Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

Wednesday, April 23
7:00pm	Opening Night Gala: MR. AND MRS. IYER, directed by Aparna Sen. Lead actor Rahul Bose to present the film. Set in these turbulent times, this film follows a bus journey halted by communal insurgents in which a young mother is befriended by her bachelor traveling companion, triggering a forbidden closeness and yearning. Reception to follow at the Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre on 6126 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA 90028. Dance performances by Fabulous Monsters and TAAL.
Thursday, April 24
12:00pm	LIGHTS FOR GITA, directed by Michael Vo (short) In the vibrant animated tale based on the similarly titled book by Rachna Gilmore, little Gita's anticipated celebration of Divali, the Indian Festival of Lights, is threatened by an ice storm. AFTERSHOCKS - The Rough Guide to Democracy, directed by Rakesh Sharma (doc) An expose on a government-controlled mining company that uses a devastating earthquake in remote India to exploit local vulnerability in order to hasten the acquisition of two lignite-rich villages. DAYS AND NIGHTS IN AN INDIAN JAIL, directed by Yugesh & Sunandan Walia (doc) Set inside Tihar Central Jail in Delhi and shot over the span of a year, this film captures life in the prison and the remarkable stories of some of its inmates.
3:00pm	WAR AND PEACE, directed by Anand Patwardhan (doc) Shot over a three-year period, this riveting 2 ½ hour documentary on peace activism in the face of global militarism and war, is an epic journey to India, Pakistan, Japan and the USA.
6:15pm	BHAKTI (DEVOTION), directed by V. Prasad (short) This experimental film explores devotion through an ancient style of Indian classical dance known as Bharat-Natyam. THE SPEAKING HAND, directed by Sumantra Ghosal (doc) Ustad Zakir Hussain began his career as a child prodigy and has gone on to become a famed world musician and the greatest living exponent of the classical Indian drum, the tabla.
8:45pm	BUTTERFLY, directed by Tanuj Chopra (short) A protective father calls upon a doctor to examine his daughter with one condition - the examination must be performed through a hole cut in a large white sheet never allowing him to directly view her body or face. EVERYBODY SAYS I'M FINE!, directed by Rahul Bose (feature) A psychological fable-part real look at affluent society in a Bombay neighborhood as seen through the eyes of a hairdresser who can read peoples' minds. Q&A with director Rahul Bose and actress Koel Purie
Friday, April 25
12:00pm	STILL I RISE, directed by Umesh Shukla (short) Still I Rise is an ethereal visage depicting the last dream of John Merrick (aka The Elephant Man) while also paying homage to the works of impressionist artist Vincent Van Gogh. FREAKY CHAKRA, directed by V.K. Prakash (feature) A roller-coaster love story in which a writer's imagination goes uncontrollably wild over his eccentric 40-something heroine's love life.
3:00pm	BIRJU, directed by Heeraz Marfatia (short) Set in the world of a four-year-old boy in an Indian village, this film explores how a child thinks and what intrigues and distracts him when he is set free from adult supervision. A LOVE SUPREME, directed by Nilesh Patel (short) This audio-visual essay pays tribute to the filmmaker's mother, whose hands are threatened by rheumatoid arthritis, by capturing the simplistic elegance of two hands at work making samosas. MY MOTHER INDIA, directed by Safina Uberoi (doc) What begins as a humorous documentary about an eccentric, multicultural family unfolds into a complex commentary on the social, political and religious events of the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Q&A with director Safina Uberoi
6:00pm	3 WALLS, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor (feature) Three convicted murderers, a lawyer, a man aggrieved with the world, and a natural charmer form a special bond in prison. Enter a documentary filmmaker with an ulterior motive who has a profound affect on each man's life. Q&A with director Nagesh Kukunoor
9:00pm	COMPANY, directed by Ram Gopal Varma (feature) A man gets a profitable idea, puts it in motion, and a COMPANY is born. Its business…crime. This moving saga documents the rise and fall of a criminal empire and the lives of the men and women who run it.
Saturday, April 26
12:00PM	A VERY, VERY SILENT FILM, directed by Manish Jha (short) The first Indian short to be a Cannes winner (2002), this 6-minute film vividly describes the plight of destitute women on the streets of India where they are the hapless sexual prey of male predators. AYURVEDA - THE ART OF BEING, directed by Pan Nalin (doc) A worldview presentation of Ayurveda, the science of life that combines harmonious integration of body, mind, sense and spirit to create the art of being and living.
3:00pm	KANDUKONDAIN, KANDUKONDAIN, directed by Rajiv Menon (feature) A song and dance film transposes Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility to Indian shores and ethos, with India's leading actors in the main roles -- Aishwarya Rai, Tabu, Mammooty and Ajith.
7:00pm	A TALE OF A NAUGHTY GIRL, directed by Buddhadeb Dasgupta (feature) A poignant social tale, told with poetry and hope, of a young girl's overwhelming need to escape her provincial life in a society of prostitutes. Q&A with director Buddhadeb Dasgupta
9:30pm	THE TERRORIST, directed by Santosh Sivan (feature) Inspired by the events surrounding the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi, the film focuses on the making of a suicide bomber as she marches toward the end of her life.
Sunday, April 27
12:00pm	THE MYSTIC MASSEUR, directed by Ismail Merchant (feature) Ismail Merchant to introduce the film. Based on the comic novel by Nobel Prize winner V.S. Naipaul, a schoolteacher travels back to his country village to become a writer, but finds greater success as a healer.
3:00pm	EMOTIONS OF BEING (BHAVUM), directed by Satish Menon (feature) "A Streetcar Named Desire" meets "Crime & Punishment" in post-globalization India as a young couple's love, lifestyle, and fidelity are challenged by the arrival of the wife's sister, a woman with a mysterious past. Q&A with director Satish Menon
6:30pm	Closing Night Gala: A PECK ON THE CHEEK, directed by Mani Ratnam. A stirring family drama of an adopted child's search for her real parents set against a backdrop of contemporary war-skirmishes in pockets of Sri Lanka and South India. Reception to follow at the ArcLight Cinemas Cafe and Bar.