Mumbai children’s film fest starts with ‘Smile Pinki’

November 3rd, 2009 MUMBAI - The "From Blighty with Love" Festival to showcase recent independent British films across Indian screens will commence Feb 26 next year. Announced at the ongoing Mumbai Film Festival (MFF), which runs Oct 29-Nov 5, the British-Indian film distribution initiative will be held simultaneously across Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune till March 11, 2010.

November 1st, 2009 more images more imagesNEW DELHI - On her 36th birthday Sunday, Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai has been named the first goodwill ambassador for Smile Train, a charity that works worldwide for children with cleft lip. The former Miss World has partnered with the NGO, in association with her own charity - Aishwarya Rai Foundation - and will spread awareness and garner resources to help the movement, said a press release.

October 27th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Pinki has a reason not to smile right now. The child protagonist of Oscar-winning documentary "Smile Pinki", who shot to international fame after she attended the Academy Awards in Los Angeles earlier this year, has been frantically trying to get the authorities to keep their promise of turning her village in Uttar Pradesh into a model village.

October 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - From struggling to get Rs.10 lakh to giving away a cash prize of $150,000, the Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) has come very far in the last 11 years, says Shaban Azmi, who is associated with the fest since its inception. She gives credit to Reliance Big Entertainment for its present size and stature.

October 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Veteran Bollywood director filmmaker Yash Chopra was honoured as the Asian filmmaker of the year at the ongoing 14th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) in South Korea. The filmmaker was felicitated by film festival director Kim Dong-ho Friday.

October 6th, 2009 MUMBAI - Four movies produced by Big Pictures - "Well Done Abba", "Abohamaan", "Kutty Srank" and Janala - will be screened at the upcoming 14th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) and 53rd London Film Festival. While "Kutty Srank" and "Abohamaan" will be screened in A Window on Asian Cinema section at Pusan film fest in Korea starting Oct 8, while "Well Done Abba" and Janala will be screened in the World Cinema Category of the London fest, beginning on Oct 14 respectively.

September 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Oscar winning director Megan Mylan will be launching a five-city India tour to share the story of her short film Smile Pinki and help thousands of children across the country suffering with cleft lips. "Smile Pinki is a 39-minute documentary that shows the story of a poor girl in rural India whose life is transformed when she receives free surgery to correct her cleft lip.

September 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The 11th biennial Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for Documentary, Short and Animation films 2010 will have three new features - students films/videos, mobile films and puppet animation films. Organised by the information and broadcasting ministry, the gala event will be held Feb 3-9 next year at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point, Mumbai.

September 5th, 2009 LONDON - Veteran Bollywood director Yash Chopra has been named the Asian filmmaker of the year by organisers of the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) to be held in South Korea next month. Chopra's popular films, including Lamhe, Dhoom 2, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and New York, will be showcased in a retrospective section at the fest, said a press release from Yash Raj Films.

September 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Debut-director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan's Lahore, that has Nafisa Ali and Farouque Shaikh in important roles, will be premiered at Italy's Salento International Film Festival starting Sep 3-14. Lahore, about competitive sports, is the opening night film and is also in the World Competition Section of the fest.

September 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Joining the league of commercial Hindi films like Road Movie, Delhi-6, "What's Your Raashee?" and "Dil Bole Hadippa" being screened at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the latest one to gain entry at the fest is NFDC's Konkani film The Man Beyond The Bridge. Directed by National Award-winning Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, the Konkani feature film will be screened under the Discovery Section of the fest and will have a total of five screenings during the gala.

August 20th, 2009 LUCKNOW - What happened to the promised hospital, school, community centre and other welfare schemes that were announced for the village in Uttar Pradesh where eight-year-old Pinki, the protagonist of Oscar-winning documentary "Smile Pinki", lives, her family is wondering. Pinki's father Ram Sajeevan said Thursday that they were struggling to get implemented the welfare schemes that were announced for their Rampur Dabai village, in Mirzapur district, after the documentary won the coveted award.

July 18th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Eight-year-old Pinki Sonkar, the protagonist of the "Smile Pinki" documentary that won an Oscar, has just got another reason to smile with the Lucknow Public Schools and Colleges (LPSC) authorities deciding to provide free education to her. The LPSC made the announcement after a section of media reported that the little waif still washes utensils in her village in Mirzapur, in order to meet the expenses of her family.

June 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The annual Osian's-Cinefan Film Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema has been re-scheduled from July to October from this year onwards. The film fest used to be held during July at the Siri Fort Complex in the capital since its inception a decade ago but from now it will be held in October.

June 5th, 2009 DHARAMSALA - The Tibetan government-in-exile will organise a two-day film festival here June 12-13 to commemorate its 50 years in exile. "The film fest will screen 17 Tibetan films at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts.