Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Katha Centre for Film Studies and the India Foundation for the Arts in association with the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahlaya (formerly Prince of Wales Museum) invites young cinephiles, film scholars, artists and students for its second Workshop on Film Curatorial Practices.

FILM CURATING is concerned with a more evolved understanding of the moving image. Film and video are artistic mediums – much like what canvas and brush are to a painter. Today, both filmmakers and visual artists work increasingly with the medium of the moving image to make their art works. In addition, museums and galleries are increasingly exhibiting moving image work – experimental film and installation; and video art and video installation. It is this artistic and aesthetic understanding of the moving image that the Katha Centre for Film Studies is looking to develop through its workshop on Film Curatorial Practice

The WORKSHOP aims to equip young film enthusiasts with specialized knowledge about and around the idea of Film Curation. It will also give them an opportunity to interact with established practioners and academicians, and engage with them in a cinematic discourse centered on film curation.

WORKSHOP : This workshop series is a part of a four-year Curatorship Programme conceptualized by India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) in collaboration with select institutions from across the country. This Curatorship Programme is funded by the Jamsetji Tata Trust.

The workshop will create a platform to represent, think and debate the following:
· Curatorial research methods
· Curatorial writing
· Practical aspects of curation
· Context specific curation
· Different ways of engaging with audiences
· Critical understandings on the history of film criticism and curation

– For the second workshop, Katha Centre for Film Studies has engaged distinguished practioners, filmmakers, curators and academicians – Madhusree Dutta, Gargi Sen, Bina Paul, Amar Kanwar, Shai Heredia and Moinak Biswas.

DATES : Last date for receiving Applications: 10th August, 2011.  Workshop: 22nd-26th August, 2011

VENUE : Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahlaya, Mumbai

HOW TO APPLY:  You can send : 1) A copy of your latest Resume 2) The application form to

EMAIL: katha.film@gmail.com with “WFCP 2011” in the subject line

or By POST:  Katha Centre for Film Studies, A102, Sumeru, MHADA. SVP Nagar, Andheri West. Mumbai 400 053

FEES : For the 5-day workshop, there is NO registration fee. During the workshop,  breakfast and lunch shall be provided. Travel expenses and stay of participants coming from cities other than Mumbai would be taken care of by Katha Centre for Film Studies.

– Write to katha.film@gmail.com for the application form.

– To know more about Katha Centre of Film Studies, click here. And to know more about IFA’s Curatorship Programme, click here.

– For any queries, you can contact them here on FB or contact Svetlana on Twitter.

Sometimes it’s quite a difficult task to find the right word to describe a person. And when i can’t rely on cusstionary any more, i take the easy way out. Coin a new term. So we have dodos, then we have ch#@ths, and when someone is beyong all these, I have coined a new term for them – Dodooth (D+C). If you click here and read this column called Reflections, am sure you will agree with my idea of Dodoothness.

Nothing is original, this logic is as old as Adam & Eve. And that doesn’t that mean there is nothing called copyright and IP. Strange that we have so much news space in this country that all kind of garbage is dumped in the name of journalism. And even in this weird dodoothness,  it’s hard to believe that Ram Sampath managed to win a copyright case against Rakesh Roshan. Thank God, the Tutejas are not in the judiciary system of this country.

And here is @diaporesis‘ reply to Mr Tuteja’s Reflections.

Mr Tuteja, your article is entertaining. Can I sell it as mine?

Sometime yesterday, Bollywood Hungama, the trade-portal masquerading as review site, happened to accidentally publish a page from Joginder Tuteja’s personal diary. In it, Mr Tuteja, coming to terms with what is, presumably, a speech disorder, explains at length how he has difficulty pronouncing words such as चुग्येओग्जा(please leave eyjafjallajokull for greater gods) . Even though the piece appears to be a legitimate article meant for the general public’s consumption, do not be fooled. It is quite clear that the man is writing to himself.

Here’s an example of his pitiable rant to his Dear Diary:

“Ok, now think of a film called The Chaser, the literal English translation (I guess) for the Korean word on which you just gave up. Yeah, The Chaser; not Chase, Chastity or Chatur. It is plain and simple – The Chaser. Can’t think of any, right? Well, why don’t you try hard.”

As you can clearly see, our delusional diary-writer is addressing himself. He has never heard of The Chaser and conveniently presumes that the rest of the world is as ignorant as he is.

Without going into the details of why such rants (because the entire piece is, overall, a rant and not argument) make no sense, I pose a simple piece of logic before you: if nobody has heard of the movie (extending his logic), how did the comparisons arise in the first place?

At a slight tangent, my gripe with Mr Tuteja’s argumentation is the way in which he cannot produce reasonable arguments to even convince himself. Through most of the piece, Mr Tuteja’s words flail like a broken pieces of a raft on a stormy ocean, alternately despairing and alternately cursing the sea for being so watery. For example, in his piece he says that he’s still trying to locate a certain DVD therefore others couldn’t have seen that movie either. In the next few lines he mentions how piracy is rampant. Um, Mr Tuteja suffers from a joining-the-dots disability as well?

He does not stop at his pitiable laments about his inability to pronounce a certain word. He goes on to prove that he’s unable to employ the faculties of logic and reason as well.

I need not go about arguing against Mr Tuteja’s endorsement of plagiarism. But I do have three serious charges against him: 1) He seems to think it’s fine to copy works of art as long as it’s done entertainingly. I’d love to see his reply to the title of this piece as far this point is concerned. 2) He totally discounts the fact that original creations, however raw, are always more rewarding for the masses and the makers. Ask Anurag Kashyap or Dibakar Banerjee and their fans for evidence. 3) He claims that because he isn’t the thief, he’ll gladly visit a thief’s home and admire the valuable pieces or art etc he has stolen. I, for one, do not even want to provide further arguments about why this is such an asinine argument. Moreover, he goes on to say 99% of us think like him. Really, 99%? Where does he get such fantastic numbers from?

In his rather dreamy rant, he also claims that QT said Kaante was better than Reservoir Dogs. I will save my breath and point you to this piece that Mr Tuteja presumably refers to and challenge you to prove his claim correct.

Dear Mr Tuteja, your arguments are bullshit anyway. You get paid to write about movies that earn lots of money. Not movies per se. There’s a huge difference. Understand that. Appreciate the work of other knowledgeable, hard-working critics who, in India, undergo unfair trials by fire when they praise cinema that is meaningful, honest and well-made rather than crass entertainers that you promote. We can agree to disagree about what cinema should be. But at least, please, get your facts right. Especially when you’re addressing yourself, learn to be honest.

The last point I wish to make is about movies that deserve to be seen but perhaps aren’t seen because viewers assume that since the remakes were shitty, so were the originals. This is far from the truth. Take Oldboy as an example. Zinda was, at times, a frame by frame copy of the movie. But it was an exceedingly passable piece of cinema. Oldboy, on the other hand, is a rivetting and nerve-wracking film that shakes you by the guts and stuns you into shocked silence: an accepted masterpiece of modern Asian cinema. I don’t mind our filmmakers looking for “inspiration”; my problem is that they don’t accept that they looked for inspiration. And, Mr Tuteja, there’s a reason why “inspiration” and “plagiarism” are two different words. Let me point you to dictionary.com if you lack the usual Oxford at home.

As for you, dear reader, spare yourselves the pain of anger. Be kind to him. He knows not what he writes.

And Mr Tuteja, henceforth, please keep your diary private. We cannot be bothered by you being dishonest to even yourself.

Shubhodeep Pal

(I really shouldn’t add a disclaimer to this piece, but here goes: My own views, my impressions, my right to express them. Not intended to slander etc etc.)

( PS – Shubhodeep blogs here. )

(PS1 – Dear Mr Tuteja, you don’t need a dvd to watch Miracle Worker. There is popular site called youtube.com. Little googling and youtubing doesn’t harm anyone. So click on the play button and enjoy.

(PS2 – This is not the first time that Mr Tuteja has made it to our blog. Click here to read about his other credential. As they say, honhaar birwaan ke hoth cheeknay paat.)

The first trailer of Pankaj Kapur’s director debut Mausam is out. The film stars Shahid Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor in the lead and promises to be a “timeless journey of love”.

Yashraj Films is ready with a new film – Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. The film stars Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ali Zafar and is directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. Strangely similar stories have been explored in Dan In Real Life and Onir’s Sorry Bhai.

Like us, do you also belong to the Royal Club Of Cribbing because you have access to the best of world cinema but not our desi regional films? Current status – Aarrrrgghh. Reason – Aaranya Kaandam has released in Mumbai but without any subtitles. So, here’s something to cheer about. And the best part, Government is doing it. And it’s FREE. So, STFU and go grab a seat soon.

WHAT : Directorate of Film Festivals ia is organizing ‘National Film Festival 2011’ in Delhi. The festival will screen all National Award winning films of 2010. The Awards were announced last month and would be presented soon.

NUMBERS : Out of 161 Feature films and 114 non-feature films that came as entry, 42 films (23 feature & 19 non-feature) have won Rajat Kamal or Swarna Kamal.

FESTIVAL : The opening film in the feature category is Dabangg and Pistulya in the non-feature group.

DATES :  The festival will begin from 17th June and will end on 16th July 2011.

PLACE : Films will be screened at Siri Fort Auditorium only on weekends! Entry to this festival is absolutely FREE but seats are available on first come first serve basis. So plan your coming weekends with a toast to Indian Cinema!

Opening Films :  At 5:30 pm, 17th June 2011(Friday)

**PISTULYA   –  Dir: Nagraj Manjule. Marathi, Telugu/ Digital/15min/EST. Best Debut Director & Special Mention Award

DABANGG – Dir: Abhinav Kashyap. Hindi/35mm/127min/EST. Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment

DATE : 18.06.2011 / Saturday

10:30am

**GERM –  Dir: Snehal R. Nair.  Hindi/35mm/24min/EST. Best Non-feature Film & Best Editing

BETTADA JEEVA –  Dir: P. Sheshadri. Kannada/35mm/114min/EST. Best Film on Environment Conservation & Special Mention Award

02:00 pm

**SHYAM RAAT SEHER ( A ) – Dir: Arunima Sharma Hindi/35mm/23min. Best Direction & Best Cinematography

HEJJEGALU – Dir: P.R. Ramadas Naidu. Kannada/35mm/103min/EST. Best Children’s Film

05:00 pm

**ADVAITHAM – Dir: Pradeep Maadugula. Telugu/Digital/27min. Best Educational Film

PUTTAKKANA HIGHWAY – Dir: B. Suresha. Kannada/35mm/116min/EST.  Best Kannada Film

19.06.2011 // Sunday

10:30 am

**NILAMADHABA – Dir: Dilip Patnaik. English/Digital/52min/EST. Best Biographical Film

JETUKA PATOR DARE – Dir: Jadumoni Dutta. Assamese/35mm/90min/EST.  Best Assamese Film

02:00 pm

AMI AADU – Dir: Somnath Gupta. Bengali/35mm/121min/EST. Best Bengali Film

05:00pm

MONER MANUSH – Dir: Goutam Ghose. Bengali/35mm/158min/EST. Best Film on National Integration & Best Make-up Artist

25.06.2011// Saturday

10:30am

**BOXING LADIES – Dir: Anusha Nandakumar. Hindi/Digital/26min/EST. Best Film on Sports

CHITRASUTRAM ( A ) – Dir: Vipin Vijay. Malayalam/35mm/104min/EST. Best Audiography ( Sound Design)

02:00pm

**IRON IS HOT – Dir: Biju Toppo & Meghnath Bhattacharjee. English/Digital/35min/EST. Best Environment Film

ADAMINTE MAKAN ABU – Dir: Salim Ahamed. Malayalam/Digital/113min. Best Feature Film, Best Actor, Best Cinematographer & Best Music Direction (Background score)

05:00pm

**KAL 15 AUGUST DUKAN BAND RAHEGI ( A ) – Dir: Prateek Vats. Hindi/35mm/11min/EST. Best Short Fiction Film

VEETTILEKKULLA VAZHI – Dir: Dr Biju. Malayalam/35mm/95min/EST. Best Malayalam Film

26.06.2011 // Sunday

10:30 am

**THE ZELIANGRONGS – Dir: Ronel Haobam. Manipuri,English/ Digital/52min/. Special Mention Award

I AM KALAM – Dir: Neel Madhab Panda. Hindi/35mm/87min/EST. Best Child Artist

02:00 pm

**HEART TO HEART – Dir: Bachaspati Mayum Sunzu. Manipuri, English/Digital/37min/EST. Best Science and Technology Film

**LEAVING HOME – Dir: Jaideep Verma. English/Digital/115min/EST. Best Arts and Culture Film

05:00pm

**EK ROPA DHAN – Dir: Biju Toppo & Meghnath Bhattacharjee. Hindi/Digital/26min/ Best Promotional Film

MEE SINDHUTAI SAPKAL – Dir: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan. Marathi/35mm/105min. Special Jury Award, Best Male Playback Singer, Best Screenplay (Adapted) & Best Dialogues

02.07.2011 // Saturday

10:30 am

CHAMPIONS – Dir: Ramesh More. Marathi/35mm/118min/EST. Best Film on Social Issues & Best Child Artist

02:00pm

MALA AAI VHHAYCHAY – Dir: Samruddhi Porey. Marathi/35mm/115min/EST. Best Marathi Film

05:00pm

BABOO BAND BAAJA – Dir: Rajesh Pinjani. Marathi/35mm/127min/EST.  Best Debut Film, Best Actress & Best Child Artist

03.07.2011 // Sunday

10:30am

MYNAA – Dir: Prabhu Solomon. Tamil/35mm/143min/EST. Best Supporting Actor

02:00 pm

AADUKALAM – Dir: Vetrimaran. Tamil/35mm/152min/EST. Best Direction, Best Actor, Best Screenplay(Original), Best Editing, Best Choreography & Special Mention Award

05:00pm

ENTHIRAN – Dir: S. Shankar. Tamil/35mm/165min/EST. Best Production Design & Best Special Effects

09.07.2011 //Saturday

10:30am

NAMMA GRAMAM – Dir: Mohan Sharma. Tamil/35mm/131min/EST. Best Supporting Actress & Best Costume Design

02:00pm

THENMERKKU PARUVAKKATRU – Dir: Seenu Ramasamy. Tamil/35mm/125min/EST. Best Tamil Film, Best Actress & Best Lyrics

05:00pm

MEMORIES IN MARCH – Dir: Sanjoy Nag. English/35mm/104min. Best English Film

10.07.2011 //Sunday

10:30am

**OTTAYAL (One Woman: Alone) – Dir: Shiny Jacob Benjamin. Malayalam/Digital/70min/EST. Special Mention Award

**JOHAR WELCOME TO OUR WORLD – Dir: Nilanjan Bhattacharya. Hindi, English/Digital/58min/EST. Best Narration (Writing)

02:00pm

**A PESTERING JOURNEY – Dir: K.R. Manoj. Malayalam, Punjabi, Hindi, English, Tulu/Digital/66min/EST. Best Investigative Film & Best Audiography

**KABIRA KHADA BAZAAR MEIN – Dir: Shabnam Virmani. Hindi/Digital/94min/EST. Special Jury Award

05:00 pm

ISHQIYA ( A ) – Dir: Abhishek Chaubey. Hindi/35mm/116min. Best Female Playback Singer, Best Audiography ( Location Sound recordist & Re-recordist of the final mixed track) & Best Music Director( Songs)

16.07.2011 // Saturday

10:30 am

**UNDERSTANDING TRAFFICKING ( A ) – Dir: Ananya Chakraborti. Bengali, Hindi, English/ Digital/87min/EST. Best Film on Social Issues

02:00pm

**SONGS OF MASHANGVA – Dir: Oinam Doren. Tangkhul, Manipuri, English/ Digital/62min/EST. Best Ethnographic Film

**LOVE IN INDIA ( A ) – Dir: Kaushik Mukherjee. Bengali, English/Digital/90min. Best Film on Family values

05:00pm

DO DOONI CHAR – Dir: Habib Faisal. Hindi/35mm/118min. Best Hindi Film

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

– ** Non- feature films

– All Non-English and Non- Hindi Films carry English Subtitles.

– Entry is free, on first-come-first-served basis.

– Management has the right to reserve some seats in each show

– Programme subject to Change

– Handbags, helmets, camera’s, eatables etc. are not permitted inside Auditorium

(PS – Can we please have something in Mumbai also?)                

And it’s not even surprising because Bhatt Factory is known for plagiarising much more than just the posters. But to start with, here are the two posters of Murder 2 and the original ones….Korean to European, Kim Ki-Duk to Lars Von Trier, that’s quite a range!

Click here to see the other posters of Murder 2. We are sure that the 3rd and 4th poster from the top are not original too. Just can’t locate the source.

Tip – Aniruddha Chatterjee

It’s raining trailers and how! The two new theatrical trailers are of Ajay Devgn’s Singham and UTV’s Chillar Party which is directed by Nitesh Tiwari and Vikas Behl. Salman Khan has come on-board as the co-producer of the film with his new banner Salman Khan Being Human (SKBH) Productions. Check it out.

(PS : Was Singham shot on the sets of Golmaal ?)

Taj Enlighten Film Society has organised the 1st European Film Festival in Mumbai. According to the official release, the festival attempts to relocate the myth-like status of European cinema by playing it to an audience much more used to the unmediated kitsch of ‘Bombay cinema.’ The selection also includes a Jean-Luc Godard retrospective and a Swiss film package.

The Swiss film package has a retrospective of the Swiss master Daniel Schmid, who was also a colleague of the legendary German film maker Rainer Fassbinder. The contemporary curations include films that view Switzerland as the ‘other’ within the discourse of the European ‘self.’  Also included is a workshop by the significant Swiss-Indian film maker Kamal Musale at the World College-School of Media Studies, emphasizing the importance of documentary film practice even in conventional, narrative cinema and the importance of filming over script construction.

The schedule for the month of June is as follows:

NCPA

3rd June, 2011, 6.30 PM -Inauguration by Kamal Musale and Amole Gupte

Screening: 2 short films by Kamal Musale: Three Soldiers (1987) and Raclette Curry (1999)

Screening: Two English Girls (Francois Truffaut, 1971)

24th June, 2011-6.30 PM– Bed&Board (Francois Truffaut, 1970)

Cinemax

5th June – 12 Noon— Army of Shadows (Jean Pierre Melville, 1969)

12th June – 12 Noon-Le Petit Soldat (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)

19th June- 12 Noon– Daniel Schmid: The Thinking Cat (Benny Jaberg and Pascal Hoffman, 2010)

26th June – 12 Noon– Soul Kitchen (Fatih Akin, 2009)

Metro Big Cinema

5th June, 2011 – 10.00 AM – Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1959)

12th June – 10.00 AM– Hecate (Daniel Schmid, 1982)

19th June – 10.00 AM – Oh Woe is Me (Jean Luc Godard, 1993)

26th June – 10.00 AM – Shoot the Piano Player (Francois Truffaut, 1962)

World College-School of Media Studies

4th June, 2011, 4.00 PM – Workshop by Kamal Musale on documentary film making.

Screening of Sound of Insects (Peter Leichti, 2009) along with works by Kamal Musale: Courrier Du Pacifique (1998) and Raclette Curry (1999).

11th June, 2011 6.30 PM: Three Swiss short films: Yuri Lennon’s Landing on Alpha 46 (Anthony Vouardoux, 2010), Au Café Romand (Richard Szotyori, 2008) and Cartography: the Pool (Phillipe Saire, 2008)

Mumbai Times Cafe

18th June 2011 6.00pm : Stealing Beauty (Bernardo Bertolucci,1996)

For further information on screening and membership details contact 022 – 42141414 or visit www.enlighten.co.in

Aha, the self-referencing parade just doesn’t end. Check out the video. The film is directed by Puri Jagannath and stars Amitabh Bachchan.

WHAT: Screenwriter’s Lab 2011, a 2-part workshop is designed to prepare screenwriters’ with original Indian stories for working with the international filmmaking market place. It aims at improving a completed screenplay in its final stages and to increase the international marketability of the same.

LAB : The 1st Session will be held during the Venice International Film Festival in September, 2011 where participants will get first-hand experience of the workings of the international film community and get to train with their screenplay mentors.

The 2nd session at Film Bazaar, Goa from 24–27 November, 2011 is where participants will apply their training and pitch their revised screenplays to participants at the film market.

MENTORS: The workshop will be conducted by Marten Rabarts, Artistic Director, Binger Filmlab, aided by experienced international guest mentors. It is organized in association with Binger Filmlab, Netherlands and Venice International Film Festival.

CONTACT: For further details on the Screenwriters’ Lab please write to: filmbazaar2011@gmail.com

DATE: Last Date for entries  is 17 June, 2011.

Rules and Regulations

i. Two Sessions Compulsory

– The sessions in 2011 will run at the Venice International Film Festival, in September and from 24 – 27 November at Film Bazaar Goa, India. Participants must attend both sessions, must have a valid passport and visa and must be able to travel to Venice.

ii. Costs of the Lab

– The lab will provide accommodation for participants in Venice and Goa, as well as accreditation to the Venice International Film Festival and the Goa Film Bazaar.

– The lab will provide economy air tickets originating from either Mumbai or Delhi for travel to the workshop.

– Participants will have to apply, secure and pay for their own visas as well as their travel insurance. The organizers will not be responsible for the above if additional charges are incurred.

 For more details and application form, click here and here.

Zoya Akhtar made an assured debut with Luck By Chance. And her next film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is ready for release. The film stars Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin. It’s written by Zoya and Reema Kagti, dialogues by Farhan Akhtar and has music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy.

And here is the trailer….

Aha, Senorita seems fun. And here’s the official synopsis…

Kabir ( Abhay Deol) has just met Natasha. 6 months later they are engaged.

He wants to go on an extended bachelor party. A 3 week road trip with Imraan (Farhan Akhtar) and Arjun (Hrithik Roshan) – his 2 friends since school. The only problem is Arjun is too tied up with work. After much emotional blackmail and cajoling the boys set off on a journey they were meant to take 4 years ago.

A fantasy holiday they had planned to take after college but never happened. A road trip where each one gets to do the ultimate sport of his choice and other two just have to do it with him. Whether they want to or not.

Kabir, Imraan and Arjun meet up in Barcelona and set off on an adventure that will not only make them iron out their differences but also face their fears, alter their perception, unravel their fabric, force them to break out of the box and teach them to seize the day.

In other words, a holiday that will change their life forever.

Rock On was Dil Chahta Hai with mid-life crisis, and this one also seems to be DCH Redux. What do you think?