So a little bit about the event, which was also co-hosted by Circa and fashion maven Rachel Roy. The IFC Films release is based on the tragic romance novel Tess of the d'Urbevilles. Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) makes a splash in the film, playing eldest daughter, Trishna, in a poor family from Rajasthan, India. She meets Jay (played by Riz Ahmed - Four Lions), the son of a wealthy property developer who takes up managing the resort at his father's request. He swoons after meeting Trishna and hires her to work at the resort, slowly winning her affections. Eventually he wins her over, but things go awry and let's just leave it at that…
Pinto introduced the film Tuesday at IFC Center in downtown Manhattan, seemingly embarrassed after IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring told a quick story about his sons who called her 'the most beautiful woman in the world' when he told them she'd be at the screening. "I realized how embarrassing it is to listen to someone talk about you," Pinto said laughing as he came on stage. "Everyone knows how hard it is to get an indie film going. I learned from my first director [Danny Boyle] not to say too much about a film so not to raise expectations…"
Following the screening, the party carried on at roof-top nightspot Jimmy at the James Hotel, greeted by D'Usse Cognac. Guests included: Meg Ryan, Dana Delany, Zosia Mamet (Girls), Alex Karpovsky (Girls), Calvin Klein, Billy Connolly, Russell Simmons, Rachel Roy, Jess Weixler, Tom McCarthy, Carlos Leon, Drena DeNiro, Irina Pantaeva, Sante D’Orazio, Fern Mallis, Daniel Benedict, Genevieve Jones, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Bettina Zilkha, CIRCA co-founder, Chairman & CEO Chris Del Gatto, and Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir.