Punjab meets Trinidad and Tobago at this year's Pravasi film festival, which has over 30 indo-global screenings in store

It's astonishing how NRI filmmakers seem much more interested in exploring unknown facets of Indian culture, while home-bred ones harp upon the same old drama that the country has always been associated with. The Pravasi Film Festival fans the former kind.

Om Puri and Sharmila Tagore in a still from Life Goes On

Ensemble participation

Participants in the festival include filmmakers like Deepa Mehta, Nasreen Munni Kabir, Sangeeta Dutta, Karan Razdan, Rahul Rawail among others. As far as film categories are concerned, they include Bollywood Cinema, Documentary, Short film, Windows to India, Full length film and Punjabi cinema. Apart from around 30 feature and non-feature flicks from the diaspora and India, there will be four panel discussions -- 'India on my mind', 'Indian Directors, Global spaces: finance, distribution and audiences', 'Filmmaking - a question of identity', and 'NRI films - Road ahead'.

Board-om

"The festival will include films from all across the world with places like Trinidad and even Punjab being the focus", says Anil Gupta, festival director. Some other salient features of the festival include discussion on the country Mauritius, Nasreen Munni Kabir's analogy of documentaries and a new wave of directors grabbing centrestage. Finally, awards will be given for the best feature film, the best documentary and the best short film.

Cut-n-keep schedule

Today

11 am onwards

Enfant Terrible
Synopsis: Calloway, an art collector, announces a u00a31 million competition for the most innovative work of art from his stable of young artists.

Three of Us
Synopsis: An non-sentimental observation of an ordinary day in the life of a family that is far from ordinary.

The President is coming
Synopsis: A satirical take on US president George Bush's visit to the country in 2006.

Bismillah of Benaras
Synopsis: Ustad Bismillah Khan comes alive.

Chandranile Chayakada
Synopsis: This Malyalai flick is about a tea shop on the moon!

Chilika Bank
Synopsis: In a canvas spread over four decades, a banyan tree, on the banks of the lake Chilika, silently whispers tales of the lake and her fisher folk.

Waterborne
Synopsis: The film delves into the fear of the 9/11 disaster.

Tomorrow

The inner world of Shahrukh Khan
Synopsis: Get to know your favourite Khan inside out.

Panel Discussion
1- 2 pm
Commerce of NRI Films
Karan Razdan / Rahul Rawail / Sanjay Singh

Krishna: History or Myth
Synopsis: The documentary explores the archaeological, astronomical, linguistic and oral evidences to prove the existence of the Mahabharata hero and debunk the myth theory.