September 24, 2004

Dueling film festivals in ManhattanFilm

The Indo-American Arts Council is opening its annual film festival with a swank cocktail party and a Bride and Prejudice screening at Lincoln Center on Nov. 4.

But, an upstart challenger with a slick Web site and little by way of details, the South Asian International Film Festival, is also opening with that film on Dec. 1.

Be still my beating heart, ‘tis desi indie overdose. And that’s not even including the regular Third I screenings. But can anyone shed light on the SAIFF: does it have a different mission than IAAC’s film fest, is it a desi version of the Asian-American one? Or is this yet another internecine schism, like the duplicate, competing Indian Independence Day celebrations all over the country?

Update: I emailed the SAIFF organizers. Heard back from Soman Chainani, who used to work for Mira Nair’s production company. He says the festival is focused on films about South Asia, while the IAAC focuses on the diaspora.

manish on September 24, 2004 08:23 PM in Film · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post