Washington DC – The Indian embassy in Washington, DC came alive this evening (May 31) as celebrated names from the Indian film industry including Shyam Benegal, Ketan Mehta, Manisha Koirala, Rajit Kapur, and Suneil Anand were welcomed.
The event was a curtain raiser for the first annual DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF), co-sponsored by the Embassy of India and hosted by Ceasar Productions, under the watchful guidance of Manoj Singh over the weekend.
The organizers are promising an exciting weekend full of cinematic entertainment and workshops. This year’s DCSAFF (http://www.dcsaff.com) will run from Friday June 1, through Sunday, June 3, 2012 at the Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville, Maryland.
The festival will kick off Friday night with an exclusive opening night red carpet gala featuring Shyam Benegal’s classic film, Mammo.
Saturday night’s highlight is Deepti Naval’s directorial debut, Do Paise ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane ki Baarish, while Sunday evening, the festival will close with Dev Anand’s Hum Dono, fully restored in color.
Other highlights of the weekend include a Shyam Bengal retrospective, acting and filmmaking workshops, short films directed by local artists, and the Washington, DC premiere of a number of exciting new films, like 9 Eleven.
In addition, Nadia Ayoubi, whose brain child is “She`r Elegance,” a leading independent designer boutique in the Washington metropolitian area, will be presenting a collection at the festival.
“The success of Bollywood on the global stage has ignited the fashion trends among all age group and gender. The beautiful Sarees define women with their tradition and appeal. The colorful Lahengas at all happy occasions evoke celebration and joy. The ladies suits with their unique patterns brings out the best of North India & Pakistan rich culture,” says Nadia. (IATNS)