With its mission to help foster a new generation of filmmakers, the 11th annual New York Indian Film Festival has announced three partnerships with prestigious film schools in New York and India that will allow directors to have their stories reach a wider platform.  The oldest festival for Indian cinema in the United States will partner with award-winning filmmaker Subhash Ghai's Whistling Woods International, The Department of Cinema Studies at Tisch, NYU, and the New York Film Academy. Organized by the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), the festival will run from May 4 to May 8 in Manhattan.

Whistling Woods International in Mumbai, an institute for film, television, animation, and media arts, awards the top short films from its film students each year. These award-winning shorts will now travel to New York and screen at NYIFF each year allowing emerging filmmakers to reach audiences and industry professionals in the U.S. This year's line-up includes Incerto, Flip, Punha, Daily Soap, Kalapaani, and Uss Paar.

"I am thrilled about the association between the Mukta Arts group and the 11th annual New York Indian Film Festival," says Subhash Ghai, founder and chairman of Whistling Woods.  "In continuing our goals of proliferation of Indian cinematic culture, we are excited about the films we are presenting at the festival - both Noukadubi and the WWI award-winning short films," he adds.  "With Noukadubi, we have a masterpiece penned by a legend (Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore) and directed by veteran triple-National Award winner (Rituparno Ghosh) while at the other end we have first films made by the graduates of WWI in 2010. These graduates will be part of India's next generation of filmmakers and have commenced their filmmaking journey with these films. I am extremely happy to see the quality of their work. We hope that the audience at the 11th annual New York Indian Film Festival enjoys both Noukadubi & the WWI student short films. I look forward to a long association for myself, Mukta Arts & Whistling Woods with the festival. We hope we are able to send award-winning WWI shorts to the festival every year and that they are enjoyed by the audience."

For the last two years, NYIFF has teamed up with the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University with students of Professor Karl Bardosh creating one-minute cell phone films on themes at the film festival. This program will continue for a third year and Richard Allen, Professor of Cinema Studies at Tisch School of the Arts, will once again host post-screening discussions with key filmmakers during the five-day festival.

Allen states "The Department of Cinema Studies at Tisch, NYU, again looks forward to collaborating with the NYIFF in its cutting edge program of screenings and events which brings the best of the New Indian Cinema to New York City by staging a series of in-depth discussions with key directors and actors in the industry."

In addition, the New York Film Academy has offered a one-week scholarship valued at $1,575 for film study to an emerging filmmaker whose work will be screened at the film festival. "The New York Film Academy is proud to associate with the New York Indian Film Festival; we share a deep passion for film," remarks NYFA's Jack Newman. "The New York Film Academy has designed its programs on the philosophy of 'learning by doing.' In addition, it is our belief that a top-quality education in filmmaking, and acting should be accessible to anyone with the drive, passion and ambition to make films." More information on the New York Film Academy is available at http://www.nyfa.edu/.

By joining forces with Whistling Woods International, NYU, and NYFA, the 11th annual New York Indian Film Festival is reinforcing its dedication to not only established directors, but also to the bright and talented filmmakers of tomorrow.