8th Annual Mahindra Indo
American Arts Council
Film Festival
November 5th – 9th 2008
8th Annual MIAAC Film Festival
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The IAAC Film Festival was conceived in 2001 as an Indian Independent and
Diaspora Film Festival. The festival partnered with Mahindra and Mahindra in
2007 and is now called the MIAAC Film Festival.
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The 8th MIAAC Film Festival is the premiere South Asian platform to promote,
showcase, and celebrate unique voices and talent that tell compelling stories.
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Established and emerging filmmakers converge with thousands of quality
entertainment-seeking audience members, press, media outlets, industry
heads and festival programmers at this event.
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The MIAAC Film Festival gives audiences an opportunity to view unique,
award-winning films never before screened in the New York area.
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This event is made possible through the support of visionary corporate and
individual sponsors as well as dedicated staff and volunteers.
8th Annual MIAAC Film Festival
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The MIAAC Film Festival has grown
tremendously in the past 8 years
Films in the Festival increased from 12 to 60
Festival venues have included Lincoln
Center, AMC Loews, Jacobs Burns,
Stamford Center, Queens Museum,
NewPort Mall.
Select films travel to Queens, Connecticut,
Atlanta and Westchester
Films premiered at the MIAAC Film Festival
have been showcased at Tribeca Film
Festival, Berlin Film Festival, Rotterdam
Film Festival, Indian Film Festival LA,
Mumbai International Film Festival, IFP
Market and many more.
Film Festival Components
The MIAAC Film Festival is the annual celebration of voices of Indian Origin from around the world that tell stories
that matter.
OPENING NIGHT SCREENING: The festival opens with the screening of a stellar movie followed a post-screening
dialogue with the filmmaker and cast.
GALA DINNER, LIVE AUCTION: A Gala Benefit dinner, live music and an art auction follow the screening.
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS: The rest of the festival screenings include short films, documentaries and features. These
screenings are held in two theatres.
POST SCREENING DISCUSSIONS: Post screening discussions are scheduled with filmmakers and cast after every
screening.
INDUSTRY PANELS: In 2007 we held our first industry panel as a part of the film festival. These panels are designed to
foster relations between film industry executives and writers of South Asian descent as well as to educate filmmakers
about the North American Film Culture.
AFTER PARTIES: Are an integral part of the celebrations for the filmmakers, cast, media, industry and audiences
encouraging and facilitating networking and relaxation.
Opening Night Screening
Each year the MIAAC Film Festival opens with a ground
breaking, much-awaited feature film that sets the tone for
the rest of the event. Last year 600 people attended the
Opening night screening
2008 - TBD
2007 - Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya
2006 - Mira Nair’s The Namesake
2005 - Deepa Mehta’s Water
2004 - Gurinder Chadha’s Bride and Prejudice
2003 - Nisha Ganatra’s Cosmopolitan
2002 - Somnath Sen's Leela
2001 - Ismail Merchant’s ShakespeareWallah
Gala Dinner / Live Auction
The annual Gala Benefit dinner, which is a glamorous sit
down dinner is scheduled immediately after the opening
night screening.
Intellectually stimulated, socially active supporters of
the arts representing prominent corporate and creative
giants attend the dinner and auction.
The auction enables the IAAC to promote awareness of
Indian Diaspora artists and raises funds for operational
costs.
The gala dinner and auction has been held at prominent
venues in New York such as Madam Tussauds, Tavern
on the Green and The Kaplan Penthouse.
Festival Screenings and Post Screening Discussions
Festival screenings include a wide range of short films, documentaries films and feature
films.
Previous festivals have showcased a wide range of South Asian filmmakers from
veterans like Ismail Merchant, Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta & Nagesh Kukunoor to relative
newcomers like Shonali Bose, Nisha Ganatra, Smriti Mundhra, Ali Kazimi, Ashwin Kumar
and more.
Post screening discussions are held with the filmmakers, cast and crew providing the
audience with an insight into the different aspects of the films and filmmaking and
simultaneously giving the filmmakers visibility.
Industry Panels
2007 marked the introduction of industry panels at the MIAAC Film
Festival.
The industry panels are forums where a select group of established
and emerging writers/filmmakers can develop and foster new
relationships with film industry representatives, including producers,
financiers and distributors, as well as other fellow filmmakers.
The industry panels are committed to helping South Asian talent find
its growing audience, and in turn, provides audiences everywhere
with an opportunity to see films that reflect the changing demographic
of global entertainment.
At the panels 14 screenplays were presented by the emerging
writers.
Social Networking Parties
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Every evening filmmakers with their cast and crew mingle with the audience
at a hip and up-scale venue: Networking and Relaxing
The parties have been held at venues such as Taj, Blvd, Mantra, Katra,
Earth, The Rubin Museum and Bodhi Art Gallery.
200-300 people join in the celebrations everyday.
Complimentary wine and snacks are served amidst music and dancing.
Press and Partners
IAAC collaborates with various organizations to bring the filmmaking
community closer to their audiences.
Sponsors
Mahindra, Virgin Comics, Nationwide, Time Warner, Verizon, Analog
Digital, AppleCore Hotels, Radisson, Air India, Bank of America, Duggal
Visual Solutions, American Airlines, QMA,DCA, NEA, NYSCA.
Partners
IFP, Aicon Gallery, SAAFA, Desipina, Breakthrough, Amar Chitra Katha,
Women Make Movies, New York Women in Film and Television,
SALAAM, Alter Ego, Gen Art, Indiewire, AAWIC, SAWLF,Asia Society,
Meraticket, Sakhi.
Media
Channels – Filmy, MTV Desi, CNN IBN, Showbiz India, Imaginations
TV, NDTV, Eye on Asia, NY1, ITV, TV Asia.
Print – NY Times, TimeOut, India Today, Indian Express, India Abroad,
Rave, NY Sun, Verve, Rediff.com, Village Voice.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Sponsorship of the MIAAC Film Festival is your company's chance to be associated with an important,
unique event.
Our sponsorships are tailored to your company’s needs.
Sponsorship levels range from $5,000 - $100,000.
However you wish to position your company or brand to the film community, we will help you
accomplish your goals. Benefits range from advertising in festival brochure, logo placement, product
sampling opportunities, presence at parties, networking events and much more.
To become a sponsor or request more information on the possibilities, contact Aroon Shivdasani,
Executive Director IAAC at sponsor@iaac.us . We look forward to customizing a sponsorship to fit
your company's needs.
About The IAAC
MISSION STATEMENT
The Indo-American Arts Council is a registered 501 © 3 not-for profit, secular service and
resource arts organization charged with the mission of promoting and building the awareness,
creation, production, exhibition, publication and performance of Indian and cross-cultural art
forms in North America. For Information please visit www.iaac.us.
Board of Directors
Talat Ansari, Legal Counsel
Aroon Shivdasani, President & Executive Director
Jonathan Hollander, Vice President & Co-Founder
Dilip Advani, Treasurer
Ambassador Prakash Shah
Tushar Kothari
Sandhya Narain
Anupam Puri
Chandrika Tandon
Advisory Board
Staff
Aroon Shivdasani, Executive Director
Somi Roy, Film Festival Director
Prachi Dalal, Dance Director
Amina Ahmed, Director of Exhibitions
Asad Lalljee, Literary Director
Bhuvana Bhagat, Publicity Director
Vasanti Mirchandani, Editor
Imrana Khera, Grant Writer
Vandana Agarwal, Volunteer Coordinator
Nikita Shivdasani, Administrative Assistant
Hina Oomer Ahmed, IAAC India Representative
Shabana Azmi • Robert Browning • Gerson da Cunha • Uma da Cunha • Mahesh Dattani • Vishakha Desai • Wynn
Handman • Maqbool Fida Husain • Ustad Amjad Ali Khan • Deepa Mehta • Nari Pohani • Rajika Puri • Zeyba
Rahman • Indur Shivdasani • Sundaram Tagore • Vijay Tendulkar • Shashi Tharoor • Madhur Jaffrey • Mira Nair •
Salman Rushdie • Dr. Murali Doriaswamy • Jane Gullong • Mallika Sarabhai
For more information, please contact:
Aroon Shivdasani, Executive Director (aroon@iaac.us)
The IAAC Office (admin@iaac.us)
Indo-American Arts Council
146 West 29th St, #7R-3,
New York, NY 10001
Ph: (212) 594-3685
Fax: (212) 594-8476
Web: www.iaac.us
About The Mahindra Group
The $4.5 billion Mahindra Group is among the top 10 industrial houses in India.
Mahindra & Mahindra is the only Indian company among the top four tractor
manufacturers in the world and is the market leader in multi-utility vehicles in India.
The Group has a leading presence in key sectors of the Indian economy, including
trade and financial services (Mahindra Intertrade, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial
Services Ltd.), automotive components, information technology & telecom (Tech
Mahindra, Bristlecone), and infrastructure development (Mahindra GESCO,
Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd., Mahindra World City).
The Group employs over 40,000 people and has several state-of-the-art facilities in
India and overseas.
The Mahindra Group has ambitious global aspirations and has a presence in five
continents. Forbes has ranked the Mahindra Group in its Top 200 list of the World's
Most Reputable Companies and in the Top 10 list of Most Reputable Indian
companies.
For further information, please visit www.mahindra.com