The Journey for Kolkata film festival in India began in 1995 when the first independent international film festival was inaugurated at Nandan-The West Bengal Film Centre. It was essentially the culmination of a sincere Film Society Movement which has its roots in the works of the master filmmakers of Kolkata like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak .
‘Nandan’ is the focal point of Kolkata Film Festival.
The Kolkata Film Festival, an accredited film festival of the International Federation of Film Producers Association, Paris has grown in stature over the years.
legendary film makers like Miguel Littin, Fernando Solanas, E. Subriela, Ali Ozgenturk, Amos Gitai, Krzysztof Zanussi, Catherine Breillat, Jeon Soo-il, Gus Van Sant, zafar panahi,Tehmina Milani and others have graced the Festival
Inaugural film: The Magicians (Hhet geheim) — Director: Joram Lürsen
Retrospective section : Japanese New wave filmmaker Shohei Imamura
Shohei Imamura is one of the more famous of the Japanese New Wave which was quite different from the French Nouvelle Vague.
Shohei Imamura was born in Tokyo. In 1958, Imamura made his first full length film, Stolen Desire
Films to be screened:
Stolen desire
Black Rain
Vengeance Is Mine
Zegen
Homage Section: — Tribute to Mani Kaul, Uttam Kumar,Ashok Kumar, Luchino Visconti, Chidananda Das Gupta.
Tribute to uttam kumar
Documentary renowned Actor Uttam kumar ‘Mahanayak – A Superstar’s Journey’ by swapan das is one of the main attraction.
Centenary Tribute—The fest is also screening Ashok Kumar starrer KISMET(1943) as a tribute to ‘Dadamoni’ on his Birth centenary .
Director Gyan Mukherjee will always be remembered for giving Bollywood its first blockbuster film ‘Kismet’.
Documentary ‘Luchino Visconti: Life as in a romance’ by Carlo Lizzani
On Filmmaker Luchino Visconti is a value addition to the fest
Luchino Visconti: Life as in a Romance— is the encounter with the world of one of the great directors of Italian cinema
Luchino Visconti – He is considered to be the master of Italian cinema for three decades after the Second World War. As an extremely talented screenplay writer, theatre and film director Visconti with his early films in the forties was one of those who laid the foundations of Italian neo-realist cinema
Films to be screened:
Rocco and His Brothers
The Leopard
The Innocent
uski roti (Mani Kaul) |
Mani Kaul (1942 – 2011) Basically a Kashmiri, Moni Kaul who was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan in 1944. He graduated from FTII where he was a student of the great Maestro Ritwik Kumar Ghatak. When he was twelve, an experience to see “Helen of Troy” (1955) changed and reshaped his life. Cinema became his first love. At FTII Pune initially interactions with Ghatak an letter his experiences of Bresson films completely overwhelmed him.
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Golden Jubilee Year section: Screenings
Films to be screened:–
Saptapadi– Director: Ajoy Kar
Ajay has shot over 80 features. He became director in ‘Sabhyasachi’. He made several films on classic Bengali literature.
Arghya– Director: Debaki Kumar Bose
Debaki Kumar Bose (1898-1971) Bengali and Hindi director
Arghya is a documentary on the caste system, based on four narrative poems by Tagore to celebrate the centenary of his birth.
Komal Gandhar—Director: Ritwik Kumar Ghatak |
Born in Dhaka, Ghatak directed his first feature film ‘Nagarik’(1953) which was released in 1977. He wrote many plays for IPTA and Group Theatre, his own theatre group. He made several short and documentary films. Ghatak passed away in 1976 in Calcutta.
Indian Select section : select Regional films
O Maria (Director: Rajendra Narayan Talak)
From his college days, Rajendra Narayan Talak has worked on several award winning plays. He has produced Konkani music cassette. He organize music concerts.He produced the Konkani telefilm Shitu, which won National Awards for Best Film and Best Direction and Antarnad which also won five National Awards. Presently he is the President of the Goan Organisation of Filmmakers.
Mee Sindhutai Sapkal (I am Sindhutai Sapkal) By Anant Mahadevan |
Anant Mahadevan is a director of Marathi and Hindi films and television serials in India.
Bettada Jeeva –Man of the Hills (P Sheshadri)
Sheshadri’s maiden effort as director of feature film Munnudi (A Preface) in the year 2000 was hailed as a landmark film. All his six films received National Award. He is the first Indian director to receive six consecutive National Awards.
Love You to Death (Rafeeq Ellias )
Rafeeq Ellias has shot four documentaries as a director, scriptwriter and cinematographer. His film won national and international awards; ‘Love You to Death’ is his debut feature film
Chitrasutram –The Image Threads (Director: Vipin Vijay )
Vipin Vijay graduated from Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute,Calcutta. In 2003, he received the Charles Wales Arts Award for research at the British Film Institute (BFI), London
Jetuka Pator –Dare,Enchanting, Challenging … The Life
Director: Jadumoni Dutta
Born in Dibrugarh, Assam, Jadumoni Dutta graduated in Geology and also a post-graduate diploma in Mass Communication.
Byari ( Director: Shri Suveeran)Shri is a three time recipient of the Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. After studying at the School of Drama, Trichur, he went on to graduate from the National School of Drama, Delhi. |
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Adaminte Makan Abu –Abu, Son of Adam (Director: Salim Ahmed)
Salim Ahamed is Commerce and a professional diploma holder in Travel and Tourism. He started his working life in the Airline and Travel Industry. For his passion, he joined ‘ Drama’ in Trichur.
Aadukalam—Arena (Director: Vetri Maaran )
Vetri Maaran graduated in English literature from Loyola College, Chennai.
Special screening section : Rang Rasiya (Ketan Mehta) –Three days
Ketan Mehta (born 1952) is an Indian film director, who has also directed documentaries and television serials. Born in Navsari in Gujarat, Ketan Mehta did his schooling from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Delhi and later graduated in ‘film direction’ from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune
Short Films section: Students
Birthday Gift (Director: Shyamal Karmakar)
Raju—(Director —Max Zähle) — German couple adopts an Indian orphan in Kolkata. When the child suddenly disappears they realize that they are part of the problem.
Thug Beram—Venkat S Amudhan is a final year student of SRFTI, Kolkata. He is specializing in Film Direction and Screenplay. Thung Beram is his first Short Film in 35mm. He has made 2 other short films and a short documentary.
Falling Awake ( Rayan demello)
Firoz’s life revolves around his work in the café. It is in this café that an event forms a part of Firoz. What happens in the end and who is at the receiving end is not as important as the impact it creates on Firoz as he witnesses life around him ‘lived’.
–Rayan is a final year student of SRFTI, Kolkata.
Germ (snehlal Nair) —This is a story of a boy who is afflicted by cancer and makes an album of black and white passport picture that he found as a child. His brother is a filmmaker and he sees this book. Inspired after watching the pictures, he begins to collect pictures of the metropolis where they live. |
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