Bollywood Takes Long Island
Long Island was once an Indian stronghold (native Indian, to be precise) – well now the Indians from India are making their mark there, what with the burgeoning Indian population, academics at various area universities, not to mention an overload of Indian grocery stores, sari boutiques, and the occasional Bollywood extravaganzas at Nassau Coliseum.
So now it’s pretty sweet that the mainstream is also recognizing this newest population – and its cinematic contributions. The recent Gold Coast International Film Festival organized by the Great Neck Arts Center on the North Shore of Long Island, gave a nod to the Indian film industry with several screenings of India-related films.
The festival had over 43 features and documentaries, panel discussions and events spread over the 3 day event, including a mesmerizing interview with the amazing actor Bruce Dern who shared wonderful anecdotes about Hollywood legends ranging from John Wayne to Lee Strasbourg to Marilyn Monroe. Dern was given the first ‘Legend Award’ – and birthday cake since it happened to be his birthday that day, followed by a lively, intimate after-party.
The features ranged from ‘Chasing Madoff’, ‘The Best and the Brightest’ to ‘Holy Rollers’ and ‘Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times’. So it was nice to have Indian or India-inspired films be a part of this mix on Long Island. “Indian Cinema is such a huge industry, bigger than Hollywood and with a passionate film audience,” said Regina Keller Gil, the executive director of this first ever film festival, and the founder of the Great Necks Art Center.
“Our Gold Coast community is home to a large population of Indian and Indian-American families who could be presumed to be interested in screenings of films from India or about Indian themes” She added, “What was particularly interesting for us was that hosting screenings in their own communities, rather than theatres in NYC or further away, made it easier for non-Indian audiences to attend and to be exposed to the Indian cinema. We received very positive feedback from all segments of the community.”
Somi Roy, who was curator at large of the festival and selected the mix of Indian films, has been the curator for many film festivals in New York. Asked about what was special about this film festival, he said, “It is new and wonderfully positioned near New York City with a great audience demographic that’s educated, cultured and traveled. This recent success attests to its potential to develop and grow. Reaching out to the widest possible constituency meant giving a special focus to the growing South Asian community of Nassau County.”
Since the segment of Indian films was conceived as a sidebar to a larger international American festival, Roy selected diverse films which included ‘Phas Gaya Re Obama’, ‘Slackistan’ , ‘Memories in March’ (which was in English) and even a film from Israel, ‘Rafting to Bombay’ in which an Israeli goes back to his roots in Bombay. As he points out, “These were films which would also have resonance in Western culture, so the program does not get ghettocized or exoticised in its own corner but can relate to non-South Asians as well. That said, like any sidebar, it was set up with its own support structure, press outreach marketing and special event features and possibilities, to help support and frame the larger festival.”
A highlight of the Indian films was a special benefit screening of ‘When Harry Tries to Marry,’ a cross-cultural romantic comedy by Nayan Padrai. This was a fundraiser for Project India, an initiative of The Association of Indians in America and was followed by a dialogue with the cast and crew, and cocktails and dinner at Diwan Restaurant.
“GIFF has been an amazing festival,” says Padrai. ” Given that is was the inaugural, I think they did a tremendous job. The film was talked about quite a bit at the kick-off party, which was a blast. The screening itself was great as we had a nearly full house and laughter is infectious so it was heartening to hear people enjoying themselves through the film. Our post-screening Q & A ran quite long and a lot of people stayed to ask questions, which is always good!”
“Our screenings with the Indian-American audiences were well attended and appreciated,” says Gils. “We hope to repeat the formula; to find excellent Indian films from the best filmmakers and screen them as part of our international offerings. We expect more people will attend because the buzz has gone out and they will want to experience this genre for themselves.” Somi Roy, who has now been appointed the Executive Producer of the Gold Coast International Film Festival, is already gearing up for the second festival in the June of 2012. Stay tuned!
Desi Spotlight: Gold Coast International Film Festival
Memories in March, directed by Sanjoy Nag, written by Rituparno Ghosh. (India) – Long Island Premiere. Siddharth, a 28-year old man, is killed in an accident and his grief stricken mother comes to Kolkata to collect his belongings. Looking through what the young Siddharth has left behind in his home, office and among his friends at the advertising agency he had recently joined, she discovers a son and a life she had not known existed. She finds she must share his belongings and her grief with others he had left behind. With Rituparno Ghosh, Deepti Naval, Raima Sen. English, Hindi, Bengali
Phas Gaye Re Obama, directed by Subhash Kapoor, written by Subhash Kapoor. (India) Phase Gaye Re Obama is a comedy set against the backdrop of global recession/meltdown that originated in USA. Om Shastri (Rajat Kapoor), an Indian-American businessman is about to have his home foreclosed. Faced with few choices, he comes to India to sell his ancestral property but the recession has also hit India and he struggles to find a buyer. Within days of landing in India he is kidnapped by a ‘recession-hit’ underworld gang those who think that he is still a millionaire but who are soon disappointed to hear that he is bankrupt.. With Rajat Kapoor, Neha Dhupia, Manu Rishi, Sanjai Mishra, Amol Gupte. Hindi with subtitles
Rafting to Bombay, (Raphsoda le-Bombay) directed by Erez Laufer. (Israel) Long Island Premiere. Rafting to Bombay is the story of how 5 year old Nahum and his mother escaped the Nazis in Poland, crossed Europe by train and sailed on a raft on the Tigris River until they reached the exotic and fascinating India of monkeys, elephants and Rajas. But Nahum’s childhood experience, which is remembered as an enchanting fantasy, was in reality, a chilling story of a last minute escape. With Erez Laufer, Nahum Laufer, Cila Laufer, Miri Laufer, Hanna Laufer, Sam Marshall.
Slackistan, directed by Hammad Khan, written by Hammad Khan, Shandana Ayub. (UK) – Islamabad, Pakistan. A group of privileged and westernised twenty-something friends while away their days and nights driving around town, partying, surfing the internet and smoking shisha pipes. As the country outside their world starts to crack, Hasan and his friends must face up to relationships, internal angst and life choices before it is too late. With Aisha Linnea Akthar, Rafey Alam, Osman Khalid Butt.
When Harry Tries to Marry, directed by Nayan Padrai, written by Ralph Stein, Nayan Padrai (USA) “When Harry Tries to Marry” is a cross-cultural romantic comedy about a young man who tries to take the risk and the romance out of marriage by deciding to have an arranged marriage. In the process, he learns a lot about love. With Rahul Rai, Stefanie Estes, Freishia Bomanbehram, Tony Mirrcandani, Zenobia Shroff, Caitlin Gold.
Interestingly enough, a short documentary with an Indian connection won the Short Film Jury Award. ‘In the Spirit of Laxmi’, directed by Meghan Shea, follows the journey of Gerhard Wiehahn as he raises an abandoned leopard cub in India’s Rajasthan province, nurturing the injured cub back to health and returning it to the wilderness of the Ranthambore National Park. It will be interesting to see how India-related films fare at next year’s Gold Coast International Film Festival.
