Miss India America

Cast & Crew of “Miss India America,” opening night film. From L To R: director Ravi Kapoor, actor & co-writer Meera Simhan, producer Megha Kadakia, producer Surabh Kikani, lead actor Tiya Sircar and moderator Aroon Shivdasani, festival director of NYIFF

Opening Night Film Screening of “Miss India America” at the Perot Museum in downtown Dallas

DFW SAFF Advisory Board & Staff. From L to R: Ambica Dev (festival coordinator), Reema Rasool, Nancy Williams, Sashena Pamnani, Jitin Hingorani (founder & festival director), Ami Doshi, Dev Shapiro, Tanveer, Sejal Desai, Patrick O’Hara, Nikita Vyas Hattangady, Krista Weinstein, Ritu Elhence Krishna, Patric Alva, Anjali Desai and Meeta Manglani. Not shown: Preeta Monga, Allyson Williams and Viveck Vaswani
And It’s a WRAP! 2nd annual DFW South Asian Film Festival Celebrates Another Weekend of Film & Festivities in North Texas

(Dallas, Texas – February 24, 2016) The 2016 Dallas/Fort Worth South Asian Film Festival (www.dfwsaff.com) presented 13 ground-breaking, sold-out screenings of shorts, documentaries and feature films during its three-day festival (Feb. 19th to the 21st) at the Perot Museum in downtown Dallas and the Angelika Film Center in Plano. More than 350 people attended the opening night film, red carpet and festivities at the Perot, followed by another 1200 cinephiles at the Angelika on Saturday and Sunday. Every film was either a Texas or U.S. premiere, and the festival’s closing night film, Hansal Mehta’s “Aligarh,” was the North American premiere. Ravi Kapoor’s “Miss India America” and Prashant Nair’s “Umrika” were the opening night and centerpiece films, respectively. The entire lineup of films, including trailers and synopses, is available on the festival’s web site: www.dfwsaff.com.

Categories included education programming, arts programming, youth programming, women’s programming, men’s programming, family programming and LGBT programming. The topics explored varied in scope from slave brides in Rajasthan to the effects of depression & mental illness on the South Asian community to the plight of the LGBTQ community in India.

“The responses we got from our audiences were overwhelmingly positive,” said founder and festival director Jitin Hingorani. “People thanked us for bringing this revolutionary programming to North Texas, and they said they are already excited for next year’s festival.”

The festival, produced by JINGO Media, a NYC & Dallas-based PR & events boutique firm, also presented networking events, after-parties and post-screening Q&A sessions with 14 filmmakers and actors in attendance from all over the world.

Celebrities who walked the red carpet included:
1.Suraj Sharma (Umrika, Life of Pi, Homeland, Million Dollar Arm)
2.Tiya Sircar (Miss India America, The Internship, Friends with Benefits, Vampire Diaries)
3.Meera Simhan (Miss India America, Anger Management, Date Movie)
4.Tanima Bhattacharya (Shackle)
5.Viveck Vaswani (Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Pathar Ke Phool, Rough Book)

27 mainstream and South Asian brands supported the 2016 festival as sponsors and partners:

2016 Festival Sponsors:
Wells Fargo
Etihad Airways & Jet Airways
Mercedes Benz of Plano
Civitas
Cambria Hotels & Suites
The Container Store
Shraman South Asian Museum
Parish Episcopal School
American India Foundation
Milaap USA

Community Partners:
Selig Polyscope Company
Patrick O’Hara Salon
U.S. India Chamber of Commerce DFW
Dallas Video Fest
Women in Film
Indian Association of North Texas
Women Entrepreneurs DFW
Forever Rakhi
World Affairs Council

Media Partners:
Asian Variety Show (AVS TV)
Radio Azad
Radio Hot Pepper 1220 AM
Karishma Radio
Brown Girl Magazine
Diya TV
Desiplaza TV
TV Asia