Life! Camera Actionâ€¦ to Premiere at MIAAC Film Festival in New York

Life! Camera Actionâ€¦ to Premiere at MIAAC Film Festival in New York
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“Life! Camera Action...” a feature film directed by Rohit Gupta is premiering at the prestigious Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival 2010 (MIAAC) on November 14, 2010 in New York City—the film festival has previously screened many critically acclaimed films by renowned directors including Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire.”

“We are delighted to screen Rohit’s film at the Tenth Annual MIAAC Film Festival, taking place November 10-14th. It is a sensitive film about a filmmaker, perhaps reflecting the lives of many other participants of our festival, as well as showing the audience life behind the camera as they view it from the front,” said Aroon Shivadasani, Executive Director of Mahindra Indo-Amercian Arts Council Film Festival.

“Life! Camera Action…” tells the inspiring story of Reina, a young Indian-American woman sets off to pursue a career in filmmaking against the wishes of her parents. She struggles to complete her annual film project, working with her classmates and with encouragement from unexpected quarters. As she tries to make ends meet, her double shifts at an Indian restaurant and a DVD store become a part of her film. Reina eventually begins to see the need to reach out to her estranged parents as she begins to know herself and become her own person.

Rohit's first film was a five minute film titled "Another Day Another Life" (2009) which was shot in 7 hours with a 2 member crew, and went on to win awards and appreciation at multiple competitions and festivals around the world including at the Short Film Corner - Cannes 2009.

What makes “Life! Camera Action...” especially unique is that it was shot in simply a week and a half in NYC/NJ on a Panasonic DVX 100 with a crew of merely two people and a shoe-string budget. The film is shot in three different languages—Enlgish, Hindi and Punjabi—and features songs by KK and Manohar Shetty.

“Life! Camera Action…” is written by Rohit himself (based out of NYC) and Washington, DC based screenwriter-lyricist Amanda Sodhi. The film is slated to release in 2011, and stars Dipti Mehta (Red Corvette, It’s All Been Arranged, Victory), Shaheed K Woods, Noor Naghmi (The Sentinel, Khushboo), John Crann (The Nothing Man, Men’s Affair) and is supported by Subodh Batra and Prabha Batra among others.

Recently “Life! Camera Action...” won an “Award Of Merit—Feature Film 2010" at the The Indie Fest, a national film competition based out of California, and also won 4 awards at the Accolade Film Awards—Award of Excellence—Feature Film 2010, Award of Merit—Cinematography, Award of Merit—Dramatic Impact, and Award of Merit—Direction.