The North-American cinema event, which has gained importance over the years for its ability to create Oscar-buzz, is offering a rich bouquet of 15 films from India while two of its biggest attractions --'Midnight's Children' and 'Reluctant Fundamentalist' --have NRI filmmakers Deepa Mehta and Mira Nair as helmers.
'English Vinglish', which marks Sridevi's return to films after a gap of 15 years, has been directed by debutante Gauri Shinde. A funny and touching story about an Indian woman's struggle to learn English in America, the film will be screened on September 14.
'Midnight's Children', an adaptation of Salman Rushdie's Booker award-winning novel of the same name, boasts of a huge Indian star cast and the fantasy tells the strange story of midnight children. Born on the cusp of India's independence from Britain, these children are endowed with strange, magical abilities.
Nair, on the other hand, tells the story of a young Pakistani's disillusionment with the great American dream in the post 9/11 era. The film was partly shot in India and stars Shabana Azmi and Om Puri apart from its international starcast.
From southern film industry, National-award-winning filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli's 'The Tortoise, An Incarnation' will be screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the festival. (MORE)
