Inaugural DALLAS-FORT WORTH SOUTH ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL drew terrific crowds despite bad weather

FIRST-EVER DFW SOUTH ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL WINS OVER

FILMMAKERS, SPONSORS & NORTH TEXAS AUDIENCES

Despite the icy weather and dangerous driving conditions in North Texas, more than 1000 cinephiles attended the 14 shorts, documentaries and feature films at the inaugural DFW South Asian Film Festival (DFW SAFF) from February 27 to March 1, 2015, at the Angelika Film Center in Plano, Texas.

Produced by JINGO Media, Etihad Airways & Jet Airways, Cambria Hotels & Suites and CMGRX and sponsored by The Shraman Foundation, Parish Episcopal School, Milaap, Living Dreams Foundation and The Container Store, the three-day festival kicked off with opening night film Brahmin Bulls on Friday, followed by shorts & documentaries Katiyabaaz/Poweless, Asian Pride Project, Fire in the Blood, and Tomorrow We Disappear and women’s programming Blouse, Happy Raksha Bandhan and centerpiece film Sold on Saturday. Sunday’s showcase films included family programming Ravi and Jane and The World of Goopi and Bagha, followed by youth programming shorts Therapy, Just Friends and Acceptance. The closing night film was the world premiere of Rough Book.

The producers, directors and actors who attended the festival and walked the red carpet included: Viveck Vaswani, Tannistha Chatterjee, Mahesh Pailoor, Jeffrey D. Brown, Jane Charles, Dylan Mohan Gray, Suma Reddy, Fahad Mustafa, Deepti Kakkar, Tarun Verma, Arun Sukumar and Ryan Matthew Chan. “They say EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas, but I find it’s people’s HEARTS that are the biggest,” said JINGO Media Principal/CEO and DFW SAFF Founder and Festival Director, Jitin Hingorani. “News reports warned North Texans NOT to leave their homes because of the snowstorm, and we still had completely packed theaters for our screenings. It has been a very humbling experience, and we’re already preparing for DFW SAFF 2016.”

For the complete line-up of this year’s films, visit www.dfwsaff.com.

1st Dallas-Fort Worth SOUTH ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL begins Feb 27th

FIRST-EVER DALLAS-FORT WORTH SOUTH ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL

INVITES U.S. & TEXAS PREMIERES OF 14 SHORTS,

DOCS & FEATURE FILMS TO NORTH TEXAS

JINGO Media, a Dallas and NYC-based PR and events management boutique firm, is producing the first-ever festival of South Asian independent cinema in North Texas over a three-day period. In partnership with the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) and the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF), the Dallas-Fort Worth South Asian Film Festival (DFW SAFF) will showcase 14 curated shorts, documentaries and feature films that focus on issues affecting the South Asian (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) sub-continent, as well as explore the lives and stories of the South Asian Diaspora in the United States. The festival takes place from Friday, February 27 to Sunday, March 1 at the Angelika Film Center in Plano (Shops at Legacy).

“DFW is the fifth largest media market in the country,” says JINGO Media Principal/CEO and DFW SAFF Film Festival Director Jitin Hingorani. “And we’re the only major metropolitan area in the U.S. that DOES NOT have its own South Asian film festival. Given that the South Asian population is growing and thriving in North Texas, it is about time these non-Bollywood, independent films receive a much-needed platform to engage, educate and inspire our savvy, world-cinema-loving audiences.”

The festival’s opening night film is the Texas premiere of Mahesh Pailoor’s poignant and uplifting feature BRAHMIN BULLS. Based in Los Angeles, this father-son drama stars Mary Steenburgen, Justin Bartha, Sendhil Ramamurthy (of Heroes fame) and Indian veteran actor Roshan Seth.

Emma Thompson-produced and Academy Award-Winner Jeffrey D. Brown-directed, the Texas premiere of SOLD is the festival’s centerpiece film about a Nepali girl sex trafficked in India and rescued by a team of Americans journalists, played by Gillian Anderson and David Arquette.

The festival closes with the world premiere of ROUGH BOOK, a controversial look at India’s current education system and how a renegade teacher rebels against rote classroom learning by encouraging her students to think outside the box. Directed by Ananth Mahadevan, produced by Viveck Vaswani and starring the queen of Indian independent film festivals, Tannishtha Chatterjee, this thought-provoking drama has already been endorsed by India’s Education Minister and will be offered “tax-free” to Indian audiences upon its theatrical release.

The festival also boasts compelling shorts and documentaries, women’s programming, LGBT programming and family programming, including an animated children’s film and youth-focused movies. For the entire festival line-up, please visit www.dfwsaff.com. “All-access” festival passes, which provide admission to all 14 films and two after-parties, are on sale for $95 before February 15. Individual screenings range in price from $10 to $13 per person before Feb. 15.

Details on the festival can be found at the DFW SAFF official site.