'DAM999' vies for Oscar qualification

Kochi, Oct 28 (IANS) 'DAM999', a film about the 1975 Banqiao dam disaster in China that killed around 250,000 people, will be screened at Laemmle Theatres in Los Angeles Oct 28-Nov 3 for the Academy Qualifying Run.

Produced by BizTV Network and directed by Keralite Sohan Roy, the film is slated for a nationwide 3D release in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and English Nov 25.

The multi-starrer international venture has an ensemble cast staring Rajit Kapur, Joshua Fredric Smith, Linda Arsenio, Jaala Pickering, Ashish Vidyarthi, Vinay Rai, Vimala Raman, Megha Burman, Gary Richardson and Jineet Rath.

'Dam 999' was made for $10 million.

Roy is a naval architect by profession and the film is an emotional thriller inspired by many real-life incidents.

The film is relevant for the state as Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the Mullaperiyar Dam built under an agreement signed in 1886 between the then maharaja of Travancore and the British administration.

While the dam is located in Kerala's Idukki district, it serves Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu has demanded that storage capacity of the dam be raised from 136 feet (41.5 m) to 142 feet (43 m) to meet the increasing demand of water for irrigation.

On the other hand, Kerala has been demanding a new dam, but Tamil Nadu is opposed to it and to break the deadlock a committee has been appointed by the Supreme Court find out issues including safety aspects of the Mullaperiyar Dam, raising water level as wells as Kerala's demand for a new dam.