Indo-US gears up for 1st Annual India International Film Festival

The first annual India International Film Festival (IIFF)releases the full schedule of events an open ticket sales in the first week of January through the website www.iifftampa.comand other media outlets. The festival begins on January 22^nd and ends on the 24^th.

The IIFF of Tampa bay is dedicated to providing a platformfor increased awareness of Indian cinema and culture to the community by promoting films and industry professionals representing the diversity of India.

The event will open with a red carpet entrance to the special VIP Event with film makers, followed by the opening feature film. VIP event needs special passes and anyone with the event passes will be admitted to the opening feature. The after party at Dolce Vita in Channelside will follow question & answer session with the director of the film. The second daywill feature 4 movie sessions with 2 movies playing simultaneously during eachsessions. The first 2-hour session will begin at 12 noon and will have a 30minute break between sessions. These 30-minute breaks will showcaseperformances of Indian cultural dances of various types.

For those interested in learning more about the business offilms with regards to being an investor or a film maker, there will be a panel discussion lead by Tom Garrett who is aproducer of independent feature films and a founding partner of a sales and distribution company engaged in production and international distribution of independent feature films. Panelists will also include an executive produce rcurrently working with M. Night Shayamalan on an upcoming movie.

The line up of moviesfor the 1^st annual IIFF Tampa bay is an exciting one. Some of thefilms in the line up are 7 Days in Slow Motion directed by UmakanthThumrugoti about a boy and his friends set out to make a film in seven daysafter chancing upon a filmmaker’s lost camera, Tahaan directed bySantosh Sivan. It is a fable-likejourney of the eponymous eight-year-old boy, filmed on location in Kashmir,  whose life revolves around the pursuit tofind real purpose in his little world. A Kannada film Gulabi Talkiesby the award winnign director Girish Kasaravalli, A Tamil film Kanchivaramby director Priyadarshan, Bombay Summer by director Joseph MathewVarghese which is about three young people from very differentbackgrounds form a fleeting and delicate friendship as they attempt to maketheir way in modern day Bombay. LITTLE ZIZOU Directed by Sooni SooniTaraporevala, a Marathi FilmGhabricha Paus and a documentary “The Salt Stories, an 84-minutedocumentary, a road movie set in modern India that follows the trail of MahatmaGandhi’s salt march of 1930 are some of the feature length movies awaiting tobe screened at the festival.

The festival also features several Short Films and a special session onmusic videos by up and coming south asian artists and will provide insights topeople who wanted to learn more about pursing their dreams in those arenas.

An event of special mention at the festival will be a presentation “The Magic and Music of Bollywood” byKanniks Kannikeswaran , artist in residence at Center for India Studies – University of South Florida. The Bollywood music industry isamong the largest in the world. Included in the umbrella of Bollywood are thevarious regional film music industry spanning over a dozen languages. A studyof the music of Bollywood (and the regional film music repertoire) leaves usamazed at the extent of assimilation of ideas from various genres such asIndian classical music, Western Classical music, Irish, Gypsy music to name afew. This multimedia lecture on Bollywood is a lively walk through the historyof Indian film music. This lecture also addresses the impact of Bollywood andthe music of Bollywood on society and culture and on the economy of theemerging global player that is India.

The closing day will feature a Bollywood film that will beannounced at the festival’s website www.IIFFTampa.com. Tickets for the eventwill be also be available through the website and will be priced at  $50 for a three day event pass, $25 for theopening night only (includes entry to after-party (at Dolce Vita) and onedrink ticket), $25 ticket for the entire second day only or a $15 ticket forthe last day only and per movie price of $10 for the second and third days.
Clearwater based Homeowners Choice Insurance (NASDAQ: HCII) isthe event sponsor this year. The three-day festival is expects to screen around24 films including feature films, documentaries, and short films. Films fromdifferent parts of India will be presented and expects to draw large number ofaudience to this event for the first time in Tampa. Limited sponsorshipopportunities are available for this event. For more information about thefestival or to join the volunteer team please visit www.IIFFTampa.com or call 813-719-0303