'Pi' leading actors Suraj Sharma, Adil Hussain and Shravanthi Sainath will be present at the red carpet and the gala screening
Dubai:
Oscar-winning filmmaker Ang Lee'sLife Of Pi, already a huge hit in India, will open the 9thedition of Dubai International Film Festival, which has aunique line-up of Indian films to celebrate the 100 years ofIndian cinema.
'Pi' leading actors Suraj Sharma, Adil Hussain andShravanthi Sainath will be present at the red carpet and thegala screening tonight. The 3D film, set in India and based onYann Martel's Booker-prize winning novel of the same name, hasbeen making waves internationally. Lee shot the film in Indiaand Taiwan.
"Life of Pi is a film that truly epitomizes the ethos ofDIFF's 'Bridging Cultures' mandate. Shot in India, Canada andTaiwan, the epic 3D adventure follows young Pi in abreathtaking debut performance by Suraj Sharma, who we arehonored to welcome to Dubai and the Festival...
"Suraj puts on a performance which brilliantly shows Pi'scourage, hope, fear, sorrow and jubilation, exposing hisincredible talent every second of his screen time.
"Life of Pi is a perfect multi-dimensional andmulti-cultural masterpiece to mark the opening of our ninthedition and we are delighted to have the film's stars walkingthe DIFF red carpet," DIFF Chairman Abdulhamid Juma said.
Suraj, who has been appreciated globally for his debutperformance as Pi, said, "Life of Pi is a universal storyabout surviving insurmountable odds and, combined with AngLee's amazing use of the cinematic medium and 3D will resonatewith audiences the world over.
"This is my first film but I am honoured to bring it,alongside my co-stars Adil Hussain and Shravanthi Sainath, toopen the Dubai International Film Festival."
A total of 158 films in 43 languages from 61 countrieshave been lined up for the festival, which runs till December16.
Like last year, the festival has a strong presence fromIndia with the special section 'Celebration of Indian Cinema'screening Hansal Mehta's Shahid, about the slain humanrights activist and lawyer Shahid Azmi; Quartet 1, a tributeto Rabindranath Tagore by Buddhadeb Dasgupta on the Bard's150th birth anniversary; actor-director Joy Mathew'sShutter, a Malayalam thriller film revolving around threeindividuals, a wandering film director, an expatriate from theGulf and a Kozhikodan auto driver; Bengali filmmaker KaushikGanguly's Shobdo (Sound), and Goutam Ghose's latest ventureZero Act. Children's film Gattu by director Rajan Khosa isscreening in the 'Cinema for Children' category.
This year has a wide variety of Indian films anddocumentaries competing at DIFF. Ashim Ahluwalia's MissLovely, already screened at Cannes and at TorontoInternational Film Festival, will be competing in the MuhrAsia Africa Feature section.
Set in Mumbai's "C" grade film industry, Miss Lovelyfollows the story of two brothers who produce sex horror filmsin the 1980s. Festivals favourite Ship of Theseus by AnandGandhi and Musa Syeed's Kashmir based love story Valley ofSaints are also part of Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature section.
Char... The No Man's Island by Sourav Sarangi andNishtha Jain's Gulabi Gang will compete in Muhr AsiaAfricaDocumentary section.
"This year we have the widest variety and type of Indianfilms that reflect the diversity of Indian cinema. It is ourway of celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema by showing thefull beauty of its cinema and talent," Dorothee Wenner, DIFFConsultant for Subcontinent programme, told PTI.
Celebrities expected on the red carpet tomorrow nightinclude: Academy Award-winning actress and Head of the Juryfor the IWC Filmmaker Award Cate Blanchett, Freida Pinto,Michael Apted and tennis star Ana Ivanovic. The opening redcarpet and ceremony of the festival will be telecast live onYouTube.
'Pi' leading actors Suraj Sharma, Adil Hussain andShravanthi Sainath will be present at the red carpet and thegala screening tonight. The 3D film, set in India and based onYann Martel's Booker-prize winning novel of the same name, hasbeen making waves internationally. Lee shot the film in Indiaand Taiwan.
"Life of Pi is a film that truly epitomizes the ethos ofDIFF's 'Bridging Cultures' mandate. Shot in India, Canada andTaiwan, the epic 3D adventure follows young Pi in abreathtaking debut performance by Suraj Sharma, who we arehonored to welcome to Dubai and the Festival...
"Suraj puts on a performance which brilliantly shows Pi'scourage, hope, fear, sorrow and jubilation, exposing hisincredible talent every second of his screen time.
"Life of Pi is a perfect multi-dimensional andmulti-cultural masterpiece to mark the opening of our ninthedition and we are delighted to have the film's stars walkingthe DIFF red carpet," DIFF Chairman Abdulhamid Juma said.
Suraj, who has been appreciated globally for his debutperformance as Pi, said, "Life of Pi is a universal storyabout surviving insurmountable odds and, combined with AngLee's amazing use of the cinematic medium and 3D will resonatewith audiences the world over.
"This is my first film but I am honoured to bring it,alongside my co-stars Adil Hussain and Shravanthi Sainath, toopen the Dubai International Film Festival."
A total of 158 films in 43 languages from 61 countrieshave been lined up for the festival, which runs till December16.
Like last year, the festival has a strong presence fromIndia with the special section 'Celebration of Indian Cinema'screening Hansal Mehta's Shahid, about the slain humanrights activist and lawyer Shahid Azmi; Quartet 1, a tributeto Rabindranath Tagore by Buddhadeb Dasgupta on the Bard's150th birth anniversary; actor-director Joy Mathew'sShutter, a Malayalam thriller film revolving around threeindividuals, a wandering film director, an expatriate from theGulf and a Kozhikodan auto driver; Bengali filmmaker KaushikGanguly's Shobdo (Sound), and Goutam Ghose's latest ventureZero Act. Children's film Gattu by director Rajan Khosa isscreening in the 'Cinema for Children' category.
This year has a wide variety of Indian films anddocumentaries competing at DIFF. Ashim Ahluwalia's MissLovely, already screened at Cannes and at TorontoInternational Film Festival, will be competing in the MuhrAsia Africa Feature section.
Set in Mumbai's "C" grade film industry, Miss Lovelyfollows the story of two brothers who produce sex horror filmsin the 1980s. Festivals favourite Ship of Theseus by AnandGandhi and Musa Syeed's Kashmir based love story Valley ofSaints are also part of Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature section.
Char... The No Man's Island by Sourav Sarangi andNishtha Jain's Gulabi Gang will compete in Muhr AsiaAfricaDocumentary section.
"This year we have the widest variety and type of Indianfilms that reflect the diversity of Indian cinema. It is ourway of celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema by showing thefull beauty of its cinema and talent," Dorothee Wenner, DIFFConsultant for Subcontinent programme, told PTI.
Celebrities expected on the red carpet tomorrow nightinclude: Academy Award-winning actress and Head of the Juryfor the IWC Filmmaker Award Cate Blanchett, Freida Pinto,Michael Apted and tennis star Ana Ivanovic. The opening redcarpet and ceremony of the festival will be telecast live onYouTube.
