UK SET FOR BIGGEST CELEBRATION OF SOUTH ASIAN FILMS
(30 January 2002)

The British Film Institute (bfi) is joining forces with more than fifty film and arts organisations for ImagineAsia, a nationwide festival of South Asian film starting in April 2002. The event runs concurrently with the 'Tongues on Fire' film festival that celebrates filmmaking by South Asian women, including notables like Mira Nair. She is, of course enjoying much success with her current film 'Monsoon Wedding', a story about a modern-day Delhi wedding.

As part of its commitment to Cultural Diversity, the Bfi's 'ImagineAsia' will see eight months of film screenings, festivals, exhibitions and special events. It will offer audiences a taste of cinema from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as well as films by British Asians. Added to the established film festivals like 'Bite the Mango' (September) and The Regus London Film Festival (November), UK Asians are set to see more Asian Cinema than ever before.

The project will include the world's first Indian cinema education pack for schools and colleges, as well as major seasons of films and talks at the National Film Theatre and other cinemas UK-wide. Eminent film personalities like Aamir Khan, Shyam Benegal, Shekhar Kapur and Meera Syal have agreed to be patrons of this event - the biggest season of South Asian films.

ImagineAsia's Project Leader, Cary Rajinder Sawhney said: "There is something for everyone in this pageant of cinema. ImagineAsia will include everything from profiles of some the world's greatest directors like Satyajit Ray, to the colourful, star-studded, spectacle of Bollywood."

A full programme of events and activities will be revealed in March. Click here to visit the Imagineasia website.