Movie Recco : 10 must watch documentaries

Posted: January 3, 2012 by moifightclub in cinema, Documentary, Indie, Movie Recco, Must Watch, Special
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
5

We wrapped up the “Best Of 2011” with all kinds of posts on movies, music and moments. But we completely forgot about the docs. Also because most of us didn’t manage to watch all the best docs.  Writer-filmmaker Mihir Desai saw it all and here’s his recco post on the top 10 docs of 2011 that you must watch. Click on the titles to see the trailers.

2011, like the previous year has been a brilliant year for documentaries. We’ve been exposed to some really personal and special films. These docs have dared to bend the rules and have created a sub-genre within documentary filmmaking. I saw docs that were surreal, global collaborations, re-enactments and just traditional docu-dramas. Hope this genre continues to grow and finds more audiences, after all the first few movies ever made were documentaries too!

Some obvious choices like Pina 3D, Page One: Inside The New York Times and Martin Scorsese’s Public Speaking will be missing from the list as I never got a chance to watch these. Regardless, this should make for an interesting recommendation list, as I am sure most films listed below might have gone unnoticed amidst the Tintin and Mission Impossible hype.

First up, the honorable mentions: Inshallah Football, Buck, Knuckle, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, a short documentary by Errol Morris – The Umbrella Man and Superheroes.

Now, the five runner-ups. Films that almost made it to the list:

15. Urbanized
14. Being Elmo
13. Project Nim
12. Cave of Forgotten Dreams – 3D
11. Tabloid

Finally, the top 10 documentaries of 2011:

10. The Arbor :  Clio Barnard’s portrayal of the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar is a brave experimental documentary. Clio uses audio from the interviews of real people and lip-syncs them to the actor’s performance. The whole film is a re-enactment but it isn’t manipulating the facts. The events and story is true, the presentation isn’t (somewhat similar to No. 8 on this list) It can be a little challenging to watch this film but once the story unfolds, you’ll be hooked!

9. Bill Cunningham New York: An 80 year old New York Times fashion photographer riding his bike around New York City to photograph fashionable citizens; the plot of this film is that simple. Director Richard Press portrays Bill Cunningham’s passion for fashion and photography in the simplest manner. The observational approach juxtaposes the glamorous fashion world to Bill’s simple and saintly way of living. Besides being a film about Bill’s photography, it is also an interesting city portrait of New York. Therefore, making New York an additional character for Bill to interact with. This is a truly inspiring documentary. When the movie ends, what stays with you is Bill’s contagious smile.

8. Bombay Beach: Director Alma Har’el comes up with the year’s most poetic, surreal, genre-defying documentary. Some might argue, this isn’t even a documentary, and that’s what makes it so fascinating to watch. The location is real, the characters are real and the story is just an observation of these characters’ lives. Alma treats her film like a narrative feature. There are beautiful musical moments choreographed to songs by Bob Dyland and Beurit that makes the experience very surreal. The irony here is that this film is vaguely about the American dream set in a poor, dying community on the shores of Salton Sea. Bombay Beach is nothing like you’ve ever seen before. Absolutely magical!

7. Senna: The year’s most popular documentary on the life of Formula One driver, Ayrton Senna, is absolutely riveting! Director Asif Kapadia makes the best of unseen archival footage to explore the struggles and achievements of an iconic sports person. It’s the editing of the film that takes it to a whole new level. Gripping!

6. Life In A Day: What. A. Movie! This is a perfect and successful example of collaboration 2.0. Co-directed by Kevin MacDonald and The World, this is a beautiful documentation of common emotions across the globe. Shot on the same day by people from around the world and interestingly woven together by editor Joe Walker, Life In A Day is as real a film can get. Brilliant and compelling! Also, you can legally watch the whole film on YouTube, for free.

5. How To Die In Oregon: Oregon was the first state in the USA to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Director Peter Richardson follows the life of cancer patient Cody, and it is through her point of view we get to learn about the pros and cons of Oregon state’s “Death with Dignity” law. Richardson handles this topic in a very sensitive manner without invading Cody’s private space. A thought-provoking documentary that some might find a little tough to watch. Yet, this is one of the most important films of the year and is sure to call for a healthy debate about the ‘death with dignity’ law and about the voyeuristic nature of documentary filmmaking.

4. Into The Abyss: Werner Herzog has his way of doing things, and no one else does it better than him. Herzog creates a moving profile of two men on death row and explores their relationship with those outside of prison. This film is not so much about capital punishment but about exploring the fear and philosophies of death. A very honest portrayal of the fine line between what is right and wrong.

3. Nostalgia For The Light: If Terrence Malick makes a documentary, this is what it  will look like. With gorgeous imagery and a philosophical narrative, director Patricio Guzmán constructs a story about the fusion of past and present. In the Atacama Desert, astronomers study the boundaries of the universe while surviving families of the Chilean exiles continue to look for the remains of the loved ones. Nothing comes close to the experience of watching this movie. This is the film I would have loved to see in 3D. It’s a hypnotic film that asks complex questions about life, memory and the universe. Unique film, unique experience.

2. Marwencol: Jeff Malmberg’s documentary is about the fantasy work of Mark Hogancamp, who creates a 1/6th scale World War II ear town which helps him get away from his nightmarish past. Mark is a very complex character and this film studies him with utmost sincerity. The filmmaker never tries romanticizing Mark’s motivations. Truly an authentic character study that might just leave you shattered.

1. The Interrupters: The Academy once again snubs one of the best documentary filmmakers, Steve James. Last time it was for Hoop Dreams and this time, for the mind-blowing, The Interrupters. Set in Chicago, Steve James follows three members of the Ceaserfire program for a whole year. Also known as violence interrupters, their job is to protect their community from the urban violence of the city. This is a side of America not many are aware of. The characters are, in my opinion, real-life superheroes. Steve James and his crew fearlessly film every detail they can. They are always there in the middle of conversations, danger, and threat. The Interrupters is powerful, dark and hopeful at the same time. Without a doubt, the best documentary of 2011.

Take some time out from mainstream movies and seek out these masterful films. There’s a whole lot out there!

Happy New Year!

– Mihir Desai

( PS – For more film posts by Mihir, click here.)

Good Morning – And we go trippy!

Posted: January 2, 2012 by moifightclub in cinema, Film Festival, Indie, Movie Recco, short film
Tags: , , , , ,
14

Yes, yes, yes, we know. For a change we’re behaving like the incestous bollywoodwaalas and promoting someone who is a good friend and who also happens to be a punju 😛 (but unlike them, we know our boy man is zooper talented). Kabir Chowdhary dabbled in theater and arts in Chandigarh before making a one minute short film called Dolly (click here to see it) which won the Gold PFCOne award (passionforcinema.com one minute film festival). He was an intern on the sets of DevD, and for those who claim to have seen the film many times, let’s see if you can figure out which scene in the film gave a tribute/promotion/plugin to his short film.

He later moved on to direct more short films like Pour, this low budget spunky music video here, a black humored clay news spoof  ‘Balbir News on Nithari Killings and worked on the art department for films like Wake up Sid, Aisha, and now going independent art director with Midnight’s Children.

He’s directed a 43 minute short film ‘Good morning’ which played at SAIFF film festival NY and won the grand jury award for best short. Our verdict? A trippy ride with some lovely visuals and performances. Pretty good sound design and music too. Nitpick – a few minutes long but still engaging. Do watch it if you get a chance.
Click on the play button to check out the trailer and if it looks interesting, scroll down to know more about the film. Over to Kabir.

Good morning is a psychological drama that explores the obsessions and insecurities of a married man who is completely dedicated to his wife. His world is shattered one day when he discovers his wife in bed with another man.

What happens next is diabolical, cold and shocking.

When viewing a film I have directed, my mind always wanders to what I was thinking when I was making it.

Which I guess is a very normal thing to ponder over for anyone who has been a part of a film project.

However, with Good Morning, all I can think about every time I watch it, is what an utter explosion it was for all of us working on it.

It was a guttural, visceral spewing of all our collective emotions, it was like I had lit a firecracker and burst it in my own hand.

The original script of Good Morning was 60 pages long and was written by me about 5 years ago, but we only got down to making it after I recently fractured my hand.

There was little activity in Chandigarh (my hometown), I was utterly bored, but brimming with a sense of purpose when my friend and the editor (Sakshi Bhatia) suggested, we rework the 60 page script and do a 10 minute film (which ended up to be 45 minutes running).

The 10 minute script, unlike the final film was written like an absurd comedy, it had extensive dialogue written in rhyme and was layered with a lot of nonsensical humor and a few sexually explicit scenes which were all later slashed out of the film.

Because once the casting process started it became very difficult for us to find an actress in Chandigarh who was willing to get naked! We did meet a lady who came all the way from a hill station about 3 hours away, and asked for 8000 rupees for the nudity involved. Without wanting to spend so much, we finally gave up this extensive search and decided to ask my cousin (Sukhmani, the actress in my earlier film Dolly) without giving her a copy of the script – and figured we will deal with the sex scenes when we shoot them! (we finally worked our way around the sex and made it suggestive, because we were obviously not going to shoot my sister naked!!!!)

Manish Kumar (Sunny) and Emanuel Singh (The Suit) who have both been trained at the NSD readily agreed to be a part of the film and were told that they were incharge of leading the actress (as she was unaware) and surprise her with their actions!

Our aim was to make a very small film on the I-phone, but the cast in flesh, blood and training was too exciting to keep it low quality, which is when my dear friend Rahat came down from Kashmir with his Canon 5-d and we were finally all set to start shooting.

Having been around conventional film sets with my work as an art director, I developed a sincere disdain to the long and arduous process of filmmaking, I feel boxed in and bored and genuinely feel that it drains the spontaneity out of everyone on set!

On our own film I wanted everyone to be themselves and have fun working! I also wanted to shoot without any prior rehearsal or deciding the location of the scene. And once the emotional quotient of the film was explained to the actors, they were made to let go of themselves completely as everyone was allowed only 1 take as I didn’t want anything to look remotely mechanical or well rehearsed!

Everything in this film for me was relying on the trust with the actors and the environment that the scene took place.

The actors were allowed to be themselves and bring themselves fully, without any penalty. So if our actor was a drinker or a hash smoker, within takes we would let him smoke or drink and come and get naked on a railway track, or dance wildly in the meat market with eels and a chicken!

And on the day of the climax, keeping up with our traditions, everyone got sloshed, ! (barring Rahat, the camera person, who literally had to focus!) and it was getting almost impossible to manage a room full of drunks (being a little drunk myself!)

As is, with a bunch of spontaneous crazy and creative people working together, it was four days of relentless chaos that was created and captured. The shooting process was a coming together of palpable energies stemming from being confrontational and disruptive to the real spaces and people we were around, but it seemed like everyone’s energies, even a crowd that collected(wondering what the hell was wrong with the actor and paying no attention to the camera!) was working in tandem to create this piece of work. it was a fulfilling, satisfying and mildly exhausting journey for everyone involved!

With this film, we have tried to carefully assemble a lot of nonsense, all held together by an element of no reason. There are no particular reasons why this film was made, its not trying to make any strong points, but it is more an emotional journey, a very personal piece of work that has fuelled within us the fire and the longing to stay true to ourselves and the film that is being created, we want to allow ourselves to be able to let go of ourselves and still be restrained and most of all make the experience for everyone involved, personal, therefore memorable and hopefully will be the same for the people who get to watch it!

The film is 45 minutes long and was made on a budget of Rs 25,000, with a crew of just 3 people and it was shot over a period of four days in Chandigarh.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook page of the film is here.

The film also won the Grand Jury Prize for best Narrative short at SAIFF and is currently doing the festival rounds.

POTD : Goodbye 2011

Posted: January 1, 2012 by moifightclub in cinema, pics, POTD, Special
Tags:
8

And with this POTD we close the year and come to the end of “Best of 2011” posts. This sketch and the note that follows is by Sumit Purohit.

Every cinema buff loves to look back at the year that went by and comes up with his or her pick of best/worst films of the year. So here is mine. I haven’t watched all the films that released this year (and hence some might be missing from the list) but from all that I did, these are, for me, the fifteen important films from 2011 – the films I enjoyed, the films that I think did something new and different.

I resumed sketching this year with sketches inspired from films. And therefore what better way to share my favourite films from 2011 than visually.

Enjoy figuring out the films. I hope you can 🙂 And just in case you need help, you can check this link.

– Sumit Purohit

2011 Rewind : 20 Things we learnt at the movies and 10 unanswered questions

Posted: December 30, 2011 by moifightclub in bollywood, cinema, Special, Year end special
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
23

And the “2011 Rewind” series continues. You can read our previous posts here (honest movie posters), here (Bollywood songs we looped), here (Non-bollywood hits of the year), here (exciting moments at the movies),  and here (films which dared to bend the rules). Also, we are scooping some of the best year-end lists here.

Like last year, in this post we have tried to dissect what we learnt at the movies  this year – the good, the bad, the ugly, and the questions that baffled us through out the year.

20 Things We Learnt At The Movies

1. Zoya Akhtar is a better filmmaker than Farhan Akhtar. 2/2 > 1.5/4. LBC + ZNMD > DCH + 1/2Lakshya

2. Nikhil Advani scored a dud hattrick and proved again that KHNH was indeed directed by Karan Johar. Patiala House.

3. Big B can’t sell tickets anymore. He is hit on the small screen but is a flop on the big screen.  KBC. BHTB. Even when he was in his best commercial avatar,  the excuses given were many – low budget, recovery before release, satellite rights.

4. Creative collaboration with spouses and family is not a bright idea. Dhobi Ghat. TGIYB. Mausam. Tere Mere Phere. Love Breakups Zindagi.

5. B for Bachchan. B for Bhagnani. B for Box Office. But you never know which way the last B will swing. Even Jackie B’s film can score better than Abhishek B’s film. Faltu. Game.

6. Tusshar Kapoor still can’t act. He was the odd man out even when the films scored – either critically acclaimed Shor In The City or commercial hit The Dirty Picture. His pillow dance in TDP can give nightmare to anyone.

Dear Ekta Kapoor, let him go. Even Aditya Chopra has given up on Uday Chopra.

7. You can’t calculate the target audience and then make films according to it. Otherwise Y Films’ Luv Ka The End and Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge would have been blockbusters. Pre-release claim – 60% (?) of theatre going audience is youth. Post-release – we recovered our costs.

8. Every filmmaker has one great film in him/her. Some people make their debut with that one. Tigmanshu Dhulia is done with it. Stop expecting. Shagird. Sahid Biwi Aur Gangster.

9. When it comes to Ramu, camera and dildo have the same purpose, interest and area of specialisation. NALS.

10. Prakash Jha creates political events but has no clue about political films now. Raajneeti was a joke,  and we are not sure how to describe the awful Aarakshan.

11. Imtiaz Ali will keep churning out films based on his single template of romance. He knows it but doesn’t  know what to do about it. Rockstar.

12. Himesh Reshammiya is not going to give up so soon. Let’s all pray. Damadamm! In 2012 he has more.

13. Dad + Sons > Mom + Daughter. Deols. Yamla Pagla Deewana. Tell Me O Kkhuda.

14. Remake is NOT a hit formula. Soundtrack was a mess.

15. We don’t need superheroes. Our heroes can do everything. Ra One. Zokkomon.

16. Bhai-porn is here to stay. We are still not bored. Ready. Bodyguard.

17. Indian Mens Are Hot. Courtesy Anil Kapoor. Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol.

18. Sex and Shah Rukh Khan still sells. Ra One. Murder 2. Don 2. The Dirty Picture.

19. When an actress gets into film production, it means her career is officially over. Lara Dutta. Dia Mirza, Ameesha Patel. Shilpa Shetty. 

20. We still haven’t lost A R Rahman to the west. When he delivers, he is the best. Rockstar.

10 Unanswered Questions

1. Will the real Abhinay Deo please stand up? Which one to trust – Game or Delhi Belly?

2. Who read the script of Game and approved it?

3. Who thought about changing Mimoh’s name to Mahakshay?

4. In which camera do you have the option of in-built subtitles? And for ghosts? Ragini MMS.

5. Who added extra ‘B’ in Bbuddah, extra ‘K’ In Tell Me O Kkhuda, extra ‘A’s in Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge and what purpose they served?

6. Is his name Bumpy? Just Bumpy? Really? Luv Ka The End.

7. In how many more films will we see Vinay Pathak in lead role and doing the same bumbling fool act? This year he had five releases. Yes, five!

8. Can G. One fly? If so, why does he need to travel in a plane? Ra One.

9. Always Kabhi Kabhi – Who is the brain behind the weirdest title of the year?

10. Who is Nagesh Kukunoor?

And what’s your list? What all you discovered or learnt at the movies this year? And what all remains unanswered? Do let us know in comments.

VOTD : You don’t need money for war

Posted: December 29, 2011 by moifightclub in cinema, video, VOTD
Tags: , ,
0

At least when you are doing it for the screen. All you need is little creativity. Click on the play button and check out the video.

via Karan Anshuman

2011 Rewind – 10 Honest movie posters

Posted: December 28, 2011 by moifightclub in bollywood, cinema, pics, Posters, Special, Year end special
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
15

This is in continuation to our “2011 Rewind” posts. You can read our previous posts here (Bollywood songs we looped), here (Non-bollywood hits of the year), here (exciting moments at the movies) and here (films which dared to bend the rules). Also, we are scooping some of the best year-end lists here.

So what is a film poster suppose to do? With so much hype around the release of first look of any film, it’s your first pitch for the audience. It might not make or break your film but it surely starts setting the mood for the film. But do they always tell what the film is all about? A good film poster is a rare thing. And recycling is the funda of the game. Click here to read an interesting piece – thirteen movie poster trends that are here to stay and what they say about their movies. And if you heart posters like we do, here‘s another interesting site for minimal movie posters.

Ok, back to honest movie posters of the year. So here are ten honest movie posters done by Jahan Bakshi, Varun Grover and Rakhi.

And for all the love that Michael Fassbender’s dingdong is getting, here’s a bon(er)us one. This one is a mashup.

First Look : Karan Malhotra’s Agneepath (Trailer – 2)

Posted: December 23, 2011 by moifightclub in bollywood, cast & crew, cinema, film, first look, News, Trailer
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
11

A new trailer of debutant Karan Malhotra’s Agneepath has just released. Produced by Karan Johar, this film is an official remake of Mukul Anand’s Agneepath and stars Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra and Rishi Kapoor. Take a look.

And here are few observations…

1. This doesn’t look like the usual KJo film. And that’s a a good start. Dongri? I am not sure if any of the characters from any KJo production ever knew that a place called Dongri exist. Good to see that Dharma Productions is exploring beyond SoBo.

2. Dialogues by Piyush Mishra. Great.

3. Music by Ajay-Atul. The music director duo started with Marathi films and quickly made their mark. Again, good decision to go with Ajay-Atul instead of the usual suspects – Shankar,Ehsaan, Loy or Vishal-Shekhar.

4. More roles for actors like Brijendra Kala and Pankaj Tripathi (is that him in the opening scene?) makes me feel that we are going in right direction.

First Look – Ferrari Ki Sawaari (Teaser)

Posted: December 23, 2011 by moifightclub in bollywood, first look, songs & videos, Trailer
Tags: , , , , , ,
3

The first look of Vidhu Vinod Chopra Prductions’ Ferrari Ki Sawaari is out. The film stars Sharman Joshi and has been directed by debutant Rajesh Mapuskar.

Though the teaser doesn’t say much but here’s my observation – a) why is the chroma looking so terrible? Why should tackiness be compensation for good content? It was the same with 3 Idiots. b) I may be completely wrong but it seems Boman Irani is playing a demented character again. I am bored of it. Can we give him a normal character to play? If am wrong, apologies in advance. Waiting for the trailer now.

2011 Rewind – 10 films which dared to bend the rules

Posted: December 22, 2011 by moifightclub in cinema, Special, Year end special
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
12

And manage to successfully pull it off too. Now, ‘dare’ is a difficult term to describe.  Let’s try another definition. Do you read the back covers of the dvds where the synopsis of the film is printed? This is the list of the films whose brilliance can’t be summed up in those few lines, either in terms of the subject, story, story telling technique or execution. In no particular order.

1. 50/50 – There are stories that you tell and then there are stories that you have lived. And there’s no substitute for the latter. Nobody can tell that because nobody else has been there. Like Samuel Moaz’s Lebanon, 50/50 is inspired by screenwriter Will Reiser’s own story. Otherwise “cancer comedy” is a difficult genre to crack. The film finds the perfect fine balance between tragedy and comedy and is one of the nicest films of the year.

2. Michael – The subject is creepy and disturbing, the treatment is non-judgmental and brilliant. Inspired by real life events, the Austrian film directed by Markus Schleinzer revolves around the life of a pedophile who has locked up a 10-year old kid in the cellar. Its brilliance lies in the fact that it uses no gimmicks to show the day to day activities of the pedophile’s life and the predatory relationship between the two characters are on the verge of father-son equation, which gives it a human face.

3. The Cave Of Forgotten Dreams  – There is no doubt that 3D is here to stay and it’s a terrible news for people like us who wear glasses. The experience is not even rewarding because most of the films will serve the same purpose in 2D. This is where Werner Herzog scored over everyone else. Even with the new (3)D, trust the old Dude to show how it’s done. Watch this one to know what Depth is and how goregous it can look when captured in 3D. Exploring the Chauvet Cave, this documentary is a meditative piece on life, evolution and human existence.

4. That Girl In Yellow Boots – I was disappointed with this one but the magic of the film lies entirely in its making. Anurag Kashyap could dare to shoot a film in just 13 days and complete it too –  this story is going to be in textbooks of digital film making.

5. The Artist – The film is touted as one of the Oscar favorites now. But imagine, at a time when everyone is hell-bent on going 3D and motion capture, a filmmaker thought about making a black and white silent film. And how many people thought it was a joke? In the words of the filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius, “Nobody believed in the movie. Nobody wanted to put any money in the movie.” The story is nothing new but the story telling is so smart and charming that it will keep you hooked throughout.

6. Gandu – We can claim some credit for discovering this low-budget provocative piece from Calcutta. We uploaded its trailer twice, it was removed both times and we were warned that our account will be blocked. All because of the explicit nature of the content. But the film is much more than that. That thing called aesthetics, which is so rare in bollywood, is in abundance in Q’s Gandu. Plus, the bengali rap and the minimalist style gives it a distinct flavour. And if you have seen Q’s other films (here and here), you know that the filmmaker is not fluke, and he is not just selling sex and nudity.

7. Generation P – A heady cocktail of art, culture, religion, pop, politics, philosophy, advertising, consumerism and Che Guevara. This Russian film directed by Victor Ginzburg was in production for about five years and was the trippiest experience at the movies this year. Its daring in its subject, scale and story telling and the viewing experince was unique, to say the least. It makes fun of so many well-known advertising campaigns and strangely, it got the funding from all those brands which it makes fun of. Convincing everyone wasn’t an easy job but who said filmmaking is a cakewalk.

8.The Tree Of Life  – The Bollywood rule book says the bigger you aim, the dumber you have to be. And my guess is, the rule book is the same everywhere unless you are Terrence Malick. This film goes to the other extreme. Even with all the trappings that define a big hollywood film, this one is a meditative piece that doesn’t give a fuck about your IQ but needs complete submission and respects your EQ. Once you are inside Malick’s world, the experience is difficult to describe and all that you will crave for is some silence and space for your soul.

9. Midnight In Paris  – Trust Woody Allen to do something so ridiculous and still make it so charming. You will think about the absurdity of the plot, but Woody knows his characters and their lines to well that you will happily take the leap of faith. Its a difficult path to tread that could have turned completely messy. Writing anything more about it will kill the joy of discovering it. Watch it if you still haven’t.

10. We Need To Talk About Kevin – This film is like an antidote to The Tree Of Life. No, make that vice-versa. Like many other great films, this one doesn’t provide any easy answers but leave you with million questions. Revolving around a school massacre, Lynne Ramsay’s film is disturbing and will stay with you for hours after its over. It boldly portrays a scary relationship where the mother and son are being competitive to beat each other. Exploring the uncomfortable zones in a family affair, Kevin must have been a very difficult film to get a firm grasp on.

Other than these ten, there have many others which pushed the envelope in many ways. What’s your pick?

Call For Entries : Ladakh International Film Festival 2012

Posted: December 21, 2011 by moifightclub in cinema, Film Festival, News
Tags: , , ,
7

Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) at 13,500 ft above the sea level is being pitched as “the highest altitude film festival of the world”.

DATE : The first edition of the fest will happen between 15th June – 17th June, 2012.

LIFF is chaired by Shyam Benegal and Melwyn William Chirayath is the festival director of LIFF. And here are some more details about this new fest –

FILMS : LIFF is divided into following segments of film sections to be screened:

  • Indian Section – Best of Indian Cinema Open to Indian films only
  •  International Section (Best of World Cinema) Open to non-Indian films only
  •  Competition Section – Short films, Animation films, Documentaries & Feature Films for a period of 2 calendar years
  •  Ladakh Section – Open only to citizens of Ladakh and films made on Ladakh(All formats from mobile phone to 35mm are accepted)

– Film Bazaar, Exhibition, Workshop and Green Carpet are other highlights of the festival

ENTRIES – Submissions of entries for the LIFF are now open from January 01, 2012 and the last date of submission is April 01, 2012.

ENTRY FEES – Ladakh International Film Festival will not be charging any entry fee.

WEBSITE : For further information please visit the website  www.liff.in

or Email – info@liff.in, monasse@gmail.com.

– Eminent personalities who are now on board as patrons of the festival include Christian Jeune – Deputy Director General, Festival De Cannes, Derek Malcom – President of British Federation of Film Societies & The International Film Critics Circle and distinguished Film Critic & Historian, Jacob Neiiendam – Director, Copenhagen film festival, Govind Nihalani – hEminent Film maker, Shekhar Kapoor ( Eminent Film maker), Mike H Pandey – Chairman (Steering Committee, IFFI) & Film maker, Vishal Bhardwaj – Eminent Film Director/Producer/Music Director, Ketan Mehta – Eminent Film maker, Shaji N Karun (Eminent Film maker), Madhur Bhandarkar – Eminent Film maker, Deepti Naval (Eminent actor/film maker/author) and Nitin Desai ( Eminent Art Director)

– The mascot of Ladakh International Film Festival is ‘Schan’- The Snow Leopard. Through its association with the Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust, the Festival’s aim will be to raise awareness amongst people from all over the world on protecting the rare and endangered Snow Leopard.

–  There will be an auditorium screening with 35mm dual projection and 5.1 sound facilities. Besides this, there will be two open air screenings.

– Films will be screened in three venues simultaneously and venues will have transportation facilities like buses and bicycles.

– Film Shoppé, planting fish and fish eggs in the river bodies of Ladakh, exhibitions, workshops and Green Carpet Premieré are other highlights of the festival.

– There is an adjacent ground which could be utilized by local Ladakhi businessmen to promote the local business.

– Snow Leopard trophies, citations, certificates etc. would be given. There would also be a special Snow Leopard award to the best film made on any endangered species in the world. Cash prizes would also be given in the feature film competitive category.

– Film Shoppe would be attended by invited representatives of International Studios/Film Producers/Film Buyers, satellite channel etc. One could bring in their film and explore business opportunities with them. The focus is on the improvement of marketing opportunities of completed film projects.

– The fest is organised by Monassé, an event management company established in 1994 and is involved with the pre-production, production, post-production, permissions and liasioning of many cinematic ventures and provides services for documentary production to TV commercial productions. It facilitates in Hollywood/ Bollywood or any other Indian language (regional) films, talent casting, location scouting. Monassé operates from New Delhi and Mumbai. It has representations at all major metro cities of India and affiliations in Canada, Europe including UK, New Zealand, Australia and South Asia.

Older Entries
Newer Entries