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Mumbai Film Festival, 2013 unveils its complete lineup

Posted: September 25, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, film, Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival, News
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528185_574243075956739_144188067_nThe 15th Mumbai Film Festival has just announced its lineup for this year.  The fest will screen over 200 films from 65 countries. Costa-Gavras and Kamal Hassan will be given the Lifetime Achievement Awards at the fest. Among the filmmakers, Asghar Farhadi and Leos Carax are expected to attend.

The fest will also have spotlight on Spanish, Cambodian and Afghan cinema alongwith retrospective of Costa Gravas and a special tribute to Leos Carax.

Dates – 17-24 October 2013

Venues – Liberty Cinema, Metro Big Cinema, Marine Lines are the main festival venues and Cinemax, Versova  as the satellite venue.

– 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.

Here’s the complete lineup of the festival

Opening Film

The Butler Dir.: Lee Daniels (USA / 2013 / Col. / 132’)

International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors

The Rocket Dir.: Kim Mordaunt (Australia-Laos-Thailand / 2013 / Col. / 96’)

La jaula de oro Dir.: Diego Quemada-Díez(Mexico / 2013 / Col. / 102′)

Ilo Ilo Dir.: Anthony Chen (Singapore / 2013 / Col. / 96′)

Mamay Umeng Dir.: Dwein Baltazar (Philippines / 2012 / Col. / 75′)

For Those in Peril Dir.: Paul Wright (UK / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

The Japanese Dog (Cainele Japonez) Dir.: Tudor Cristian Jurgiu (Romania / 2013 / Col. / 85′)

The Plague (La Plaga) Dir.: Neus Ballús (Spain / 2013 / Col. / 85′)

The Strange Little Cat (Das merkwürdige Kätzchen) Dir.: Ramon Zürcher (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 72′)

Another House (L’autre maison) Dir.: Mathieu Roy (Canada / 2013 / Col. / 100′)

Medeas Dir.: Andrea Pallaoro (Italy-Mexico-USA / 2013 / Col. / 98′)

The Voice of The Voiceless (La voz de los silenciados) Dir.: Maximón Monihan (Guatemala-USA / 2013 / Col. / 92′)

Don Jon Dir.: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (USA / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

Fandry Dir.: Nagraj Manjule (India (Marathi) / 2013 / Col. / 103′)

Above The Cut

The Weight of Elephants Dir.: Daniel Joseph Borgman (Denmark-New Zealand-Germany-France / 2013 / Col. / 83′)

A Fold in My Blanket (Chemi sabnis naketsi) Dir.: Zaza Rusadze (Georgia / 2013 / Col. / 75′)

Giraffada Dir.: Rani Massalha (France-Austria-Germany-Italy / 2013 / Col. / 100′)

The Selfish Giant Dir.: Clio Barnard (UK / 2013 / Col. / 95′)

Five Years (Fünf Jahre Leben) Dir.: Stefan Schaller (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 95′)

Diego Star Dir.: Frédérick Pelletier (Canada-Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 91′) The

Amazing Cat Fish (Los insólitos peces gato) Dir.: Claudia Sainte-Luce (Mexico / 2013 / Col. / 88′)

Matterhorn Dir.: Diederik Ebbinge (Netherlands / 2013 / Col. / 87’)

Halley Dir.: Sebastian Hofmann (Mexico-Netherlands / 2012-Nov. / B&W-Col. / 83’)

Autumn Blood Dir.: Markus Blunder (Austria-USA / 2013 / Col. / 97′)

Burned Wings Dir.: Zheng Kuo (China / 2013 / Col. / 105′)

World Cinema

Closed Curtains Dir.: Jafar Panahi, Kamboziya Partovi (Iran / 2013 / Col. / 106’)

Shield Of Straw (Wara No Tate) Dir.: Takashi Miike (Japan / 2013 / Col. / 124’)

On My Way (Elle s’en va) Dir.: Emmanuelle Bercot (France / 2013 / Col. / 116′)

All Is Lost Dir.: J.C Chandor (USA / 2013 / Col. / 106’)

A Long and Happy Life (Dolgaya schastlivaya zhizn) Dir.: Boris Khlebnikov (Russia / 2013 / Col. / 80′)

Vic+Flo Saw a Bear (Vic et Flo ont vu un ours) Dir.: Denis Côté (Canada / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

A Castle in Italy (Un château en Italie) Dir.: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (France / 2013 / Col. / 104’)

The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza) Dir.: Paolo Sorrentino (Italy / 2013 / Col. / 142’)

Mood Indigo (L’écume des jours) Dir.: Michel Gondry (France-Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 125’)

The Nun (La religieuse) Dir.: Guillaume Nicloux (France, Germany, Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 114’)

Michael Kohlhaas Dir.: Arnaud des PALLIÈRES (France-Germany / 2013 / Col. / 122′)

Grigris Dir.: Mahamat-Saleh HAROUN (France / 2013 / Col. / 101′)

Heli Dir.: Amat Escalante (Mexico / 2013 / Col. / 105’)

In The Name of (W imie…) Dir.: Malgoska Szumowska (Poland / 2013 / Col. / 97′)

A Touch Of Sin (Tian Zhu ding) Dir.: JIA zhangke (China-Japan / 2013 / Col. / 133’)

Gold Dir.: Thomas Arslan (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 101’)

Layla Fourie Dir.: Pia Marais (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 105’)

Young & Beautiful (Jeune & Jolie) Dir.: François Ozon (France / 2013 / Col. / 95’)

Blue Is The Warmest Color (La Vie D’adele – Chapitre 1 Et 2) Dir.: Abdellatif Kechiche (France / 2013 / Col. / 179’)

The Spirit of ’45 Dir.: Ken Loach (UK / 2013 / Col. / 94′)

Inside Llewyn Davis Dir.: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (USA / 2013 / Col. / 105’)

The Immigrant Dir.: James Gray (USA / 2013 / Col. / 120’)

Only God Forgives Dir.: Nicolas Winding Refn (Denmark / 2013 / Col. / 90’)

The Face Of Love Dir.: Arie Posin (USA / 2013 / Col. / 92’)

Before Midnight Dir.: Richard Linklater (USA / 2013 / Col. / 109′)

Le Passé (The Past) Dir.: Asghar Farhadi (France / 2013 / Col. / 130’)

Bekas Dir.: Karzan Kader (Sweden-Finland-Iraq / 2013 / Col. / 97′)

The Canyons Dir.: Paul Schrader (USA / 2013 / Col. / 99’)

Short Term 12 Dir.: Destin Cretton (USA / 2013 / Col. / 96′)

Saving General Yang Dir.: Ronny Yu (Hong Kong-China / 2013 / Col. / 102′)

Killer Toon (Deo Web-toon: Ye-go Sal-in) Dir.: Yong-gyun Kim (South Korea / 2013 / Col. / 104′)

3x3D Dir.: Jean-Luc Godard, Peter Greenaway, Edgar Pêra (France-Portugal / 2013 / Col. / 70′)

Sunlight, Moonlight, Earth (Aftab, Mahtab, Zamin) Dir.: Ali Ghavitan (Iran / 2013 / Col. / 80′)

Tom at the Farm (Tom à la ferme) Dir.: Xavier Dolan (Canada-France / 2013 / Col. / 105′)

The Circle Within (Içimdeki Çember) Dir.: Deniz Çınar (Turkey / 2013 / Col. / 72′)

Wajma (An Afghan Love Story) Dir.: Barmak Akram (Afghanistan-France / 2013 / Col. / 85′)

Le démantèlement Dir.: Sebastien Pilote (Canada / 2013 / Col. / 111′)

Bad Hair (Pelo Malo) Dir.: Mariana Rondon (Venezuela / 2013 / Col. / 95′)

The Major Dir.: Yury Bykov (Russia / 2013 / Col. / 99′)

Stray Dogs (Jiao You) Dir.: Ming-liang Tsai (Taiwan / 2013 / Col. / 138′)

The Mute (El mudo) Dir.: Daniel Vega, Diego Vega (Peru-France-Mexico / 2013 / Col. / 86′)

Jealousy (La jalousie) Dir.: Philippe Garrel (France-Germany / 2013 / Col. / 77′)

Mr. Morgan’s Last Love Dir.: Sandra Nettelbeck (Germany-Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 116′)

Hush…(Suti) Dir.: Lukas Nola (Croatia / 2013 / Col. / 86′)

Burning Bush (Horící ker) Dir.: Agnieszka Holland (Czech Republic / 2013 / Col. / 240′)

The Fifth Estate Dir.: Bill Condon (USA-Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 124′)

Miss and The Doctors (Tirez la langue, mademoiselle) Dir.: Axelle Ropert (France / 2013 / Col. / 95′)

Locke Dir.: Steven Knight (USA-UK / 2013 / Col. / 85′)

Brahmin Bulls Dir.: Mahesh Pailoor (USA / 2013 / Col. / 96′)

Village of Hope Dir.: Boonsong Nakphoo (Thailand / 2013 / Col. / 72′)

The Armstrong Lie Dir.: Alex Gibney (USA / 2013 / Col. / 122′)

The Keeper of Lost Causes (Kvinden i buret) Dir.: Mikkel Nørgaard (Denmark-Germany-Sweden / 2013 / Col. / 97’)

Dallas Buyers Club Dir.: Jean-Marc Vallée (USA / 2013 / Col. / 155′)

New Spanish Cinema

Son of Cain (Hijo de Cain) Dir.: Jesús Monllaó (Spain / 2013 / Col. / 91′)

Picasso’s Gang (La banda Picasso) Dir.: Fernando Colomo (Spain / 2013 / Col. / 100′)

Combustión Dir.: Daniel Calparsoro (Spain / 2013 / Col. / 103′)

The Liberator (Libertador) Dir.: Alberto Arvelo (Venezuela-Spain / 2013 / Col. / 119’)

Celebration of Spanish Cinema

Viridiana Dir.: Luis Buñuel (Spain-Mexico / 1961 / B&W / 90′)

El verdugo Dir.: Luis García Berlanga (Spain-Italy / 1963 / B&W / 91′)

The Hunt (La caza) Dir.: Carlos Saura (Spain / 1966 / Col. / 91′)

The Spirit of the Beehive (El espíritu de la colmena) Dir.: Víctor Erice (Spain / 1973 / Col. / 97′)

Seven Days in January (Siete días de enero) Dir.: Juan Antonio Bardem (Spain-France / 1979 / Col. / 180′)

Volver a empezar Dir.: José Luis Garci (Spain / 1982 / Col. / 87′)

Lovers of the Arctic Circle (Los amantes del Círculo Polar) Dir.: Julio Medem (Spain-France / 1998 / Col. / 112′)

Your Next Life (La vida que te espera) Dir.: Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón (Spain / 2004 / Col. / 100′)

Welcome Mr. Marshall (Bienvenido Mister Marshall) Dir.: Luis García Berlanga (Spain / 1953 / B&W / 78′)

El barbero de Sevilla Dir.: Benito Perojo (Germany-Spain / 1938 / B&W / 90′)

An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou) Dir.: Luis Buñuel (France / 1929 / B&W)

Carmen (la de Triana) Dir.: Florian Rey (Germany-Spain / 1938 / B&W / 110′)

The Real Reel

Beyond All Boundaries Dir.: Sushrut Jain (USA-India / 2013 / Col. / 97′)

Brave Miss World Dir.: Cecilia Peck (USA-Israel-Italy-South Africa / 2013 / Col. / 97′)

Blackfish Dir.: Gabriela Cowperthwaite (USA / 2013 / Col. / 82′)

Who is Dayani Cristal Dir.: Marc Silver (UK-USA-Mexico / 2013 / Col. / 80′)

For I Know My Weakness Dir.: John Dentino (USA / 2012 / Col. / 100′)

Fatal Assistance (Assistance mortelle) Dir.: Raoul Peck (France-Haiti-USA-Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 99′)

Stop Over (L’escale) Dir.: Kaveh Bakhtiari (Switzerland-France / 2013 / Col. / 104′)

In the Shadow of the Sun Dir.: Harry Freeland (Tanzania-UK / 2012 / Col. / 84′)

Tales from the Organ Trade Dir.: Ric Esther Bienstock (Canada / 2013 / Col. / 82′)

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer Dir.: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin (Russia-UK / 2013 / Col. / 88′)

The Only Real Game Dir.: Mirra Bank (USA-India / 2012 / Col. / 82′)

Little big People Dir.: Khalid Mohamed (India (English-Hindi-Marathi) / 2013 / Col. / 52′)

The Act of Killing Dir.: Joshua Oppenheimer (Denmark-Norway-UK / 2012 / Col. / 115′)

What’s Love Got to Do with It? Dir.: Rohena Gera (India / 2013 / Col. / 84′)

Salinger Dir.: Shane Salerno (USA / 2013 / 120′)

Celebrate Age

60 going on 12 (12 ans d’âge) Dir.: Frédéric Proust (France / 2013 / Col. / 89’)

Seventh Cat Dir.: Hiroshi Toda (Japan / 2013 / Col. / 77′)

Good to Go (Srecen za umret) Dir.: Matevz Luzar (Slovenia-Croatia / 2013 / Col. / 100′)

At the Crossroads Nondon Bagchi Life and living Dir.: Rajdeep Paul, Sarmistha Maiti (India (English-Bengali) / 2013 / Col. / 70’)

Barefoot To Goa Dir.: Praveen Morchhale (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 80’)

I’m watching over you (Je veille sur vous) Dir.: Elodie Fiabane (France / 2013 / Col. / 19′)

Arefi, the shepherd (Arefi, der Hirte) Dir.: Daniel Asadi Faezi (Iran-Germany / 2013 / Col. / 9’)

Oh, How I Long Dir.: Riyad Deis (Palenstine / 2013 / Col. / 39′)

Road to Disneyland Dir.: Jamil Hendi (Germany-Romania / 2013 / Col. / 33′)

Mohan Kaka Dir.: Aditya Gowtham (India / 2013 / Col. / 22′)

Shuruaat Dir.: Suresh Shelar (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 16′)

By Way of the Mountains (Par les montagnes) Dir.: Frédéric Aspisi (Fiji / 2012 / Col. / 44′)

Late Shift – Gunter Grass working on etching for “Dog Years” Dir.: Sigrun Matthiesen (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 20’)

Spotlight on Cambodia

Golden Slumbers (Le sommeil d’or) Dir.: Davy Chou (France-Cambodia / 2011 / Col. / 96′)

A River Changes Course Dir.: Kalyanee Mam (Cambodia / 2013 / Col. / 83′)

The Missing Picture (L’image manquante) Dir.: Rithy Panh (Cambodia-France / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

Red Wedding Dir.: Guillaume Suon, Lida Chan (Cambodia-France / 2012 / Col. / 58′)

Where I Go Dir.: Neang Kavich (Cambodia / 2012 / Col. / 55′)

Two Girls Against The Rain (Bopha Pitorng Chhomnas Tekpleang) Dir.: Sao Sopheak (Cambodia / 2012 / Col. / 11’)

Film India Worldwide

Jadoo Dir.: Amit Gupta (UK / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

Good Morning Karachi Dir.: Sabiha Sumar (Pakistan / 2013 / Col. / 85′)

Red Monsoon Dir.: Eelum Dixit (Nepal / 2013 / Col. / 88′)

Siddharth Dir.: Richie Mehta (Canada / 2013 / Col. / 96′)

Faith Connections Dir.: Pan Nalin (India-France / 2013 / Col. / 115′)

LEOS CARAX FILMS

Bad Blood (Mauvais sang) Dir.: Leos Carax (France / 1986 / Col. / 116′)

The Lovers on the Bridge (Les amants du Pont-Neuf) Dir.: Leos Carax (France / 1999 / Col. / 125′)

Holy Motors Dir.: Leos Carax (France / 2012 / Col. / 115′)

COSTA GAVRAS FILMS

Z Dir.: Costa Gavras (France-Algeria / 1969 / Col. / 127′)

State of Siege Dir.: Costa Gavras (France-Italy-Germany / 1972 / Col. / 120′)

Amen Dir.: Costa Gavras (France-Germany-Romania / 2002 / Col. / 132′)

The Ax Dir.: Costa Gavras (Belgium-France-Spain / 2005 / Col. / 122’)

Eden is West (Eden à l’Ouest) Dir.: Costa Gavras (France-Greece-Italy / 2009 / Col. / 110′)

Capital (Le capital) Dir.: Costa Gavras (France / 2012 / Col. / 114′)

Restored Classics

The Floorwalker Dir.: Charles Chaplin (USA / 1916 / B&W / 30′)

Blackmail Dir.: Alfred Hitchcock (UK / 1929 / B&W / 85′)

The King of Comedy Dir.: Martin Scorsese (USA / 1982 / 109′)

Downpour (Ragbar) Dir.: Bahram Beizai (Iran / 1972 / 128′)

Tokyo Story Dir.: Yasujirô Ozu (Japan / 1953 / B&W / 136′)

Time to live and Time to Die (Tong nien wang shi) Dir.: Hsiao-hsien Hou (Taiwan / 1985 / 138′)

All About Eve Dir.: Joseph L. Mankiewicz (USA / 1950 / B&W / 138′)

Experimental Films

A+ Dir.: NobuAdilman (Canada / 2012 / Col. / 6’)

Days of Future Past Dir.: Joe Hambleton (Canada / 2012 / Col. / 7’)

Pulse Dir.: Anuradha Chandra (India / 2012 / Col. / 23’)

Burning Star Dir.: Joshua Gen Solondz (USA / 2011 / Col. / 4’)

Serious Ladies Dir.: Susanne Sachsse (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 21’)

Play Life Series Dir.: Ella Raidel (Austria / 2012 / Col. / 11’)

Item Number Dir.: Oliver Husain (Canada-India / 2012 / Col. / 16’)

Artists Films

Nayi Kheti Dir.: Pallavi Paul (India / 2013 / Col. / 12′)

Iceboat Dir.: Neha Choksi (USA / 2013 / Col. / 10′)

To Dance like your Dad Dir.: Hetain Patel (UK / 2009 / Col. / 6′)

Narcissicon Dir.: Kiran Subbaiah (India / 2009 / Col. / 43′)

Forerunner Dir.: Sahej Rahal (India / 2013 / Col. / 13′)

People to be Resembling Dir.: The Otolith Group (UK / Col. / 22′)

Kabul Fresh 2013

Eye witness Dir.: Rafi Behroozian & Alka Sadat (Afghanistan / 2011 / Col. / 12′)

Driving Test Dir.: Mahbouba Ebrahimi (Afghanistan / 2011 / Col. / 26′)

A Time Called Oldness Dir.: Hamed Alizadeh (Afghanistan / 2013 / 22′)

End of Love Dir.: Ghafar Azad (Afghanistan / 2013 / Col. / 13′)

Life Imprisonment Dir.: Gholamreza Majedi (Afghanistan / 2013 / Col. / 4′)

One Wish Dir.: Mohamed (Aref) Abedin (Afghanistan / 2013 / Col. / 4′)

The Glasses Dir.: S Hussein Mousavi (Afghanistan / 2011 / Col. / 11′)

Kabul Ambulance Dir.: Taj Mohammad Bakhtari (Afghanistan / 2011 / Col. / 26′)

Amir and Sara Dir.: Jalal Hussaini (Afghanistan / 2013 / Col. / 16′)

India Gold 2013

Liar’s Dice Dir.: Geethu Mohandas (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 104′)

Crossing Bridges Dir.: Sange Dorjee Thongdok (India (Sherdukpen) / 2013 / Col. / 102′)

The World of Goopi and Bagha (Goopy gawaiya bagha bajaiya) Dir.: Shilpa Ranade (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 78′)

Virgin Talkies (Kanyaka Talkies) Dir.: K R Manoj (India (Malayalam) / 2013 / Col. / 115′)

A Silent Way (Ko: Yad) Dir.: Manju Borah (India / 2012 / Col. / 90′)

Monologue (Maunraag) Dir.: Vaibhav Abnave (India (Marathi) / 2013 / Col. / 92′)

Invincible (Ajeyo) Dir.: Jahnu Barua (India (Assamese) / 2013 / Col. / 116′)

Powerless (Katiyabaaz) Dir.: Fahad Mustafa, Deepti Kakkar (India-USA / 2013 / Col. / 84′)

Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost Dir.: Anup Singh (India (Panjabi) / 2013 / Col. / 109′)

Oonga Dir.: Devashish Makhija (India / 2013 / Col. / 98′)

Sunglass (Taak Jhaank) Dir.: Rituparno Ghosh (India / 2013 / Col.)

Mastram Dir.: Akhilesh Jaiswal (India / 2013 / Col.)

New Faces in Indian Cinema

Bakrapur (The Goat Vote) Dir.: Janaki Vishwanathan (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 82′)

Wild Berries (Kaphal) Dir.: Batul Mukhtiar (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

Sulemani Keeda Dir.: Amit V Masurkar (India-USA / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

Munsif Dir.: Umashankar Swamy (India (Kannada) / 2012 / Col. / 106′)

Dimensions Mumbai

Seat Down Dir.: Sachin Sanjay Kadam Share

Dir.: Abhiraj Rajadhyaksha

Monsoon Drive Dir.: Mohit Modi

The Zero Mile Storm Dir.: Jehanin Pajnigar,

Radhika Boontra Raah (Path) Dir.: Dhruv Dilip Datar

…Till Debt Do Us Part Dir.: Kenneth.A.Lawrence

To you both Dir.: Ridhesh Seipal

Jaun Kahaan Dir.: Ankita Mishra

Kabutarkhana Dir.: Markand Bhaskar Sawant

Jashn-E-Dawaat Dir.: Karan Asnani

The Handicapped Colony Dir.: Sameer Nerkar

In This City Dir.: Keyur Kajavadara S.

Crab Catchers Dir.: Prem Hessenkamp

Rickshaw Roko Mitra Mandal Dir.: Sristi Jain

Shukriya Mumbai (Thank You Mumbai) Dir.: NIkhil Gupta

Mumbai Cha Vadapav Dir.: Akshay S. Dhanavale

1992 Negative Dir.: Dixit Parkar

Mascara Dir.: Daria Gaikalova

Matryoshka Dir.: Mayank singh Addiction Dir.: Bhaumik Mevada

*Subject to change before the festival*

Xclusive : The 19-member FFI Jury which selected ‘The Good Road’

Posted: September 24, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, News, Xclusive
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Since the last two years, FFI or Film Federation Of India has suddenly changed its stance. Earlier all the jury members used to be in the presser to announce the name of the film selected as India’s entry for the Oscars. Now, it’s all a big secret. And that’s quite baffling because nobody says why it’s a secret. More because none of the renowned film festival or prestigious film awards keeps its jury a secret. I can’t think of any. In fact, most take pride in announcing the names of their jury members. It becomes more important when a controversy like this happens – why can’t the members publicly endorse and fight for the film they picked to represent the country? I don’t have any answers.

So here’s the list of the 19 FFI jury members who picked “The Good Road”.

1. Gautam Ghose – Filmmaker, Chairman of the jury
2. Rupa Ganguly – Actor
3. Agni Mitra Paul – Fashion/Costume Designer
4. Sujoy Ghosh – Filmmaker
5. Onir – Filmmaker
6. Bharthiraja
7. N Shankar – Filmmaker
8. K P Kumaran – Filmmaker
9. Mahesh Kothare – Actor/Director
10. Suhasini Mani Ratnam – Director/writer
11. Indraneel Bose
12. Sanjay Verma
13. Kamlesh Pandey – Screenwriter
14. Ramadoss Naidu
15. Kavita Lankesh – Director/Writer
16. Vijay Patkar – Actor
17. Aarti Anand
18. Vidya Sagar – Music Director
19. C V Reddy – Filmmaker
Strangely, we spoke to at least six of them and all are repeating the same lines – it was unanimous decision to pick The Good Road. 19 people and all felt that TGR was better than everything else. or all have been told to say the same thing? Now that the names are out, am hoping at least some people will speak up why The Good Road is better than other films. Seriously, forget The Lunchbox. Just tell us what we are missing. They need to enlighten us and make us see what’s great about TGR. Some of the names are quite well known and they know much more about cinema than all of us. So it will be good to know what’s good in their books and why. Waiting.

Yes, i saw ‘The Good Road’ and want to know what the FFI Jury was smoking

Posted: September 24, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, film, Hollywood, Indie, News, World Cinema, WTF
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the_good_road_h

Because that seems to be the only reason why none of us could speak out openly about our “best” film to be sent for Oscars in the Foreign Language category.

Now that i have seen it, let me say it loudly – The Lunchbox is Casablanca compared to The Good Road. I will come back to the film later. Let me also clarify few things first. I have been reading articles, posts and tweets on similar topic since last 3 days, and some of them are on such a wrong tangent. So here it goes.

Oscars

No, it’s not white man’s approval. It’s not even the best function or festival as far as films are concerned. Some of the best American films and actors don’t even bag a nomination. So why are we getting jizz in pants about Oscars?

Because it still matters. Because it’s money, market and reach. Because one nomination (and win) not only puts the spotlight on the director’s entire filmography but the country also comes into focus. Because it opens every possible door for its lead actors. The examples are many. In the last few years only Chile’s No, Israel’s Ajami and Footnote, Algeria’s Outside The Law, Greece’s Dogtooth, Denmark’s In A Better World, Argentina’s The Secret In Their Eyes, Japan’s Departures and Denmark’s After The Wedding have brought so much attention to their country’s cinema just by being nominated. Same goes for actors. Who knew Matthias Schoenaerts before the Bullhead?

A Cannes win also has the power to do all that. Ask the Romanian filmmakers. But Cannes is not so mainstream, Cannes is French, and Oscar is Amreekan. You know the difference, and two shall never meet. One is purely about cinema, the other is more about box office. Btw, do auteurs eat big burgers?

That’s the simple reason why Oscars count. Not for any white man supremacy. In 2011, when Asghar Farhadi went on stage to collect his award for The Separation, almost everyone knew that it was not only the “best foreign film” but it was the “best fucking film of the year”. The white man supremacy and approval logic is so 80s. The world went back to all his films and he was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world by Time magazine in 2012. Difficult to believe that the journey started with “Nader and Simin” (title was changed later) getting the distribution fund at Berlin fest.

So do i believe in Oscars? NO.

An award ceremony which never did any justice to Martin Scorsese, how can they be fair?

Do i watch Oscars? YES.

The only day in the year when i get up early and see the rising sun. Why? Because Marty believes in it. Because it’s good fun to watch some of your favourite actors, directors, screenwriters, all under the same roof and still be so cool and candid. And because they still make it “look” professional. Some of the best talents never get their due but when they get, it changes everything. One nod is all it takes. That’s it.

Foreign Language Category & The Good Road

In the last few years, this has become one of the most toughest category. The number of submissions keeps on increasing every year. You are not just competing with the best of the Amreekan cinema but from best of the world. Last year it was a new record with 71 films. This year’s running list already has 45 films. Heavyweight Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster is already in the ring.

Since FFI’s announcement on The Good Road came out, anyone having any doubts about it, the first question asked was have you seen it? And as far as i knew nobody except the FFI jury had seen it. So, before writing any post on it, i decided to watch the film, and am so so disappointed after watching it.

So far i was only arguing that it’s always about the “right” film at the Oscars, it’s not about the “best” film. Why get so holier than thou and sentimental about putting our “best” film?  Especially when Oscars is just another ‘market’ event that does wonders. Put the “right” film out, play according to the games, play it smart, and get a nod. Simple. Just look at the big picture.

Now, if i consider this is the standard of our best film which is being sent to the world audience, am sorry to say that people will laugh at us. Don’t believe me, go watch “The Good Road”. The film is easily available on dvds and #youknowwhere. It doesn’t even look professional. Except an idea and intention, it has nothing to offer. It’s boring, the production looks tacky, direction is bad, performances are inconsistent, and acting by non-actors look like non-acting only. The arid landscape and the use of music are the only things that work.

The only Oscars bait was a sequence involving young girls in prostitution racket standing on platforms surrounded by coloured tubelights. Haven’t seen anything like that on screen.

With “The Good Road” as our submission, what’s our chance at the Oscars? i think ZILCH. I hope am proved wrong but i doubt it.

And what i am most confused about is the sudden support for the film. As a friend pointed out, just because it has suddenly become the David in front of The Lunchbox Goliath with UTV, Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap in its support? Strange. Very, very strange. Watch both the films and compare the merits.

More strange is the fact that not a single mainstream critic in this country bothered to review the film when it released – in theatres and on dvds. That says more about the state of film criticism in this country.

The Lunchbox

With The Lunchbox, many of us believed it had a *chance*. Yes, just a chance. And we have been shouting about it. It’s a tough battle there. But with Sony Classics having its US rights and many influential American voices already pushing for it after watching the film at Cannes, Toronto and Telluride, it had the right visibility factor going for it. Michael Moore, Ted Hope and many others tweeted about it. Aseem Chhabra has written more about it here. Also, The Hollywood Reporter and Indiewire, the two ends of spectrum, were counting it among the frontrunners. And am sure they know (at least little bit) more and understand their Oscars more than us.

It was just not the “right” film but it’s a much, much better film than “The Good Road”. Just ideas and intentions don’t make a good film, or a good road.

So what did the FFI jury saw in the film which i could not? Let me quote from this interview of Gautam Ghose…

The criteria is simple — we had to select a film that represents the country perfectly.

WTF! Represents the country perfectly? As in peacocks and elephants? Do they watch the Oscars? Not sure what it means (Can someone explain?). After watching the film, all i can say is that The Good Road represents us amateurishly. You all made us look tacky in front of the world. Forget The Lunchbox, any other film would have been better too.

Though just Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur’s performances were enough to pick the film. These two are not just the best performances of the year in Indian cinema, but they can be easily counted as among the best ones in world cinema too. So I would sincerely like to smoke what the FFI jury was smoking. Anyone?

Because this was our chance. Because we needed it. We needed to tell the world that we do more than naach-gaana now. We needed to assure Sony Classics that you can look and pick more Indian films that can do wonders. You don’t need to wait for 10-15 years again. We needed to tell the world that it’s not just Iranians, Romanians, Koreans, Greeks and Australians, we are also heading in right direction. And this was the best stage to do it. We had a chance, a bright and fair chance. But what a fuck up! what a royal fuck up this turned out to be.

One more thing – who made the rules suddenly that FFI can’t disclose the names of jury members? I would surely love to know the names of those 12 or 15 or 19 people who thought The Good Road was better than The Lunchbox and every other film that was submitted for consideration. As far as i remember, when the jury meet used to happen in Mumbai, almost all the jury members used to present in the press conference to announce their choice. What happened suddenly in the last two years or so? Are they afraid to endorse the film publicly because their taste will be questioned? Someone enlighten me here too. Come on, come out, tell us you loved The Good Road. And as the saying goes, any festival selection or win always tells you more about the jury than about the film. I will still try not to judge you.

– @cilemasnob

( PS – The only consolation is we are not the only morons. We have company)

Hansal Mehta’s Shahid gets a new trailer

Posted: September 23, 2013 by moifightclub in bollywood, cinema, News, Story / Plot / Synopsis, Trailer
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UTV is on a roll this year. First, they gave a big platform to Ship Of Theseus, made it visible enough, and got screens for it even when Chennai Express was running. Second, repeat the same act with The Lunchbox. And now, they have picked up another terrific film – Hansal Mehta’s Shahid. The film has got a new trailer too. Have a look.

Some of us saw the film at Mumbai Film Festival last year, and can easily bet that it’s another “must watch”. It also has one of the year’s best and break out performance by Raj Kumar Yadav. The film rides entirely on his shoulder and he makes you believe that he is Shahid Azmi.

The film is scheduled to release on 18th October.

Official synopsis

“Shahid” traces the story of a slain human rights activist and lawyer Shahid Azmi. Set during the communal violence that was unleashed in the city of Mumbai since 1993. We see a remarkable tale unfold. From attempting to become a terrorist to being wrongly imprisoned under the anti-terrorism law to becoming a lawyer, a champion of human rights (particularly the Muslim minorities in India), “Shahid” traces the inspiring personal journey of a boy while following the rise of communal violence in India. The story of an impoverished Muslim struggling to come to terms with injustice, inequality and rising above his circumstances is an inspiring testament to the human spirit.

The cast includes Raj Kumar, Prabhleen Sandhu, Baljinder Kaur, Tigmanshu Dhulia, K K Menon, Yusuf Husain, Prabal Panjabi, Vinod Rawat, Vipin Sharma, Shalini Vatsa, Paritosh Sand, Pavan Kumar, Vivek Ghamande, Akash Sinha, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub and Mukesh Chhabra.

Jagran Film Festival (24-29 September) – schedule out

Posted: September 16, 2013 by moifightclub in Film Festival, News
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Jagran Film Festival has announced its Mumbai schedule. The festival will run from 24th to 29th September. You can register yourself here. There’s no registration fee.

The venue for the fest is Fun Republic, Andheri (West). The schedule follows. If you can’t read the titles clearly, do click on the schedule.

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Anup Singh’s Qissa bags NETPAC Award at TIFF

Posted: September 16, 2013 by moifightclub in Awards, cinema, Film Festival, Indie, News
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qissa_01

Toronto International Film Festival has come to an end, and has announced the winners  for this year.

Here’s the good news – An Indian co-production, Anup Singh’s Qissa has bagged the NETPAC Award at this year’s fest. The film stars Irrfan Khan, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal and Tisca Chopra. This Punjabi film is written by Anup Singh and Madhuja Mukherjee. And here’s what the official release says –

As selected by a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema, the NETPAC Award for World or International Asian Film Premiere goes to Anup Singh’s Qissa. Jury members include Jay Jeon (Korea), Intishal Al Timimi (Abu Dhabi) and Freddie Wong (Hong Kong). The jury remarked: “The NETPAC Award for the best Asian film at Festival 2013 goes to Qissa, directed by Anup Singh, for its sensitive portrayal of the issues of identity and displacement that affect people not only in India, but in all parts of the world and for brilliance of cinematic craft and the choice of metaphor that has been employed to tell a moving story that is bound to provoke thoughts, spark debate and give its viewers an intense experience.

TRAILER

TIFF NOTE & SYNOPSIS

Set amidst the ethnic cleansing and general chaos that accompanied India’s partition in 1947, this sweeping drama stars Irrfan Khan — also appearing at the Festival in The Lunchbox — as a Sikh attempting to forge a new life for his family while keeping their true identities a secret from their community.

Beautiful, timeless, and touching the deepest of human impulses, Qissa carries the spirit of a great folk tale. Although it’s set in a particular time and place — the Punjab region that straddles India and Pakistan in the years immediately after partition — it is both deeper and broader than any one moment. As this eerie family drama progresses, it cuts to the heart of eternal desires for honour, empathy, and love.

One of India’s best actors, Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, Festival premiere The Lunchbox, and a feature guest in this year’s Mavericks programme) plays Umber Singh, a Sikh uprooted by the religious violence that came with partition in 1947. He and his family move to a safer locale, and it is here that the story takes a remarkable turn. Having already fathered daughters, Singh now wants a son. When his next child is born he celebrates his wish come true, but there is one problem: the baby is in fact a girl.

“Qissa” is originally an Arabic word meaning folk tale. Both the word and the idea migrated from the Gulf into the Punjab, still connected by the ancient oral narratives handed down in communal settings. Working within this tradition, director Anup Singh gives his film both the grand themes and elemental emotions of classic storytelling. As Umber’s daughter is raised as a boy, the characters are propelled with greater and greater urgency towards their inevitable fates.

Part of a new generation of directors with feet firmly planted in India and far beyond, Singh has delivered a film immediately accessible to anyone sensitive to the conflicts that drive classic stories: fear versus hubris, individual need versus social codes. Qissa is a Punjabi story for the whole world.

DIRECTOR

Anup Singh was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He has written film reviews for Sight & Sound, directed Indian television, and consulted for BBC Two. His features as director are The Name of a River (02) and Qissa (13).

CAST & CREW

Director: Anup Singh

Countries: Germany / India / Netherlands / France

Year: 2013

Language: Punjabi

Runtime: 109 minutes

Rating: 14A

Producer: Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper

Production Co.: Heimatfilm, National Film Development Corporation of India, Augustus Film, Ciné-Sud Promotion

Principal Cast: Irrfan Khan, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal, Tisca Chopra

Screenplay: Anup Singh, Madhuja Mukherjee

Cinematographer: Sebastian Edschmid

Editor: Bernd Euscher

Sound: Peter Flamman

Music: Béatrice Thiriet

Prod. Designer: Tim Pannen

Int. Sales Agent: The Match Factory

First Look : Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly (Trailer, official synopsis)

Posted: September 13, 2013 by moifightclub in bollywood, cast & crew, cinema, film, first look, News, Story / Plot / Synopsis, Trailer
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The much awaited trailer of Anurag Kashyap’s new film Ugly is out. Have a look.

It looks damn intriguing. A kidnapping goes wrong and things get ugly.

The film stars Ronit Roy, Rahul Bhat, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Vineet Kumar Singh, Surveen Chawala, Siddhant Kapoor, Anshika Shrivastava & Girish Kulkarni.

Produced by Dar Motion Pictures and Phantom Films, it has music by G V Prakash.

The film had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors Fortnight section.

UglyOfficial Synopsis

Bose, an Additional Commissioner of Police, is an extremely straight-forward professional. However, these lines are a bit blurred in his relationship with his wife Shalini. Shalini is a clinically depressed person and an alcoholic. Shalini was first married to Rahul, a struggling actor and also has a daughter with him, called Kali. The story starts on a Saturday, which is the day when Rahul is allowed to meet Kali as per court custody arrangements. Rahul leaves her in the car as he goes to meet his friend, and Kali goes missing.

What follows is an endless series of blame game and one up-man ship. A dark psychological thriller on the surface, Ugly is an emotional drama within.

To know more about the film, you can follow its FB page here.

Fund A Film (FAF) Project – Dear Cinema

Posted: September 13, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Crowdfunding, FAF (Fund A Film), News
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We have always tried to highlight interesting crowdfunding projects on our blog. So far most of the posts have been on films. This one is a film related project. Over to Nandita Dutta (Associate Editor of DC) for more on it.

Dear CinemaDearCinema, India’s leading independent cinema portal, is crowdfunding to become faster, smarter and more resourceful for its readers.

Our crowdfunding campaign started on September 6 and so far we have been supported by 43 contributors from 17 cities, and 61% of the target amount has been raised.

We’re sure you want to know why we are going the crowdfunding way, so here you go-

In its lifespan of seven years, DearCinema has never compromised on its independence. We are sitting on several offers for sponsorship and acquisition but we prefer to be a user-funded website so that we can remain true to the interests of our readers.

With your contributions, we plan to introduce these new features:

India’s first Indie film and project database :

We have been dedicatedly covering all news related to Indian independent films and projects. Now our aim is to go a step ahead and launch India’s first Indie film and project database so that your films get discovered easily by festival programmers and distributors.

Festival and funding guide :

A new service that will guide Indian filmmakers in finding the perfect festivals, labs, markets and funds for their projects.  You will no longer need to hunt for information; it will all be up-to-date and listed for you.

Faster and smarter website :

With time our readership has increased to such an extent that our current server isn’t able to cope with the kind of traffic we attract. We need to upgrade so that you don’t ever have issues accessing our website. Also, to keep pace with technology, we intend to launch DearCinema Apps for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

Rewards :

We appreciate the support of every contributor and so, we have some very cool rewards to offer :

– DearCinema Festival guide, a comprehensive directory of 100 film festivals

– DearCinema Market and Funding Guide

– An exclusive workshop on pitching your film and international funding by industry experts

– Invites for the opening or closing ceremony of the prestigious Mumbai Film Festival 2013

– A thank you video clip from one of our celeb friends in the film fraternity

– Having your name on the masthead of our website for one whole week and a host of other rewards!

So, what are you waiting for? Support the indie film movement by contributing to DearCinema.com. Click here and do your good deed for the day.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black goes Turkish – official or not?

Posted: September 12, 2013 by moifightclub in bollywood, film, first look, News, plagiarism, Trailer, World Cinema
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Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black was heavily inspired from The Miracle Worker. Some scenes were exactly the same, just with some more background music added to it. And now, it seems Karma’s cycle is complete as someone has made it in Turkish (Titled Benim Dünyam, which means My World). Interestingly, the lead actor of the film, Ugur Yucel, is also the director.

We are not sure if it’s official remake or just plagiarised. But from the trailer it’s easy to spot that it’s a frame by frame copy of Black. Though whatever little we could gather with the help of Google Translator, many Turkish articles do mention the film Black. So it might be official remake. Have a look.

1st Kolikata Independent Film Festival – schedule out

Posted: September 10, 2013 by moifightclub in Bengali, cinema, Film Festival, Indie, News
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KolikataKolkata becomes Kolikata. And this avatar is for the 1st Independent Film Festival in the city.

Organisers note – Kolkata (spelt intentionally here as Kolikata, like the old vernacular version of the city’s name) adds another feather to its cap, by hosting an informally, and therefore, impartially organized independent film festival – the first for any Indian city. Nationally awarded films will be screened  alongwith short films made by non-film school students. The filmmakers will be interacting with both film academicians and aspiring filmmakers who are still in college.

Dates : 11-13 September 2013

Films : Independent Short Films, Documentaries and Feature Films.

Initiative : by Chalachchitra Sansad & Leela-Mochchhob

Associate Partner: Guruchandali, an anti-establishment Little Magazine from Kolkata.

Venue: Derozio Hall, Presidency University, College Street, Kolkata

ENTRY : FREE

SCHEDULE

D A Y – I

11:30am: Inauguration

12:00pm: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa by Sankar Karmakar (Fiction, 45 mins)

1:00pm: Plus by Joydip Dam (Fiction, 10 mins)

1:25pm: Chura Liya by Saurav Chattopadhyay (Fiction, 24 mins)

Break, 10 mins.

2:15pm: Students’ Films (4 short films by the students of Presidency University)

Break, 5 mins.

4:00pm: Replica by Sriparna Dey (Fiction, 20 mins)

4:35pm: Memories of a Dead Township by Anamitra Roy (Fiction, 20 mins)

5:10pm: Discussion- Exploring the language of Independent Film.

Panelists:

Moinak Biswas (HOD of Film Studies, Jadavpur University),

Shyamal Karmakar (HOD of Editing, SRFTI),

Amitava Chakraborty (Filmmaker, known for Kaal Abhirati, Cosmic Sex etc.)

& Sankar Karmakar (Filmmaker, known for documentaries like Anya Andhar & Poramatir Mukh)

Break, 5 mins.

6:15pm: Without a Notch of Blue by Sumantra Roy (Fiction, 18mins)

6:50pm: Bilal by Saurav Sarangi (Documentary, 60 mins)

D A Y – 2

11:30am: Swapno Satyokam by Som Chakraborty (Fiction, 20 mins)

12:05pm: Iswar O Protipakhkho by Arupratan Ghosh (Fiction, 15 mins)

12:35pm: Musalmaner Kotha by Soumitra Ghosh Dastidar (Documentary, 60 mins)

1:50pm: Students’ Films (4 short films by the students of Presidency University).

Break, 10 mins.

3:40pm: Ekoda Ek Bagher Golay by Jishnu Mukherjee (Fiction, 16 mins)

4:10pm: Fairy Tales for High School Children by Sayak Shome (Fiction, 5 mins)

4:15pm: This is Not Funny by Sounak Kar (Fiction, 78 mins)

Break, 5 mins.

5:45pm: Tomay Notun Kore Pabo Bole by Kaushik Chakraborty & Arko Kar (Documentary, 60 mins)

7pm: Nothing Unusual by Twish Mukherjee (Docu-fiction, 72 mins)

D A Y – 3

11:30am: Bom by Amlan Dutta (Documentary, 117 mins)

1:30pm: Sand Animation (5 mins)

2pm: Discussion- Alternative Economy & Politics of Independent Film and Power Structure.

Panelists:

Amlan Datta (Filmmaker, known for Bom: One Day Ahead of Democracy),

Q (Filmmaker, known for Gandu, Tasher Desh etc.),

Madhuja Mukherjee (Professor of Film Studies, Jadavpur University; Director, Carnival)

Anamitra Roy (Filmmaker known for Jean Luc Godard Had No Script & The One Rupee Film Project)

Break, 10 mins

3:10pm: Many Stories of Love and Hate by Shyamal Karmakar (Docu-fiction, 55mins)

4:45pm: Priyo Morphine by Atanu Singha (Fiction, 63 mins)

6pm: Kal Abhirati by Amitava Chakraborty (Fiction, 120 mins)

8:20pm: Closing with Sahajiya

– To know more about the fest, click here to go to its FB page.

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