MIAAC FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS New York, NY – MIAAC, the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council, New York City’s Indian film festival wrapped up five days of screenings and events on Sunday night, November 15th at the Walter Reade Theatre with the US premiere of Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s The Endless Wait (Antaheen). Stars Rahul Bose and Kalyan Roy attended the premiere along with actors and filmmakers including Shabana Azmi, Sarita Choudhury, and Aasif Mandvi. Overall, this year’s festival premiered 44 Indian and Diaspora films and held special events, with a sidebar on Kashmir in Film, and discussion panels presented with the NYU Department of Cinema Studies at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts focusing on themes like Queer Bollywood and the changing landscape of Indian film business.

The 2009 MIAAC Award Winners are:

·Best Short Film Award: Good Night directed by Geetika Narang.
· Best Documentary Film Award: The Salt Stories directed by Lalit Vachani.
· Best Actor Award: Aasif Mandvi for Today’s Special.
· Best Actress Award: Tannishtha Chatterjee for Bombay Summer.
· Best Screenplay Award: Two Paise for Sunshine, Four Annas for Rain by Deepti Naval.
· Best Director Award: Joseph Mathew-Varghese for Bombay Summer.
· Best Film Award: Bombay Summer directed by Joseph Mathew-Varghese.