'English Vinglish' is runners-up at Palm Springs International Film Festival

New Delhi: Gauri Shinde's 'English Vinglish' starring Sridevi is one of the runners-up of the Mercedes-Benz Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 24th Palm Springs International Film Festival, according to an official release on the festival's website.

Australian film 'The Sapphires', directed by Wayne Blair and based on the real-life story of an all-female Aboriginal singing group in 1960's that went from folk to soul with unexpected success won the Audience Award.

The other runners-up included: Allez, Eddy!(Belgium/ Luxembourg/The Netherlands); Any Day Now (USA); Emperor (Japan) starring Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones; The Hunt (Denmark); I Do (USA); Inuk (Greenland); the Academy Award nominated Best Foreign Language Films Kon-Tiki (Norway/UK) and A Royal Affair (Denmark); Still (Canada); and The Third Half.

Gauri Shinde's 'English Vinglish' starring Sridevi is one of the runners-up of the Mercedes-Benz Audience Award.

English Vinglish narrates the story of Shashi, a dedicated homemaker and devoted wife and mother. An accomplished cook, she sells her prized sweets out of her home. Yet because of her poor English, she is made to feel insecure by her husband and teenage daughter, and by society at large. When she is called to New York to help prepare her niece's wedding, Shashi overcomes her fear of travelling alone but is nevertheless overwhelmed.

Humiliated for not been able to order a cup of coffee properly, she secretly enrolls in an accelerated English class and quickly becomes a dedicated student.

Setting the stage for the year's film festival circuit, the 24th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) announced this year's award winners at a luncheon at Spencer's Restaurant on January 13, 2013.

The Festival, held from January 3-14, 2013, screened 182 films from 68 countries, including 42 of the 71 foreign language entries for this year's Academy Awards.

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