In Wednesday's iW BOT chart, indieWIRE inadvertantly didn't tabulate the weekend box office numbers for Maurizio Benazzo and Nick Day's self-distributed film, "Short-Cut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela." The film, which documents the pilgrimage by tens of millions of people every twelve years to India's holiest rivers, Ganges and Yamuna, scored the highest gross in the specialty releases during the MLK weekend. "Nirvana" grossed $12,127 on one screen, ahead of Miramax's "Les Choristes," which took in $23,239 on two screens for an $11,620 average.
"The most gratifying and rewarding thing is that audiences love it," said Benazzo and Day to iW Wednesday. "We have people cheering and applauding as the credits roll. Then, on the way out, people sign our mailing list, pick up posters and postcards and tell us they do whatever they can to help spread the word. And it is happening, because whenever we arrive in a new city, the word-of-mouth has arrived before us." The co-directors told iW they plan to roll out the film in the arthouse circuit. "We are working closely with Landmark Theatres and now have openings in all their cities across the country. Also, after a run of seven weeks at the Rafael Film Center in Marin County, art houses
everywhere are interested in booking the film. So we'll open in most major cities in the USA over the next three months while starting work on foreign
distribution."
"When we opened in Los Angeles on January 14, we made number one on the indy chart per screen and number two overall. Only Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby beat us! Not so bad for a little indie documentary about a spiritual festival in India."
Followers of religions which have their roots in India have been among the largest crowds to see the film, but others have been drawn as well. "Our audience are largely made up of people who are interested in Eastern traditions, such as vedanta and Buddhism, which means yoga practitioners (an estimated
18 million in the USA), supporters of the Dalai Lama, and the New Age community. Academics have been also been a great support, and several university professors have invited us to screen for their students. But there is a broader audience for this film as well.
