what we are reading – EightandHalf
Echoes, the annual cultural festival of IIM Kozhikode, in association with filmmaker Shekhar Kapur had launched a short film making competition titled “I Love Paani”. We had posted about it here.
The filmmaker has picked his Top 3 favourite shorts, and has tweeted the reasons why he liked them. We are embedding the shorts below each tweet.
WHAT : NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab 2014 gives an opportunity to six independent screenwriters to develop their skill under the guidance of a variety of industry experts from across the globe. Through one-on-one sessions with their Mentors, the Screenwriter Fellows are advised on tools and techniques required to improve their scripts and methods to pitch the same in the international domain.
WHY : The Screenwriters’ Lab is specially re-designed to prepare screenwriters with original Indian stories for working with the international filmmaking market.
– The Screenwriters’ Lab also creates a unique opportunity for these scripts to gain a direct entry to the Film Bazaar Co-Production Market.
– This two stage script development lab, now in it’s 7th Edition delivers intensive coaching tailored to the precise needs of each writer and project selected for development.
– Screenwriters bring to the lab a script in development to be part of an in-depth group and one to one creative discourse. From session one of the lab at Sarajevo Film Festival, international industry knowledge and sessions with renowned, award winning mentors will prepare the writers to present their projects during NFDC’s Film Bazaar in Goa.
Submission Requirements : 2 page synopsis
- You will have two months to submit the screenplay if short listed.
Session 1 :
Will be held in Sarajevo, during the 2014 Film Festival. August 15 -23, 2014
Session 2 :
Will be held in Goa, prior to and during the Film Bazaar, 21 – 24 November, 2014
DEADLINE : 5th March, 2014
DETAILS : To know more about the lab, rules and regulations, how to submit, click here.
So far we have been hearing about Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawala starrer Gulaab Gang directed by Soumik Sen. And now, there’s a twist in the tale. A documentary film titled Gulabi Gang by Nishtha Jain is all set to release before the Bollywood feature. Interestingly, both the films explore the same subject. Our guess is the bollywood film will have much more to it than just the story of Sampat Pal and her Gulabi Gang.
Gulaab Gang is set to release on 7th March, 2014. And PVR Cinemas is releasing the documentary Gulabi Gang on 21st February. Its presented by Sohum Shah, actor-producer of Ship Of Theseus. The film has been doing the festival rounds for quite some time. It also won the Best Director Award in the International Competition section of the recently concluded Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) of Shorts, Docus and Animation.
Here’s the trailer of the film –
With the comparisons being made, recently Nishtha clarified few things on her FB post. We are copy-pasting it here –
I’m dismayed and partially amused with a lot of wrong reporting in the print and audio-visual media about my views on the Bollywood film Gulaab Gang, about my own film and it’s theatrical release. I guess I should have expected that nuances will get lost but some of the stuff the media has been putting in my mouth is blatant lies. I just want to clarify that:
1. I have not given the name Gulabi Gang to this group of women. They have been working in Bundelkhand since 2006 under this banner. I’ve only made a documentary about their work. This is not the first or the last film on them. There have been many before and I’m sure there’ll be more. And Budelkhand is not a village it’s a linguistic region of UP and MP.
2. Also I’ve never said that the Bollywood film Gulaab Gang is based on my film. I’ve not seen the film, only their trailer. The makers of Gulaab Gang didn’t need to take permission from me but from the real group called Gulabi Gang for using their name, concept etc.
3. I have never said that mine is the first documentary to be released in India, there have been many before.
4. I have never said my film is entertaining. Yes it is in parts but the words I have been using are engaging, engrossing, disturbing, grey, complex etc. Maybe in common parlance that makes the film entertaining.
5. And this quote which is being curculated bereft of it’s original context “I’m not an ‘activist-filmmaker’. Nor am I ‘woman-filmmaker”. This is what I had said in answer to the question by Dear Cinema:
Dear Cinema: In India, most documentary filmmakers are also activists in their own right. How do you see yourself in that light?
Nishtha Jain: I’m not an ‘activist-filmmaker’. Nor am I ‘woman-filmmaker’. I don’t like all these labels. I’m a filmmaker, a feminist and when the need arises, an activist. My films grow out of my world view and interests.
– To know more about Gulabi Gang, click here.
– To read Nishtha Jain’s interview on the film, click here.
Avinash Arun’s directorial debut, the Marathi feature film Killa (The Fort) will have its world premiere at the upcoming Berlinal International Film Festival. The fest runs from February 6-16, 2014.
The film is selected in the Generation Kplus competitive category. IT stars Amruta Subhash, Archit Deodhar, Parth Bhalerao and Shrikant Yadav. Avinash has also shot the film.
Official Synopsis
Killa deals with the universal conflict of migration, and how it impacts the lives of people, especially children. The story revolves around a young boy Chinu who finds it difficult to adjust to his new surroundings where he has migrated to, after his father’s death. But gradually he makes new friends and gains more confidence.
Produced by Madhukar R Musle, Ajay G Rai, Alan McAlex under the banner, Jar Pictures and presented by M R Filmworks, the film was a part of NFDC Film Bazaar’s Work-in-Progress (WIP) Lab in 2013.
There are few other Indian films at this edition of Berlin Fest. Gaurav Saxena’s Rangzen will also have its world premiere in Generation Kplus. Imtiaz Ali’s Highway and Papilio Buddha (India/USA) directed by Jayan Cherian will be screened in the Panorama section. Lajwanti (The Honour Keeper) directed by Pushpendra Singh has been selected for Berlinale Forum which is for avant garde, experimental works, essays, long-term observations, political reportage and yet-to-be-discovered cinematic landscapes. Also, Berlinale Talent Campus has selected 3 Indians – Producer Sanjay Shah, documentary filmmaker Nishtha Jain and director/screenwriter Dipesh Jain. More details here.
Initially it was the title of the film that made us curious. And strangely, nobody knew the meaning because though it seems like a Marathi word, it isn’t. And then we saw the film at Mumbai Film Festival and loved it. It even featured in our best scenes of the year list.
The film has been written and directed by Nagraj Manjule. The makers have just released the official first trailer of the film. It perfectly captures the mood and the essence of the film. Have a look. And thankfully, it’s with English subtitles.
Official Synopsis
A mesmeric force pulls Jabya onto the other side. The rarest of rare Black Sparrow, he is told, is the cure to his problem. The hypnotic spell of the sparrow makes him wander relentlessly. Completely away from the magical world of Jabya, exists the callous reality of his parents who are working at the most oppressed level of the Indian Class Structure and assume him to do the same work which they have done all their life. The protagonist Jabya has to now struggle between his quest to find the magical sparrow and his parents’ expectations. Will Jabya be successful in his pursuit of the Black Sparrow? Will the magnetic power surpass the class differences between Jabya and Shalu created by centuries of customs.? Will Jabya break the fences and pass onto the other side?
Cast & Crew
Studio – Navalakha Arts and Holy Basil Combine
Director – Nagraj Manjule
Writer – Nagraj Manjule
Screenplay – Nagraj Manjule
Music – Alokananda Dasgupta
Producer – Nilesh Navalakha and Vivek Kajaria
Cast – Kishor Kadam, Chhaya Kadam, Somnath Avghade, Suraj Pawar, Rajshree Kharat,
Sakshi Vyavhare, Aishvarya Shinde, Pravin Tarde, Bhushan Manjule, Nagraj Manjule
– Click here to read our review note from MFF.
– Click here to read Varun Grover and Kushan Nandy’s take on their favourite scenes of the year, both from Fandry.
– Click here to visit film’s official FB page.
And do watch it. It’s releasing on 14h Feb.
NFDC has announced the final list of applicants who have been selected for the Directors Lab. More details about the Lab is here.
– And here’s the list of Selected Finalists/Directors –
1. Sadik Ahmed – 7 Stages
2. Vasant Nath – Sebastian wants to Remember
3. Geetha J – A Certain Slant of Light
4. Prabhijit Dhamija – I’m Not There!
5. Kiran Waval – Tada (Crack)
6. Anoop Mathew – Roach
7. Shazia Iqbal – ME vs RAY
8. Amit Agarwal – Ek Lambi Surang (The Long Tunnel)
9. Harsh Narayan – Ye Pyar Na Hoga Kam
10. Vidyasagar Adhyapak – Chitpat
11. Aditya Kelgaonkar – Duniya Hai Ek Disco
12. Mrunalini Ravindra Bhosle – Walan (The Turning Point)
– The 2 week residential program has been designed and will be led by London-based director Udayan Prasad. Martin Rabarts, Consultant- Training and Development, will be mentoring the directors too for a few sessions.
– The program will also include known actors to enact certain scenes from scripts handed out to the participants (directors) as well as from their own scripts that they have applied for. For more details on the elements of the program and Udayan’s bio in detail, click here.
Ashim Ahluwalia’s film Miss Lovely is finally all set to release on 17th January, 2014. For its domestic run, the makers have released a new trailer of the film.
The film premiered at Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain regard section and it stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Niharika Singh and Anil George.
Official Synopis
Set in the lower depths of Bombay’s “C” grade film industry, MISS LOVELY follows the devastating story of two brothers who produce sex horror films in the mid-1980s.
A sordid tale of betrayal and doomed love, the film dives into the lower depths of the Bollywood underground, an audacious cinema with baroque cinemascope compositions, lurid art direction, wild background soundtracks, and gut-wrenching melodrama.
To know more about the cast and crew, check out this embedded pdf file to read their profile.
And who is surprised? Well, i guess esteemed members of the FFI jury who selected it as India’s entry for the Foreign Language Oscar and some other gyaani journalists who were fighting for it. This blog has always been critical about the film’s selection as a wrong choice. So i guess we are not surprised here at least.
So who all made it to the shortlist? The following 9 films.
– Belgium, “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” Felix van Groeningen, director;
– Bosnia and Herzegovina, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” Danis Tanovic, director;
– Cambodia, “The Missing Picture,” Rithy Panh, director;
– Denmark, “The Hunt,” Thomas Vinterberg, director;
– Germany, “Two Lives,” Georg Maas, director;
– Hong Kong, “The Grandmaster,” Wong Kar-wai, director;
– Hungary, “The Notebook,” Janos Szasz, director;
– Italy, “The Great Beauty,” Paolo Sorrentino, director;
– Palestine, “Omar,” Hany Abu-Assad, director.
And do you guys spot a familiar name there? Danis Tanovic. He is one of the co-producers of The Lunchbox who had proudly said that if I could give my place to The Lunchbox, I would give it. His film was selected as Bosnian entry for the same.
I guess FFI Jury members and some of the journalists understand the Oscar game plan better than Oscar winner Tanovic.
To quote a report, “You just blew it,” he said about India’s chance at the Oscar.
WHAT : The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has launched a short film contest on the theme of “Young and Aspiring India” under the brand name “CANVAS”.
DURATION : Films of 3-5 minutes duration can be submitted for the competition.
– Brand CANVAS is a platform for creative minds to come together, compete for excellence and showcase their talent in various aspects of creativity including film making, photography, slogan writing, symposium, poster making etc. The first edition of CANVAS is a Short Film Contest which is open to all.
DATES : The registration for the contest opens on 10th Dec, 2013 and deadline for submitting the short film is 31st Dec, 2013. The winners will be announced on 20th January, 2014.
– Videos will be rated on the basis of storytelling, creativity, originality, screenplay, performances and technical execution by an eminent jury selected by the Ministry.
PRIZE MONEY : First three winners will be awarded cash prizes of Rs 30,000, 20,000 and 10,000 respectively. Certificates of appreciation will also be given to selected entries.
RULES & REGULATION – To know more about the rules and regulation, to register and upload videos, click here to go to their official website.
– You can also follow CANVAS on its Facebook page here for regular updates.
– The selected videos will be uploaded on Ministry’s official Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/inbministry.
And the makers of Ulidavaru Kandante (As Seen By The Rest) have been smart enough to release it with English subs. This comes out just when another Kannada film Lucia was making all the right noise. Click here to read a post on why it became a landmark Kannada film.
A friend also wrote to us and told us more about Ulidavaru Kandante (As Seen By The Rest) – This new Kannada movie looks like Tarantino movie with Rushomon twist.
“It is the first Kannada movie on sync sound, having 5 different stories that happens on Sri Krishna Janmastami day in Udupi, and it’s a story which happens in 1980s.”
Unlike 99% of the Kannada films, it’s set in coastal Karnataka. All the coastal region characters are used only as comic relief in the rest of the films. The trailer is bit long but do watch till the end.
The film is written and directed by debutant Rakshit Shetty, and stars Rakshit Shetty, Kishore, Achuth Kumar, Tara, Rishab Shetty, Sheetal Shetty, Yajna Shetty, Dinesh Mangaluru, B Suresha.
– To know more about the film, click here for its website, click here for its FB page and here is the Twitter feed.
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 