Mira Nair Film Festival leads up to a visit by internationally acclaimed film director

Mira Nair Film Festival leads up to a visit by internationally acclaimed film directorSeptember 20, 2005Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

The works of internationally acclaimed film writer, director and producer Mira Nair will be showcased during the upcoming Mira Nair Film Festival, part of the Syracuse Symposium 2005: Borders, hosted by The College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University.

Five of Nair’s films will be shown at SU in the two weeks leading up to her Oct. 6 visit to SU, during which she will speak at 7:30 p.m., in Grant Auditorium on the SU campus. Her visit is co-sponsored by U-Encounter, Kaleidoscope, the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the South Asia Center.

All showings will be held at 7 p.m. in Gifford Auditorium, located in Huntington Beard Crouse Hall, unless otherwise noted. Parking for all events is available in the Irving Avenue Garage. The film festival schedule is as follows:

• Sept. 26-“Salaam Bombay!” (1988), a narrative film that tells the story of a group of children surviving on the streets of Bombay, India;
• Sept. 27-“Mississippi Masala” (1991), the story of an Indian family expelled from Uganda in 1972 and now managing a motel in Mississippi. When the daughter falls in love with an African American man, two worlds collide and the memories of the expulsion are relived;
• Sept. 28-“Monsoon Wedding” (2001), a film that explores and celebrates the Punjabi culture through the telling of five interweaving stories in the four days and nights leading up to an elaborate, upper-class wedding;
• Sept. 29-“Hysterical Blindness” (2002), which follows two girls from New Jersey on their search for the perfect man; and “11’09’01-September 11” (2002), a short docudrama based on the Hamdani family in Queens,N.Y., and the son they lost on Sept. 11, who was at first falsely accused of being a terrorist and later recognized as a hero for helping to save victims at Ground Zero. These films will be shown in Kittredge Auditorium in Huntington Beard Crouse Hall at 7 p.m.; and
• Oct. 4-“Vanity Fair” (2004), an adaptation from the classic novel by William Makepeace Thackeray that explores numerous themes, such as love, seduction and sacrifice.

Nair was born in India and educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. She began her career as an actor and then turned to directing. Her debut feature film, “Salaam Bombay!”, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1988 for Best Foreign Language Film; it won the Camera D’Or for best first feature and the Prix du Publique at the Cannes Film Festival and 25 other international awards.

In the years since, Nair’s works have garnered numerous international awards. Following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Nair was one of 11 renowned filmmakers commissioned to direct a film that was 11 minutes, nine seconds and one frame long. Her film, “11’09’01,” is the true story of a mother’s search for her son.

Nair’s upcoming projects include several new films and an adaptation of “Monsoon Wedding” for Broadway. Her production company, Mirabai Films, has established an annual filmmaker’s laboratory, Maisha, dedicated to the support of visionary screenwriters and directors in East Africa and South Asia.

The Syracuse Symposium is a semester-long intellectual and artistic festival-hosted byThe College of Arts and Sciences at SU-that celebrates interdisciplinary thinking,imagination and creation. This year’s symposium will include lectures, performances,exhibits and other special events around the theme “Borders.” Throughout the semester,the University community will explore ways that borders-visible and invisible-impacthumankind in profound ways socially, politically, culturally, artistically, intellectuallyand personally. For more information on symposium events, visit http://symposium.syr.edu.