and the reality get blurred. and Hansa Directed by Manav Kaul. India, 2012, Feature Film, 88 Minutes, Hindi with English subtitles. U.S. Premiere. Cast- Kumud Mishra, Abhay Joshi, Trimala Adhikari, Bhushan Borgaonkar, Ghanshyam Lalsa, Ashish Pathode, Suraj Negi, Yogesh Kabadwal and Saurabh Nayyar. Winner Audience and FIPRESCI Awards, 12th Osian's Cinefan Film Festival. Post-screening discussion with director Manav Kaul. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgBu_Oz6iKM The movie revolves around a little boy, Hansa and his sister, Cheeku. Their father has mysteriously disappeared while the mother is pregnant and about to deliver. Their father disappeared with outstanding loans and now it is left to young Cheeku has to prevent her house from getting sold and is at the receiving end of a powerful villager's lecherous advances while little Hansa is too restless and distracted to pay attention to all the trouble his sister is facing. For Hansa his troubles revolve around a small red tennis ball which has got entangled in a huge inaccessible tree, a five rupee coin stolen from a local bully and all the travails of a boy and his closest friend Raku playing hookey from school and asking the time. About the Director: Manav Kaul started his theatre career in Bhopal in the year 1994. He came to Mumbai in the year 2002 & along with a few friends formed "ARANYA Theatre Group" in 2004. The promise he showed as a young playwright with his first play 'Shakkar Ke Paanch Daane' in 2004 wasn't misplaced. Manav is 37 years old & has written & directed 10 critically acclaimed plays in the last 8 years. His plays have been invited to most of the prestigious festivals in India & have been translated into English, Marathi & Bengali. Four of his plays have won awards at META (Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards). Thursday, May 2, 2013, 9:00 pm, Theatre 2 at Tribeca Cinemas. SOLD OUT Silvatein Directed by Arati Raval Pandey India 2013, 20 Minutes, Hindi with English subtitles. Silvatein looks at a relationship and a city through the lens of love. Arati, who has been born and raised in Mumbai, or Bombay as she has always known it, sees the city changing at breakneck speed. The streets, the people and even the name. With the city, the people have changed too. As it is with relationships, even a city needs nurturing. As it is with a city, even a relationship needs the compassion of its people. The couple's predicament mirrors the predicament of a city that's trying to make peace with its varied shades. The film chooses to let the city be a silent spectator, not entering the home or even making its presence felt. But it is instrumental in the events of the story because it creates circumstances that lead to problems and is the reason there's the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Silvatein talks about the blemishes that form in relationships, with time. They may slowly fade an d heal, but the hint of a wound will remain. May be it's not beautiful, but it is what will give the relationship its own, unique character. and Fireflies Directed by Sabal Singh Shekhawat. India, 2012, 102 Minutes, Hindi & English. World Premiere. Cast- Arjun Mathur, Monica Dogra, Rahul Khanna, Shivani Ghai, Aadya Bedi. Post-screening discussion with director Sabal Shekhawat and actors Arjun Mathur, Monica Dogra, Shivani Ghai. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qGbNRLyn6A 'Fireflies' is the story of two estranged brothers - Shiv and Rana. Shiv, a successful banker, lives in the superficial glitter of corporate Bombay. The younger brother, Rana, is a law school dropout who lives by the day. Though worldly experiences and illusions briefly illuminate the brothers' journeys, a tragedy that befell them fifteen years earlier seems destined to repeat itself, just in new incarnations. Flames suddenly extinguish again, in an eerie heartbeat. The journey ahead echoing with voices and visions from the past, and the magic realism of the years gone by, beckons the brothers to find each other again. And the picture in the puzzle that was scattered so long ago. Fireflies come out in the night, just to light up the darkness. They live as long as the glow lasts. Even if it is a lifetime, being lived in a day. About the Director: Born in Assam, the son of a tea planter, Sabal Singh Shekhawat, navigated the journey to India's film capital – Bombay in the late 80s. Starting out with a brief stint as a copywriter at an advertising agency, he soon joined Shantanu Sheorey, at that time one of India's most progressive and prolific photographers & television commercial directors. Four years later, in 1994 Sabal set up his own production company - 'The Big Picture'. After 18 years of producing and directing numerous award-winning commercials, Sabal started 'Wild Geese Pictures' in 2011 – a feature film production company devoted to collaborating, financing and producing independent films of high-quality content and production standards. Celebrating 100 Years of Indian Cinema, Thursday, May 2, 2013, 9:30 pm, Theatre 1 at Tribeca Cinemas. Sikh Formaggio Directed by Kate Wise. Italy, USA 21 mins. and Baavra Mann Directed by Jaideep Varma. India, 127 mins, Hindi with English subtitles. World Premiere. Cast- Sudhir Mishra. Post-screening discussion with director Jaideep Varma. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsbJHABESjE This documentary uses the life of filmmaker Sudhir Mishra and his varied work to throw light on the declining creative and cultural scene in India. Also, including interviews with people as diverse as Naseeruddin Shah, Saeed Mirza, Kundan Shah, Jaideep Sahni, Pritish Nandy, Swanand Kirkire, Chitrangda Singh, Kaykay Menon, MJ Akbar, Vinod Dua and many more the film paints a picture of environments that haven't entirely fulfilled their potential. About the Director: Jaideep Varma has made two feature films - Hulla (2008, fiction) and Leaving Home - the Life & Music of Indian Ocean (2010, non-fiction). The second opened the Goa International Film Festival in 2010 and won the National Award in 2011. Before that, he published a novel (Local) in 2005. He is also the creator of a Moneyball-like system in cricket called Impact Index, considered by some to be the best stats system in the game today. This is his second full-length documentary film.

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The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is the oldest, most prestigious film festival screening premieres of feature, documentary and short films made from, of, and about the Indian subcontinent in the Independent, arthouse, alternate and diaspora genres. Five days of screenings, post-screening discussions, industry panels, award ceremony, special events, nightly networking parties, red carpet galas, media attention and packed audiences build an awareness of Indian cinema, entertain & educate North Americans about the real India, and add to the amazing cultural diversity of New York City. Please visit: www.iaac.us/NYIFF2013/index.htm

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