MY OWN COUNTRY
(1998, color, 106 minutes)
DATE: Friday, November 2. TIME: 6:30 p.m.

SYNOPSIS: "My own Country" is the real-life story of Dr. Abraham Vergliese (Naveen Andrews), an infectious disease specialist, and his experiences treating the first victims of the AIDS virus in rural Tennessee during the early stages of the
epidemic. After Verghese begins his new position he enounters Vickie Tally (Glenne Headly). an earthy trucker's wife who contracts the virus from her husband; Gordon Vines (Adam Tomei), the gay brother of Verghese's friend Mattie (Marisa
Tomei) and; and a conservative Christian couple, Lloyd (Hal Holbrook) and Hope (Swoosie Kurtz) Flanders who keeps their illness a secret from their family and friends for fear of rejection.

DIRECTOR: Accomplished film director Mira Nair was bom in India and educated at Delhi University and at Harvard. She began her career as an actor and then turned to directing Award-Winning documentaries, including "So far from India" and
"India Cabaret". Her first feature film "Salaam Bombay" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film in 1988, and won 25 international awards including the Camera D'or at Cannes. Her other film credits include
"Mississippi Masala", "The Perez Family", "My own Country" and "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love".

CAST: Naveen Andrews (Dr. Abraham Verghese) is perhaps best known for his sensual portrayal as Kip, the Sikh bomb-disposal officer and love interest to Juliette Binoche, in Anthony Minghella's Academy Award-winning World War II epic "The English Patient". The twenty-eight year old actor was born and raised in London to parents who immigrated to England from Southern India near Madras.
Marisa Tomei (Mattie Vines) won an Academy Award for her performance in the 1993 hit 'My Cousin Vinny'. Her other feature film credits include Sir Richard Attenhorough's screen biography, "Chaplin", Alan Rudolph's "Equinox", "Untamed Heart", "The Paper", "Only You", "The Perez Family" and Quentin Tarantino's "Four Rooms" and "A Brother's Kiss".