JioMAMI 2015: The Voices Of PLACEBO
'Placebo' director Abhay Kumar & co-creator Archana Phadke speak about their documentary, its 4-year journey, the challenges, their collaboration and its upcoming Indian Premiere at the Mumbai Film Festival.
JioMAMI 2015: The Other Movies
JioMAMI Film Festival 2015: We take a look at a few films that haven't generated as much buzz as the popular ones, but should still be on your must-watch list.
‘Monsoon Shootout’ Review
The 10th anniversary of HBO's South Asian International Film Festival kicked off with a bang, and then another, and then another. Not sure what I mean? Well when you watch Amit Kumar's "Monsoon Shootout" you'll understand. But for now you'll have to settle with my review. The films explores the ramifications of a single confrontation in three distinct ways. Adi (Vijay Varma),a young cop in his first days on the field, is faced with a choice when he confronts an infamous gangster named Shiva (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Should he shoot the man or let him live? Director Amit Kumar explores the [...]
In Conversation with the guys behind SAIFF
The South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) is going to celebrate it's 10th anniversary this year. The program has come a long way since 2003. It's gained a sponsorship from HBO and even withstood a hurricane. This year, the festival will run from December 3rd through December 8th. In honor of it's 10th year, I had the chance to sit down with Festival Founder Shilen Amin and Program Director Galen Rosenthal to discuss where SAIFF has been and where it's going. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laUWC_zqGTw iiF: How has the festival changed and improved in its 10th year? Shilen Amin: It's definitely gotten easier to [...]
Confessions from Brown Hollywood with Reena Dutt
Reena Dutt is an incredibly talented human being. She's a producer, writer, director, actor and superhero. I'm not kidding. Dutt has been involved in some of iiF's favorite projects, one of which just screened at the Chicago South Asian Film Festival (CSAFF) this weekend. Yes you guessed it, she is a producer of "...Or Die" and "Squad 85." As an actress she's been in television shows like "Medium", "Out of Practice", and "Criminal Minds." In fact, she even just shot a pilot for A&E. As far as directing and producing goes, her credits include "Snapshot!", "El Doctor", "June, Adrift" and [...]
Confessions from Brown Hollywood with Gregory Bonsignore
It is no secret that iiF loves the short film "...Or Die", (co-directed by Gregory Bonsignore and John Petaja) which won the Audience Award at the HBO South Asian Film Festival last year. In fact, we're pretty sure our review is longer than the movie itself. Thankfully, that didn't discourage writer and co-director Gregory Bonsignore from talking to us about the film. Greg is one of the nicest and funniest guys you're likely to meet (and I've only met him once!). He's a fantastic writer with credits that include shows like "Lie to me", "Three Rivers" and "Homeland" (where he's a script coordinator). [...]
In conversation with the geniuses behind ‘Farah Goes Bang’ (Part 3)
A while back, I had the distinct pleasure of catching up with the lovely ladies behind the Tribeca sensation, “Farah Goes Bang.” Writer/Director Meera Menon and Writer/Producer Laura Goode shed light on women in film, brown people, virginity and even carnivals during our discussion. I was hoping to put the entire interview in one post, but I think we had too much fun talking for close to an hour. I also thought 3,000 words in one page would be overkill. So here is the final part of this fantastic conversation. Part three discusses the race and gender questions that went [...]
In conversation with the geniuses behind ‘Farah Goes Bang’ (Part 1)
A while back, I had the distinct pleasure of catching up with the lovely ladies behind the Tribeca sensation, "Farah Goes Bang." Writer/Director Meera Menon and Writer/Producer Laura Goode shed light on women in film, brown people, virginity and even carnivals during our discussion. I was hoping to put the entire interview in one post, but I think we had too much fun talking for close to an hour. I also thought 3,000 words in one page would be overkill. So I'm going to ease you all into this fantastic conversation. Part one reveals how Laura and Meera came together [...]
Tribeca Review: ‘Farah Goes Bang’
I have a confession to make. I've struggled a lot with this review. Not because my reaction to Meera Menon's feature debut was inconclusive. Quite the contrary. I knew I loved this movie the second the credits started rolling. In fact, I think I actually like it too much. As a result I refrained from writing about it for a long time. Maybe I thought I had too much to say, not enough to say or just not the right things to say. Either way, I've floundered long enough. Kandis Erickson, Nikohl Boosheri and Kiran Deol in "Farah Goes [...]
Interview with the cast and crew of ‘Daadi’
Check out our video interview with the cast and crew of 'Daadi', including director David Andrew Stoler, producer and actor Purva Bedi, and actor Shelle Davis, at the New York Indian Film Festival! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hegop7Gvss&feature=youtu.be
Tribeca Review: ‘The Patience Stone’
"The Patience Stone", originally a novel by Afghan director Atiq Rahimi, tells the story of a Muslim woman taking care of her husband who was put into a coma after being shot in the neck. He can't move or speak and his wife slowly becomes overwhelmed as she takes care of him, her children and also deals with everyday life in a war torn region. Eventually, she starts spilling out secrets of her past. Memories she has never spoken of before. The film itself, a revelation. There is little to no action or violence depicted on screen but the tension is never [...]
‘Dekh Tamasha Dekh’ Review
"Dekh Tamasha Dekh" is an inspired and unique film from director Feroz Abbas Khan (coming off the critically acclaimed "Gandhi, My Father"). It's the story of a town torn apart by the dispute over a dead man's religious identity. What ensues is a mix of hilarity and horror that appropriately dissects the irrationality of violence, religious zealots, corruption and bureaucracy. "Dekh Tamasha Dekh" by Feroz Abbas Khan opened NYIFF this year Khan's two main vehicles of exposition here are, as stated earlier, comedy and drama. There are scenes displaying the complete ineptitude of the legal system in a rather [...]
Chatting with Melissa Leo about narrating “The Only Real Game”
IIF was privileged to have the chance to interview Academy Award winning actress Melissa Leo. She was most recently acclaimed for her award winning performance in "The Fighter" as Alice Ward, as well as roles in "Flight" (as Ellen Block), "Oblivion" (as Sally), and "Olympus Has Fallen" (as Ruth McMillan). Her relationship with Mirra Bank, director of "The Only Real Game", has led to her narrating the film. Check out our interview below! India Independent Films: Thank you very much for taking some time to speak with us today. It’s a special opportunity for us to be able to work [...]
Opening Day at the NYIFF Red Carpet!
The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) kicked off on Tuesday, April 31st with their red carpet celebrations at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Manhattan. With that said, I have a secret: this was my first. My first full event coverage. My first red carpet. My first solo blog post. As the newest contributor to the blog, and new to the world of covering films, this was my first Red Carpet experience, and I have to say I loved every minute of it! I was very excited, (and kind of anxious) in the lead up: charging [...]
Confessions from Brown Hollywood with Kiran Deol
Last week I had the chance to sit down with the lovely and hilarious Kiran Deol during the Tribeca Film Festival. Deol plays the role of Roopa Raj in Meera Menon's award-winning film "Farah Goes Bang." In addition to being an actress who has appeared on shows like "Modern Family" and "Weeds", she also directed and developed an Emmy-nominated documentary called "Woman Rebel." If that wasn't enough, she's also a really funny stand-up comedian. Kiran Deol plays Roopa in "Farah Goes Bang" IIF: Tell me about how you got involved with this movie, "Farah Goes Bang." Deol: They released [...]
Kiefer Sutherland, Kate Hudson and Riz Ahmed talk ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’
IIF was recently invited to partake in a small round-table discussion with "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" Director Mira Nair and cast members Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson and Kiefer Sutherland. IIF as well as a few other writers and outlets discussed everything from South Asian culture to perception in this day and age. Here are a few highlights from the conversation with Kiefer Sutherland, Riz Ahmed and Kate Hudson. IIF's questions are highlighted in green while the regular bold questions are from the other members of the press. Kiefer Sutherland discusses "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" What’s it like working with Mira as a [...]
Mira Nair talks ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ and perception in a post 9/11 world
IIF was recently invited to partake in a small round-table discussion with "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" Director Mira Nair and cast members Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson and Kiefer Sutherland. IIF as well as a few other writers and outlets discussed everything from South Asian culture to perception in this day and age. Here are a few highlights from the conversation with Mira Nair. IIF's question is highlighted in green while the regular bold questions are from other members of the press. Mira Nair discusses "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" IIF: There is a relationship in this movie, I've noticed, with the artistic and [...]
‘Farah Goes Bang’ director Meera Menon wins Nora Ephron Award at Tribeca
The first time is definitely the charm for Meera Menon as she received the 1st Annual Nora Ephron Award at the Tribeca Film Festival this morning for her feature debut "Farah Goes Bang." Kate French, Nikohl Boosheri and Kiran Deol in 'Farah Goes Bang'© Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival Menon received the award this morning from TFF co-founder Jane Rosenthal and Vogue creative digital director, Sally Singer, according to a press release. Menon was selected among several other female directors at this year's festival and received $25,000 with the award. “We're thrilled to highlight Meera's work with this special award. We [...]
