Annual South Asian International Film Festival concludes

The festival concludes its five-day run with a full house on Closing Night with a last minute film, which gets picked-up for distribution even before the start of the Sunday Closing Night After Party

The Third Annual South Asian International Film Festival, presented by VERIZON and officially founded by SANA concluded October 8th with the New York Premiere of director Ajmal Zaheer Ahmed's It's a Mismatch at the Loews 19th Street in Union Square, NYC. The screening was followed by a closing night celebration at the ultra-hot Rooftop at the Gansevoort Hotel.



"Even after the Opening Night mishap, people came out in droves to watch the outstanding showcase of films we had this year," said Shilen Amin, SAIFF's President. " SAIFF is definitely becoming an international destination for South Asian films. We are skilled in buzz-marketing and building consumer awareness and therefore more filmmakers and film studios are beginning to recognize the unparalleled advantage and influence that is created through the SAIFF platform." In its third year, the festival exceeded expectations with a whopping 27% increase in attendance over last year's 6000 attendees, totaling over 7600 festival goers and counting. The attendees enjoyed over 50 shorts, documentaries and feature films from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.



The festival was kick started on Thursday with a full day of shorts and documentaries, with multiple high-traffic screenings including a sold out evening premiere of Kiran Merchant's Quarter-Life Crisis which concluded with applauds and a massive after party at another one of NYC's hot spot; BED. Guests mingled all night with filmmakers and attendees to the amazing sound of DJ Kevin G until the late hours at night.



On Friday, with a full day of busy film screenings came an even greater treat for festival goers with the rescheduling of the Opening Night film, Hope and a little Sugar which brought out most of the cast and crew, including Director Tanuja Chandra, newcomer Amit Sial, and Vikram Chatwal. Anupam Kher also addressed the audience from India via a impromptu connection between one of the film's producer's cell phone and a wireless Mic. He expressed his delight on working in the film and appreciated the immediate audience participation on the new screening night.



SAIFF Festival Director Manjri Srivastva said, "The festival was working around the clock to reschedule 'Hope and a little Sugar' with the film's team due to a technical problem on the Opening Night. We are grateful to everyone who had a hand in making this year's festival a success, from the film makers to the volunteers to all of the viewers. I can't believe how much SAIFF has grown in as little as three years. " The Friday screenings concluded with an exclusive Penthouse/Rooftop after party at 230 FIFTH AVENUE with over one thousand guests.



Then Saturday started the jammed packed weekend of activities with an array of evocative, comedic, interesting and heart-warming films. Of the many highly attended screenings throughout the day, The Widow Colony, by director Harpreet Kaur, attracted hundreds of guests. The film recounts the events of the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre in India in response to Indira Gandhi's assassination through the voices of the widows who survived. Saturday concluded with eleven 'World Premiere's', four 'North American Premiere's' and another maximum capacity after party at AVA ROOFTOP. The place was filled on both levels with a entry line of eager festival guests.



On Sunday, there was one of the best children's day programming to date in the short-lived history of the festival. SAIFF's Chair; Board of Directors, Asifa Tirmizi said, "Sunday's are great family days and we were excited to see hundreds of children that came with their parents and friends to see some of the wonderful kids films that SAIFF showcased this year." The last day of the festival attracted another sold out screening for both directors Lisa Heydlauff's Going to School in India, a film that examines the lives of children all over India attending various schools and Keith Melton's Mystic India , a film that tells a story of a 7-year old's heartfelt journey through India.



Sunday also marked the one year anniversary of the Pakistan earthquake, which SAIFF marked with a full house screening for director Ali Khan's 7.6, a short film that captured the director's mission to bring art to Pakistani children after the 2005 Earthquake and Dr. Farooq Beg's film, A Cry For Help, a documentary showcasing the affects of the earthquake and the display of humanitarian efforts by people all over the world.



The festival came to a bitter sweet close on Sunday evening with a packed house for the last minute film, It's a Mismatch . The crowd then headed over to the Hotel Gansevoort to celebrate the close of the festival.



At the after party, Kumar Pindiprolu, SAIFF's Board of Directors said, "This is a film festival, technical problems are common. Despite what happened on Opening Night, the festival was quick to reschedule the film and still achieve a full house. SAIFF has set the bar higher and higher with each year. We anticipate that things will get even more chaotic as we continuously plan to expand and outgrow our achievements."



Presenting Sponsor: Verizon, Founding Sponsor: SANA, Official Sponsors: Delta Air Lines, The New York Times, and Time Warner Cable, Festival Partners: Cintra, DIRECTV, Filmy, Jaman, Penguin, and VURV-INC, Media Partners: AVSTV and NewsIndia-Times, Promotional Partners: 3rd-I, Adhikaar, Analog Digital International, Asha for Education, AZN Television, CRY, India Today International, JumpTV, Kahani, LRBT, Manavi, Nirvana Magazine, Room to Read, SAALT, SABANY, SAKHI, SAMMA, SAYA, and YourDIL.