NEWS STORIES

In approximately one week Toronto, Canada will be lit with the stars of Kollywood in town for the annual Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA) conference. The 3-day event running from July 5 to July 7, now in its 25^th year, is being held outside of the United States for the first time, to cultivate the advancement of knowledge in Tamil language, literature & the arts. With a weekend full of programming including panel discussions and networking sessions amongst a diverse cross-section of Tamil professionals as well as film personalities the city will be chalk full of a higher-than-usual appreciation for all things related to Tamil culture & its rich history. This year’s convention is also specially dedicated to Thani Nayagam Adigal – a priest, scholar and ambassador who spent his life studying Tamil literature, establishing the International Association of Tamil Research.

FeTNA 2013’s youthful team has been working hard at organizing & promoting what promises to be an exciting lineup of events, many of which are taking place at Toronto’s renowned Sony Centre for Performing Arts. In a city with a population of over 100,000 Tamils there is no shortage of talented artists looking forward to performing at the prestigious convention; this includes a group of over 120 classical local dancers who will perform an adaptation of the 1944 novel ‘Sivagamiyin Sabatham’ choreographed by renowned instructor Madurai R. Muralidharan, who has been in Toronto for weeks now training the participants.Toronto is certainly looking forward to showcasing its abundance of performing talent.

Noted Kollywood stars and industry professionals expected to attend include legendary playback singer Mano, Sathya Prakash of Super Singer fame, Actor & Cinematographer Illavarasu, Oviya, comedian Robo Shankar, and actor/director/producer P. Samuthirakani. Toronto-Tamil filmmaker Lenin M. Sivam, who recently returned from a trip to the esteemed Shanghai International Film Festival, where his fifth film “A Gun and a Ring” was screened & nominated, will also be present. The award-winning Sri Lankan Tamil director has been gaining in popularity with his latest film, which has hopes to travel to additional international festivals this year.

Behindwoods will be present for all the star-studded fun and celebration of Tamil culture at FeTNA 2013 in Toronto, so stay tuned for our event coverage!