KAUFMAN - "Or cramming in sex, or car chases, or guns. Or characters learning profound life lessons. Or characters growing or characters changing or characters learning to like each other or characters overcoming obstacles to succeed in the end. Y'know ? Movie shit."
Kaufman is sweating like crazy now. Valerie is quiet for a moment - from "Adaptation".
We are all about CINEMA. That movie shit.
NOTHING is sacred.
NOBODY is spared.
Because we talk about films, dammit.
Not your sex life.
Films, fests, unsung, indies, undiscovered - all that and some fun. If you have dope on anything related to cinema or you would like to share something, do write to us at moifightclub@gmail.com.
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Tilt Shift Labs is organising its first ever certified workshop with National film award winning director Kamal Swaroop. The workshop titled ‘Grammar of Film Direction’ is a two-weekend intensive workshop for amateurs/students of cinema who are looking towards making a career in films.
– In two short weekends, students will be instructed on the basics of writing, directing, camera, and each student will write a short film project which will be guided and mentored by Kamal Swaroop.
– About the director:
Swaroop is a well acclaimed filmmaker and screenwriter. He graduated from Film and Television Institute of India in 1974, and later on did his postgraduate studies at the Institute. In 1982, he assisted Sir Richard Attenborough in the filming of Gandhi. His feature, Om-Dar-B- Dar (1988) is still considered a path breaking film, and it has a massive cult following among cinephiles.
Swaroop’s career, spanning 42 years, covers a broad range of films, channel promos for Channel V India, ads and Radio Spots. In 2014, he directed The Battle of Benaras, produced by Medient, and went on to release Tracing Phalke in 2015 for Films Division of India. Later on, he made Pushkar Puran (2016), and Atul (2016), based on the world renowned Dadaist artist Atul Dodiya.
Battle for Benaras premiered at Cinema Du Reel, Paris, while Atul premiered at the Cochin Biennale. He is currently working on a musical, Miss Palmolive All Night Cabaret and The Third Police Man, a metaphysical murder mystery.
Weekend I
Session I
Camera Angles
Scene, Shot & Sequence
Types Of Camera Angles: Objective, Subjective, Point-Of-View
Objective Camera Angles
Subjective Camera Angles
Subject Size
Subject Angle
Camera Height
Extreme Long Shot
Long Shot
Medium Shot
Typical Two Shots
Close-Up
Inserts
Descriptive Shots
High Angle
Low Angle
Angle Plus Angle
Dutch Angle
Selecting Area And Viewpoint
Other Angles
Weekend I
Session II
Continuity
Cinematic Time And Space
Filming The Action (Controlled And Uncontrolled)
Filming Techniques (Master Scene And Triple Take)
Screen Direction (Dynamic And Static)
Neutral Shots
Reverse Shots
Screen Travel
Pictorial Transitions (Fades, Dissolves And, Wipes)
Sound Transitions
Weekend II
Session I
Process Of Writing
Back Story
Internal Need
Inciting Incident
External Goal
Preparation
Opposition
Self Revelation
Obsession
Battle
Resolution
Weekend II
Session II
Process Of Writing
Discussing Individual Scripts
Story Boarding Process
Production Planning
The Need For Story-Telling
Visualization Strategies
Dramatic Strategies
Characterization Strategies
Dialogue Strategies
Melodrama, Docudrama, Hyperdrama
The Experimental Narrative
Well known cinematographer Shanker Raman makes his directorial debut with Gurgaon. Though Versova’s rumour mills suggest he might have ghost-directed one of the most acclaimed indies (insert wink-wink-nudge-nudge emoji). Produced by JAR Pictures, the film stars Akshay Oberoi, Ragini Khanna, Pankaj Tripathi, Aamir Bashir and Shalini Vatsa.
Here’s the official synopsis –
Kehri Singh, a real estate baron, runs his business ‘Preet Real Estate’ in his daughter’s name. She is his lucky charm and the apple of his eye. Kehri Singh’s oldest son Nikki Singh, is often side-lined by his father as a brash, insolent, good for nothing, who only brings bad luck. Driven by his need to pay off a large debt to a local bookie, Nikki Singh sets off a chilling chain of events, that unwittingly force his cold-blooded father to confront his buried past.
Gurgaon, is a cautionary tale that reminds us of the famous saying, what goes around, comes around.
It was selected at Work-In-Progress Lab of NFDC Film Bazaar in 2015, won the Prasad DI Award in the fiction feature category.
Most of us saw Lipstick Under My Burkha at last year’s Mumbai Film Festival (MFF). Since then, the film has been doing the fest rounds and winning accolades internationally. On home ground though, it has been the exactly opposite scene. Battle with CBFC went for long, and then the task to find a proper release and distribution partner. Ekta Kapoor came on-board and gave the much needed boost to make it look visible. The film is finally in theatres this friday.
Here’s our recco post on the film, written by Raj Kumari. It was written last year after the MFF screening.
No Male Rescuers
Lipstick Under My Burkha (LUMB) was one of the best films I saw at MAMI 2016 – a bold & honest take on female sexuality. All four protagonists are females (how often that happens in India?) so it can be easily said that it is about female sexuality but I felt at the deepest level it is not. And I am so happy about it being not so.
But still it shows the different perceptions about female sexuality in four different stages of a women’s life through four characters Rehana Saeed (a college girl), Leela (a young lady of so-called marriageable age), Shireen Aslam (a middle-aged married women) and Usha Bua ji (an elderly woman).
The film explores their desires, fantasies, and struggle to own their heartbreaks with such honesty and poignant sensitivity that it’s impossible not to see your own secrets in them.
And even after crossing so many slippery alleys of this topic of female sexuality and repression when it becomes very easy (and even cathartic) to take sides by providing a rescuer for these characters, this film allows itself not to take such a decisive stand and sticks to its POV of just being a witness. The film doesn’t rescue them, it just lets them be. The focus remains tight on the process of suppression only, and hence the core of sexuality comes out blazingly clear.
And what is it?
Sexuality is never about body. And more primarily about male or female body. It can not be. As it involves both male and female energies, whatever be the outer form of the body, male or female or any other gender. Sexuality is about being free, being open, being whole in your presence which generally manifests as being with your own body. And of course, this openness and freedom can come through wearing what you like, smoking, being explicitly exposing or demanding sex openly (some of the tropes repeatedly used/reinforced in our films to show a ‘liberated’ woman). But being sexually liberated is further about understanding that these are just few symbols of freedom against respective symbols of suppression. They ALONE are NOT freedom. Yes, they do serve till some deeper grounds of being open with the self is found. And the film attempts to take us to that depth too.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
It defines the core of freedom in the scene where Bua-ji owns her desires, and her ownership of them in front of all who used to respect her. She didn’t feel any shame, grudge or pity. She showed courage to assemble all of her torn, broken, humiliated self in her arms and took shelter in her bedroom calmly and with the same ownership. There were male oppressors but there was no male rescuer in the film, and this itself says how deeply mature the intent of the film is. I loved the film a little extra for this one golden aspect.
And in the last scene, how beautifully it showed that such a place of courage becomes a platform for all such courageous hearts to identify with their struggle. A platform to make mistakes, comparing your struggles with others, and finally seeing the commonality of self ownership as the final rescue.
Do watch it. And let us know what you thought about the film.
Ritesh Batra’s new film, Our Souls at Night, will have its world premiere at Venice International Film Festival in an out-of-competition slot. The film stars Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Both the actors will also be honored with Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement at the 74th edition of the fest.
Based on the novel by Kent Haruf and adapted for screen by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, Our Souls At Night is set in Colorado, and begins when Addie Moore (Fonda) pays an unexpected visit to a neighbor Louis Waters (Redford). Her husband died years ago, as did his wife, and in such a small town, they’d been neighbors for decades but had little contact. Netflix is launching the film globally next year. (via Deadline)
The fest will run from Aug. 30 till Sept. 9, 2017
The Song of Scorpions directed by Anup Singh, starring Irrfan Khan and Golshifteh Farahani will have its world première at Locarno Film Festival. The festival is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
The Song of Scorpions is a story of twisted love, revenge and the redemptive power of a song. Nooran, carefree and defiantly independent, is a tribal woman learning the ancient art of healing from her grandmother, a revered scorpion-singer. When Aadam, a camel trader in the Rajasthan desert, hears her sing, he falls desperately in love. But even before they can get to know each other better, Nooran is poisoned by a brutal treachery that sets her on a perilous journey to avenge herself and find her song.
The Locarno Film Festival runs from Aug. 2-12, 2017.
The National Film Development Corporation officially announces Call for Entries for the 11th Year of Filmbazaar Co-Production Market.
The Co-Production Market presents a list of curated projects to the national and international film professionals attending Film Bazaar.
– The Market kicks off with Open Pitch where participants present their projects through Video Pitches to an audience of investors, producers and financiers.
– The four days of the market are earmarked for one on one meetings specially scheduled for each project.
Over the years, the dedicated team has honed its skills for matching projects with the right delegates. Dedicated online and print catalogues consisting of all project details are available for Film Bazaar attendees interested in Co-Production Market projects. The market also conducts an orientation session to familiarize participants to Open Pitch as well as the working of the Co-Production Market and Film Bazaar.
– Full length fiction feature projects with South Asian themes are invited to apply.
– The Early Bird Deadline for submissions is July 5th, 2017.
– The Regular Deadline is August 7th 2017.
– The Extended Deadline is August 21st 2017.
– The Market will be held between 20 – 24th November, 2017 at Film Bazaar, Goa.
– For further queries, write to: coproduction@filmbazaarindia.com
– CPM Projects Over the Years:
Lipstick Under My Burkha (CPM 2013), Newton, Amit Masurkar (CPM 2015), Mantra, Nicholas Khargaonkar, Song of the Scorpions (Anup Singh CPM 2013), Beyond the Known World (Pan Nalin, CPM 2012), Lady of the Lake, Manto, Court, Chauthi Koot, Titli, Liar’s Dice, Arunoday, Highway,Television, Chauranga, Qissa, LSD, Paltadacho Munis, That girl with Yellow Boots, Anurag Kashyap Deool, Karma, Shanghai, Miss Lovely, Mumbai Cha Raja, As the River Flows, Shor in the City, 28.
– Some of the people who have attended the Co Production Market at Film Bazaar are Chedomir Kolar [ Producer No Man’s Land], Mustofa Sarwar Farooki [Director Television], Michael Werner [Fortissimo Films ], Chris Paton [San Sebastian Film Festival], Christian Jeune [Cannes Film Festival], Kristen Niehuus [Medien Board, Berlin-Brandenburg] Remi Burah [Arte France Cinema], Anurag Kashyap, Madhu Mantena, Manish Mundhra, Sooni Taraporewala, Sabiha Sumar [Director Khamosh Pani], Guneet Monga, Nandita Das, Govind Nihalani, Shyam Benegal, Pablo Bertolini [Venice Film Festival], Charles Tesson [Cemaine de la Crtique Cannes Film Festival], Aviva Silver [NEA cinema, Belgium], Anup Singh [Director Quissa],Catherine Dussart [Producer Chautih Koot France], Ramesh Sippy, Kabir Khan, Sheeladitya Bora, Marco Muller, [Beijing Film Festival], Benjamin Illos [Director’s Fortnight, Cannes]
Abhishek Verma’s 12-minute long animated film Maacher Jhol (The Fish Curry) has won the “City Of Annecy” Award at the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival. The award was started last year and was set up to support new filmmakers or films from emerging film markets, collaborative films or films that offer unique perspectives on the world we live in or the state of animation. It was selected in the “Perspectives” section of the fest. It also bagged the best short film award at the 8th Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival.
Here’s the fest synopsis of the film –
Lalit, 28, decides to come out to his parents. In order to reveal his sexuality, seeking acceptance, he cooks his father’s favourite fish curry. Will his dad love the delicious dish?
Click here to read an interview of the filmmaker. And here’s the film’s trailer –
It’s always difficult to write about a film when it comes back home with you as a very palpable emotion. The conflict is between whether to talk about the film (like a semi-review, talking about the great crew and cast, plot, motifs etc.) or the memories & insights it triggered. Since it’s a quick & short piece written in the middle of a very tight schedule, mainly to excite the reader enough to go and watch the film, I will stay somewhere in between – a bit clumsy but functional.
We all have been Shutu at some point of time in our lives. I know I have been, for many years. Bullied, ridiculed, misunderstood, misfit and still trying to smile lest I should be seen as ‘sissy’. Fitting into this world of men is a constant struggle for men even. It’s a game whose rules we laid on our own and still laid them so tough that now we are having a hard time catching up. Why did we do this to ourselves? Why we continue to do this – trying to check items off a laundry list to pretend that we have grown up (from a male perspective only)? Why do we want to grow up? Due to social pressure or survival mechanism – like preys turning into predator?
Konkona Sen Sharma’s directorial debut A Death In The Gunj takes one to such places – beautiful and uncomfortable – places where innocent nostalgia meets the darkest memories. Set in 1979, it’s about a Bengali family with a severe Raj-era hangover on a quaint holiday in Bihar’s (now Jharkhand’s) McCluskieganj – a place with an equally severe Raj-era hangover. The family has many people and egos, a bunch of well-adjusted, seemingly non-threatening abnormals. And the family has Shutu (Vikrant Massey in a role of a lifetime) – the younger brother broadly seen as a silent-introvert type. The constant clash between the two worlds – one inhabited by the family with its bikes & muttons & drinks & pranks & love-games, and another in which Shutu sits by the window sketching frogs in an old diary – scrapes the paints off both of them. The delicate locking mechanism that had kept them together starts wearing off and the moment of truth, or whatever the grown-up version of that is, comes closer and closer.
The only bridge between the two worlds is Shutu’s teenaged niece Tani – already bored of the games adults play & constantly fascinated by Shutu’s scientific-poetic lonely view of the world. It’s not a coincidence that the bridge is a female ‘cos this is a film deeply aware of its gender politics (and at a couple of places, class politics too). Men behave like boys-behaving-like-men, women behave like women-seen-through-men’s-eyes, as two conflicted souls (Shutu and Tani) clutch at straws while drowning in the waters of such rigid definitions.
As a fat teenaged kid in the 90s, I loved watching cricket and I wasn’t bad at playing it too but nobody would select me in the team. My fatness and my academic bent (the tag of “padhaaku”) were a liability nobody was willing to carry. Even if selected in the team (the last to be picked), I’d not get a chance to bat or bowl. So I’d put all my efforts into fielding well. I’d kill myself to get that throw from the boundary right.
But still, just to show I am cool with this treatment, I would offer to play the umpire. That way, I’d get to be on the field at least, get to hold the ball at the end of every over (just for a few seconds before I toss it to the next bowler), and be treated with respect by both the teams. I’d apply myself to the task & be the most unbiased, observant umpire. Sometimes, I’d get to play a few balls or bowl an over – and I believe that became possible only because of the bridges I made as an umpire. But in the process, I lost something precious too. I lost my courage to openly cry in public. I lost my feminine side, or at least suppressed it for the longest time, to fit into this world of men.
And that’s why, when in one scene Shutu is the last to be picked for a game of kabaddi, his state of mind was so relatable that I felt like crying. I did not, yet again.
For those looking for a quick list of reasons to watch (and watch you MUST):
Konkona Sen Sharma’s assured, sensitive debut as a Director. Ace!
Konkona Sen Sharma’s screenplay co-written with Disha Rindani (based on a short story by Mukul Sharma) is full of delightful dialogue & an eerie sense of impending doom.
Rich texture and detailing. Made on a small budget but NEVER looks like it. Sirsha Ray (DOP) and Sidhharth Sirohi (Production Design) bring their A-game to the table.
McCluskieganj’s wild charm has been captured so ethereally that you can smell the air, touch the greenery.
The film has four languages (English, Hindi, Bangla, and Chhota Nagpuri) and all spoken with a natural effortlessness rare to find in Indian cinema.
The brilliant original score and music by Sagar Desai (disclosure: I worked with him in ‘Ankhon Dekhi’) elevates and layers the film with great precision.
One of the best ensemble casts in recent memory – Ranvir Shorey, Kalki Koechlin, Tilottama Shome, Gulshan Devaiah, Jim Sarbh, Arya Sharma, Tanuja, and Om Puri (one of his last roles and what a delight he is!).
Such well-etched and distinct characters – right from Ranvir Shorey’s Vikram to Kalki’s Mimi to Tilottama’s Bonnie to Gulshan Devaiah’s Nandu – constantly chattering, surprising and layering the film with their brilliant mannerisms.
Vikrant Massey got the kind of role actors crave for and he hits it out of the park. Shutu is beautiful and heartbreaking.
Every department has delivered and the best thing is – the sum is way greater than the parts. Do not miss this film.
Qalandar* – A 35 year old man from a village in Punjab (India) has to learn riding a Bicycle to get closer to his fleeting dream. A dabbler by nature. Music, cinema and books interest him, and thus, make him a complete misfit in his village and family.
His age and intellect becomes his biggest roadblock in learning cycling and such a trivial pursuit becomes the chase of his life.
To live up to his name, he has to find his way or his way would find him.
What does it takes to shoot a Short Film? A device, which is in your hand most of the times. In my case, it is my first independent film, (Director/Producer) so its pure courage. And sometimes, courage is more important than talent.
The thought of Qalandar has been living inside me for quite a few years. There’s a whole charm of riding a bicycle and why it seems like magic, when you balance a bicycle. You are actually defeating gravity in a way. I myself learnt it quite late in my life. I remember my Uncle reacted to this story idea by quoting Albert Einstein. “Life is just like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
The whole genesis of this film originated from a thought of someone not being able to do something very basic and is too old to even attempt that. Something, which can define your existence and masculinity. For the milieu, it was always a friend’s, (Kulwinder Harshaai) home in Punjab, which came to my mind. I wanted to treat it like a feature film or my first step towards making a feature length film. One thing I was sure about that it has to be in the countryside, or it was my own aversion to cityscape which was also responsible for my location choice.
My friend Kulwinder Harshai, Creative Producer, apart from being my link to this village named Guruharsahai (in Ferozepur District of Punjab) is also the one on whom the protagonist of my story is based. This film wouldn’t have been possible without him. He just opened the doors of his home and heart, and let us all in! From locations, sets, actors, accommodation, food & country made liquor to music, vocals and the dialogues of the film.
Though an independent film but I approached every department from the feature’s perspective. I was lucky the first technician who I shared the script with, came on board as the cinematographer, and Mihir Desai also ended up becoming my Co-Producer. This has been the best casting of the film!
Now our main objective was how we are going to tell the story on screen. I wanted to explore Punjab beyond the clichés of pop culture like mustard fields, hospitality, handsome men, bhangra, food & flamboyance. The Punjab etched up in my mind did have all this but primarily it had a serene and placid feel to it, which I’ve attempted to capture in the visual narrative.
I myself a product of pop-culture but my biggest grouse with it is that it never exercises its power to propagate the hidden gems of any culture; and is only interested in ‘selling’ culture as commodity. The land of five rivers, including the part in Pakistan, has given us poets like Shiv Kumar Batalavi, Paash, Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhanvi to name a few. And, if we delve deeper into the history Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah and Guru Nanak. I’ve seen Batalwi & Paash’s books being sold at popular places like bus stations in Punjab but the pop-culture chooses not to mention it at all!
Film making is a collaborative art, I knew and had seen it in the best of professional set ups in Bombay. And it’s ‘magic’ too, I saw this happening every day. The way one by one whole village came together to make sure Qalandar moves! Dev Verma, my associate, ushered them all from our side incredibly – from recording sync sound to making sure we cover everything on time.
The villagers never said ‘no’! The most beautiful example of this collaboration is the scene, when Qalandar is pushing the bicycle uphill. This hill, which we all called “Dali’s Hill” was made accessible by villagers. I guess the ‘Spirit’ scored over logistics or it was simply Punjabiyat, as we all say back home!
Since the story idea was based on Kulwinder’s life I had decided to cast him only as Qalandar…But as I got into the pre-production I realized, thankfully, I could either burden his gentle shoulders as an actor or a creative producer, not both, and I chose the latter.
Siddharth Sen, a professional actor based in Bombay, came on board as Qalandar. Siddharth transformed into Qalandar effortlessly and his quiet charm warmed up all of Kulwinder’s family, who were part of the film’s main cast. Siddharth, a keen observer just absorbed everything around him and that reflects in the subtler nuances of the film. The reason for casting Kulwinder’s family was essentially budget and equally the fact that raw actors bring certain truth to their performances which technically correct ones may not be able to!
Working with all of them was absolute pleasure. I just had to share the gist of moment with them and often capture the magic, or was it truth? This film is a combination of good accidents also. Qalandar’s Chacha, who works in the fields as a supervisor is an 80 year old man. He was one actor who improvised and was cracking jokes off camera! A real Qalandar!
Somi, who plays Qalandar’s nephew and confidante in the film is a trained Physiotherapist in Faridkot, Punjab. His love for Alia Bhatt and social media has become a part of my narrative as well. How Somi came up with his own lines, which became dialogues of the film is also memorable!
We finally managed to finish Qalandar’s shoot in five days. The film was edited on my personal laptop “Macbook Pro” with the help of my editor, John Joseph, and it took me six months of post-production to finish the film, since, I was working on Aamir Khan’s Secret Superstar simultaneously as a Script Supervisor. Indirectly it was my assignment with Aamir Khan Productions, which made Qalandar see light of the day!
We had a 35 minute long first cut, which was brought to 26 minutes. Now we decided to abandon editing the film and finalizing it. Mandar Kamalapurkar (Sound Designer) brought a certain kind of finesse and texture to the film. Mandar’s expertise took the film to another level! He was patient and professional at the same time.
Finally there are few names, which still helped this film but I cannot define their role. Pallavi Pethkar (Poster Design), Collin D’cunha (Talent Sourcing), Mohit Sharma (Ambal Productions), Shipan Vyas (Vfx), Mahak Gupta (DI), Priyarth Mukherjee, Kedar Sonar and Kasbah Digital. My apologies to those who are in my heart but my brain fails to recall!
To live up to his name he has to find his way or his way would find him: We too are on our way, it seems!
– Rohit Sharma
Qalandar premieres for the world on 3rd May, 2017 at the New York Indian Film Festival, New York. So if you are in NY, do catch it.
Screening info:
3rd May 6:15pm
Village East Cinema, New York, New York.
(Qalandar was also Shortlisted in MAMI Film Festival, 2016 (Mumbai) under Large Shorts Category. Winner of Best Screenplay- Jury in Indian World Film Festival, 2017 (Hyderabad, India), Official Selection, New York Indian Film Festival 2017)
Cannes Film Festival has announced the official selection of shorts for the 70th edition of the festival. Payal Kapadia’s short film, Afternoon Clouds, has been selected for the Cinéfondation forum.
Payal is a third-year student of direction at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. Her 13-minute short film is among 16 films chosen, from among 2,600 works submitted this year.
Afternoon Clouds depicts a 60-year old widow, who lives with her Nepali maid, Malati. The entire movie revolves around a single afternoon in their house. This film features Usha Naik and Trimala Adhikari.
A jury presided over by Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu will decide the winners. The three Cinéfondation prizes will be awarded at a ceremony preceding the screening of the prize-winning films on Friday 26th May in the Buñuel Theatre.
The Film And Television Institute of India, Pune has introduced a new short course for television fiction. See the attached picture for all the basic details. And click here for more.
Weekend I 
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 