SAIFF 2008
NEW YORK, NY – October 9, 2008 – HBO presents the fifth annual 2008 South Asian International Film Festival, SAIFF, with Official Founding Sponsor – SANA, from October 22-28 in New York City.
Featuring 50 of the most dynamic and acclaimed full-length films, shorts and documentaries, SAIFF will not only introduce a variety of ground-breaking independent South Asian cinema, but also discover new South Asian voices and celebrate established filmmakers across India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
This year’s seven-day festival kicks off Wednesday, October 22, 2008 with the feature film premiere of writer/director Nandita Das’ FIRAAQ and an opening night gala at the Ziegfeld Theatre at 141 West 54th Street at 6pm. The film is set over a 24-hour period, one month after carnage that took place in Gujarat, India, in 2002. It traces the emotional journeys of ordinary people – some who were victims, some perpetrators and some who chose to watch silently. FIRAAQ will be accompanied by a special post-film Q&A including Nandita Das, Paresh Rawal, and select members of the cast. And to close the 2008 Festival, SAIFF will screen RAMCHAND PAKISTANI, a true story from 2002 concerning the accidental crossing of the Pakistan-Indian border during a period of war-like tension between the two countries by two members of a Pakistani Hindu family.
Over the last five years SAIFF has surpassed all expectations with its superior track record of quality films and exploding attendance rates, with a record-breaking 8500 attendees in 2007, which is the largest festival of its kind in the US.
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