New York Indian Film Festival 2017


17th Annual NEW YORK INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL
April 30-May 7, 2017


SCREENING SCHEDULE
Tuesday May 2

 
Festival Pass: $250 general admission; $200 IAAC members.
Includes all regular screenings and special events, Centerpiece and Closing Night screenings & parties.
Does not include Opening Night & Shoot-a-Short Workshop.
Festival Pass
 
A Death in the Gunj
A Death in the
Gunj
A Death in the
Gunj
Tuesday, May 2, 6.00 pm. Theater 2, Village East, NYC.
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A Death in the Gunj
(A Tribute to Late Om Puri)
2016 | India | 104 mins | Hindi (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - Konkana Sensharma
Cast - Vikrant Massey, Ranvir Shorey, Kalki Koechlin, Tillotama Shome, Gulshan Devaiah, Jim Sarbh, Tanuja Mukherjee, Om Puri, & Arya Sharma

Post-screening discussion w/Director Konkona Sen Sharma

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XliKkuxa_nA

Synopsis: Set in 1979, A Death in the Gunj is a coming of age story, about a shy student Shyamal Chatterjee. He uses a family road trip to McCluskiegunj, an old Anglo-Indian town, as an escape from his failed semester. At the outset, the makings of a perfect family holiday are in place but something is amiss. In the week that follows, Shutu's quiet unraveling is overlooked by the family revelers, until the holiday ends with an implosion.

A Death in the GunjAbout the Director: Konkona Sensharmais an award-winning actor from India. A Death in the Gunj is her first feature film as writer and director. She is the daughter of Aparna Sen, an award winning filmmaker herself, and granddaughter of Chidananda Dasgupta, a film historian and critic and one of the co-founders of the Calcutta Film Society along with Satyajit Ray. Beginning her acting career at the age of 4, Konkona has acted in over 40 films in Hindi, Bengali and English. She has been felicitated with two National Awards and several industry awards. Konkona Sensharma debuted as a director in 2006 at the Kala Ghoda Film Festival in Mumbai in 2006 with her short film Naamkoron. The script for A Death in the Gunj was one of the 9 scripts shortlisted by the National Film Development Corporation of India, for their Script Lab and was mentored by Marten Rabarts (Creative director). Konkona was invited to be part of the jury at the Barcelona Film Festival in 2006. In 2013, she also served on the jury of the 15th Mumbai Film Festival. At the Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture in Melbourne, Konkona gave a lecture on Arthouse vs. Mainstream. The lecture was organized in partnership with the Indian Film Festival (2014).

Late Om Puri
Late Om Puri Om Puri (18 October 1950 – 6 January 2017) was an Indian actor who appeared in mainstream commercial Indian films, as well as independent and art films. He is best-known for his author-backed roles in films like Aakrosh (1980), Arohan (1982) and television films like Sadgati (1981) and Tamas (1987) and also light-hearted roles in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) and Chachi 420 (1997). He had various collaborations with director Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani. Puri also appeared in non-Indian productions in the United States, Britain and Pakistan. Puri was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 1990; and in 2004, was made an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

With This Ring
With This Ring
With This Ring
Tuesday, May 2, 6.15 pm. Theater 3 Village East, NYC.
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With This Ring
New York City Premiere
Documentary | 2016 | Canada | 91 mins | Hindi, Manipuri, English (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - Ameesha Joshi, Anna Sarkissian


Post-screening discussion w/Director Ameesha Joshi

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/190781310

Synopsis: Filmed over the course of six years, With This Ring follows the meteoric rise of three Indian women who sidestep traditional roles to become world champion boxers. Worried that boxing will disfigure their faces and hurt their chances of getting married, their parents are reluctant to embrace their chosen careers. Facing pressure to conform, the women test boundaries as they become the primary wage earners in their families. While the team dominates at world championships, they continue to train in oblivion in India. Boxing becomes their lifeline, their source of income, and their community, and ultimately what rips them apart.

Anna SarkissianAbout the Directors: Born in Montreal, Anna Sarkissian is a filmmaker, writer, and anthropologist. Her work has been screened at the Canadian Parliament, in galleries, and on national television. She received her bachelor of fine arts from Montreal's Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema and her master's in social anthropology from the University of Oxford. She is currently researching gender and equality in Hollywood for a doctorate in anthropology.



Ameesha JoshiAmeesha Joshi is a Toronto native, who graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Waterloo University in Ontario. She went on to work in the software industry for seven years before discovering her interest in filmmaking. Her first short film, The Red Glove, was about an amateur boxer and was made through the Atlantic Filmmakers Co-operative’s FILM 5 development program in Nova Scotia. It was during the making of this film she developed an appreciation for the sport. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s of fine arts at Concordia University in Montreal and enjoys working in both documentary and fiction.

Feluda 50 Years of Ray's Detective
Feluda 50 Years of Ray's Detective
Tuesday, May 2, 6.30 pm. Theater 4 Village East, NYC.
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Feluda 50 Years of Ray's Detective
World Premiere
Documentary | 2016 | India | 112 mins | English, Bengali (w/ English subtitles)
Cast - Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Sandip Ray, Soumitra Chatterjee


Post-screening discussion w/Director Sagnik Chatterjee

Trailerhttps://youtu.be/vNyGN0KPMwE

Synopsis: FELUDA, a fictional detective, created by legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray , has stepped into his 50th year of existence. The film attempts to visualize this 50 year journey, across generations in India & abroad, traversing the literary journey and to preserve the heritage for future generations to come…. This film also unravels the unknown Satyajit Ray as a writer & illustrator. This is first of its kind documentation of a fictional literary character from India.

Sagnik ChatterjeeAbout the Director: A post graduate in mass communication from Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication in Pune, Sagnik Chatterjee started his career as an assistant director with Govind Nihlani and Sandip Ray. He was also the executive producer (programming) with Ennadu Television Network for four Hindi Channels. He has worked on a number of corporate films and won awards. He was the stage director for a musical Holy Motherland, based on Rabindranath's Tagore concept. Feluda: 50 Years of Ray's Detective is his debut film as a director and producer.

  David Taghioff:  International Markets
Tuesday, May 2, 6.30 pm. Theater 5 Village East Cinema, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.
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David Taghioff in conversation with filmmakers about their creative options and production of local language films in key growth markets


Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is the world’s leading full-service entertainment and sports agency with offices around the globe. Founded in 1975, CAA represents many of the most successful professionals working in film, television, music, theatre, video games, sports, and digital content, and provides a range of strategic marketing and consulting services to corporate clients.

David Taghioff will speak to filmmakers, actors, musicians about their lives, their films and their careers.

David TaghioffDavid Taghioff is a Corporate Development Executive at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Taghioff is based in the Los Angeles office and works across the agency identifying new business opportunities for the agency’s clients, with an emphasis on the international marketplace.

The corporate clients Taghioff has advised on their international initiatives include Cirque du Soleil, Lionsgate, IMAX, QVC, Credit Suisse, Econet Media, Ivanhoe Media, the Indian Express Group, YES Bank, and Reliance Entertainment, among others.  He also works with film and television clients on cross-border opportunities, and most recently brokered multiple film slate deals for Blumhouse Productions and SK Global to produce local language films in India and Korea. Additionally, Taghioff packaged episodic deals for Netflix and Amazon in India, and is currently working on new financing options for the production of local language films in key growth markets.

Gurgaon
Gurgaon
Tuesday, May 2, 9.00 pm. Theater 2 Village East, NYC.
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Gurgaon
US Premiere
2016 | India | 108 mins | Hindi, Haryanvi (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - Shanker Raman
Cast: Akshay Oberoi, Ragini Khanna, Pankaj Tripathi, Aamir Bashir, Shalini Vatsa, Ashish Verma, Arjun Fauzdar, Yogi Singha, Srinivas Sunderraja
n

Post-screening discussion w/Director Shanker Raman

Synopsis: Kehri Singh reigns over crime in Gurgaon. Frustrated of constantly being sidelined by his father Nikki Singh, tries to score a major hit but instead finds himself in huge debt to a rival gang. To repay this debt, Nikki hires a hitman to kidnap his own sister - Kehri Singh's one and only beloved child and tentatively blackmail his father. But things don't go as planned.
 
Shanker Raman About the Director:Shanker Raman is an award winning cinematographer, writer, producer and director, having worked professionally over the last two decades on several documentaries, shorts, feature films and TV commercials. After completing his Bachelors in Physics he went on to major in cinematography from the Film and TV Institute of India, Pune. Shanker has shot seven feature films, written and co-written several screenplays. Frozen, an original spectacle in black and white cinematography was awarded “Best Cinematography” at the prestigious Indian National Awards and at the Durban International Film Festival. In 2016, Shanker completed his first feature film as director, titled Gurgaon. A modern day noir set in the city of Gurgaon, it examines the theme of man vs man in his quest for modernity while chasing comfort and stability. Gurgaon, is an independent film at heart targeted for the widest mainstream release.

  Tuesday, May 2, 9.15 pm. Theater 3 Village East, NYC.
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Shorts B - Love, Romance of All Shades
Station
Station
World Premiere 2015 | USA | 10 mins | English
Directed by - Anshuman Sharma
Cast - Marina Pires, David Walters, Anshuman Sharma


Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxxUSRaNUzA&feature=youtu.be

Synopsis: The world is immensely filled with people; while most of us are strangers to each other, we all share a connection with each other stitched together like a railway track. A little spark is all it takes to convert a stranger into someone you can deeply care for - one that is shared between the main characters of our film.

Brought together by fate to share a simple train ride to their destinations, the two characters feel an attraction towards each other right at the first glance. They begin to date, fall in love, accept each other’s culture, get married, and grow old together; a wishful life we all aspire to share with our true love.

Sadly, their life together was nothing more than a mere vision they had sewed on their journey as neither of them made an attempt to bring the dream to fruition. Fear and time - once again - made strangers out of two star-crossed lovers.

Anshuman Sharma About the Director: Working a full-time job in an Investment Bank, Anshuman has always aspired to be a filmmaker. However, coming from a traditional Indian background with no moral support to accomplish this goal, he chose to push his dream away. That is until now - at the age of 31; where he wrote, produced, directed and starred in his first film, Station.
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Two Cups of Tea
Two Cups of Tea
Two Cups of Tea
World Premiere
2017 | India | 12 mins | Hindi (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - Rayit Qazi
Cast - Meher Mistry, Rahul Bagga


Synopsis: Two ex lovers meet after a few years to fulfil a promise and discuss their lives over a cup of tea.

Rayit QaziAbout the Director: Rayit Hashmat Qazi is an independent short filmmaker from Kashmir who is currently working in Mumbai, India. He has worked as an assistant to International as well as Indian directors on TVC’s for the last 4 years.

His debut short film Jamaalo (Loved One) (2013) was a 40 min. long film manifesting the various conflicts in the life of women. His second short film Other Rooms Other Wonders (2015) revolved around the lives of two actors who seamlessly break character to enter reality and vice versa. His latest short Do Cup Chai (Two Cups of Tea) sees the story of two ex lovers who meet each other to fulfill a promise over a cup of tea. 

Rayit has completed his graduation in Audio Visual Production from Symbiosis Institute Of Media and Communication.
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Sisak
 
Sisak
New York City Premiere
2017 | India | 15 mins
Directed by - Faraz Arif Ansari
Cast - Jitin Gulati, Dhruv Singhal
  

Synopsis: Two men meet in the Mumbai Local train over a period of many nights. Not a word is spoken, nor is there possibility for any sort of physical intimacy but what conspires between them is a wordless romance, so strong that it brings them closer to each other, night after night and perhaps, delivers them with transitory moments of fleeting happiness and solace from the unkind realities of the passing world outside. Sisak is India’s First Silent LGBTQ love story presented in the format of a short feature.

Faraz Arif Ansari About the Director: Faraz started his film career as a co-writer with Amole Gupte (Writer & Creative Director, Taara Zameen Par). Since then, he has worked as a Writer, Associate Director, Casting Director and Executive Producer on films like Fox Star’s Stanley Ka Dabba, Deepa Bhatia’s Award Winning Documentary Nero’s Guests, Karan Johar’s Gippi’, Zee Telefilms' Silvat (for Zeal For Unity). Apart from feature films, he has also made a short film Siberia that has travelled to more than 30 international film festivals and won the Best Actress & Best Director Awards. Sisak is Faraz's second independent short film.
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Riff Raff
New York City Premiere
2016 | Pakistan | 15 mins | Urdu (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - Ahmed Arif
Cast - Sara Bhatti, Ahmed Zawar, Iman Sara Ahsan, Joshinder Kaur Chaggar, Malika Zafar, Qamber Kazmi, Saif Noorsumar, Sana Imdad-Ali, Sunil Shankar, Zeevar Scheik


Synopsis: One evening in upper-middle-class Karachi, a forty-year-old man manoeuvres between the deceptive allure of his social scene, and the reality he has at home.

Ahmed ArifAbout the Director: Ahmed worked as a professional actor in Karachi during the early-to-mid nineties, performing lead roles in several major stage and television productions in Pakistan. In 2008, he co-founded the ‘Kinky Fish Theatre Company’ in London, England and played Prospero in an Artaudian production of the Tempest which ran commercially for 3 nights at London’s Candid Arts Centre in 2009. He left England for Pakistan that year, but the Kinky Fish is still performing.

Ahmed later started Cinema Pure in Karachi, in 2013, as an independent platform for Pakistani film professionals to come together from time to time, as a collective, to work on projects that are not commercially motivated. The platform aims to (1) demonstrate that strong cinema can be produced on a limited budget, and (2) to explore the human experience with a focus on the narrative-power of light, movement and sound in the frame, rather than on expensive film technology. Mailay (Riff-Raff) is the second film made under the Cinema Pure banner.

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Water Baby
Water Baby
 
Water Baby
New York City Premiere
2016 | India | 15 mins | English, Konkani (w/ English subtitles)
Directed By: Pia Shah
Cast: Suhas Ahuja, Pravishi Das, Chitra Palekar, Viraj Khemani, Gracy Singh


Trailer: https://vimeo.com/164128072

Synopsis: The arrival of a new girl in school, forces a shy 11yr old boy, to face his fear of water head on. A mysterious drawing book, a water-controlling superhero and an unlikely pet accompany him on a little journey of courage.

Pia ShahAbout the Director: City girl by birth, mountain girl at heart, Pia Shah* is a vociferous reader, compulsive traveller and a passionate storyteller.

Having grown up in a fairly traditional home, nestled in the heart of a major Indian metro, she often finds herself exploring the cusp of old-world and new age.

Pia completed her Bachelors in Mass Media Degree from Jai Hind College, Mumbai and subsequently the One-year film-making conservatory from New York Film Academy, New York. Her thesis short I’m Afraid I am Hitler won the Audience Choice Award for Best Short at the Rhode Island International Film Festival'10, Best Student film at the Magnolia Independent Film Festival'11 and was screened at various International Film Festivals around the world.
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A Secret Heart
A Secret Heart
A Secret Heart
World Premiere
2016 | UK | 16 mins | English
Directed By: Cary Sawhney
Cast: Feryna Wazheir, Kingsley Amadi, Ann Queensbury, Claire Farrington, Joanna Thompson, Mitchell Kirkham, Sampha Sisay, Victoria Ashford


Trailer: https://vimeo.com/156670969/8e081fcae4

Synopsis: A young man meets a mysterious woman who takes him on an extraordinary journey through time where he discovers true love is possible.

Cary SawhneyAbout the Director: Cary Rajinder Sawhney has written and directed three short films, his debut Looking For You (2010) was screened at 12 international festivals. His second film Khanna went on to win Best Short Film and New York Indian Film Festival (2013) and Future Filmmaker Award at Palm Springs Short Film Festival and showed at 19 film festivals. A Secret Heart is his current and most ambitious short. He has written two feature scripts and one is expected to go into development in 2017. Cary is also a film festival programmer including advising BFI London Film Festival and heading up London Indian Film Festival. He is a member of the British Film Academy (BAFTA).
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Let Some Clouds Float In
Let Some Clouds Float In
US Premiere
2016 | India | 29 min | Marathi (with English subtitles) Short Fiction
Directed by - Mayuresh Gotkhindikar
Cast - Devika Daftardar, Niranjan Pedanekar, Sayali Phatak, Ramaa Nadgauda, Bhushan Patil, Shreyas Indapurkar, Bobby Adhale


Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjOavzAc3xA

Synopsis: A susceptible spinster on the verge of losing hope, torments herself to find relationships with purity and innocence. Eventually goes through metamorphosis of sorts in mid-1990's gradually liberating India.

Mayuresh Gotkhindikar About the Director: Mayuresh Gotkhindikar (born 1985) is an independent filmmaker based in Pune, India. Aaye Kuch Abr / Let some clouds float in is his second short film. He's editor, screenplay writer ands director. He has a keen interest in learning the craft of cinema and storytelling. He's would like to explore complexities of human relations happening in specific times, tracing his roots.
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Shanivar Ko Do Bajey
Shanivar Ko Do Bajey
Shanivar Ko Do Bajey
World Premiere
2016 | India | 33 mins | Hindi (w/ English subtitles)
Directed By: Parimal Aloke
Cast: Nayani Dixit, Parimal Aloke


Synopsis:
Shanivaar Ko Do Baje is based on the play by the same name by eminent Hindi author Surendra Verma. It is the story of an extra-marital affair between two office going people. They have a clandestine rendezvous, practically every Saturday at two, at a borrowed nest; or is it just that?

While the sexual aspect of a man–woman relationship is being fulfilled between the spinster and the married man, what binds them together is not merely the physicality of the relation but even more, the ''family'' bond that they have developed. It is a bond that is lost in their respective families but exists in this relationship that society likes to label ' illegitimate'. It is a bond where they still enjoy 'talking' to one another.

The story explores the connection that has formed between the two within and despite the restrictions imposed by the clandestine nature of the relationship.

Shanivar Ko Do BajeyAbout the Director: Parimal Aloke is just two films old as a Director so he does not have a big Biodata. His first film was Saari Raat (duration 23 min) and it was selected at 17 film festivals including NYIFF where it earned a nomination for Best Short Film.

Parimal Aloke is an actor and director, known for Sadda Adda (2011), Saari Raat (2013) and Shanivaar Ko Do Baje.

Arunagiri Perumale
Arunagiri Perumale
 
Tuesday, May 2, 9.30 pm. Theater 4 Village East, NYC.
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Arunagiri Perumale
World Premiere
2016 | India | 76 mins | Tamil (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - V Pradeep Kumar
Cast - V. Pradeep Kumar, Kasi Visweswaran, Susha, Sean Roldan, Kalyani Nair


Trailer: https://youtu.be/UGQYGUNMFSU

Synopsis: The central theme of Arunagiri Perumale is the most celebrated tamil literary work, Thiruppugazh, which in the film, serves as a bridge spanning two different time periods. One era takes us 600 years back in time to explore the life of Arunagiri, a great mystic saint and troubadour from Tamil Nadu who wrote this masterpiece. A contemporary musician whose quest leads to discovering the essence and relevance of Thiruppugazh in our current changing times retells Arunagiri Nathar’s story through a collection f tales.

V. Pradeep
KumarAbout the Director: Pradeep Kumar is a musician from Trichy, India and spent his early years learning the nuances of Carnatic Music (traditional classical music of South India). His early exposure to the traditional Indian music began with the introduction to many historic works in Tamil literature by his Guru, J Venkatraman. "Thiruppugazh" a collection of Tamil poems by a mystic saint/poet Arunagiri Nathar left a strong impression on him. Though these poems were written in interesting and complex rhythmic patterns they were open to melodic interpretation. The documentary not only features music, but turns out to be a journey in literature, history and philosophy, giving us an idea of the life led by this great 15th century troubadour poet.
   

New York Indian Film Festival
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