The Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) is presenting the 13th Annual New York Indian Film Festival, the oldest and most prestigious film festival for Indian cinema in North America, from Tuesday, April 30 to Saturday, May 4, 2013 in New York City.

The New York Indian Film Festival will kick off its week-long festivities with a star-studded Opening Night red carpet premiere of Feroz Abbas Khan’s DEKH TAMASHA DEKH on April 30, 2013, which will take place at the Skirball Center for Performing Arts.

L-R, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi and Satish Kaushik in Dekh Tamasha Dekh.

Festival screenings will take place throughout the week at Tribeca Cinemas, with Nitin Kakkar’s FILMISTAAN on May 4, 2013, the Closing Night selection to be followed by the annual awards ceremony and after-party at the Skirball Center for Performing Arts. This year marks the launch of a new award at the 2013 Festival that honors student-created short films (five minute or less). Through open, no-fee submissions from film schools, one student will be selected to receive a special award at the Closing Night Award Ceremony

Lyrically interwoven, DEKH TAMASHA DEKH is a social and political satire that cuts deep to the heart of many current issues, a true story based off true events. Written by renowned marathi playwright Shafaat Khan, who creates finely nuanced characters with depth and dimensions and sets them against a lush visual backdrop of a small village in India. The cast features...

March 29, 2013 – LOS ANGELES Visual Communications (VC), the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, announced its program of outstanding films for the upcoming 29th edition of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) beginning May 2- 12, 2013 at the Director’s Guild of America (DGA), CGV Cinemas located in Koreatown, the Tateuchi Democracy Forum at NCPD in Little Tokyo, and the historic Art Theatre of Long Beach.

As Southern California’s largest and most prestigious film festival of its kind, the LAAPFF launches the celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month through this year’s slate of over 140 films from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international directors from over 20 countries. Over the past 29 years, the Festival has presented more than 3,600 films and shorts by Asian American and Asian international artists. This year, 33 feature films and 108 shorts will be showcased throughout the 10-day fest.

The Festival will feature many returning filmmakers and producers who continue to make films and still hold true to their own voices as exemplified by amazing curated programs, special presentations and sneak previews of upcoming commercial releases, and the launch of two new programs for the production of new Asian American content. In addition, this year also offers an array of celebrated films from prestigious global film festivals including Sundance, Berlin, Toronto and Cannes Film Festival.

The LAAPFF 29th Edition...

New York Asian American International Film Festival Celebrates 30 Years - July 19-28, 2007

The New York Asian American International Film Festival turns 30 this July.

"We are proud to be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the New York Asian American International Film Festival," said Acting Executive Director John Woo. "As the longest-running festival devoted to screening the works by and about the Asian and Asian American communities, we have been able to introduce audiences to many highly regarded directors, and our mission is to remain one of the premier festivals for spotlighting the work of rising filmmakers."

Presented by Asian CineVision, in association with the Asia Society, AAIFF takes place July 1928, 2007, at the Asia Society (725 Park Avenue, at 70th St) in New York.

"Asian CineVision is marking its 30th anniversary with a phenomenal line-up of cutting edge films," said Rachel Cooper, Asia Society's Director of Cultural Programs. "The Asia Society is thrilled to continue our longstanding partnership and congratulate Asian CineVision on this milestone anniversary."

This year's diverse line-up includes 25 new exciting features; more than 90 short films and music videos; the Screenplay Competition; the 72-Hour Film Shootout screening; the Comics Writers panel; a 70s theme party; and much much more to honor the festivals 30th anniversary. Justin Lin's Finishing the Game opens the festival. Starring Roger Fan and James Franco, the film is a comedic faux...

Jose Llana (Ferdinand Marcos), Ruthie Ann Miles (Imelda Marcos), Renée Albulario (Ensemble), Melody Butiu (Ensemble), Natalie Cortez (Ensemble), Debralee Daco (Ensemble), Joshua Dela Cruz (Ensemble), Kelvin Moon Loh (Ensemble), Jeigh Madjus (Ensemble), Maria-Christina Oliveras (Ensemble), Conrad Ricamora (Aquino), Trevor Salter (Ensemble), and Janelle Velasquez (Ensemble) are featured in the cast of The Public Theater’s World Premiere ofHere Lies Love, with concept and lyrics by David Byrne, music by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, additional music by Tom Gandey and J Pardo, and choreography by Annie-B Parson.

Jose Llana

Within a pulsating dance club atmosphere, David Byrne and Fatboy Slim deconstruct the astonishing journey of Filipina First Lady Imelda Marcos, retracing her meteoric rise to power and subsequent descent into infamy and disgrace at the end of the People Power Revolution. Here Lies Love is neither a period piece nor a biography, neither a play nor a traditional musical but an immersive theatrical event combining songs influenced by four decades of dance music, adrenaline-fueled choreography, and a remarkable 360-degree scenic and video environment to go beyond Imelda’s near-mythic obsession with shoes and explore the tragic consequences of the abuse of power.

Maria-Christina Oliveras

Directed by Alex Timbers, Here Lies Love begins performances on Tuesday, April 2 and was originally scheduled to close on Sunday, May 5. It has been...

Chris Tashima's Day of Independence inspired by True Story of a Japanese American Familys Internment Camp Experience

Helmed by actor/director Chris Tashima, Day of Independence takes place in a Japanese American internment camp and tells the story of one familys experience and reveals the courage, determination, and sacrifices they and many other people of Japanese descent faced during World War II. This short narrative film premieres on PBS this May as part of the Center for Asian American Media's lineup of films for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. (Check local listings.)

In 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which made possible the forcible removal of more than 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast of the United States to various internment camps located in remote areas, surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers. Their stories remain relevant, especially in light of todays post-9/11 racial profiling of people of Arab descent.

Day of Independence is based on the experience of Tim Toyamas grandparents who were forced to leave their home and live in a relocation camp during World War II. They returned to Japan on a prisoner exchange ship. Toyama is one of the screenwriters for the film. The poignant story of Zips and his family shows the challenges that families faced and the quiet dignity which enabled them to survive the experience of being unjustly imprisoned. At the end of the film, viewers are told that the people who were...