BEYOND BOLLYWOOD:
THE 2006 SOUTH ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL
June 10 - 12

Co-produced with the Asian Cultural Association, the South Asian Film Festival will celebrate its 12th anniversary at Enzian Theater June 10-12, 2006. The three-day celebration of Indian culture, heritage, and film artistry will be comprised of weekend matinees and a Monday evening show. For more information on the South Asian Film Festival, call the Enzian box office or the Asian Cultural Association at (407) 333-3667.

THE MISTRESS OF SPICES

Sat., June 10 at 11:30 am

Mon., June 12 at 7:00 pm

The Mistress of Spices

"A savory dose of magic realism…like Chocolat with seasonings…"—Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter

After collaborating with his filmmaker wife, Gurinder Chadha, on such films as Bend It Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice, screenwriter Paul Mayeda Berges makes his directorial debut with this romantic fable adapted from the 1997 novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Tilo, played by the ethereal and stunning Bollywood superstar, Aishwarya Rai (Devdas, Chokher Bali), is new to America and holds magical powers over the spices she sells in her shop in Oakland, CA. She has a remedy for all those who enter her store, but only if she abides by the rules of her craft: only use her abilities for others, and not for her own personal desires; never leave the spice shop; and never touch another’s skin. All this seems simple enough, until she meets an American man (Dylan McDermott, TV’s The Practice) who tempts her far beyond her boundaries. The more she falls for him, the more the spices start to misbehave for her customers…Sensually shot by the great cinematographer Santosh Sivan (The Terrorist), THE MISTRESS OF SPICES is a perfect mix of romance and magic in the tradition of Like Water for Chocolate and Chocolat.

UK, 2005, 92 min, Not Rated, Directed by Paul Mayeda Berges
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AMU

Sat., June 10 at 1:45 pm

Amu

"Beautifully personalizes a social and political tragedy…AMU boldly rips away a tapestry of lies and cover-ups…Bose is a fearless filmmaker."—Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2005 Bombay International Film Festival, AMU focuses on Kaju, a young American/Indian woman and recent UCLA graduate. Against her adoptive mother’s wishes, Kaju returns to the village in India she left when she was orphaned at 3-years- old due to a malaria epidemic (or so she’s been told). Naïve, idealistic, and stubborn, she explores the slums of Delhi with the assistance of a serious college student named Kabir, whose politics aren’t in line with his privileged upbringing. It was there in Delhi that in 1984, an uprising against the Sikhs took place after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and thousands were slaughtered in riots. As Kaju and Kabir begin to investigate the identity of her real parents and piece together the truth, they open the door to a powerful and moving story of loss and cover-ups. Writer-director Bose was a student in Delhi at the time of the massacre, and AMU is driven by a sense of outrage still felt today.

India, 2005, 102 min, Not Rated, Directed by Shonali Bose, In English, Bengali, Hindi, and Punjabi with English subtitles
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BOMBAY CALLING Preceded by LUCKY

Sun., June 11 at 11:15 am

Bombay Calling

Grand Jury Prize – Best Documentary, 2006 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

East Coast Premiere – 2nd US Showing!

As CEO of a rapidly expanding telemarketing company, Kas Lalani is eager to cash in on the swell of telemarketing opportunities ushered into India by globalization. Lalani taps into Bombay’s (Mumbai’s) highly educated, English-speaking youth base and pinpoints the most ambitious and enthusiastic among them to man telephone lines connecting them to the US, UK, and Canada. This generation reared on MTV and fast food culture is more than eager to don westernized accents and work late night shifts in their pursuit of the American dream…Indian style. The highly entertaining and topical BOMBAY CALLING brings a human element to the ongoing outsourcing debate and introduces the world to a new generation driving the Indian economy and navigating the ever-narrowing divide between East and West.

Canada, 2005, 72 min, Not Rated, Directed by Ben Addelman & Samir Mallal

LUCKY Followed by BOMBAY CALLING

Sun., June 11 at 11:15 am

Lucky

Audience Choice Award – Best Short, 2006 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

Lucky is a South African AIDS orphan who learns about life through an unlikely bond with a racist Indian woman. Beautifully acted and filmed on location in Durban.

UK, 2005, 20 min, Not Rated, Directed by Avie Luthra, In English, Zulu and Tamil with English subtitles

WATER

Sun., June 11 at 1:30 pm

Water

"Exquisite…shifting between romantic melodrama and spiritual inquiry, WATER flows with the simplicity of a fairy tale."—Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times

Deepa Mehta’s brave exploration of India’s storied past continues in this lush, perfectly pitched tale of a young Hindu girl whose life is suddenly changed by the traditions of her religion. Set in the twilight of colonial India in the 1930’s during Mahatma Gandhi’s rise to power, the powerful film tells the story of an 8-year-old child bride named Chuyia whose husband suddenly passes away. Sent to a decrepit home (ashram) on the River Ganges where Hindu widows must live in penitence, Chuyia’s feisty presence deeply affects the lives of the other residents. Mehta’s third film in her “elemental trilogy” following the acclaimed Fire and Earth, the highly controversial WATER had its production shut down in India in 2000 following violent protests and riots by extremist groups and death threats to the director. It took nearly five years to revamp the production in Sri Lanka under an assumed name and strict secrecy, but this soul-stirring masterwork could not be silenced.

Canada, 2005, 114 min, Rated PG-13, Directed by Deepa Mehta, In Hindi with English subtitles