British movie "Mistress of Spices", which stars Aishwarya Rai, was screened as a special presentation.

Tilo (Aishwarya), a member of a secret clan of women, is the mistress of a spice shop in Oakland, California. She draws on ancient wisdom and measures out remedies to cure heartache, banish bad luck and rescue the wretched from life's wrong turns. The spices also represent tradition, which she is unable to leave for western attraction. The film is co-produced by Gurinder Chadha and Deepak Nayar.

There was "John and Jane", a documentary film by Ashim Ahluwalia.

Some of the works at the festival were by filmmakers of Indian origin but not of Indian theme. "Shopgirl" was one such film, directed by Anand Tucker, produced by Ashok Amritraj, Jon Jashni and Steve Martin. There was Udayan Prasad's "Opa", set in the sun-drenched Greek islands, and Renuka Jeyapalan's short film "Big Girl".

Other red carpet events in the festival included the world premieres of Guy Ritche's "Revolver" and Jackie Chan adventure "The Myth". It also had North American premiere of first-time director and Academy Award winning actor Tommy Lee Jone's "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada".

Action thriller "Edison" - starring Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman and Justin Timberlake (silver screen debut) - was scheduled for the closing night gala presentation as the final red carpet event of the festival.

Several prominent Hollywood stars were among the 500 filmmakers and actors who joined the prestigious festival. They included - Johnny Depp, Anthony Hopkins, Steve Martin, Tommy Lee Jones, Liza Minnelli, Madonna, Cameron Diaz, Helena Bonham Carter, Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron, Orlando Bloom and Heath Ledger.