FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 7/31/2003

New York Independent Sets Sights on Indian Film

Sona Jain’s FOR REAL, an English language independent feature film set in New York, New Delhi and London, is set to go into production in October, 2003 as a co-production with Emerging Pictures. New York-based, Indian filmmaker, Jain, will write, produce and direct the film, and Emerging’s Ira Deutchman will come aboard as Executive Producer.

FOR REAL is the story of an upper-middle class Indian family, told through the eyes of their six-year-old daughter.  When Shruti’s mother returns from an unexpected, extended holiday, she is confronted by her daughter who believes she is an imposter. Ultimately Shruti’s vivid fantasy life is more insightful than anyone cares to admit.

The film stars Sarita Choudhury (“Mississippi Masala,” “Kamasutra,” “A Perfect Murder”) and Kay Kay Menon (“Bhopal Express,” “Paanch,” “Chhal,” “Mahatma Vs.Gandhi.”) The original soundtrack will be written by recording artist Zakir Hussain who is known for historic collaborations such as “Shakti” that he founded with John McLaughlin and L. Shankar; and the Grammy-winning “Planet Drum,” with Micky Hart. Hussain’s film scores include “Heat and Dust,” “Miss Beatty’s Children,” “In Custody,” and part of Bertolucci’s “Little Buddha” among others. He has also performed on the soundtracks of “Apocalypse Now” and “Apocalypse Now Redux.”

Sarita Choudhury said about FOR REAL, “I was at once drawn to FOR REAL. What seems to be a hauntingly simple family set-up, reveals itself to be a complex story of people caught between their daily reality vs. their dreams, their truth.  In Sona Jain’s scripted world, imagination is as valid as fact. So… what is real? As an actor, I will be playing a woman who is suddenly no longer recognized as the mother, professional or wife she once was. It is exactly this kind of challenge that made me want to be an actor in the first place.”

Deutchman said of the project, “With the success of films like “Bend it Like Beckham” and “Monsoon Wedding” it is clear that audiences in North America and around the world are drawn to universal stories that are set in exotic cultures and locations. FOR REAL delivers on both of those fronts, and we were immediately attracted to it. Sona’s passion for the project and the talent we’ve seen from her short film gives us confidence that FOR REAL will be a truly wonderful film.“

Writer/Director/Producer, Sona Jain received her filmmaking training at the graduate film program at New York University. Her short film, “Vasarma’s Lovers,” played at such festivals as BBC British Short Film Festival, Message-To-Man St. Petersburg Festival, Fukuoka International Festival, Philadelphia International Festival, Canadian International Festival (where it received a special commendation award) and more. The film is distributed worldwide by Hypnotic. Before turning to filmmaking, Jain was a published author of an Economics textbook at the age of 18, and is also currently developing a book of short stories, one of which inspired the script of FOR REAL.

Ira Deutchman has been making, marketing and distributing films for twenty-seven years, having worked on over 130 films including some of the most successful independent films of all time. He was one of the founders of Cinecom and later created Fine Line Features—two companies that were created from scratch and in their respective times, helped define the independent film business.

Currently Deutchman is President and CEO of Emerging Pictures, a New York-based film production and exhibition company.

About Emerging Pictures

Emerging Pictures is a vertically integrated motion picture company that is aggressively taking advantage of the revolution in digital technologies to transform the traditional processes of production, distribution and exhibition of filmed entertainment. The company is launching a network of digital theaters - EmergingCinemas - which will specialize in independent and international film programming. The company is equipping, with state of the art digital exhibition technology, existing venues at cultural centers, museums and restored movie palaces in markets that are currently under served by distributors of independent content. Emerging Pictures will supply its digital cinemas with feature films that are distributed by traditional film studios, films that are acquired at film markets and festivals as well as other unique sources of original programming.