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INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF LOS ANGELES TO CELEBRATE 10th ANNIVERSARY APRIL 10-15, 2012 AT ARCLIGHT HOLLYWOOD (LOS ANGELES, California – February 23, 2012) – The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) will host a bevy of special events to mark its 10th anniversary and during the annual film fest to be held April 10-15, 2012, at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. The six-day fest will once again bridge the gap between the two largest entertainment industries in the world, showcase over 40 films from or about Indian culture, host the highly anticipated gala events, bring back the wildly popular “Bollywood by Night” film section, and feature live music and dance performances. IFFLA will also host and honor leading South Asian entertainment industry executives, present its annual seminars day, and offer jury and audience choice awards. WHO: Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) WHAT: 10th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles featuring special events, over 40 fi...

GLOBAL FILM SERIES CELEBRATES ICONIC REEBOK CLASSICS WORKOUT There was a launch of a four-part film series celebrating the 25th anniversary of one of the sneaker world’s most iconic shoes – the Reebok Classics Workout Plus. As part of the anniversary celebration, the international Sportswear brand hooked up with 15 retailers from Europe to Asia to the USA to create 15 unique interpretations, melding the retailer’s inspirations with the inherent timeless style of the Workout. The shoes hit stores on February 15th – and in the run up, Reebok is releasing four short films that tell the inspiration story behind the Workout collaboration through Kicking off with the SNS collaboration film on Thursday 9th February. SNS x WORKOUT 25TH ANNIVERSARY: During a cold winter evening, the SNS x Workout is thrown into the depths of a foggy Swedish forest to hunt moose – only to find an aerobic workout with a very strange twist… check it out: http://reesha.re/snsvid CREDITS: Reebok Classics ...

Fab Fifty! LIVERPOOL is planning a very special 12 months to mark the biggest popular music phenomenon the world has ever seen. 2012 marks 50 years since The Beatles came together and to celebrate the pivotal anniversary of Liverpool’s favourite sons, there’s a year worth of events taking place across the city. The city council is joining forces with organisations across Liverpool to put together a programme of activities which pays tribute to four young lads who changed the music scene forever. The programme so far will be launched at a special event on Friday 24 February, at the venue where it all began - The Cavern Club. The announcement will come just hours after it has been launched at Carnegie Hall in New York during an event aimed at attracting American Beatles aficionados to Liverpool. Highlights include: Liverpool City Council • August will see the 20th Mathew Street Music Festival and Fringe which will be a huge celebration of all things Merseybeat. ...

The Associated Press to digitize vast video archive with CLEAR™ from Prime Focus Technologies MUMBAI, 22nd February, 2012 -- The Associated Press is working with Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) to digitize its unique video archive, making it available to a whole new audience across digital platforms. AP’s film and tape archive contains around 70,000 hours’ worth of footage, including more than 1.3 million global news and entertainment stories, in 16mm film and videotape, dating back to the beginning of the 20th Century. The project is part of AP’s multimillion-dollar upgrade to its video business which will see AP switch its entire newsgathering, production and distribution systems to HD to continue to meet the technical, editorial and business needs of its customers in the digital age. AP Director of International Archives Alwyn Lindsey said: “A legacy of being on the frontline of breaking news for more than 160 years is a fantastic archive. Ours is one of the finest visual docum...

Ministers from Ghana, Uganda, Sierra Leone and South Africa confirm their presence at E-Gov Africa 2012 in Gaborone, Botswana Gaborone, Botswana, February 22, 2012 -- Sheka Tarawalie, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication, Sierra Leone; Hon. Mninwa Johannes Mahlangu, Chairman of the National Council of Provinces of South Africa; Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, Ministry of Communications, Ghana and Hon. Baliddawa Edward of Ghana are among the officials from the Commonwealth who will lend their distinguished presence to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation's 6th Annual E-Gov Africa Forum 2012 hosted from March 5 to 7, 2012 by the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation in collaboration with national regulator and CTO Member, the Botswana Telecommunication Authority. The Vice President of Botswana, H E Mompati Merafhe, is expected to inaugurate the opening ceremony as the guest of honour at the state-of-the-art Gaborone International Convention Center together with Hon. ...

Gaborone Prepares for CTO's Flagship E-Gov Africa Gaborone, Botswana, 9 February – His Excellency Ltd. Gen. Mompati Merafhe, Vice President of the Republic of Botswana, has agreed to inaugurate the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation's 6th Annual E-Gov Africa Forum 2012 as a special guest of honour. Held under the patronage of the Republic of Botswana, the event will be hosted in the state-of-the-art Gaborone International Convention Center from March 5 to 7, 2012 by the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation in collaboration with national regulator and CTO Member, the Botswana Telecommunication Authority. Nonofo Molefhi, Minister of Transport and Communications will be present at the august gathering, together with Thato Raphaka, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry. Also in attendance are Thari Pheko, CEO of BTA, Paul Taylor, CEO of BTC and Alan Boshwaen, CEO, Botswana Innovation Hub. The speaker faculty includes high-level representatives...

Ajay Chhibber, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations, and Assistant Administrator and Director for Asia and the Pacific, UNDP and Bittu Sahgal, Founding Editor, Sanctuary Asia Monday, February 20th at 6:30 pm, Registration at 6:00pm Max Mueller Bhavan, K. Dubash Marg, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai RSVP asiasociety@asiasociety.org.in Asia Society Members- free, All others- Rs. 100 (free for press with a valid ID and pre-registration) Himalayan Meltdown is a documentary film co-produced by the UN Development Programme, Discovery Asia, and Arrowhead Films. The movie examines the human development impact of the glacial ice melt on communities in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal. It shows the plight of the affected countries and the ways they are adapting, adjusting and preparing for tomorrow’s inevitable changes in the Himalayan glaciers. It features innovative fog-catching in Nepal, man-made glaciers in India, views of life in the changing plateaus ...

Adele's '21' wins album of the year at Grammys Singer's 'Rolling in the Deep' nabs record of the year By Christopher Morris Adele The Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters Chris Brown Chris Brown Rihanna Rihanna The Beach Boys and Maroon 5's Adam Levine The Beach Boys and Maroon 5's Adam Levine Taylor Swift Taylor Swift Tony Bennett and Carrie Underwood Tony Bennett and Carrie Underwood Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Hudson Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt The Vegas oddsmakers were right: Adele was a sure thing at this year's Grammy Awards. Further cementing her nascent superstardom, the English singer swept all six of the categories she was nominated in at Sunday's Grammy Awards ceremonies, collecting album of the year honors for "21" and record and song of the year trophies for "Rolling in the Deep." Adele, who was named best new artist in 2009, is only the second artist in history to take all four ma...

Digital Broadcasting Ecosystem Links Up at DBSF 2012 in Johannesburg Vital links in the digital broadcasting ecosystem will hook up at The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO)'s Digital Broadcasting Switchover Forum 2012 from February 22 to 24 at Hotel Protea Balalaika in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa: Namibian broadcaster, Albertus Aochamub, Director-General, Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, will reveal his country's distinctive path to conversion from analogue to digital transmission Advisor to public broadcasters, Beth Thoren, Communications Director at Digital UK, will share her frontline experience with public information campaigns about switchover Satellite service provider, Nicholas Baravalle, VP Sales, Africa for SES, will showcase satellite as a medium to promote digital broadcasting Content creator, Desiree Markgraaff, co-chair of the Independent Producers Organisation of South Africa, will evaluate industry's readiness to ...

Rediff Online shoppers get a chance to go on a date with Amrita Rao , February 14th 2012, Mumbai: Rediff Deal Ho Jaye the daily deals service from Rediff.com offered its online shoppers an exciting opportunity this Valentine’s Day to go on a date with the charming bollywood actress, Amrita Rao. The winners were chosen in a lucky draw contest. Six lucky winners were selected from the seven metros, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. The winners went sailing in a luxury yacht with the charming actress off the coast of Mumbai on Valentine’s Day. For this event, Ms Amrita Rao wore a special dress made for her by celebrity designer Manali Jagtap especially for this occasion. Amrita Rao said, “It has been a memorable association with Rediff Deal Ho Jaye for this valentine day initiative. I would like to thank all my fans and shoppers who have enthusiastically participated in this contest and Rediff Deal Ho jaye for taking such a wonderful initiative.” Hars...

‘Jodi Breakers’ br/> ‘Jodi breakers’ is a cheeky wicked entertainer which takes a peek- a -boo into dysfunctional romantic relationships that eventually lead to breakups. Pairing the vivacious and exciting actors – Madhavan and Bipasha, together for the first time, the film also stars Milind Soman and Deepanita Sharma along with the ever –roguish Omi Vaidya and ever – charming Helen . The film has been shot in the scenic locales of Greece and Goa along with a considerable chunk on- sets in Mumbai. Sid ( R Madhavan ) is a break-up specialist ,helping wronged parties out of bad relationships .He guarantees a quick , uncumbersome, final freedom to his clients. A chance encounter with the sharp Sonali (Bipasha Basu ) takes his “business” to new levels. Both embark on a journey taking them through outrageous, hilarious cases that they solve with some wit and some vile… Till love happens .Unexpected twists and turns in a case, however, turn their world upside –down. Sid has a...

BLOOD MONEY KUNAL KADAM, the protagonist of the film, is an ambitious young man with dreams and aspirations reflective of young India. Having been orphaned at a tender age, he even delivered pizzas and worked part-time jobs to pay the college fees to complete his MBA. Being as ambitious as he is, he has always dreamt of working in the abroad and making it big there. Blood Money starts with Kunal bagging his dream job. TRINITY DIAMONDS has offered him a job in their Trading Dept., in return for a six-figure salary, a fancy house, a car and the opportunity to move to Cape Town, South Africa. Kunal jumps at the offer and knows that he is now on his way to realizing all his dreams! We cut to the exterior of a small nursery school in Madh Island. We see Kunal with a box of chocolates stand outside the nursery, which we learn is where Arzoo, his high school sweet heart, teaches. Arzoo, a nursery school teacher by profession, is the kind of girl every man would want to marry and take ho...

Three cheers to a successful and fruitful MIFF 2012- Johnson Thomas The hustle and bustle of a film festival is always a welcome change from the routine rigmarole of a hectic, unfullfilling city life. MIFF 2012 , is one such film festival where directors, technicians, actors, cinematographers, international delegates throng together in the hope of catching some invigorating fare. This premier documentary, short and animation festival of India threw up some interesting surprises along the way. Socially illuminating films, Interesting discussions, exhilarating tete-a-tetes, interviews and surprising events. Master classes with International directors, Open Forums to discuss the various trends within documentaries, Press conferences with filmmakers and much sought after parties, MIFF 2012 had them all. The events were also well attended by both delegates , press as well as celebrities from the world of Documentaries. The films were of course the most important part of MIFF 2012. Th...

FTII gearing itself up to face the digital challenge Mumbai / February 8, 2012 India’s premier film school Film and Television Institute of India is gearing itself for the digital challenge in film making. “A fortnight ago, Kodak has filed for bankruptcy and the writing is on the wall. Digital technology is the future and FTII is seized of the developments and restructuring accordingly” said D J Narain, Director of the Institute at a press conference in MIFF 2012 today. Mr Narain said a Group of Experts constituted by the Governing Council of FTII has prepared a Detailed Project Report for the Institute, laying down the path to be followed. As part of modernization plan, FTII proposes to have additional facilities in terms of introduction of new technologies, screening theatres, studio floors, classrooms and hostels for the existing and proposed new courses. At the same time, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting is also working on getting the FTII declared a ‘Centre of...

MIFF 2012 Interaction with Afghan filmmakers Javed Taiman, Alka Sadat and Mohammed Hassani Johnson Thomas Javed Taiman made his first film on women and children drug addicts in Afghanistan. The film has been to several festivals in the west and has earned quite a reputation. The topic surprised many because the West hitherto looked on Afghanistan as the conduit for drug trafficking. No one thought that Afghanistan would also be affected by this terrible problem. This film is now being showcased as one of the films made by several young Afghan filmmakers as part of the special Afghan package at MIFF 2012. In their interaction, Javed and his fellow filmmakers, spoke about the various difficulties they face while making films in Afghanistan. The present regime and it’s attitude towards documentary filmmakers came in for a fair bit of discussion. Javed, Alka and Mohammed are a trio of young filmmakers who have chosen to depict the true picture of a country torn b...

MIFF 2012 Interaction with Anand Patwardhan, Filmmaker, Jai Bhim oomrade- Documentary film Filmmaker Anand Patwardhan’s film on atrocities committed against Dalits throughout the country included the much talked about incidents like the Ramabai Ambedkar incident and the Khairlanji incident that garnered newsprint space right across the country(in real time). Anand’s film documents the history of these struggles and talks about the mindset that terms these events as leftist/maoist / anti-national sentiment , allowing the governments to overlook the real problem that these disadvantaged face in terms of livelihood and existence itself. During the interaction that was held on the following day, an erudite Anand Patwardhan fielded questions that labeled him as controversial and boring with quiet elan. In his defence he said, “ I make films that speak about the reality of the disadvantaged. It is possible that some people might not like to face the bald truth that my films depic...

PSBT films at MIFF 2012 explore diverse topics Mumbai / February 5, 2012 Public Service Broadcasting Trust, PSBT has more than a dozen film being screened in various categories of the Mumbai International Film Festival. Some of the important entries are - Sumit Khanna’s All Rise for Your Honour examines the issues concerning the judiciary in India. Bit of Both – the Disappearing Horizon examines how both Hindu and Muslim revivalist organizations are vying with each other to draw the Cheeta-Merat community of Rajasthan in to their fold. Umesh Agarwal’s Brokering News examines the menace of paid news and reinforces the need for media to look within. His other film Incurable India looks at the factors ailing Indian health system, besides tracing the nexus between the health care system and the powerful Eer.. Stories in Stone by Shri Prakash is an attempt to understand how the tribals have recorded, understood and and kept alive their histories with little access to the written w...

Brokering News : It’s time for media to look within 'Brokering News'— is a film by Umesh Agarwal that examines three aspects of paid news — how politicians pay for positive coverage during elections, how coverage and movie reviews are orchestrated and paid news about business and industry. “Brokering News’ looks into the charges of paid news that sent shivers down the fourth pillar of democracy but it seldom becomes a headline as a large section of the media doesn't seem eager to look within.” “During Maharashtra Assembly elections when three rival newspapers carried the same article on on the former chief minister of the state under different bylines without caring to clarify that it was an advertorial, it was clear that something was wrong” says Umesh Agarwal. The film also questions the ownership of the media where many news channels are owned by political parties and political families. Treaties struck between media houses and corporate empires are another aspect th...

Films from Afghanistan aim to present ‘real Afghanistan’ through insiders insights A 13 film special package from Afghanistan is one of the key attractions of MIFF 2012. As the curator of the Afghanistan package Ms Reena Mohan says “Afghanistan is the most reported but least understood region in the world.” The war at Afghanistan has ensured a heavy international media presence in that country, but the coverage and depiction is often ‘narrow and limited, with emphasis on conflict, opium and feuding tribes. A number of other documentaries made by non-Afghans show topics like cricket in Afghanistan or women playing football. Curator Reena Mohan says her main aim of putting together the Afghanistan package was to show to the world the depiction of ‘real Afghanistan’ through the eyes of Afghan film makers. The package aims to trace the differences in their way of representing and seeing their own country. It also explores the challenges faced by artistes in expressing their thou...

Need support for information films that make difference to our lives – Mike Pandey “A filmmaker’s role in the society is to share information, which brings about a change and that is what I constantly aspire to do through my films” said Mike Pandey addressing a press conference at the MIFF Media Centre in Mumbai, the day after he was honoured with the V Shantram Life Time Achievement award. “Documentary films are the backbone of a country and the Indian documentary film scene is now finally emerging after overcoming a stagnant period” said Pandey recounting his experiences as a veteran of informational films. Mr. Pandey said that the government has also realized the importance of documentary films and informed media that a half an hour documentary chunk has been made available on Doordarshan. He said these films need to be supported by the governments, people as well as media. Mr. Pandey informed that digital has opened a whole new vista of opportunities in film making and has b...

MIFF 2012 opens in Mumbai with a package of 101 best documentary and short films; Environmental film maker Mike Pandey honoured with V Shantaram Life time Achievement Award ; Mumbai : February 3, 2012 India’s veteran environmental film maker Mike Pandey has been honoured with the prestigious V Shantaram Life Time Achievement Award of the Mumbai International Film Festival – MIFF 2012. The award carries a citation, a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 5 lakhs. (Rs 500,000) Instituted in 1996 in memory of India’s foremost film maker V Shantaram, the Life Time Achievement Award aims to recognize the multi-faceted contributions of an Indian for the documentary film movement. The Award was presented to Mr. Mike Pandey by the Governor of Maharashtra, Mr. K Sankaranarayanan in the presence of Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Mr. Chaudhury Mohan Jathua, veteran film historian Ms. Vijaya Mulay and popular Marathi actor Ms. Amrutha Khanvilkar. MIFF 2012 –...

This weekend Celebrity Cricket league hits Vizag and this will be the final stop for the preliminary matches. All the six teams will be playing on 4th and 5th and the semifinal spots will be decided depending on the matches. The only team which has qualified for the semis is the Telugu warriors for now. With three wins and one tie in the four matches which they have played, they are on the top of the points table. The weekend will see a massive gathering of stars from all the industries and will have superstar Venkatesh, captain or Telugu warriors along with his full fledged team of actors Tharun, Sreekanth, Tarakratna and many more looking at a clean sweep. The glamour quotient is high on agenda and will see a huge list of actresses too present supporting their respective teams. Charmee, Lakshmi Rai, Madhuri Bhattacharya , Ria Sen, Kangana Ranaut, Amla Paul are just the few of the many actresses who will be present. The matches tobe played on 4th february are Kerala strikers vs Benga...