NYIFF2017-SCREENING SCHEDULE

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.

Centerpiece
Wednesday, May 3, 6.00 pm. Theater 2 Village East, NYC.

An Insignificant Man
New York City Premiere
2016 | India | 96 mins | Hindi (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - Khushboo Ranka, Vinay Shukla
Cast - Arvind Kejriwal, Yogendra Yadav, Santosh Koli

Post-screening discussion w/Director Khushboo Ranka & Vinay Shukla

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZvC50Za9sM

Synopsis:At the heart of An Insignificant Man is the most polarizing man in India today – Arvind Kejriwal. The film follows Kejriwal and his Common Man’s Party – an insurgent new political party, as they wield basic public issues like water, electricity, and graft against the country’s oldest and most powerful two politic l establishments. It gives an insider’s view into Kejriwal’s brand of politics, which has split popular opinion into two prominent factions. One labels it selfish and anarchic, while the other insists on seeing it as a major shift in the Indian political paradigm.

The 100-minute film has been distilled from 400 hours of behind-the-scenes footage shot over a course of two years with a fly-on-the-wall approach. We gain a premium, all-access pass to the backstage of a new brand of politics, finding strength all over the world, transporting us smack dab in the middle of party offices, daily meetings, heated arguments, inside jokes, campaign strategies and the true events and ideologies that inform rhetoric in public space.

With never-before-seen footage, the film offers a unique insight into the fledgling political party’s battle between survival and extinction in the largest democracy in the world. It follows activists, politicians, and academics on their best days and their worst, as they navigate the absurdities, trials, and chaos of Indian politics; and as they reveal their agendas, intentions and ambitions. Capturing moments of triumph and despair, the film is a moving cinematic journey through the narrow lanes of Delhi’s slums to the closed corridors of political power.

About the Directors: Khushboo has had experience in the fields of journalism, graphic design and writing for a number of years, before she moved to filmmaking. Continuum, a short film she wrote and directed at the age of 20, won the best short film at the Hannover Film Festival. She next co-wrote the internationally acclaimed fiction feature film Ship of Theseus. Her versatility gave rise to her latest projects, An Insignificant Man, her first feature documentary film, and Right to Pray, a unique virtual reality experience, the first of its kind from India. Both films are set to premiere at TIFF 2016.

Vinay’s persisting fascination with the Indian politics has shaped two acclaimed narrative projects for him: Bureaucracy Sonata, a short film he wrote and directed in 2011, which premiered at 42nd International Film Festival of India and won the HBO Best Short Film Award in New York at SAIFF 2012; and An Insignificant Man, a feature documentary film he shot, wrote, and directed, which will play at major international festivals in 2016. A theatre actor in the past, he featured in the internationally acclaimed film Ship of Theseus.

Wednesday, May 3, 6.15 pm. Theater 3, Village East, NYC.

Shorts C - Comedy, Dance & Music

Cowboy and Indian
World Premiere
2016 | U S A | 8 mins | English
Directed By: Sujata Day
Cast: Sujata Day

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/201384724

Synopsis: A young Bengali bride materializes out of the barren, desert landscape like a mirage. Our Indian protagonist collapses in the dry heat. The bride wakes up in a cowboy’s bedroom. The cowboy attempts to help her, but gets nowhere because she doesn’t speak English. The unlikely pair discover things aren’t always what they seem.

About the Director: With her infectious personality and unique sense of humor, Pittsburgh native Sujata Day has established herself in Hollywood as a multi-talented actress, creator/writer, producer and director. She currently produces, writes, and stars in the dance sci-fi series Larry & Lucy. She honed her comedy skills at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, graduating from the improv program. Sujata is known for her starring role as CeCe in Issa Rae’s The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. Recent onscreen credits include a recurring role on HBO’s Insecure, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Life in Pieces and The Grinder. She is a 2016 Sundance | YouTube New Voices Lab fellow for her project Soda Shop. Sujata makes her narrative directing debut with the short film Cowboy and Indian. She is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment, Talentworks, and Myman Greenspan.

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Urban Nritta
2016 | U S A | 9 mins | English
Directed By: Jesse Newman
Cast: Sonali Skandan, Kumari MayShark Patel, Maya Kappil, Njideka Emenogu, Poulomi Das

Trailer: https://youtu.be/OowVaKSezmI

Synopsis: Urban Nritta depicts the dance of the Mayura, the mighty peacock and the vehicle of the Lord Murugan, as it prepares to go into battle. Nritta is the expression of rhythm through the body in dance, and in this setting we express the rhythms of Indian classical dance and music as well as the beat of the city where we live and create.

About the Director: Jesse is a filmmaker living in Brooklyn, New York. He has a passion for directing – though he's often wearing many hats as a cinematographer, editor and music composer for his own work. His ambitions are aimed at short and feature narrative films, but he continues to build on his skill set by creating music videos and brand videos in the meantime.

He values unique storytelling above all else, giving him a style that’s recognizable across all his projects, attracting clients such as Google and Concord Music Group. Jesse’s ongoing collaboration with branding agencies has lead to distinguished brand videos for organizations such as Pepsi Co., HARMAN, and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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La Lune Folle
World Premiere
2016 | UK | 10 mins | English
Directed By: Meneka Das
Cast: Yazmin Joy Vigus, Sian Phillips, Ashok Klouda, Emma Purslow, Francina Moll Salord, Paul Fuller, Tara MacGowran

Synopsis: After a loss of a love one, timid Carly struggles to face her audition at a music conservatoire. Seeing a picture of a 19th Century young confident woman on the wall, Carly escapes into a fantasy world to help find a way to overcome her fears.

About the Director: Meneka was born India and trained as an actor at the Lee Strasberg Institute in London and has had the privilege of working with directors such as David Yates, Mike Leigh and Tim Supple. Her theatre credits include the role of Amina in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.

Her passion for stories with strong female voices especially those that reflect her own culture inspired her to turn to writing and directing to help bring them to the screen. She studied courses in writing and directing at the National Film School and with Emmy award- winning writer Jan Hartman.

Her first 35 mm short The Audition opened Mira Nair’s film Hysterical Blindness at the Bite the Mango Film Festival in Bradford. She went on to write and direct her first low budget feature Little Box of Sweets starring British actor Joe Anderson, which was filmed in North India and for which she was awarded the Grand Jury Award for Emerging Talent at The South Asian Int. Film Festival, New York. Her feature script Summer of Our Lives was selected at BAFTA Rocliffe in London & Tribeca All Access in New York. La Lune Folle is Meneka’s second short film. She is currently developing other feature scripts and a theatrical production of her late father’s songs.

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Fanny Pack
World Premiere
2016 | U S A | 10 mins | English
Directed By: Uttera Singh
Cast: Brian George, Dorothy Blue, Uttera Singh

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/177632323

Synopsis: Fanny Pack is a comedy about a young Indian-American woman who wants to follow her dreams, and a fanny pack clad Indian father who chases his daughter through an airport hoping that she will follow his.

About the Director: Drama has always been a part of Uttera Singh’s life. On the day she was born, her 9 months pregnant mother was hit by a firecracker, and her father rescued the mother and rushed her to the hospital. That’s how this real life firecracker was born. That fiery spirit is still very much alive in her. Uttera is an MFA graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She is the recipient of the Ryan Murphy Diversity Fellowship and just finished directing her thesis film Fanny Pack a proof of concept for a half hour TV show starring Brian George from Big Bang Theory and Seinfeld. Her one-woman show “ Indian Lady Shakespeare wears Underwear” is set to premiere in Los Angeles in the fall. Uttera was chosen as one of the directors on the USC/James Franco feature film Mad Whale starring Camilla Belle, Dominic Rains, Summer Phoenix and James Franco.

Uttera lives in Los Angeles and spends her time going on adventures and then writing about them.

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The Hideout
World Premiere
2016 | U S A | 10 mins | English
Directed By: Rippin Sindher
Cast: Greg Standifer, Melody Trice, Rippin Sindher

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/196056871

Synopsis: Sammy Kaur wishes life was like a Bollywood movie. When an unexpected notice shakes up her mundane world, she is forced to make a life-changing decision.

About the Director: Rippin Sindher grew up in Selma, California. After graduating from UCLA, she began working at the Directors Guild of America. In 2012 she adapted her short story, The Man of Mystery into a web series. Her poetry has been published in Emotional Maps of Los Angeles. The Hideout is her first short film, heavily inspired by her Bollywood musical background and obsession with dreaming.

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Arranged
2016 | U S A | 11 mins | English
Directed By: Kholi Hicks
Cast: Mayank Bhatter, Anita Kalathara, Andrew Devitre, David Cade, Hannah McIaLwain

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzVjAxG4e-Y
https://vimeo.com/169629803

Synopsis: Two Indian American 20 somethings meet under family pressures to get an arranged marriage that neither wants but they both need.

About the Director: Mentored by veteran DGA Members with extensive experience, Kholi then moved into the cinematography field, shooting low to medium budgeted short films and EPKs. Hicks currently works as a colorist in Santa Monica and also directs National branded content and narrative. As resident director for Yes Please! Comedy, he remains very active in the online community and moderates two of the largest filmmaking forums online. Kholi has written articles for many filmmaking printed publications, been featured on No Film School, and was named Movie Scope Magazine’s ONE TO WATCH.

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Vegas
World Premiere
2015 | U S A | 15 mins | English
Directed By: Saj Pothiawala
Cast - Riley Soloner, Sunita Mani, Siraj Huda, Leon Morgan, Tarik Lowe, Nate Miller, Shez Sardar, Justin James Lang, Elyse Brandau

Synopsis: After being stood up by a Tinder date, Riley, an awkward, young Brooklyn bachelor, encounters Vegas, an eccentric prostitute, at the bus stop on his way home. A funny examination of how loneliness and frustration can cause us to reach for connections in places we never thought we'd go.

About the Director: Saj Pothiawala is a comedy writer and director who lives in Brooklyn. He's written, produced, or directed over 90 comedy sketches since 2008 for his own company/YouTube channel, LandlineTV, other clients like AOL or MSN, or as an in-house producer at CollegeHumor and BuzzFeed, where he had the distinct displeasure of directing Ted Cruz in a video. In 2012 he co-created and sold an animated pilot to Comedy Central. This is his first short film.

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Beast
World Premiere
2016 | India | 22 mins | Hindi (w/ English subtitles)
Directed By: Sumer Tiwari
Cast- Rajesh Ahuja, Anny Singh, Gauri Sharma, Sonam Sharma

Synopsis: Beast explores the sexual undercurrent running in a society that is rife with sexual ignorance and illiteracy. We follow the story of a lingerie store owner whose charitable and selfless acts are left open to interpretation, in a city where women are subject to victimization. Is he a good samaritan? Or is he a product of his environment?

About the Director: Sumer Tiwari is an independent filmmaker who moved to Mumbai in 2014 to work under acclaimed director Ashim Ahluwalia. Sumer had a lot of experience working in theatre as the the President of the english dramatics society at Delhi University. He had won numerous awards for his plays and public productions including winning the prestigious Thespo Theatre Festival in Mumbai. Without having any prior experience as a filmmaker, Sumer quickly rose to become Ashim's personal DA in charge of handling all his commercial/ advertising projects. From conceptualizing the treatment to the shot breakdown, Sumer rapidly developed a keen sense for storytelling. He has since then left Ashim and has embarked on a journey to explore the world of cinema.

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Qalandar
World Premiere
2016 | India | 26 mins | Punjabi (w/ English subtitles)
Directed By: Rohit Sharma
Cast- Sidharth Sen, Sumer Dhiman

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/210580229

Synopsis: Qalandar* a 35 years old man from a village in Punjab, India has to learn riding a Bicycle to get closer to his fleeting dream. A dabbler by nature. Music, cinema and books interest him and thus make him a complete misfit in his village and family.

His age and intellect becomes his biggest roadblock in learning cycling and such a trivial pursuit becomes the chase of his life.

To live up to his name, he has to find his way or his way would find him…
*Qalandars are wandering ascetic Sufi dervishes.

About the Director: Rohit Sharma hails from the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. He did his Masters in Indian Theatre from Punjab University, Chandigarh, India. He has been working as a Script Supervisor in Hindi Film Industry in Mumbai. He has co-directed a short film Darwaazon Wala Ghar (2012) (House of Doors). He is one of the founding members of Ambal and has been directing and editing web episodes for Ambal Dogri Channel, on YouTube apart from producing plays.

Wednesday, May 3, 6.30 pm. Theater 4, Village East, NYC.

Red Butterfly Dream
World Premiere
2016 | Sri Lanka | 86 mins | Singhalese (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - Priyantha Kaluarachchi
Cast - Mahendra Perera, Dharmapriya Dias, Niranjani Shanmugraja, Shyam fernando

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/191338690

Synopsis: Samantha and Ajith lives in a flat close to Colombo. Ajith is a contract killer with connections to the underworld. Samantha is his friend. He gets occasional attacks of epilepsy. His uncle is a preacher at a shrine of gods. Samantha and Uncle hold an ancient script. It is said in the script that a treasure can be attained by sacrificing a virgin with four birthmarks lined in her neck. Samantha meets a young Tamil girl with four birth marks placed accordingly on her neck. Her name is Rajini. She comes to Colombo in search of her lost sister. Her sister has been a member of L.T.T.E. Even though there are four birthmarks on neck Samantha is doubtful of her virginity. Samantha goes against the sacrificing of Rajini for the treasure that does not reveal itself. Samantha goes insane and meets the Rajini’s spirit. He entangles himself in her spirit with love.

About the Director: Priyantha completed the Film and Appreciation course held by Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in 2006 and has seven years of experience as a Programme Producer at MTV and Young Asia Television, leading TV Stations in Sri Lanka. Further, he was active in Theatre in Sri Lanka and directed stage dramas, which won many national level awards. He also directed the documentary about Tsunami caught train, Peraliya and which was selected at the Berlinale Talent Campus at the 57th Berlin International film Festival in 2007 and shortlisted at the 15th edition of Cinerail International Festival in Paris in 2007.

Wednesday, May 3, 9.00 pm. Theater 2, Village East, NYC.

Bilu - A Demon Within (Bilu Rakkhosh)
US Premiere
2016 | India | 129 mins | Bengali (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - Indrasis Acharya
Cast - Joy Sengupta, Koneenica Banerjee, Pradip Mukherjee , Debaprasad Haldar, Anjishnu Banerjee

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/176929253

Synopsis: The film portrays a journey of a modern IT executive who has an inclination towards music but due to rapid changing scenario of our socio-economic structure along with technology and values finds himself in isolation as he does not fitting in this journey . It’s a story of different psychological situations through a man’s mundane daily life and how he loses is soul. He wants to love everybody wants to pacify every need of others without having much strategy inside him. He is dreamer and then there was no path to return. A backdrop against a hollow modern, impatient generation and monotony of life. The trend (Urban alienation) is prominent now all over the world

About the Director: Indrasis Acharya Bilu-A Demon Within is Indrasis's first feature after his 4 short films. All of the short films have been awarded and received accolades from multiple film festivals around the world. After this, he felt to take his writing and film-making skills to the next level.He is currently working on his next film Pupa. Passion was the main impetus which just made it possible for all of Bilu the demon's team.It has started getting very positive responses from the festivals and critics around the world. It's a sincere effort to make a unique Indian cinema and to create a magical world of a loner (who has nothing special in him to bring a non cinematic character a cinematic one) with his mental states of aspirations, dreams, agony and anticipation of coming out of it. We hope the unique locations, architecture of old houses, and changing cultures, nostalgia and a strong psychological journey with the past and present simultaneously in the changing society would relate to anyone in the world irrespective of country and language. Indrasis completed his B.Tech from Jadavpur university and currently works as an Associate Director in one of the leading consulting MNC firm

Wednesday, May 3, 9.15 pm. Theater 3 Village East, NYC.

Jeewan Hathi
New York City Premiere
2016 | Pakistan | 60 mins | Urdu (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - Meenu Gaur, Farjad Nabi
Cast - Naseeruddin Shah, Hina Dilpazir, Samiya Mumtaz, Kiran Tabeer, Saifee Hassan, Nazarul Hassan, Adnan Jaffer and Fawad Khan

Post-screening discussion w/Director Meenu Gaur, co-director Farjad Nabi and actress Samiya Mumtaz

Trailer: https://youtu.be/PNZKvsMLhQI

Synopsis: Jeewan Hathi or Elephant in the Room is a black comedy about the topsy-turvy universe of television in Pakistan. An ideal, loving, lower middle class couple’s marriage is on the brink of collapse when they find themselves part of a TV game show, lured in by the prize of a gigantic flat screen TV!

About the Directors: JJeewan Hathi (Elephant in the Room) is the second feature of Pakistan’s director duo Meenu & Farjad. Their first feature, Zinda Bhaag (Run For Your Life, 2013) won fourteen national and international awards, was theatrically released in three countries and went on to be Pakistan’s entry to the Oscars for the first time in fifty years.

Meenu holds a PhD in Film Studies while Farjad has made several award winning documentaries. Mazhar Zaidi is at the forefront of the revival of cinema in Pakistan having produced three features for Matteela Films including Pakistan's 2013 Oscar entry Zinda Bhaag.

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Lala Begum
New York City Premiere
2016 | Pakistan | 58 mins | Urdu (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - Mehreen Jabbar
Cast -Marina Khan, Sonia Rehman Qureshi, Syed Mohammad Ahmed, Humayun Saeed, Shehryar Zaidi, Jehan Ara Hai, Abeeha Khan

Post-screening discussion w/Director Mehreen Jabbar

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/179376468

Synopsis: Set in the ‘70s, Lala Begum is a story of two estranged sisters Meher and Seher, who parted ways over personal issues which they never confronted. It’s a story about two people coming to terms with the past and trying to move ahead in life. What happens when after 20 years of estrangement, both the sisters are forced to have a face-to-face confrontation? With the tragic demise of her husband, Seher has no option but to return her hometown and live with her older sister Meher. But Meher has made it clear that Seher is not welcome in their home. After all, she had been tending to the house in her sister’s absence for all these years. And furthermore, she cannot find it in her heart to forgive Seher for running off with the man she believed was in love with her. But the reality of what actually transpired is revealed through the story as both sisters try to find the right moment where they can come together and start a conversation. The movie has been written by Mohammad Ahmed, who had also written Ramchand Pakistani. Lala Begum has won accolades at recently concluded Third I Film Festival,San Francisco and Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival (MISAFF). It will also be shown at the DFW South Asian Film Festival in Dallas, USA.

About the Director: Mehreen Jabbar is a prolific and critically acclaimed Pakistani director and producer. Her extensive two decade long television career includes drama serials such as Daam, Doraha, Kahaniyaan, Mera Naam Yousuf Hai, Jackson Heights as well a number of made for TV films. She has earned numerous accolades for her work, which has consistently brought her both commercial and critical success. Mehreen's first feature titled Ramchand Pakistani premiered in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival in 200 . It was awarded the FIPRISCI Prize by the International Federation of Film Critics, the Satyajit Ray Award at the London Film Festival and was screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for a week long run. It was released theatrically in Pakistan, India and the United Kingdom. Her second feature film Dobara Phir Se was released in Pakistan, the UK, USA and the UAE in November, 2016. Mehreen has been a member of the National Board of Film Censors in Karachi, a founding member of the KaraFilm Festival in Karachi, Pakistan and a founder member of the NGO WAR (War Against Rape). In 2012 She was invited to the Maisha Film Lab in Uganda - a non-profit training lab founded by director Mira Nair to be a directing mentor. She is the recipient of several awards for her work on Television and has served as a jury member in many local and international film festivals and film awards. Mehreen lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Wednesday, May 3, 9.30 pm. Theater 4, Village East, NYC.

Shreelancer
World Premiere
2017 | India | 97 mins | English, Hindi, Marathi (w/ English subtitles)
Directed by - Sandeep Mohan
Cast - Arjun Radhakrishnan, Salmin Sheriff, Monica Mahendru, Cesar Lorente Raton, Francesca Emilia Papale, Ajay Srivastava

Post-screening discussion w/Director Sandeep Mohan

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkM2WWU5kyY

Synopsis: SHREE, a freelancer copywriter is battling with self doubts about his artistic abilities. He loves to work out of the Cafes in Bangalore, the shining face of the New India. Just like many youngsters in this world, Shree’s worldview is shaped through t e social media, not having travelled much in the ‘real’ world. As luck would have it, he gets a call to attend an all-expenses paid trip to a college friend’s wedding in the Northern part of India, a part of the country where he has never been before. And what was supposed to be a peaceful getaway trip soon turns into an amusing adventure full of excitement, danger and quirkiness.

About the Director: Sandeep Mohan grew up in Trivandrum in Kerala before moving base to Mumbai. His debut film,Love, Wrinkle-free released theatrically in 9 Cities in India through PVR Director's Rare in 2012. His second feature film 'Hola Venky' released in limited screen s in US. Prior to that, he had travelled with his movie to 90 alternative spaces around the world to screen it. Sandeep came up with an innovative concept called "The Great Indian Traveling Cinema" to take his film Hola Venky to his audience. He travelled with his own projector and screened the film in many cities in India, US and Singapore - he screened in Cafes, Bars, Art Galleries, Restaurants, Homes, Corporate offices, Church halls, Town halls, Coworker space,in fact any space.

Sandeep is also one of the 11 filmmakers who was part of the collaborative feature film X- Past is Present that released theatrically in November 2015. In the initial years in Mumbai, he had worked as an Assistant Direct or to Sanjay Leela Bhansali on Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. He has written Siddhanth, a TV series for Star One. He also worked as a Copywriter in a few ad agencies in Bangalore. He has also directed ad commercials and music videos. Shreelancer is his latest film.