Tribeca Cinemas - Calendar - MIAAC Film Festival

Tickets to the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival can be purchased online. Tickets will be delivered only by use of our Print-at-home technology, or by choosing Will Call and receiving them the night of the event at the Tribeca Cinemas Box Office. The Tribeca Cinemas Box Office will be open beginning 2 hours before the day's first performance daily during the Festival. If you have a specific issue related to your purchase, you may contact the Box Office by emailing [email protected], or by calling 212-941-2001. Advance purchases will not be available over the phone, by internet only. There are no refunds or exchanges, and all sales are final.

Ticket Prices and Information:
All screening tickets are General Admission $15.00. Student Discounted tickets are available for $12.00.
Browse each film below or enter the online ticketing system directly to purchase here.
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November 6th, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1

Bound-Unbound: Journeys With Ram & Kabir (Had-Anhad)
Directed by Shabnam Virmani; India, 2008; 105 min. US Premiere.
In Hindi, Urdu and English, with English subtitles

The music of Kabir, the 15th century mystic Indian poet of north India sharply criticized sectarianism and defied the boundaries between Hinduism and Islam. With a Muslim name and upbringing, his poetry used Hindu concepts and Hindu names for God, especially Ram. Virmani’s film journeys in search of the “Ram” invoked in Kabir's poetry, reaching into the very heart of the divisive Hindu-Muslim politics of the sub-continent. She encounters singers and lay people in India and Pakistan, probing the forces of history and politics that have created disputatiously diverse Rams even as it has spawned many Kabirs.

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November 6th, 6:00 p.m., Theater 2

Bose: The Forgotten Hero
Shyam Benegal; India, 2005; 207 minutes. NY Premiere
In Hindi and English, with English subtitles.

Still shrouded in controversy and mystery, the gripping story of Indian national hero "Netaji" Subhas Chandra Bose gets an epic treatment from veteran director Shyam Benegal. In his telling of a dramatic story that has all but disappeared from public memory, Benegal follows the leader who diverged from Gandhi (who once remarked that he had two political sons, Jawaharlal Nehru and "that mischievous Netaji") to meet with Adolf Hitler and General Hideki Tojo in his fight for Indian independence. Benegal follows the astonishing life of the man who created India's first national army that battled the Allied forces in the jungles of Burma, until his mysterious death in 1945. With Sachin Khedekar, Rajit Kapur, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Rajeshwari Singh.

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November 6th, 9:00 p.m., Theater 1

Bollywood Backstage
Personality
Vinay Chowdhry, USA, 2008; 85 min. NY Premiere.

Does Rajesh have it – that “personality" code for good-looking, light-skinned
dancers who are hip and confident? A talented and hard-working dancer, he has moved far from his village in northern India to Bombay to find out. Under the tutelage of Sanjay, his outspoken yet introspective guru, Rajesh sets out to achieve his dream as a chorus boy, giving us a rare peek at the dances and dancers so essential to popular Indian cinema. Sanjay is compassionate and encouraging but realistic, working with Rajesh to develop that "personality” sought by film choreographers.

Beware Dogs
Spandan Banerjee; India 2008; 40 min. US Premiere
In English and Hindi, with English subtitles.

Four musicians and their music float through the rooms of a crumbling old mansion in old Delhi, where the band, Indian Ocean comes together with their many moods, traditions and musical explorations. A glimpse into the creative process of musicians as they work on a film score. Beware Dogs offers fascinating insight into the collective-mind of Indian Ocean, following the musicians of this groundbreaking Delhi-based rock band over the course of a single day.

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November 7th, 6:00 p.m., Theater 2

Bollywood Backstage
Chetan Anand: The Poetics Of Film

Ketan Anand. India, 2007, 95 min; US Premiere
A documentary on the film career of Chetan Anand whose film Lowly City (Neecha Nagar) was the first Indian film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to win the Grand Prix, in 1946. The film pays homage to one of Hindi cinema’s pioneering filmmakers. Starting from his work as India was gaining independence, to a successful career in the decades following, the filmmaker focuses on his father’s professional life and craft. The film is narrated by Indian actor Tom Alter. Clips from later films like Haqeeqat, Akhri Khat and Heer Ranjha are commented upon by Indian actors such as Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Farouque Shaikh, Kamini Kaushal, and Dev Anand.

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November 7th, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1

Love Bribes Etc. (Chai Pani)
Manu Rewal. India, 2008; 92 min. NY Premiere,
In English and Hindi, with English subtitles.

An earnest young filmmaker, freshly returned from the US, finds himself pitted against the harrowing sloth and corruption of bureaucracy as he embarks on a documentary about the desert city of Jaisalmer. It does not help matters, in this witty comedy, that Satya, our young protagonist (Zafar Karachiwala in his film debut) is torn between two girls he is attracted to: an ambitious fashion designer and a sensitive socially conscious soul (both played with aplomb by Konkana Sen). Chai Pani makes its point about the everyday instances of corruption in India that do not make the headlines, with humor and insight, and ultimately the life choices one must make. Also with Gaurav Kapur.

Bus
Pranav Vohra, USA, 2008; 9 min. NY Premiere
In Hindi, with English subtitles

On a Mumbai city bus, a chance encounter between a boy and girl stirs emotions beyond their present encounter. Filmed in one session on Super 16, Bus is at once the vehicle that transports two passengers, and the word for enough in Hindi. With Amit Mistry, Moon Banerjee.

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November 7th, 9:00 p.m., Theater 2

The Wild Bull (Valu)
Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni, India, 2007; 114 min. NY Premiere.
In Marathi, with English subtitles.

A bull runs amok in an isolated village in Maharashtra, and village elder Anna enlists Swanand, a zoo-worker from the city, to capture the animal. Swanand's brother, an aspiring filmmaker, tags along, taking the opportunity to shoot a documentary. The locals are lovable yokels and run the gamut from secret lovers to unhappily married couples in Kulkarni’s debut feature. A broad comedy, often juxtaposing the locals and visitors from the city, Wild Bull offers different fare from the run-of the-mill comedies churned out in Indian cinema. Atul Kulkarni, Mohan Agashe, Nandu Madhav, Renuka Daftardar, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Nirmitee Sawant, Amruta Subhash.

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November 8th, 12:00 p.m., Theater 1

Lakshmi And Me
Nishtha Jain, US-India; 59 min. NY Premiere
In English and Hindi, with English subtitles.

"What sin did I commit to be born a woman?" Lakshmi wonders out loud. A 21-year-old housemaid in Mumbai, she works ten hours a day, seven days a week. One of her employers is the filmmaker who makes over a year and a half, a documentary that explores their relationship, Lakshmi’s life at home, and at work in various houses, illness and romance. The filming begins to have its own impact on unfolding events, their relationship, forcing the filmmaker to question many of the things she has taken for granted.

Crossing Lines
Leena Jayaswal and Indira Somani, India/US, 2008; 30min. NY Premiere.
Filmmaker Indira Somani led an American life, but at home, her world was Indian because of her father's love for India and Indian culture. This film’s journey is a familiar one to many South Asian Americans, as the filmmaker goes to India for the first time after her father’s death. A simple story, effectively told, of a daughter’s tribute to her father in all that he has taught her about the place she discovers as an essential part of her idea of home.

Anjali
Maya Anand, USA, 2008, 15 min; NY Premiere.
Anjali (played by Vaishnavi Sharma) brings her boyfriend home but is surprised to find someone else already there. She finds she must decide whether she will share her secret and risk destroying her family. Also with Anna George, Sanjiv Jhaveri.

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November 8th, 12:00 p.m., Theater 2

Shootout at Lokhandwala
Apoorva Lakhia, India, 2007;121 min. NY Premiere
In Hindi, with English subtitles.

Based on a real-life front-page bloody encounter between the Indian police and gangsters, director Apoorva Lakhia's "Bollywood" action film – the subject of Liz Mermin's SHOT IN BOMBAY - is an all-singing, all-dancing gangster film. A gray moral murk hangs over the encounters between Khan (played by Sanjay Dutt), a police officer from the Anti-Terrorist Squad, as he clashes with Maya (Viveik Oberoi), an ambitious young goon. Good guys and bad guys – complete with a Ma Barkerish gangster mother - are hard to call, as corruption and violence come together in a corrosive and explosive mix. New York and Bombay- based director Lakhia brings a hunk-and-babe look to his examination of the extortionist "bhai" culture of Bombay's underworld, with references to spaghetti westerns and Donna Summer riffs. Also with Amitabh Bachhan, Suniel Shetty, Arbaaz Khan, Tushaar Kapoor, Rohit Roy.

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November 8th, 3:00 p.m., Theater 2

Colours Of Passion (Rang Rasiya)
Ketan Mehta, India, 2008; 130 min. US Premiere
In Hindi with English subtitles.

The life of an artist who imprinted the iconography of Hindu gods and goddesses upon a billion minds, Raja Ravi Varma’s life as an iconoclast who dared mass-produce his prints, becomes a sensuously beautiful and bold film in director Ketan Mehta's latest venture. From his early days under royal patronage to his trial for blasphemy for his increasingly eroticized work, Mehta brings to life the artist’s search for his muse, the birth of Indian modern art, the dawn of Indian cinema, and inspiring the Indian independence movement. With Paresh Rawal, Nandana Sen, Deepti Naval.

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November 8th, 3:00 p.m., Theater 1

Shadows Formless (Nirakar Chhaya)
Ashish Avikunthak, India, 2007; 82 min. US Premiere.
In Bengali with English subtitles.

A stranger enters the life of a lonely woman abandoned by her husband. Is he, as he claims, a former lover or a projection of her yearning for passion that transforms her reality? Shadows Formless is an interpretation of the Malayalam novella Pandavpuram by the distinguished novelist Setumadhavan from Kerela. Admirers of directors like Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani will welcome this work from outside the established alternative to popular Indian cinema. With Mandira Banerjee, Deepak Haldar, Sweta Tiwari.

The Fiction
Spandan Banerjee, India 2008; 45 min. US Premiere
In English and Bengali, with English subtitles.

A chance meeting on a Delhi summer morning brings a middle-aged salaried man and a somewhat undefined young man together. Soon, a short commute together across Delhi becomes a pattern to which both, recent arrivals from Bengal, comfortably succumb in this tale of the fictions of friendship and intimacy. With Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Sanjay Rajoura, Radhica Chakraborty, Rituparna Sen.

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November 8th, 6:00 p.m., Theater 2

Amal
Richie Mehta, Canada, 2007;101 min. NY Premiere.
In English and Hindi, with English subtitles.

First-time director Richie Mehta makes a gently humorous debut with this wry, fable-like tale of contemporary India. When Amal, an autorickshaw driver (a sensitive portrayal by Rupinder Nagra) in chaotic New Delhi, generously allows a dishonest, seemingly homeless curmudgeon to cheat him of his fare, strange events are set in motion that affect both in far-reaching ways. Mehta, who also co-wrote the film, conveys with immediacy the noise and chaos of a burgeoning working-class Delhi, as its members rub shoulders and scruples with the new rich classes. Amal is a powerful and touching story of one man’s decency. Also with Koel Purie, Naseeruddin Shah, Seema Biswas, Roshan Seth.

The Lost Rainbow (Haravele Indradhanush)
Dhiraj Meshram, India. 2008; 22 min. NY Premiere
In Marathi with English subtitles.

A young man takes his new bride to the ancestral temple, accompanied by his elder brother, his brother’s wife and their little son. The journey brings back that last summer when the two brothers spent their holidays with their grandmother. And a long-suppressed boyhood guilt is brought back to memory. With Chinmay Patwardhan, Omkar Pendse, Anupama Rajopadhye, Rajesh Mehendale

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November 8th, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1

Four Women (Naalu Pennungal)
Adoor Gopalakrishnan, India, 200; 105 min. NY Premiere
In Malayalam with English subtitles.

The deeply rooted humanism and empathy in the stories by the eminent writer Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai comes to the screen in Gopalakrishnan’s gentle yet wrenching adaptation. In each of the four tales of village women in south India, with the elemental titles of “The Prostitute,” “The Virgin,” “The Housewife” and “The Spinster”, a woman submits to a role society has determined for her. Yet the beauty of the film lies in a profound insight: that each social deference and bondage to the laws of men paradoxically offers a measure of freedom in nearly equal measure. With Nandita Das, Geetu Mohandas, Padmapriya, Manju Pillai, Kavya Madhavan.

Radha
Eliyas Qureshi, USA, 2007, 21 min. NY Premiere.
A woman is trapped in an abusive relationship with her husband, who she cannot leave until she obtains her green card. With Manu Narayan, Saila Rao.

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November 8th, 9:00 p.m., Theater 2

Punches and Ponytails
Pankaj Rishi Kumar, India, 2008; 74 min. US Premiere
In Hindi and Marathi with English subtitles.

Two Indian women boxers wrestle with their day-to-day existence in a sport dominated by men. One of the boxers, comprehending her own sexuality, deals with the complexities it raises, while feeling the need to prove that she too can box like the older brother she admires. The other struggles with the limitations of her own body as she fights for the approval of her coach. Using a cinema verité style, Kumar draws a portrait of a changing India as he follows their lives, struggles and fights for over two years.

Mr. Manipur
Aribam Syam Sharma, India, 2008; 25 min. World Premiere

Khundrakpam Pradipkumar hits the gym after he comes down with AIDS. Amazingly, his health improves dramatically and Pradipkumar goes on to take up bodybuilding to win the title of Mr. Manipur.

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November 8th, 9:00 p.m., Theater 1

Throw of Dice
Franz Osten, Germany/UK, 1929; 80 min. NY Premiere.
The digitally restored Indian silent classic of Franz Osten's stunningly beautiful 'A Throw of Dice' from 1929, features a new soundtrack score by British Asian composer Nitin Sawhney performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Based on the pivotal gambling episode from the Mahabharata 'A Throw of Dice' is the story of Ranjit and the nefarious Sohan, two kings with a passion for gambling and the same woman, Sunita. The film is the third in Osten’s Indian trilogy that started with the acclaimed “Light of Asia” of 1926, and features the great Indian film pioneer Himansu Rai (as King Sohan), who along with his wife Devika Rani, trained at the German studio UFA in the early years of Indian cinema. With Charu Roy, Seeta Devi.

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November 9th, 12:00 p.m., Theater 1

I Can’t Think Straight
Shamim Sarif, UK, 2008; 97 min. NY Premiere.

In Shamim Sarif’s touching, romantic comedy of an unlikely love affair between two women of very differing cultures, Tala, a London based Jordanian of Palestinian origin, prepares for an elaborate wedding with her Jordanian fiancé when she encounters Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend Ali. Tala, a Christian and Leyla, a Muslim could not be more different but are drawn to each other in Shamim Sharif’s sensitive and heartfelt follow-up feature to her acclaimed The World Unseen. But what are the implications of the choice Tala feels drawn to make? Yet, as she goes ahead with her wedding plans, Leyla settles into her newfound sense of identity. With Lisa Ray, Sheetal Sheth, Nina Wadia.

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November 9th, 3:00 p.m., Theater 2

The Frontier Gandhi: Badshah Khan, A Torch For Peace
T.C. McLuhan, USA/Canada, 2008; 91 minutes. US Premiere.
In English, Hindi, Urdu, Pashto, Dari, with English subtitles

The extraordinary story of the Muslim peacemaker born into the inconceivable violence of Pashtun warrior society of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan is the dramatic subject of T.C. McLuhan’s documentary. Pronounced "a miracle" by Mahatma Gandhi, Badshah Khan raised a 100,000 strong non-violent army of men, women, and youngsters from many religious backgrounds in his fight for Indian independence and religious tolerance, earning him two nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. Shot in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the eye-opening and poignant story that the film tells also includes rare historical footage, remarkably candid interviews from world leaders and a score by David Amram, the acclaimed composer and pioneer of World Music.