Now in its third year, the Dallas/Fort Worth South Asian Film Festival (DFW SAFF), taking place from March 3rd to 5th at the Perot Museum (downtown Dallas) and AMC Village on the Parkway 9 (Addison), will showcase 19 shorts, documentaries and feature films, over a three-day-period.
The closing night film will be the North American premiere of Ananth Mahadevan’s Marathi biopic “Doctor Rakhmabai,” starring Tannishtha Chatterjee, the queen of independent cinema, in the title role. It is the story of India’s first practicing lady doctor, social rebel and medical pioneer who paved the way for a fight against gender discrimination. “Not only will this be our closing night film, it will also nicely round out the women’s programming at our festival,” said founder and director, Jitin Hingorani.
The entire festival schedule is as follows:
Friday, March 3rd – Opening Night Screening, Red Carpet & VIP Reception
Perot Museum (downtown Dallas) from 6 p.m. to midnight:
“Yellow Tin Can Telephone” (short) followed by
“A Billion Colour Story” (Opening Night Film)
*Followed by Q&A with director Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy &
producer Satish Kaushik
Saturday, March 4th – Shorts, Documentaries, Centerpiece Programming
AMC Village on the Parkway 9 (Addison) from 11 a.m. to midnight:
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Youth Programming
“India in a Day” (documentary)
*Followed by winning videos of Parish School’s
“One Minute Smartphone Video” contest & scholarships
1:15 to 3 p.m.
“Khoya” (feature)
*Followed by Q&A with director Sami Khan & actor Rupak Ginn
3:15 to 6 p.m.
Indo-Pak Programing (Zeal for Unity Films)
“Silvat” (short)
“Lala Begum” (short)
“Guddu Engineer” (short)
*Followed by Q&A with director Mehreen Jabbar
6:15 to 9:15 p.m.
Men’s Programming
“Mochi” (short)
“Babu’s Dilemma” (short)
“Azaad” (short)
“Lathe Joshi” (Centerpiece Film)
9:30 p.m. to midnight
Centerpiece VIP Party (ticketed event)
Saffron House – Village on the Parkway
Sunday, March 6th – Children’s & Women’s Programming, Closing Night Film
AMC Village on the Parkway 9 (Addison) from noon to 10 p.m.
Noon to 1 p.m.
Children’s Programming
“Priyanth” (short)
“Jacob’s Pond” (short)
“Mast Qalandar” (short)
“Syaahi” (short)
1:15 to 3 p.m.
“The Journey Within” (documentary)
*Followed by Q&A with director Mian Adnan Ahmed
3:15 to 6:15 p.m.
Women’s Programming
“Amishi” (short)
“Leeches” (short)
“Doctor Rakhmabai” (Closing Night Film)
*Followed by Q&A with actresses Tannishtha Chatterjee and Sayani Gupta
6:15 to 10 p.m.
Closing Night Party (private event)
W Hotel Penthouse – 28th floor (downtown Dallas)
“The highlights of our programming this year are a focus on Marathi regional cinema with one short and two feature films in that language,” said Ambica Dev, the festival’s artistic director. “You’ll also notice themes of Indo-Pak (Hindu/Muslim) programming sprinkled throughout, given that 2017 is the 70th anniversary of India and Pakistan’s independence. Finally, we are proud to say that almost one-third of our films have a child as the central or prominent character.”
Actors, Directors & Producers in attendance at the festival include:
Satish Kaushik – actor/producer/writer/director
Viveck Vaswani – actor/producer/writer
Tannishtha Chatterjee – actor
Sayani Gupta – actor
Rupak Ginn- actor
Mehreen Jabbar – director
Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy – director
Mian Adnan Ahmed – director
Sami Khan – director
JINGO Media, a Dallas and NYC-based, public relations and events management company, produces the annual festival of South Asian independent cinema in North Texas. The third iteration of the festival boasts 19 curated shorts, documentaries and feature films (over a three-day period), which will focus on issues affecting South Asians and explore the lives and stories of the Diaspora working and living in the United States.
“All-access” festival passes, which provide admission to all of the films, networking events and after parties, are currently available for the early-bird price of $150 before February 15th, after which the price increases to $175.