Celebrities Attending Include Aasif Mandvi, Mira Nair, Sharmila Tagore, Aparna Sen, Shabana Azmi, Farhan Akhtar, Shyam Benegal, Deepti Naval, Manisha Koirala and Anurag Kashyap

Complete program and ticket info at www.miaacfilmfest.org

October 8th, 2009 (New York, NY) -- The Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival, New York City’s Indian film festival, is proud to announce the complete program for the 2009 festival to be held from November 11-15. Now in its ninth year, the festival will have 47 screenings including 44 premieres of features, documentaries and shorts. Since its founding in 2001, MIAAC has established itself as the premiere Indian film festival in the United States, introducing audiences to films such as Oscar winner “Slumdog Millionaire,” Mira Nair’s “The Namesake” and “Monsoon Wedding”; Deepa Mehta’s “Water” and Gurinder Chadha’s “Bride & Prejudice.” This year’s selection continues to celebrate the Festival’s tradition for excellence and diversity with powerful performances and new cinematic expression by cutting-edge Indian directors. Regular public screenings will be at the Quad Cinema, with special screenings at the Paris Theatre, Walter Reade Theater, the National Museum of the American Indian, and NYU's Cantor Center. A complete program listing is online at www.miaacfilmfest.org

The 2009 MIAAC Film Festival is setting the stage for some of the most highly anticipated films of the year. The festival includes films from India, Canada, the UK and the United States. The November 11th opening night film is “Today’s Special,” a comedy written by and starring Aasif Mandvi (“The Daily Show”) accompanied by renowned Indian actor Naseerudin Shah and author and actor Madhur Jaffrey. Santosh Sivan's “Tahaan” set in Kashmir, is the prestigious Festival Centerpiece on November 13th. The festival’s closing night on November 15th packs a bang with “Antaheen – The Endless Wait” starring two film luminaries discovered by Satyajit Ray - Sharmila Tagore and Aparna Sen – both of whom will attend the festival.

Other noteworthy selections include works that comment in vastly different ways on Indian politics, such as “Well Done Abba,” a comedy by veteran director Shyam Benegal, and the disturbing “Gulaal” directed by Anurag Kashyap, representing the next generation of talented Indian directors. Another new talent in this year's selections is Raja Menon who directs the towering Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah in his “Barah Anna” (or “Shortchanged”). Other well-established directors in the festival include Sudhir Mishra’s “Ride On Johnny” and Joseph Mathew-Varghese, who deftly brings the lovely Tannishtha Chaterjee (of Brick Lane fame) back to the screen in his impressive feature film debut, “Bombay Summer.” Women filmmakers make an impressive showing, from screen actor Deepti Naval's directorial debut “Two Paise For Sunshine, Four Annas for Rain,” an atmospheric ode to Bollywood musicals with star Manisha Koirala in an unusual love affair with a gay man. Naval says, “New York is special for me as I grew up here and hence I am excited about the NY premiere of my film at the MIAAC film festival. I feel blessed to have worked with fine actors such as Manisha Koirala and Rajat Kapoor in my first film and I am introducing my nephew who plays a key role.” Other films include Swati Bhide's “The Blue Tower,” a deliciously dark thriller from London that won the 2008 Raindance Award; and Tracey Jackson's “Lucky Ducks,” her courageous documentary about her own privileged Upper East Side life and family. Jackson says, “I am thrilled to be a part of MIAAC as it is an Asian festival that has premiered so many important films over the years. I like to think of myself as a South Asian filmmaker as so much of my work has taken place there. My film is about a mother’s love, a daughters struggles and how they ultimately find their way back to each other.”

Other festival highlights include a focus on Kashmir in film, an evening with Mira Nair and KahaniMovement.com, a filmmaker shorts competition, and a celebration of contemporary Bengali cinema.

MIAAC's star guest list includes supporters and fans Sharmila Tagore, Farhan Ahktar, Manisha Koirala, Tannishtha Chaterjee, Rahul Bose, Shabana Azmi, Deepti Naval, Naseeruddin Shah, Madhur Jaffrey, Aasif Mandvi, Mira Nair, Javed Akhtar, Shyam Benegal, Buddhadeb Das Gupta, and Sudhir Mishra. For a complete lineup and ticket information please visit www.miaacfilmfest.org