| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: JINGO Media – Jitin Hingorani Jitin@jingomedia.com (512) 773-6679 (mobile) |
| Lights, Camera, Action – 10th Annual MIAAC Film Festival Shines a Global Spotlight on Indian Independent Cinema |
| (New York, NY – November 3, 2010) The longest-running, most prestigious Indian film festival in the country, the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival, rolls out the red carpets from Nov. 10th - 14th to welcome filmmakers, cast and crew, and industry heavyweights from all over the world to the independent cinema capital of the country – New York City. While the features, shorts, and documentaries (all world or New York premieres) are the main focus at the SVA Theater (333 W.23rd St., between 8th and 9th Avenues in Chelsea), the sidebar festival, “Bhumika: The Roles of Smita Patil,” at the Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater (165 W. 65th St., between Broadway and Amsterdam), FILMINDIA, a series of panel discussions about film production in India, and the daily after-parties at glamorous venues all over the city will share some of the festival’s spotlight. “Our 10th annual MIAAC Film Festival is truly a celebration of Indian film in all its avatars. Our audiences expect (and receive) excitement at our festival, and they leave theatres grinning, ready to party at our nightly celebrations,” says Indo-American Arts Council Executive Director Aroon Shivdasani. “I look forward to our usual overflowing audiences appreciating our wonderful filmmakers with their cast and crew, while epitomizing our mission to showcase, celebrate, and build an awareness of Indian artists in North America.” Confirmed celebrities attending the film festival and walking the red carpets include: Mani Ratnam, Ketan Mehta, Mira Nair, Rituparno Ghosh, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Madhur Jaffrey, Ekta Kapoor, Tusshar Kapoor, Padma Lakshmi, Rahul Bose, Salman Rushdie, Aasif Mandvi, Samrat Chakrabarti, Manu Narayan, Tannishtha Chatterjeee, Seema Biswas, Ajay Naidu, Arun Vaidyanathan, and many others. ***Festival Media Passes will be issued to accredited media who RSVP in advance. The pass gives media access to ALL the films, ALL the red carpet events, the Smita Patil retrospective at the Lincoln Center, FILMINDIA industry panels, and ALL the after-parties, EXCEPT the opening night fundraising gala. Passes can be picked up at the media check-in table in the lobby of the SVA Theater starting at 5 p.m. on opening night and throughout the duration of the festival. For a complete schedule of the festival lineup, log on to www.miaacfilmfest.org. Below is a list of daily media opportunities. Wednesday, Nov. 10th : Opening Night Red Carpet and Reception for “Noise (Shor)” at SVA ***Media Check-in begins at 5 p.m. ***Red Carpet begins at 5:30 p.m. ***Film Begins at 6:30 p.m. ***Opening Night Reception in SVA Lobby Begins at 9 p.m. (media is invited to stay) Thursday, Nov. 11th: “Bhumika: The Roles of Smita Patil” Opening Night – Lincoln Center (presented by MIAAC, Film Society of Lincoln Center, and Smita Patil Foundation) ***Reception and Smita Patil’s photography exhibition begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Furman Gallery of the Walter Reade Theater ***Film begins at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12th: Media Meet-and-greet with the stars at Sundaram Tagore Gallery, 547 W. 27th St., between 10th and 11th Avenues ***Press Conference begins at 11 a.m. ***One-on-one interviews begin at 11:30 a.m. – this will be the media’s ONLY major opportunity for one-on-one interviews at the festival and will be handled by requests. ***Light refreshments will be served . Red Carpet Event for “Ashes” and “Memories in March” at SVA ***Begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13th: Red Carpet Event for “Chalo Chennai,” MIAAC’s South Indian programming, including “Raavanan” and “Achchamundu! Achchamundu! (I Am Scared)” at SVA ***Begins at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14th: Closing Night Red Carpet and Reception for “Cooking With Stella” at SVA ***Red Carpet begins at 5:30 p.m. ***Film begins at 6:30 p.m. ***Awards Ceremony begins at 8 p.m. ***Closing Night Reception in SVA Lobby begins at 9 p.m. (media is invited to stay) About the Indo-American Arts Council: The Indo-American Arts Council is a registered not-for-profit arts organization passionately dedicated to showcasing, building awareness, and celebrating artists of Indian origin in the performing, visual and literary arts. Annual festivals of art, dance, play writing and film are scheduled through the year, with several special events and book launches. For further information please visit . The IAAC Film Festival was born in the aftermath of 9/11 in response to Mayor Giuliani’s call to New Yorkers to help rebuild a limping city. The First Annual film Festival opened its doors with Film Diaspora Godfather Ismail Merchant and closed with New York’s favorite Indian filmmaker Mira Nair. Four years ago, Mahindra & Mahindra joined forces with the IAAC Film Festival by becoming the lead sponsor, changing the name of the festival to The MIAAC Film Festival. For further information please visit www.miaacfilmfest.org. About The Mahindra Group: Mahindra embarked on its journey in 1945 by assembling the Willys Jeep in India and is now a $7.1 billion Indian multi-national company. It employs more than 100,000 people across the globe and enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, tractors, and information technology, with a significant and growing presence in financial services, tourism, infrastructure development, and trade and logistics. Today, The Mahindra Group is an embodiment of global experience and enjoys a strong corporate brand image. Mahindra is the only Indian company among the top tractor brands in the world. It is today a full-range player with a presence in almost every segment of the automobile industry, from two-wheelers to CVs, UVs, SUVs, and sedans. Mahindra recently acquired majority stake in REVA Electric Car Co. Ltd. (now called Mahindra REVA), strengthening its position in the Electric Vehicles domain. The Mahindra Group expanded its IT portfolio when Tech Mahindra acquired the leading global business and information technology services company, Satyam Computer Services. The company is now known as Mahindra Satyam. Mahindra is also one of the few Indian companies to receive an A+ GRI checked rating for its first Sustainability Report for the year 2007-08 and has also received the A+ GRI rating for the year 2008-09. About The Film Society at Lincoln Center: The Film Society of Lincoln Center was founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film. Advancing this mandate today, the Film Society hosts two distinguished festivals. The New York Film Festival annually premieres films from around the world and has introduced the likes of François Truffaut, R.W. Fassbinder, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodóvar, Martin Scorsese, and Wong Kar-Wai to the United States. New Directors/New Films, co-presented by the Museum of Modern Art, focuses on emerging film talents. Since 1972, when the Film Society honored Charles Chaplin, its annual Gala Tribute celebrates an actor or filmmaker who has helped distinguish cinema as an art form. Additionally, the Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming at its Walter Reade Theater and offers insightful film writing to a worldwide audience through Film Comment magazine. For more information, visit: www.filmlinc.com |