By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — If New York is the city that never sleeps, just how far would you have to fly to find the city that never wakes?
All the way to Islamabad — at least that's the answer offered by the movie "Slackistan," one of over 20 films on the slate of the South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF), opening Wednesday night in Chelsea.
The seven-year-old festival brings together feature films from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The opening night offering, "That Girl in the Yellow Boots," is a gritty tale of a girl's search for her father in the underbelly of Mumbai. Director Anurag Kashyap is part of an emerging group of Indian filmmakers who are moving beyond Bollywood troupes of effervescence, singing and dancing by tackling taboo topics such as sexuality, poverty and politics.
"In the last 10 years, we've seen an entire movement happen, not just in India, but with Indian filmmakers in New York and London and other places, that really want to tell stories in a different way," said Pooja Kohli, producer for the short film "Grant Street Shaving Company. "And there are audiences that want to see those stories and be a part of those stories."
Other highlights include centerpiece film "Paan Singh Tomar," a biopic about a famous athlete turned bandit, starring Irrfan Khan of "Slumdog Millionaire" fame, and "Gandu," an explicit coming of age saga. Political satire "With Love to Obama" is the story of an Indian American who loses everything during the great recession.
"I think it's really important to have things like the South Asian International Film Festival, especially in New York, which is this melting pot," said Prithi Gowda, director of the short film "Televisnu." "We need opportunities like this to have South Asian voices heard."
The South Asian International Film Festival will run at the Paris Theatre on W. 58th Street and the School of Visual Arts Theater in Chelsea through Tuesday, Nov. 2.
