The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Festival with Hollywood flavours

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Tuesday, Jun 23, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Festival with Hollywood flavours

Staff Reporter

— Photo: R. Ravindran

CELLULOID GALA: (From left) TTDC managing Director A.C. Mohandoss, U.S. Consul General Andrew T. Simkin, his wife Elizabeth Simkin, vice-chairman of ICAF S.Ve.Shekar, Chief of Consular Affairs, U.S. Consulate-General, Bryan Dalton, and TV anchor Rose Venkatesan of the ‘Oscars’ in Chennai on Monday.

CHENNAI: This will be a week to celebrate the creative richness and top talents of Hollywood. ‘The Oscars,’ a festival of American films that either won the Oscars or were nominated for the prestigious award, which got under way in the city on Monday, will bring the flavours of Hollywood. Five Oscar-nominated and Oscar-winning Hollywood movies will be screened as part of the festival at the Film Chamber Theatre.

Speaking at the inauguration of the festival, Chief of Consular Affairs, U.S. Consulate General, Bryan Dalton, said Hollywood movie “Milk,” one of the five to be screened, was a tastefully made tribute to Harvey Milk, whose life changed history. “Harvey Milk was the first gay man to be elected to a major public office, and his reforms gave a new lease of life to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender.” The film follows Milk’s powerful journey to inspire hope for equal rights during one of the toughest times in U.S. history.

Tamilnadu Tourism Development Corporation managing director A.C. Mohandoss said such film festivals would strengthen the ties between India and the U.S., the world’s two largest democracies which were also the world’s largest producers of films. “Only a free mind can be at its creative best. The two countries have made sure the talents of free minds are well utilised for entertaining and educating people.”

Television anchor Rose Venkatesan inaugurated the festival. Vice-chairman of Indo-Cine Appreciation Foundation S.Ve. Shekar and Consul-General, U.S. Consulate, Andrew T. Simkin, participated.

The festival is being organised by the U.S. Consulate-General and Indo-Cine Appreciation Foundation. The other movies to be screened are Angelina Jolie-starring “Changeling,” a story about a single mother whose son vanishes without a trace; “Frost/Nixon,” a film by Oscar-winning director Ron Howard on U.S. President Richard Nixon; Anne-Hathaway-starring “Rachel Getting Married;” and “Wall.E,” the animated feature film that won the Academy Award. The films will be screened at 6.30 p.m. every day till Friday.

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