 
Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council’s (MIAAC) 8th Annual Film Festival Culminates screening 32 Indian and Diaspora films
The INDIRA MAHINDRA AWARD FOR BEST FILM was awarded to the film Amal by Richie Mehta
The Time Warner Award for Best Screenplay was awarded to Sooni Taraporevala for Little Zizou
The Best Director Award was won by Sooni Taraporevala (Little Zizou) and Ashish Avikunthak (Shadows Formless)
The Best Actor Award was awarded to Sachin Khedekar for Bose: The Forgotten Hero
The Prestige Jewelry Award for Best Actress was won by Mandira Banerjee for Shadows Formless
The Best Short Film award was given to the film Noise directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK
The Analog Digital Award for Best Documentary Film was won by Lakshmi and Me by Nishtha Jain.
New York, November 15, 2008 : The Eighth Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival ended its five day festival on Sunday night at the Walter Reade Theater with the premiere of Sooni Taraporevala’s Little Zizou (A Mira Nair and Indian film presentation, produced by Jigri Dost production) which bagged two awards at the Film festival. The Festival screened 32 Indian and Diaspora films, all New York /US Premieres, and held special events and panels.
Commenting on the partnership with the Indo American Arts Council, Mr. Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Mahindra Group said, “The Mahindra IAAC Film Festival is a unique platform for alternative independent cinema. This is in keeping with the Mahindra philosophy of supporting and nurturing the unsung and the unknown. Not only will this festival promote the Mahindra brand in the US but will also bring Indian talent to the world stage.”
IAAC’s Executive Director, Aroon Shivdasani kicked off the award ceremony announcing the winners who were selected by the jury comprising of 10 members specialized in the area offilm. The awards were given by famous personalities like Salman Rushdie, Mira Nair, Ambassador Vijay Nambiar, Time Warner Director of Marketing & On-Demand Services Betty Campbell Adams, Actress/Director/Author Madhur Jaffrey, Actress Sarita Choudhury, Author Suketu Mehta, Aalika Mahindra and Divya Mahindra.
Teri McLuhan’s ‘The Frontier Gandhi: Badshan Khan’ and ‘Torch For Peace’ were played at a special screening followed by the film’s music composer David Amram’s World Beat concert. Director Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” made its New York premiere as the Festival’s Centerpiece. Salman Rushdie and Deepa Mehta announced their collaboration to write the screenplay for the film ‘Midnight Children’ next year.
The Film Festival kicked off on November 5 with an Opening Night Gala screening of Deepa Mehta’s Heaven on Earth.Gala chairs, Mira Nair and Shabana Azmi walked the red carpet. Mr. Aroon Shivdasani, the Executive producer of IAAC gave concluding remarks on the final day accompanied by Senior Vice President of the Mahindra Group, Prochie Mukherji who spoke about the Mahindra-IAAC partnership. Mira Nair was invited to introduce the last film of the festival.
The Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival will travel to the Queens Museum of Art on November 15 from 3PM to 8PM, screening the Award winning film Amal and Colours of Passion, which will be shown at the Museum.
About the Indo-American Arts Council
The Indo-American Arts Council is a registered not-for-profit arts organization passionately dedicated to showcasing, building awareness, and celebrating artists of Indian origin in the performing, visual and literary arts. Annual festivals of art, dance, playwrighting and film are scheduled through the year, with several special events and book launches. For further information please visit www.iaac.us
The IAAC Film Festival was born in the aftermath of 9/11 in response to Mayor Giuliani’s call to New Yorkers to help rebuild a limping city.The First Annual film Festival opened its doors with Film Diaspora Godfather Ismail Merchant and closed with New York’s favorite Indian filmmaker Mira Nair. Three years ago, Mahindra & Mahindra joined forces with the IAAC Film Festival by becoming the lead sponsor, changing the name of the festival to The MIAAC Film Festival. For further information please visit www.iaac.us
