Washington hosts first South Asian film festival

Washington: The curtain came down on the first annual DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF) with the screening of Dev Anand`s ‘Hum Dono’, fully restored in colour. Attended by a host of celebrities from the Indian film industry, the June 1-3 festival sponsored by Ceasar Productions kicked off with an exclusive opening night red carpet gala featuring Shyam Benegal`s classic film, ‘Mammo’. Saturday night`s highlight was Deepti Naval`s directorial debut, `Do Paise ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane ki Baarish`. Other highlights of the weekend included a Shyam Bengal retrospective, acting and filmmaking workshops, short films directed by local artists, and the Washington, DC premiere of Indian American filmmaker Manan Singh Katohora`s Bollywood style thriller, ‘9 Eleven’. Besides Benegal others attending the festival included Ketan Mehta, Manisha Koirala, Rajit Kapur, and Suneil Anand. IANS