Commemoration of the First Indian Cinema Seminar by AISFM and Northwestern University's School of Communication

Annapurna International School of Film + Media and Northwestern University's School of Communication Conduct the First 'Indian Cinema Seminar'.

Hyderabad, India, March 30, 2013: Annapurna International School of Film + Media (AISFM) and Northwestern University's School of Communication announced today the completion of the first Indian Cinema Seminar — a student and cultural exchange program conducted in Hyderabad, India.

As part of this activity, 27 students and faculty from the Northwestern University's School of Communication campuses at Evanston (USA) and Doha (Qatar) spent a week at AISFM in Hyderabad. The seminar began with site visits to important radio and TV stations and film production studios, and completed with a 48-hour filmmaking challenge. Five films were made collaboratively by Northwestern and AISFM students. The visit to India was the culmination of a subject offered by Northwestern University in which students studied Indian media and cinema, including Telugu and Hindi language films.

Speaking on the occasion Nagarjuna Akkineni, President of AISFM said, "We are excited to introduce our students and faculty to Northwestern University. Their School of Communication is consistently ranked as one of the very best in the world, and it has been an honor for our team to connect them with the Indian media industry."

In his address Chris Higgins, Vice President, AISFM said, "The Indian and US media industries are seeing increased cooperation though co-productions and corporate acquisitions. Communication and film students gain an enormous career advantage if their personal networks cover both India and the US. Programs like the Indian Cinema Seminar provide students with those connections.

Barbara O'Keefe, Dean — School of Communication, told the press, "A key ambition of the School of Communication is to prepare its students for leadership roles in the increasingly global film and media industries. AISFM is one of the few film and media schools in India that share our commitment to preparing students to succeed not simply as artisans and technicians, but as artistic and cultural leaders. This makes AISFM a great partner for us, and partnering with AISFM provides our faculty and students with an invaluable opportunity for cultural exchange and cross-cultural collaboration. So far the project has been a great success, and we are especially appreciative of the extraordinary support and engagement for this project provided by Nagarjuna Akkirieni and his family."