Taylor, Lucy and Bill DeFries at after party.

Tracey and Kalyan Ray

Our documentary LUCKY DUCKS premiered this weekend at MIAAC FILM FESTIVAL.

It is an honor to be included with the roster of films that are so carefully selected

Each year the festival grows and grows and Aroon Shivasdani and Somi Roy do such an amazing job.
LUCKY DUCKS seemed to fill the theatre at The Quad.  It is exciting just to have a film show at an art house in New York. Taylor and I both saved our ticket stubs.

I want to thank all the people who made a big effort to come out and support us.

Some of Taylor’s friends, Lauren Gabba, Taylor Light, Blake Metzger and Ilaria DePlano made the trip from Boston just to take part in the event. Olivia Revson came in from Franklin and Marshall.   I know Taylor was thrilled to have them there and I was too. It made a good weekend even better.

Our editor Cob Carlson came in from Boston too and having him there made it even more special.

And then so many of my friends showed up, one always remembers who is there for them in these moments and I thank you all.

So many people work so hard on these films and with the indie market taking the hit it has it is so nice for all of us involved to get to see our work on the big screen, with a full audience especially since most indie films never get distribution these days.

The festival was smashing as always. Assif Mandvi’s touching, funny film TODAY’S SPECIAL was the opening event.  It was based on his play SAKIMA’S RESTAURANT which I saw when it first came out and from the moment I saw him act I wanted him to be The Guru in THE GURU. He is so talented, we see that now on THE DAILY SHOW, but this film was one more impressive addition to his resume. Our friend Madhur Jaffrey is so good in it; with one glance she tells a woman’s whole back-story.

Because of being on this deadline for my book I was unable to see as many films as I normally do. But we did see TAHAN, which was this year’s centerpiece film, last years, was SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.  TAHAN was shot in Kashmir and directed by Santosh Sivan.  I hear it was picked up so if it comes to your town go see it, the shots of Kashmir alone are worth the price of admission.

We were lucky to have much of our crew at our screening and afterwards there was a Q and A with Taylor, two family therapists, Jeffrey Rudolph and Rachel Sussman and our DP Gabriel Judet Wenshiel. The film always seems to provoke many questions and it was a lively discussion. I want to thank everyone who took part and made it such a special day for us.

After the screening we had a big party at the apartment for all those who came out and supported us with their attendance.

Last night Taylor had to get back to school so she could not attend the closing ceremonies.

It was sad because the last thing we were expecting was to be nominated for anything and we were!!!  We were nominated for best documentary. I had never expected this as there were so many films, most of them more politically important and many dealing with the Kashmiri crisis. 

So this was a case where being nominated was as exciting as winning.

They closing selection was  the Bengali film THE ENDLESS WAIT, which has been a big success in India. 

Aasif and I gave out the best film award and he won for best actor. It was a great evening, a wonderful weekend and I never feel as at home as I do in the Indian film world; quite bizarre for a nice Jewish girl from California.

I was so involved in every moment that I totally forgot to take photos.

The only two I have are the ones I’m posting.

Again, I want to thank every one who was a part of the film, who showed up for the screening and everyone who worked so hard to make MIAAC such a grand festival yet again. It’s not easy in these financial times but Aroon and Somi really pulled it off.

We are getting lots of emails from all over about where they can get a copy of LUCKY DUCKS, it will be released in DVD in the next two to three months.