Christina Marouda, IFFLA President

The indian Film festival of Los Angeles opened yesterday at the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood with the movie “ THE FAKIR OF VENICE “. The story is about a man who is tasked with finding a fakir – a holy man, known for performing feats of endurance, but instead he finds a poor man who buries himself in sand on the beach to collect money from passersby and tourists. Attendees of the opening night included, Anil Kapoor,Dr. Sunjay Gupta, Chris Kattan, Carl Weathers, Kunal Nayyar among others. Until Sunday, which is the closing night of the festival, indie films, Bollywood musicals, revealing documentaries, visually stunning animation, environmental films, and comedies will be featured at the Arclight.
Christina Marouda, IFFLA President and Founder, was born and grew up in the Greek island of Crete. Then she came to Los Angeles and …yes she created the Indian Film Festival, one of the most successful ethnic film festivals in the US.

For more info visit: www.indianfilmfestival.org

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The salute to Kapoor will include screenings of his classic films LAMHE (1991) and VIRASAT (1997) as well as the world premiere of the English language version of GANDHI, MY FATHER (2007). Kapoor produced the film, which explores the cost Mahatma Gandhi’s own family bore due to his efforts to free the nation of India.

Kapoor said, “I am thrilled to be a part of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and honored that they have chosen to include my work as an actor and producer. With the incredible success of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, the timing could not be better. I feel as though I have come full circle. In November, I attended the AFI FEST premiere of Slumdog Millionaire at the ArcLight Theatre. Now, some five months later, I am humbled and honored that my work as an actor and filmmaker has been chosen to receive such a fantastic tribute at the same venue.”

IFFLA Festival Director Christina Marouda who is originally from Greece said, “We couldn’t be more proud and excited to shine the spotlight on such striking and dynamic figures as Anil Kapoor and Dr. Kiran Bedi. Kapoor is an accomplished artist and ambassador for the Indian filmmaking community and Dr. Bedi is an absolute inspiration for women around the world. We are honored to place them both front and center at IFFLA this year.”

Hosted by Malibu Family Wines with Chakra Cuisine providing its celebrated authentic dishes reinventing classic Indian cuisine for the most sophisticated palate, the Closing Night Gala will feature a performance by Project Pulse, a Bay Area based performing arts company known for creating expressive sequences fusing Bollywood, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip-Hop, and Contemporary dance into their performances.

For further information on the Festival, please visit www.indianfilmfestival.org.

“This is our Tenth Year Anniversary and we’re going to celebrate the event in spectacular style,” enthuses Fest director Ted Pastras. “We’ll have a lot of show biz celebrities from Hollywood and people from all over Southern California coming to the Byzantine Latino Quarter to enjoy this event. Tom and Rita are great friends, and part of the Cathedral family, and they’re lending their star power to our festival so that the people of the Southland can appreciate all the fun & excitement of the Greek Islands – right here in the city of the angels.”

L A Magazine has recognized the L A GREEK FEST as one of the “must-see, must-do” September events in Los Angeles.  Because of its prominence in the community and singularly unique presentation format, Hollywood Celebrities and VIP dignitaries come from all over Los Angeles and the west coast to visit throughout the weekend.

The Fest and Cathedral are located at 1324  S. Normandie Ave., (corner of Pico and Normandie).  Free & secure parking will be available nearby and shuttle service will be offered continuously to satellite lots.  The Fest runs 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm on Friday Sept. 5;   Saturday Sept. 6,  1:00pm – 11:00 pm and Sunday Sept.7, 12 noon –10 p.m.   Admission is free to everyone on Friday night; and $5 for adults on Saturday and Sunday.  (Kids under 12 will be admitted free of charge all weekend long).

Terry Maratos

The independent television movement is taking Hollywood by storm with high quality post sound companies and now celebrities, too, jumping on board. James Cromwell stars and Executive Produces Hitfactor; John Leguizamo and Nick Cannon both lend their talents to the hip-hop theater documentary Something Out of Nothing and Jodie Sweetin stars in the dark comedy about suicide, Small Bits of Happiness. Even Jason Priestly, Emily Procter (CSI Miami), and French Stewart show off their independent wares as part of this year’s Indy television fare. Among this well known figures is also the Greek-American actor Terry Maratos and “Drived”, his new independent show. “Drived” is about the unpredictable life of being a chauffer in Los Angeles and what happens when people’s ambitions are thwarted by the realities they face. The first screening was today, Saturday, at 5pm at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 Theater at 8000 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood. There will also be another screening on the 6th at 9pm at the same location.

In addition to ITVFest’s Independent Pilot and Web series Competition, the festival also offers a variety of panels and discussions with iconic talents such as Marshall Herskovitz, Bob Odenkirk, Mike Scully (The Simpsons), Dan Sterling (Sarah Silverman Program) and Phil Lord & Chris Miller (How I Met Your Mother). Reps from New Wave Entertainment, Brillstein-Grey, ABC, Sci Fi and others will also be on hand.

About ITVFest

ITVFest is a non-profit organization with the mission of providing opportunities to people with television industry aspirations. ITVFest receives pilot submissions from around the world in comedy, drama, alternative (reality, game show, talk show, etc) documentary, web series and out-of-competition categories. By screening the official selections to a live audience, which includes ITVFest’s executive, advisory board and extensive network contacts, ITVFest provides a bridge to the inner workings of the television industry.