You may have heard that MTV Desi is taking part in the 2010 MIAAC Film Festival. This year’s line-up of films runs the gamut, including releases from major directors, as well as smaller productions. 2008′s MIACC screened multiple Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire. Who knows which of this year’s films will break huge!

Here are a few films that caught our eye.

Shor (Noise)

OPENING SCREENING
Wed 11.10 @ Beatrice Theater
This year’s MIAAC kicks off with a film centered around three stories happening simultaneously in Mumbai. Each of the main characters face the noise of the city in their own way, struggling with identity, poverty, and morality. The directorial team of Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK paint a gritty picture of one of India’s most bustling cities, contrasting the chaos and order of everyday life there.

Ashes

Fri 11.12 6pm @ Beatrice Theater
This one looks tragic, and is sure to pull you in with well developed characters and an engaging plot line. In his directorial debut, Indian-American actor Ajay Naidu tells the story of two brothers whose lives are unraveling, one of whom Naidu himself plays. Mental illness, drugs, and greed constitute a world closing in on the protagonist as he struggles to make the right choices. The stark, gloomy scenery in Ashes is accompanied by music from Karsh Kale and Midival Punditz.

Songs of Mashangva
Fri 11.12, 9:30pm @ Silas Theater

In his directorial debut, filmmaker Oinam Doren follows blues musician and composer Rewben Mashangva as he returns to the place of his birth to revive a dying musical form before it fades away. Mashangva is from the Tangkhul Naga tribe of Northeast India, and the film provides a fascinating look at a less known part of the country. When the tribe converted to Christianity, hymns and choirs soon replaced folk music. Making his own instruments, Mashangva doggedly and single-handedly begins to revive the traditional music. A rare documentary exploring the impact of Western style education on the Naga customs.

Leaving Home: The Life and Music of Indian Ocean

Sat 11.13 Noon @ Beatrice Theater
In his first documentary, director Jaideep Varma follows Indian Ocean, a band originating in the 1980s and bringing Indian flare to western instruments. The film shows them in three settings: a typical big show, an intimate performance, and in the studio working through their creative process.

Raavanan

Sat 11.13 6.30pm @ Silas Theater
Aishwarya Rai stars in this Tamil film about a bandit who kidnaps a policeman’s wife and holds her hostage. Of course, it’s only a matter of time before a romance between the two emerges. Set against a lush jungle backdrop, this film by director Mani Ratnam features the music of seminal composer A.R. Rahman.

Lahore

Sat 11.13 9pm @ Beatrice Theater
A story of patriotism, brotherhood, and revenge told through the competitive rivalry between a boxer from India and one from Pakistan who meet to face off in a Malaysian tournament. The opponents seek to settle scores both personal and nationalistic in a time when the archaic feud between Pakistan and India is losing steam.





Cooking With Stella

Sun 11.14 5pm @ Silas Theater
Canadian-Indian director Dilip Mehta brings east and west together over the universality of great cooking. Seema Biswas plays a cook whose techniques inspire her Canadian expatriate employer who has no idea that his cook’s trustworthy façade conceals a secret. This is the final screening of this year’s MIAAC and is surely one to catch!




Smita Patil Retrospective

Our last two picks are part of the Smita Patil retrospective at this years MIAAC, featuring ten films from the Indian New Wave actress’s catalog.

Manthan (The Churning)
Thu 11.11 3.40pm @ Walter Reade
Actress Smita Patil died in 1986 and left behind a catalog of some of the most hard-hitting female roles in Bollywood until that time. In collaboration with iconic Indian New Wave director Shyam Benegal, Patil challenged the time’s status quo of films solely for entertainment by conveying drama through true instances of plight in Indian life. In Manthan (translated as The Churning) Patil plays an untouchable girl whose village rises up against an exploitive feudal system. Part of the Smita Patil retrospective at MIAAC.

Bhumika (The Role)
Thu 11.11 7pm @ Walter Reade
Shyam Benegal tells the true story of Marathi actress Hansa Wadkar in this 1977 film starring Smita Patil. Though lauded for her talents on stage and on screen, Wadkar dealt with personal strife in relationships throughout her career. Patil delivers a forceful performance, perhaps exorcising her own struggles as an actress in a later era. Part of the Smita Patil retrospective at MIAAC.