Archive for the ‘cinema’ Category

Mumbai Film Festival, 2013 – Films we saw [Day 1]

Posted: October 19, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Film Festival, film review, reviews, World Cinema
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And we are also back with our daily fest diary. As long as our brains keep working after 5 back to back shows, we will try to do a post daily. Here’s Kartik Krishnan‘s to Day 1 wrap.

matterhorn

Matterhorn – a normal middle class devout time table wala Ram Gopal Bajaj (Andaz apna apna – Paresh Rawal) character’s life changes when he takes a mentally challenged drifter as a ‘flatmate’. Dealing with themes of ‘मोह’, church, conformity, redemption, cognitive disability, pity, homosexuality, relationships and a dash of black humor – this dramedy is crisply directed with minimal flab. The usage of BGM is particularly striking.

Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer – This documentary immediately reminded me of Ismat Manto Haazir hain & Howl (the brilliant film screened few years ago at MAMI). Bunch of girls perform anti establishment punk rock songs at the Sacred Cathedral in Moscow and the ‘orthodox’ residents are outraged – following which the administration slaps a case on them. And then we delve into the characters’ of the three girls and the courtroom drama that follows. Gandu-equivalent music (though with more political content), the girls claim they have not done anything blasphemous. Provocative, entertaining, subversive, satirical.

Blackfish – Docu on Killer whales exhibition and how the greed of Seaworld (no different from any of the conscience-less corporates ruling the roost we’ve seen before) led to the death of many trainers. The fondness & familiarity with which everyone talks about the ‘culprit’ whale – Tilakam almost makes this docu like a thriller with an unpredictable eccentric protagonist at the center. Candid videos of training gone wrong – there is a particularly chilling sequence with a trainer being forced entertain Tilakam’s ‘eccentric’ behaviour, and being dragged underwater for as long as 60 seconds – repeatedly.

Wajma – An Afghan Love Story – turned out exactly what the trailer promised. An Afghani Julie. Made with low budget & minimal production values, shot on HDV, candid shooting style. While the film lacked the ‘professional’ touch it had a lot of heart in it. The lead actress gave an arresting performance, and particularly the honor-beating scene stays in your memory more so perhaps due to the rawness of the film. Want to see more films from Afghanistan.

The Weight of Elephants – starts out on a promising note and a mis direction – I was wondering(hoping) perhaps it is going to go in Prisoners’ zone with kids gone missing. But this New Zealand film stays with the drifter protagonist – the young Adrian and his life in an around his school friends, next door neighbors and troubled home, and eventually becomes a coming of age film. The kids look so natural and impressive that their scenes alone tower over the nothingness which is so present in the film. Disappointing except for the lovely Kiwi locales and the Gulzar-ish/Masoom-ish kids.

Tales from an Organ Trade – This docu shot all over the eurasia, middle east, canada, thailand covers the complex nature of the Organ Trade, specifically the kidney racket. Why do slumdwellers in Manila happily become kidney donors for as little as 2000USD? How do the doctors performing such clandestine surgeries look at themselves in the mirror? Is only voluntary organ donation ethical ? What other option does a long suffering renal patient have if he/she has been waiting for 7-8 yrs for a ‘legal’ kidney? The docu puts forth these and many more important questions in an entertaining engaging manner.

The Armstrong Lie – This documentary focuses in detail on the confessions made by the cycling champ cancer survivor famous oprah interview. Slightly long and rambling, it turned out to be nevertheless an eye opener on the life of Lance (I must confess- knew little about him before this docu). How can one be so convincing as a liar for so many years ? Why is every genius a narcissistic aatm-mugdh asshole ? With lots of in depth interviews and candid conversations, this one really made my day. Another must watch.

Locke – Tom Hardy. Driving a car. One night in London. Travelling from one end of town to another. All the time on phone. The premise sounds like a thriller but it is a superlatively shot human drama about a man trying to face his demons. Doesn’t get repetitive despite being a single ‘setup’ film. Wish we could see a hindi film like this but which actor is confident and daring enough to pull off something like this ? I wish subtitles were there because the Brit accent sometimes flew over my head. Now I want to see the writer-director’s Humming bird.

– Kartik Krishnan

(PS – If you are wondering how KK managed to watch 8 films on one day, well, he did his homework well. Watched three films from #youknowwhere)

Amit Dutta’s Saatvin Sair to close Rome Fest’s CinemaXXI – official synopsis out

Posted: October 18, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Film Festival, Indie, News
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SS1

The Seventh Walk (Saatvin Sair) by Amit Dutta will be the closing film of CinemaXXI, the programme section which the Rome Film Festival (November 8-17, 2013) dedicates to new trends in international cinema. The latest film will be screened Out of Competition.

Dutta, who graduated with a degree in film directing in 2004, captured the attention of international critics early on, winning important acknowledgments for his short films, starting with the FIPRESCI award which he won in 2007 in Oberhausen for To Be Continued (Kramasha). Several of his works have also been screened in the most important museums in the world, including the Tate Modern in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In Saatvin Sair, he continues to explore a theme that has distinguished his production since the very beginning, the relationship between film, painting and music. In the film, Dutta tells the story of a wandering painter who heads into a forest after noticing a strange footprint and hearing a strange melody. This walk into the depths of nature will lead him to face his most intimate self.

SYNOPSIS

THE SEVENTH WALK / SAATVIN SAIR by Amit Dutta, India, 2013, 70’

The extraordinary landscape of the Kangra valley, which Amit Dutta had already filmed in Nainsukh (2010), is the setting once again for the latest film. But whereas Nainsukh was based on the artistic history of an XVIIIth century painter whose work was figurative, Saatvin Sair is inspired by the works of a contemporary Indian artist who paints abstract landscapes, giving free rein to the imagination, as is customary in the modern Western tradition (oil on canvas).

In the film, wandering through a forest a painter sees a mysterious footprint and hears the strains of music, which lead him deeper into nature in pursuit of its source, hoping that it might lead to his innermost seeking. As he wanders, he rests under a tree; in his sleep he sees himself walking, painting, stones defying gravity, a small girl taking the sky-route to deliver his daily fruit and milk, seasons changing and years passing. He wakes up and walks into the landscape made-up of his own paintings where the object of his quest might await him.

Amit Dutta

Born in Jammu (India) in 1977, he graduated in 2004 with a degree in film directing from the Film & Television Institute of India. Since the earliest days of his career, his films – in which he associates the painterly image with the cinematic image – have been acclaimed by critics and won many awards: four national prizes, including a “Rajat Kamal” and the National “John Abraham” Prize (Federation of Film Societies of India), the FIPRESCI (International Film Critics Award) at the Oberhausen Film Festival, the Golden Mikaldi in Bilbao, the Golden Conch at the Mumbai Festival. His first feature-length film, composed of three episodes, The Man’s Woman and Other Stories (Aadmi Ki Aurat Aur Anya Kahaniya, 2009), won the Special Jury Mention at the 66th Venice International Film Festival. In 2010, he made his second feature-length film, Nainsukh (2010), and in 2011 he filmed The Golden Bird (Sonchidi), all presented in Venice in the Orizzonti section. Dutta teaches at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad and at the Film & Television Institute of India. The Tate Modern and the Centre Pompidou have held screenings of several of his short films.

(from official release)

Hansal Mehta’s Shahid – देर लगती है, पर हो जाता है

Posted: October 18, 2013 by moifightclub in bollywood, cinema, film, film review, Indie, Movie Recco, movie reviews, Must Watch, reviews
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Hansal Mehta should celebrate his birthday today. After Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar in 2000, he has been making one forgettable film after another. Forgettable might be too polite to describe them. And then he makes a comeback with such a strong film that it grabs you by the throat, makes you sit down, and wonder if he really directed those forgettable ones. A rare achievement that few filmmakers manage to do – to pull themselves out of what can be called “Bro-Filmmaking-In-Bollywood”. This is nothing less than a rebirth.

Fatema Kagalwala tells you why you should not miss this one. Mehta’s Shahid goes straight into MFC’s “Must-Watch” list.

Shahid MFC2

You’ve heard about the film. You might have read the raving reviews too. Some of you have watched it. But the film gets its real glorious moment now. Theatrical release. It’s every film’s Holy Grail. It’s the child bride’s gauna. It’s a validation that matters more than awards at times. Especially for a film like Shahid. One that dares to speak about a man who dared to himself. Especially in our regressive, repressive, intolerant times.

For a long time, I kept pronouncing the title of the film as ‘Shaheed’ as in martyr. And isn’t it so true of the story and the man at the centre of it? You will find a number of reviews telling you how good the movie is. It is. Powerful and uncompromising with the truth. So I will quickly chart down the reasons of why I think (in no particular order) you must watch this movie –

Rajkumar Yadav – We all know he is a defining talent of our times. And so far we have seen him only in multi-character movies. He carries this film entirely on his shoulders and it is not an easy task to sustain. The film is a story of a hero but has an incredibly un-melodramatic and non-manipulative story-telling. It maintains a strongly unemotional, non-manipulative tone, satisfied to observe the characters fighting, losing and winning their battles. Any other actor (except Nawaz maybe) would be torn between trying to underplay the heroism and emphasise the man behind it all. Not Rajkumar. He finds it equally easy to portray vulnerability as he portrays stoicism.

Hansal Mehta – Every film-maker has his or her own journey and mostly it is tough. It rarely depends on how original or independent minded he is. It also rarely depends on his reasons for making the films he does. Hansal Mehta has had his own downward spirals but the important thing is he bounced back when most give up. With this. Fighting a hiatus and a creative bankruptcy (in his words) maybe tough, but fighting an unforgiving, unsympathetic system is much worse. Shahid was not a subject that would be easy to make in a socio-political-artistic environment like ours. But it got made and got made well. That alone deserves applause.

Realism – That elusive, enigmatic bitch that takes talent to realise onscreen. From sets to actors to screenplay to dialogues to costumes to direction to acting to everything else in between. Shahid comes so close to reality it could be yours and mine story. As a Muslim it is mine and well, it was very uncomfortable watching it play out like it did. It must have been uncomfortable for Mehta as well, to choose to include the gory, debasing insult he was subject to after he made Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar. It takes guts to make an effort to heal such wounds through artistic means.

Casting – Hansal Mehta gives complete credit for finding the right actors to his casting director Mukesh Chhabra. All that matters to us though is that Mohd Zeeshan Ayub brings alive the part of the protective, fatherly elder brother and Baljinder Kaur is so good as a Muslim woman I was shocked to learn she was a Punjabi. Prabhleen Sandhu as Mariam, Tigmanshu Dhulia as Maqbool Memon and Vipin Sharma are deft touches in a carefully created canvas.

Zero melodrama – How often do we get to watch films about heroes, about controversial material, about polarising issues, about our social reality that comes without a Dolby surround sound moralising or 3D level emotional manipulation? Shahid loses out on deifying its central character, it may have become a ‘My Name is Khan’ financially if it had done that. But the choice to go strictly biographical in structure, objective in tone and let the man’s journey speak about itself makes this film this decade’s Black Friday.

Muslim as humans – This is not a movie championing Muslim rights. Very few people understand that the right response to bigotry on the basis of racism and sexism is not deifying the identity or struggles of the ‘other’. The right response is to bring humanism into the equation to balance it. The film, just like its protagonist, with a rare perspicacity, speaks for Muslims as humans and not as a religious identity, and the distinction is very important. Especially at a time when we are simply revelling in bracketing people according to class, caste, gender, race, colour, community, geography with a ‘hey, let’s find more reasons to discriminate’ glee.  If the victimised community was Hindu, Sikh or Christian, the film’s viewpoint would have been the same. In our times of muddled philosophies, faux intellectualism and confused, twitterisque moralising, walking this fine line perfectly is refreshing and heartening.

Shahid Azmi – A victim, a trainee terrorist, an imprisoned accused, a lawyer and a crusader of human rights of the wrongly accused. He finished his college degree while in jail awaiting release and in career spanning seven years e had a remarkable 17 acquittals. It is a sign of our times that his end came the way it did. It is also a sign of our times that someone thought his story important enough to be told despite the evident dangers. There is hope.

We keep screaming, we need more movies like these. And now we have one. Go watch.

Mumbai Film Festival, 2013 – What to watch

Posted: October 17, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Film Festival, Movie Recco, Mumbai Film Festival
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The Great Beauty

It’s that time of the year again. Mumbai Film Festival is about to start and here’s our recco list for the fest.

At first glance this year’s selection doesn’t look as strong as last year’s. After much research and googling, here’ what we recommend.

MUST WATCH

1. Inside Llewyn Davis – Coen Brothers. Great reviews. New York’s folk music scene in the 60s. And a cat. Yes, a cat.

2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour – The film that the world is talking about. Bagged the Palme D’Or at Cannes, got unanimously superb reviews, the lead actors hate the director, and is in news for explicit lesbian sex scene. Plus, you can’t say the name of the director and both the lead actors name in one go. If you can, spot me at the fest and ask for a 5 star.

3. The Past – Asghar Farhadi’s latest one after The Separation. Not a clean winner like the last but still a solid film. Farhadi peels the story slowly as you keep wondering who is the culprit.

4. Mood Indigo – Michel Gondry goes on another fantastic visual journey. Everything is deliciously crazy in this one. Every frame is packed so much, you blink and you will miss some elements.

5. The Great Beauty – Peter Bradshaw initially gave it 4 stars and then made it full 5 after watching it again. He described it as a swooning love letter to Roman decadence, La Grande Bellezza is the Paolo Sorrentino’s greatest film yet. We trust what Unkle Peter says.

6. Ilo Ilo – brims with love, humor and heartbreak. 15 minutes standing ovation at Cannes (for real, not what Indian media says about desi films at every fest) and the prestigious Camera d’Or prize. TRAILER.

7. All Is Lost – One-man-stuck-in-one-place cinema. Chandor’s film has been getting great rave reviews since it premiered at Cannes. Robert Redford’s one man show.

8. Before Midnight – Linklater’s last film in the trilogy in which he blows up every notion of ideal love that he sets in the first two parts.

9. The Missing Picture – Won the Un Certain Regard prize at this year’s Cannes. This film uses handmade clay figurines and detailed dioramas to recount the ravages that Pol Pot’s regime visited upon the people of Cambodia following the communist victory in 1975.

10. Heli – Amat Escalante bagged the Best Director’s award at Cannes. Drugs, violence, corruption, and Mexican.

11. Parde (Close Curtain) – Panahi. Naam hi kaafi hai. It premiered at Berlin Fest. Panahi won the Silver Bear for Best Script. The film was shot secretly at Panahi’s own beachfront villa.

12. The Act Of Killing – One word – Terrific. Our previous recco post is here.

13. Fandry – If the film is as good as its soothing 30 second teaser, it should be fine. Looks like Shala redux. And just when we were wondering about it, Nikhil Mahajan, director of Pune 52, came to our rescue. He tweeted, straight up there with Vihir. An immensely, immensely powerful film.

14. Taak Jhaank (Sunglass) – Rituparno Ghosh’s film which is yet to get a release and we are not even sure when it will. “When she wears her sunglasses, Chitra can picture what the other person is thinking”, knowing that it’s Ghosh’s film, that line in the synopsis was suffice. Add to that the strong acting talents like Jaya Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah and Konkona Sen Sharma in the lead.

15. Katiyabaaz – The docu of a desi and unique superhero that you probably haven’t heard about. After Berlin, Tribeca and Berlin, it comes to Mumbai. The trailer is good enough to sell the film. Go here.

MOOD INDIGO

If you like to take a chance and experiment a little at film fests, this list is for you. These films can swing either way – from offbeat, non-mainstream and meditative to outrageously experimental. Go with some patience.

1. Halley – Contemporary Gothic story with an unusual twist. A disturbingly stylish and surrealistic drama, Sebastian Hofman’s impressive Halley is hard to define and very much a niche sale, but it could well attract critical support given its strangely compelling story, impressive performances and strange sense of the grotesque – SD. Got it? More – a zombie film without the horror of the zombies and, but its core story of physical decay and deathly illness would fit into any perverse horror film, with the film’s ‘hero’ essentially one of the walking dead. And TRAILER.

2. Matterhorn – Absurd Dry Humour. A strict old man has lost his wife and son. Gets an unexpcted guest. TRAILER

3. The Selfish Giant – The Telegraph gave it 5 stars and called it Clio Barnard’s brilliant, sour-scouring fable about growing up in Britain today. TRAILER.

4. Qissa – A film based on partition, in Punjabi, starring Irrfan and Tillotama Shome and Rasika Duggal and Tisca Chopra! I was already sold. And though it deals with partition in a more symbolic, metaphoric, allegorical way – I was moved immensely by it. Many friends had issues with the logic and amount of suspension of disbelief it demands (basic premise of a father who brings up his daughter as a son without letting anybody else know is a bit of a stretch, yes) – but it still managed to disturb and involve me probably because of the magic realism zone it enters in the 2nd half. And also because of Rasika and Tillotama’s terrific performances. Probably it’s only me but I think the film gives a solid theory on why Punjab has the maximum cases of female foeticide/infanticide. (Qissa won the NETPAC Award at TIFF) – Varun Grover’s recco post.

5. Stray Dogs (Jiayou) – Tsai Ming-Liang bagged the Grand Jury Prize at Venice Film Festival. TIFF described it as “Imbued with mystery, sly humour, and an enormous heart, the latest film from visionary director Tsai Ming-liang links together a series of sumptuously composed scenes that tell the story of a broken family living on the margins of Taipei society.”

6. A Touch Of Sin – Bagged the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes Film Festival. Based on four shocking true events that examines the current fabric of Chinese society. TRAILER

7. Tom At The Farm – That talented kid at the world cinema scene keeps on making movies. The latest one is on same tangent. Xavier Dolan’s film was in competition at Venice Fest. A grief-stricken young ad copywriter who visits his dead lover’s parents — only to get drawn into a savage game rooted in the rural family’s dark past.

8. Shield Of Straw – Takashi Miike’s latest one. Naam hi kaafi hai.

9. Faith Connections – Pan Nalin goes to Kumbh and gets all the exotic sights and sounds. Again, the Trailer is good enough to sell the film.

10. Locke – Another one-man-stuck-in-one-place cinema. This one belongs to Tom Hardy as he takes the driver’s seat. Premiered at Venice Fest. Minimal in approach.

11. For Those In Peril – The strikingly original maritime fable examines the aftermath of a fishing accident – THR. Mark Kermode has given it 4 stars. Was at Cannes Critics Week. Trailer is here.

12. Mamay Umeng – In a quaint provincial town, an elderly man awaits his inevitable fate – death. If you love posters, here. TRAILER.

13. The Voice of The Voiceless (La voz de los silenciados) – Seems scary and interesting. Based on a true story of a modern day slavery. Trailer.

14. The Strange Little Cat – Loosely inspired by Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, this enchanting, minimalist gem by first-time feature director Ramon Zurcher has won admiring comparisons to the work of such masters as Jacques Tati, Robert Bresson and Chantal Akerman – TIFF. Click here for its very strange and very funny trailer.

15. The Japanese Dog – A satisfying, unexpectedly upbeat film, superbly played, in which hope is always just about visible through the tragedy – THR. And trailer looks interesting. Gentle and charming.

50/50

And then there are few more which looks interesting. But either we are not completely sure how good they are, or they have  been getting mixed reactions.

1. The Rocket – It got Best debut film at Berlin and Audience Award at Tribeca. A kid is cursed for everything that goes wrong, and then he claims it all back. Rite-of-passage film

2. The Immigrant – The film has been getting some extreme reviews. But with Joaquin Phoenix and Marion Cotillard in the lead, hopefully they might be worth the time.

3. La jaula de oro – Powerful yet unsentimental thriller keeps audiences guessing as four Central American kids head to the U.S. by train – Variety. Was at Cannes Un certain regard. In Sin Nombre space.

4. Autumn Blood – Quiet. Serene. Young brother and sister in the mountains. And then things go wrong. Trailer

5. Liar’s Dice – Rajeev Ravi’s wife Geetu Mohandas goes behind the camera. About a young mother and her 3-year old daughter’s journey to find her missing husband. Has Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Geetanjali Thapa in the lead.

6. The Only Real Game – Heard about baseball in Manipur? No? Here you go. Aseem Chhabra’s column on this one.

7. Siddharth – Richie Mehta’s film was at Toronto and Venice. More about the film here.

8. Suleimani Keeda – Desi slacker comedy involving two bollywood screenwriters. More about it here.

9. The Armstrong Lie – What was Armstrong thinking? The film tries to tackle that million dollar question.

If you have seen anything interesting and would like to recco it, do let us know in the comments.

Kamal Swaroop and Amit Dutta’s films at Rome Fest

Posted: October 16, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Film Festival, Indie, News
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Rangbhoomi

Rome Film Festival has announced its first list of selection for this year. It includes two interesting films from India.

Rangbhoomi by Kamal Swaroop and The Seventh Walk (Saatvin Sair) by Amit Dutta have been selected in the CinemaXXI section of the fest.

I have always believed that Amit Dutta is country’s best experimental filmmaker who has a distinct strong powerful visual style. Though you will hardly get to read about him or his films in mainstream media, it’s heartening to know that he quietly keeps on making films.

The CinemaXXI section is dedicated to new trends in world cinema and will feature 16 Feature films, 6 Medium-length films and 13 Short films.

Kamal Swaroop’s Rangbhoomi is in competition in the CinemaXXI section of the festival. The film is based on the autobiographical play written by Dadasaheb Phalke, considered as the father of Indian cinema.

Amit Dutta’s The Seventh Walk will be the the closing film of CinemaXXI Section and is not in competitive section.

The festival will run from November 8 to 17, 2013.

UPDATED (26th Oct, 2013) – Rome Film Festival has added two more Indian films in its list.

– MAKARA by Prantik Basu, India, 2013, 20’ (World Premiere) in the Medium Length and Short Film Competition

– OM DAR BA DAR / I AM DOOR BY DOOR by Kamal Swaroop, India, 1988, 101’. Special Screening of the World Premiere of the restored version, on the occasion of the 100 Years of Indian Cinema.

Apart from these two films, Indian filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia will also be at the fest as Jury member on the CineMAXXI.

Mumbai Film Festival, 2013 – Date wise schedule

Posted: October 14, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival, News
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The schedule of this year’s Mumbai Film Festival is out. Click here to access it. But like every year the organisers didn’t release the date-wise schedule of the fest which is the best thing when you plan to watch movies all through the day. And so like every year, good ol’ Kartik Krishnan spent hours and did it for us.

Have embedded both the schedules on the post. You can download them from here. To directly donwload and in better format, click here for Metro and Liberty’s datewise schedule, and click here to get the Cinemax one. And say thanks to KK.

Metro and Liberty

IC: International Competition     ATC: Above The Cut    WC: World Cinema    IG: India Gold 2012    RDV: Rendez-vous with French Cinema    CSC: Celebration of Spanish Cinema    NF: New Faces    SC: Spotlight on Cambodia    CA: Celebrate Age    FIW: Film India Worldwide   TRR: The Real Reel    RC: Restored Classics    KF: Kabul Fresh 2013    NSC: New Spanish Cinema   LC: Leos Carax Films    CG: Costa Gavras

– Films Schedule is subject to change. Persons below 18 years are not allowed

– For the complete lineup of the fest, click here.

– To know more about the fest, click here for its FB page and click here for its Twitter account.

– For registration, you can go to its official website here.

Dylan Mohan Gray’s docu ‘Fire in the Blood’ gets limited release this friday

Posted: October 11, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Documentary, film, News
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FITB Pvr StandeeThe documentary film, Fire in the Blood, which was selected for the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, one of the most prestigious and competitive festival for independent films, is releasing today (Oct 11).

Directed by Punjabi-Irish filmmaker Dylan Mohan Gray, the doumentary is an intricate tale of ‘medicine, monopoly and malice’ and tells the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies and governments aggressively blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for the countries of Africa and the global south in the years after 1996 – causing ten million or more unnecessary deaths – and the improbable group of people who decided to fight back.

Shot on four continents with contributions from global figures such as Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu and Joseph Stiglitz, Fire in the Blood ultimately celebrates the remarkable coalition which came together to stop ‘the Crime of the Century’ and save million of lives in the process. The narration is done by Academy Award winner William Hurt.

The film is released by PVR Directors Rare in India.

INFO

To know more about the film, click here to go to its official website.

TRAILER

REVIEW

To read the review of the film by Mihir Fadnavis, click here.

SCHEDULE

FIRE IN THE BLOOD/ WEEK 1/ OCT 11-15

 
 

 
Delhi NCR

 

 
PVR Director’s Cut Vasant Kunj

6:20 PM

 
PVR Select Citywalk Saket

9:00 PM

 
DT Cinemas Saket

8:40 PM

 
DT Cinemas Vasant Kunj

8:50 PM

 
PVR MGF Mall Gurgaon

9:00 PM

 
 

 

 
Mumbai

 

 
PVR Juhu

6:00 PM

 
PVR Phoenix Mills Lower Parel

8:35 PM

10:45 PM
Cinemax Versova

6:30 PM

 
 

 

 
Bangalore

 

 
PVR Forum Mall Koramangala

10:00 PM

 
 

 

 
Pune

 

 
PVR Koregaon Park

5:35 PM

 
 

 

 
Kolkata

 

 
PVR Diamond Plaza Jessore Road

1:45 PM

 
 

 

 
Ahmedabad

 

 
PVR Acropolis Mall

4:50 PM

 
 

 

 
Releasing in Chennai on October 18

 

Call For Entries – Asia Society’s New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters

Posted: October 11, 2013 by moifightclub in Call For Entries, cinema, Screenwriting, writing
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WHAT : Asia Society India Centre announces the launch of the second edition of New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters (NVFS) 2013 – 2014, a programme to identify, encourage and support a group of six talented independent screenwriters to develop their feature film scripts with guidance from eminent filmmakers and screenwriters.

FELLOWSHIP

– Through an open application process, 12 writers from across India will be selected from among all the applicants and invited to attend the first workshop to be held in February 2014.

– At the end of the workshop, six of them will be selected to become Fellows of NVFS and enter the eight-month writing programme, in which they will take their stories all the way to a fully-developed script, under the regular and intensive guidance of their mentors.

– A second workshop will be held in May 2014, where writers will receive feedback from other mentors and their peers too. This edition of the Fellowship will conclude in September 2014, and the next edition will commence from 1 October, 2014.

– Each participating Fellow will receive:

  • A stipend of Rs. 2,00,000.
  • Regular guidance from the mentors who are eminent screenwriters and writer-directors over the eight-month long programme.
  • Two five-day-long intensive workshops conducted by Anjum Rajabali, with the active participation of mentors, advisors and other industry professionals.
  • Recommendations on how to approach production houses and studios, how to pitch, and other professional and legal aspects like contracts, copyright and safeguards.

DATES :  Applications will be accepted between 1 October – 15 December, 2013.

ELIGIBILITY : Indian Nationals residing in India, 18 years and above, are eligible to apply.

– There is no application fee. However, an incomplete application form without all the required documents will not be accepted.

– The fellowship is open to all Indian languages. However, all the submissions must be made in English or Hindi.

SCHEDULE

Open for Applications
1 October – 15 December, 2013

Announcement of 12 shortlisted finalists
1 February, 2014

First residential scriptwriting workshop in Khandala, Maharashtra
12 – 16 February, 2014

Interviews of 12 shortlisted finalists
17 February, 2014

Announcement of 6 Fellows
18 February, 2014

Second residential scriptwriting workshop in Khandala, Maharashtra
28 May – 1 June, 2014

Closing Ceremony
15 September, 2014

CONTACT

Asia Society India Centre
2nd Floor, Ramon House
HT Parekh Marg
169, Backbay Reclamation
Churchgate, Mumbai – 400020
Maharashtra

Email: fellowship@asiasociety.org.in

All queries will be duly answered. No phone calls, please.

– To know more about the rules, regulations, mentors, application form, click here. Please do read carefully.

Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar’s docu “Katiyabaaz” gets a new trailer

Posted: October 7, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Documentary, film, Film Festival, first look, Indie, Mumbai Film Festival, News, Story / Plot / Synopsis, Trailer
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Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar’s documentary Katiyabaaz (Powerless) was selected for Berlin and Tribeca Film Festival. The film will have its screening at this year’s Mumbai Film Festival. Ahead of the fest, it has got a new trailer. Have a look.

The song in the trailer is sung by Indian Ocean and is written by Varun Grover who is also a regular contributor to this blog.

About the film :

In Kanpur, India, Loha Singh is the local robin-hood, stealing electricity so that homes and businesses could function normally in the face of day-long power-cuts. Meanwhile, the first female chief of the electricity supply company has vowed to rid the town of illegal connections and increase supply. In a summer of crisis, sparks will fly.

Description :

Powerless is a documentary film about the electrical supply shortage in an industrial suburb of Kanpur, India. The story unfurls along miles of tangled copper wires which mirror the diabolical complexity which unfolds in several towns and cities across the country. A picture emerges of a modern dystopia encompassing urban decay and desperation due to the lack of electricity. Underlying the localized crisis in Kanpur is the glaring energy poverty in India, where a third of the population is often without power and the rest grapple with frequent power-cuts that dictate their own terms. Powerless points to the universal need for dependable electrical power while exploring this theme in one of the world’s most ascendant economies.

– To know more about the film, click here to go to its official website.

– To read the Hollywood Reporter’s review of the film from Berlin fest, click here.

Everything you always wanted to know about Alfonso Cuarón’s GRAVITY

Posted: October 7, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Everything you always wanted to know about, film, film review, Hollywood, Interview, Movie Recco, movie reviews, Must Watch, News, Technique, video, World Cinema
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Was I worried?” Cuarón says. “Yeah!” He and Lubezki would watch their footage, “and depending on the day, you’re just in a room laughing, like, What the heck are we doing? Chivo’s (Lubezki) favorite phrase was, ‘This is a disaster.’ Some days you’d just have bits and pieces of Sandra Bullock in a box, floating around, surrounded by robots with cameras and lights on them, and you’d think, This is going to be a disaster.

James Cameron said he was stunned, absolutely floored. He called it the best space photography ever done, best space film ever done, and it’s the movie he has been hungry to see for an awful long time.

Rian Johnson tweeted something more interesting…

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/385301804365279232

Michael Moore also pitched in and asked people to watch it in 3D.

Tarantino has already put it in his Top 10 of the year. And the best one comes from Edgar Wright.

SO WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT GRAVITY?

Well, watch it. To see, feel, float, and experience.

CuaronAnd it’s entirely possible that even after watching the film you might not get its brilliance – why and how. Twitter has made me realise that. And i am not going to try – argue and make you understand. There are many things that many pea-sized brains might not grasp and understand, and i have made peace with it. This post is for those who were blown by it. If you watch movies like i do, can bet that you will come back home and start googling about it. So i am going to make your life easy and putting all the best articles/features/videos on Cuaron and Gravity here. The links are divided into two parts – filmmaking and sci-fi.

FILMMAKING – How and Why

I have to say that I was a bit naïve; I thought making the film would be a lot simpler…

– Digital Trends has got an interesting feature titled “Before Alfonso Cuarón could make ‘Gravity,’ he had to overcome it”. It tells you all about the problems they faced and what they did to find new technology. Click here to read.

– Cuaron is known for his magical long uncut takes. And as we all know Gravity has some 17-minute long jaw-dropping opening sequence. Here’s a video essay on his “Cinematic Canvas”.

Has voice-over by Cuaron.

I’m going to tell you something, the reality is that the movie was so new that when we finished a shot we would get so excited people would scream on set—probably me before anybody else. There were moments when we were shooting and Alfonso said ‘cut’ we would all just jump and scream out of happiness because we’d achieved something that we knew was very special.

– The Credits have done a feature titled “One of the Greatest Cinematographers Ever: Gravity‘s Emmanuel Lubezki”. This one is an interview with Lubezki. Click here to read.

Both of them—along with a number of other Mexicans who would go on to achieve success in Hollywood—were expelled before graduation. “In Mexico, there are a lot of conspiracy theories” about why, Cuarón told me, “and I’m sure that a lot of them are true. The truth of the matter is that I think we were pains in the asses. We disagreed with the ways of the school.” He laughed. “Even if they had their reasons, we were right.

– Vulture has posted a great piece on Cuaron’s career and filmography. It’s titled “The Camera’s Cusp: Alfonso Cuarón Takes Filmmaking to a New Extreme With Gravity”, and this one is a must read. The story of “a Mexican auteur who’d just made a tiny foreign erotic ­comedy-drama being handed the biggest, most fantastical franchise in movie history.” Click here.

– Cuarón sat down with George Stroumboulopoulos to talk directing, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, and new voices in world cinema. This one is a funny interview.

Experiencing this film in 2-D is only getting about 20 percent of the experience of Gravity,” says Cuarón.

– The Daily Beast has also done a feature on Cuaron and his film. It took four and a half years to bring the magnificent 3-D film to the screen. The director retraces the journey for Marlow Stern, from Robert Downey Jr. and Angelina Jolie’s departures to creating the most groundbreaking cinematic voyage ever put to film. Click here to read it.

Still, it was a massive culture shock. “I had more toys to play with, but the crew was three times bigger than my Mexican film, with producers giving me notes, which I never had before.

– DGA has also covered Cuaron’s entire career – from Mexico to big Hollywood studios. Click here to read.

Did even this historically auteur-friendly studio (Kubrick, Eastwood, Nolan, et al.) wonder if they’d just gambled away $100 million on the most expensive avant-garde art movie ever made?

– Variety has done an interesting piece saying Gravity’ could be the world’s biggest avant-garde movie and drawn comparisons with Michael Snow’s films. Click here to read.

– And to know how the sound masters of ‘Gravity’ broke the rules to make noise in a vacuum, click here. Another must read.

SCI-FI – Science or Fiction

 From my perspective, this movie couldn’t have come at a better time to really stimulate the public. I was very, very impressed with it.

– The Hollywood Reporter has got Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, to review the film. Click here to read.

George Clooney’s character, in a rare and fleeting quiet moment says to Sandra’s character, “Beautiful, don’t you think?” And the scene is the sunrise in space. Hold on to that.

– The Time got another astronaut, Marsha Ivins, a veteran of five shuttle flights, with a total of 1,318 hours—or 55 days—in space, to review the film. Click here to read what she thought – how much is real and what all looked fake.

– And there are some rants too. If they can float, can’t they rant? Vanity Fair has put it all together. Click here.

– So how Realistic is the movie? The Atlantic has interviewed the film’s science advisor. Click here to read.

In India, the film has currently released only on IMAX 3D screens. It should be out in normal 3D screens from this friday. And do remember what Mister Moore said.

If you are in Mumbai, i would suggest you watch it at PVR IMAX screen in Lower Parel. No, they haven’t paid me. This is from my experience across various 3D screens in the city. The glasses at PVR, Lower Parel don’t make the screen dark. Also, they are bigger, better and light in weight. So if you already wear one set of glass, this is the best possible option. Rest, as they say, haath kangan and all that jazz.

If you have read or seen any interesting feature, interview, or video related to Gravity or Cuaron’s film, do post in the comments section.

– @cilemasnob

(ps – due apologies to Woody Allen for stealing half of his title for the post and even turning it into a category)

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