Gurinder Chadha to Be Honored at New York Indian Film Festival

The New York Indian Film Festival will honor director Gurinder Chadha with a retrospective of her documentaries on the 20th anni of her “Bhaji on the Beach,” a story about Indian immigrants in the U.K. who take a day trip to Blackpool.

The “Bend It Like Beckham” helmer will be on hand as NYIFF presents, with Third World Newsreel, her docs “Acting Our Age,” “I’m British But …,” “A Nice Arrangement” and “What Do You Call an Indian Woman Who Is Funny.”

“Gurinder Chadha is one of three ‘Bhanji Brigade’ superstar diaspora women filmmakers – the other two being Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta – all three of whom have been honored for their talent by NYIFF in years past,” said Aroon Shivdasani, exec director of the Indo-American Arts Council, which organizes the festival.

“I have been a fan of Gurinder Chadha since I saw her ‘Bhaji on the Beach’ 20 years ago in New York City,” said fest director Aseem Chhabra. “Soon after I discovered her four documentaries, made while she was a journalist. In all of these works and her subsequent films, including the worldwide hit ‘Bend It Like Beckham,’ Gurinder explores the Asian Indian immigrant experiences in Britain, laced with humor, pathos and a lot of introspection. Her works are iconic representation that speak about immigration, living in the diaspora, and the meaning of loss. We are thrilled to be able to show ‘Bhaji’ and mark its very significant milestone and to have Gurinder with us to speak about her works.”

The will also host a day of industry panels from 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. May 9 discussing such topics as distribution, production and financing in a global market. In addition, NYU Tisch film students will present one-minute cell phone films that will be judged by a jury.

The 14th edition of the festival, running May 10-15, will announce its slate in the coming weeks.

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