Satyajit Ray is among my five favourite directors-John Landis

“I have great affection for Indian public who are great movie-going public”, said the American filmmaker John Landis. He told that Satyajit Ray is among his five favourite directors and his Apu Trilogy was an accomplished piece of art. The director remarked that filmmaking is a craft which in the hands of certain practitioners is lifted to the level of art. He said that in the current system where international conglomerates control the movie making, it is becoming increasingly difficult to experiment. This is evident in heavy reliance on remakes as the management of these big conglomerates is interested in the box office performance in the first few days. ‘Films are 105 years or so old and always it had been film industry or film business…. This has implications for freedom of filmmakers’, the director said. John Landis began his career in the mailroom of 20th Century Fox Studios. With enduring comedies such Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), The Blues Brothers (1980), Trading Places (1983), Spies Like Us (1985), Three Amigos! (1987) and Coming to America (1988), Landis has directed some of the most popular blockbusters of all time. His horror film An American Werewolf in London (1981) enjoys a multigenerational fan following. In 1983, Landis reinvented the concept of music videos with Michael Jackson's Thriller. He has been the executive producer and director of many television series. In 2004, Landis produced and directed Slasher, a feature documentary following a veteran used car salesman, and in 2007, Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project, honouring the career of the famed 'rat pack' comedian Don Rickles which premiered on HBO. Landis was honored with the Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Government in 1985. In February, 2009, the Cinemathéque Français in Paris will honour Landis with a comprehensive career retrospective.

Adaptation is not literal translation but a tribute to author: Adoor

Adoor Gopalakrishnan film maker of repute said that he grew up reading Thakazhi Sivasankar Pillai and his latest film, Oru Pennum Randaanum, an Indian Panorama entry as well as his last film ‘Naalu Pennungal’ are based on short stories by the author. ‘These film can be seen as my tribute to the author I grew up reading’, said Adoor. He informed that Oru Pennum Randaanum, his 11th offering is slated for international premier at Dubai International Film Festival. The filmmaker told that apart from Thakazhi Sivasankar Pillai, who was a great influence on his literary tastes, he has used the works of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer and Paul Zacharia in his films. ‘I do not believe in literal translation ultimately filmmaker’s interpretation will be there but final product is a praise to author’ said the director.On being asked about the films he liked in the festival, Adoor Gopalakrishnan pointed out Persopolis, Waltz with Bashir and the retrospective of Wong Kar Wai and Aki Karuismaki. Among Indian films he saw Girish Kasaravalli’s Gulabi Talkies which he found to be a good movie. ‘People, especially students of cinema should see the retrospectives. They should not go by the year of production. A good film is always contemporary and has so much to offer’ said the master.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan deeply appreciated the projection quality at IFFI-Goa. On being asked about the selection process of the movies in the film festivals world over, Adoor said that professional should be involved in the process of selection.

Global economic slowdown affects film festivals.

The Jakarta International Film Fest ( JIFFEST ) has decided to slash the festival days from ten days to five due to the global recession . It the fest originally planned from Dec 5th to -14 is changed from 5th to 9th. 10th edition of JIFFEST, this year set to include a retrospective titled '10 Years of Indonesian Film Revival.' This will feature hits "Sherina's Adventure" (Petualangan Sherina) "What's up Love?" (Ada Apa Dengan Cinta?) and chiller "Jelangkung." This festival‘s funding sources were from foreign benefactors, with revenues from ticket sales , a smaller amount of government funding and local commercial partners. The increased cost of film rentals and the cost of venue rentals forced the festival authorities to cut short the festival days. The festival’s opening film will be Coen brothers' "Burn After Reading" and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona is planned to be the closing night film." "Happy-Go-Lucky," "Flame & Citron" from Denmark, French mega-hit "Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis" and Oscar hopefuls from The Netherlands ("Dunya & Desie,") Jordan ("Captain Abu Raed") and Iran ("Songs of Sparrows.") are other film included in the programme basket

Film Bazaar opens on the sidelines of IFFI-Goa, 2008

A Film Bazaar has been organized by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) at Marriott Resort in Goa from November 26-29, on the sidelines of IFFI-Goa-2008. The Film Bazaar aims at creating opportunities for networking and business for producers, filmmakers and distributors from across the world. Bigger and better than the previous years, this year the Bazaar offers much more to the delegates and the participants. Among others, the Film Bazaar provides an interactive platform to promote co-production market by facilitating collaboration among potential domestic and international partners in the realms of production and distribution. Fifteen pre-selected film projects and ten documentary projects, a new feature to be introduced this year will be presented at Bazaar. “Film Bazaar is a co-production and distribution market for feature and non-feature films that reflects the diversity of India, that tell unseen and unheard stories…..at the core of the bazaar, apart from the beauty of Goa, are these projects that are looking for finance and sales”, said Ms Nina Lath Gupta, Managing Director of NFDC.Among the 10 non-feature films at the co-production market are Mike Pandey’s film on global disappearance of bees, Nitin K’s Gang of 7 and Preeti Mankar’s Mad about IIT-JEE. 15 Feature films in the co-production market include Indra Sinha’s Booker nominated novel ‘Animal People’ by English Director Michael Anderson. Samuel Kartikeya, a Tamil/Hindi bilingual about a vigilante whose goal is to cleanse society from evil. In addition, a screenwriting workshop will be organized by Binger Filmlab, an Amsterdam based international feature film development centre under the mentorship of global film makers to promote Indian talents. Mentors for the programme are Philippa Campbell, Sooni Taraporevala, Franz Rodenkirchen and Udayan Prasad. Eight scripts have been selected for the workshop. A Film Conclave will also be held in association with “Screen International” to conduct panel discussion and round tables on global trends in the industry and scope of partnering with India.

M.F Hussain’s documentary deferred in the festival due to Hinduata pressure

Films Division ,Govt of India yielded the pressure of Hinduata organisations and decided not to screen the documentary of renowned painter M F Husain in the 39th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here. 'Through the Eyes of a Painter', about Hussain's experience in Rajasthan, was a part of Information and Broadcasting Ministry's Films Division's 'Framing Time section', scheduled to be screened today.Hindu parivar organisations 'Sanatan Sanstha' and 'Hindu Janajagruti Samiti' (HJS) had objected to the screening of the documentary, citing that there were several cases pending against Hussain in India.. This documentary film, which won the prestigious Golden Bear award at the Berlin film festival

‘Low Culture’ took some time to develop but gradually the preservation of cinema has acquired a mainstream acceptance”

Film Heritage Section of the 39th International Film Festival of India was opened with the screening of the restored version of Max Ophuls’ ‘Lola Montes’. Highlighting the work, the theme this year for the Heritage Section is “Women!”. Other films in the Section are ‘Cluny Brown’ (Ernst Lubitsch), ‘Subarnarekha’ (Ritwik Ghatak), ‘Floating Clouds’ (Mikio Naruse), ‘Loulou’ (Maurice Pialat), ‘My Life to Live’ (Jean-Luc Godard), ‘The Women’ (George Cukor) and ‘Imitation of Life’ (Douglas Sirk). Jean-Francois Rauger, Director of Programming from Cinematheque francaise did the introduction for the Section. Severine Wemaere, Managing Director of Thomson Foundation was also present on the occasion.Film Heritage Section in the IFFI is entirely dedicated to worldwide film heritage, representing significant cultural and historical documents as well as treasures of inspiration for future cinematic creations. For the 2nd edition and since 2007, this new Section is made with and as part of the International Film Festival of Goa and directed by Thomson Foundation for Film & Television Heritage with Cinematheque francaise and with the support of Film & TV Office of French Embassy in India and with Film & Television Institute of India.
Earlier, in a press conference Jean-Francois Rauger said that the idea of cinema as a art form and the notion of preservation of this perceived ‘Low Culture’ took some time to develop but gradually the preservation of cinema has acquired a mainstream acceptance. Ms. Wemaere said that Lola Montes is our best ambassador. There are many movies, which are not accessible but should be available and our endeavour is to sensitize and promote awareness among the audience and the people involved in cinema about the importance of restoring and preserving film heritage, she added. At the press conference prominent film maker Mani Kaul said that a deep cultural change is required to accept the idea of physical preservation of art forms like cinema. On the theme “Women!”, Mani Kaul said that our cultural civilizational evolution has been dominated a masculine sensibility and it will be interesting to see the changes brought about by women taking charge of the various aspects. Under the Section, there will be a workshop on restoration project of Lola Montes and the seminar on Women and Cinema, Women in Cinema. Film Heritage Section in the IFFI is entirely dedicated to worldwide film heritage, representing significant cultural and historical documents as well as treasures of inspiration for future cinematic creations. For the 2nd edition and since 2007, this new Section is made with and as part of the International Film Festival of Goa and directed by Thomson Foundation for Film & Television Heritage with Cinematheque francaise and with the support of Film & TV Office of French Embassy in India and with Film & Television Institute of India.

Museum of Moving Images on anvil

Museum of Moving Images on anvil

Films Division looks for new avenues to popularise documentaries .Films Division is exploring new vistas to popularise the documentary films in India. A policy is being worked out to market the films made by the Division for the larger audience. New mediums like mobile phones, television and festivals are being considered. This was informed by the Shri Kuldeep Sinha, Chief Producer of Films Division in a press conference here today. Keeping in mind the disinclination of the theatre owners to show the Films Division documentaries, the Division has expanded the ambit of its partners including NGOs, social activists and Government departments. In the recent past, the Films Division has organized 300 such documentary festivals, giving a fillip to the cinema culture in remote places including Jammu & Kashmir and the North Eastern States, the Chief Producer informed .The Films Division has also opened an International Digital Archives for Short Films with a cache of 10,000 films. The Division aims to procure films nationally and internationally for the archives. The research and reference center at the Division is working to help the scholars in their research in the field.

‘New Dreams, New Directions’

Shri Anand Sharma, the Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting and External Affairs has assured all help and assistance to boost media and entertainment industry in the country, which he described as not only entertaining but also educating in social life and employment generating. Shri Sharma was speaking at the inaugural function of the day long ‘ India – The Big Picture’ Conference organized by the Confederation of Indian Industries in Panaji today. was the theme of the Conference.

The Minister said that the country has bountiful creative and technological talent available, and can become hub for outsourcing as well as making and exporting original animation films to other parts of the world. He said, the Government has liberalized the policy with regard to foreign direct investment and expressed hope that the foreign companies will take the benefit of this in ever-greater numbers to usher in new models that will lead to greater cooperation and greater profitability. The initiatives taken in this direction has already started yielding results, he added.

The Minister also announced plans to set up a National Centre of Excellence for gaming, animation and visual effects and a Moving Image Museum at Mumbai. There are also plans for upgrading the Films and TV Institute of India, Pune and adding new streams of courses to meet the demand in new emerging areas, the Minister mentioned. The National Film Archives of India too is being upgraded for preserving classic films.

Shri Sharma described cinema industry as most powerful unifying bond amongst Indians, which he said also has the potential of bringing together various cultures and peoples of the world and can ultimately help development of tourism sector of the country. The Minister stressed on evolving plans for utilizing natural beauty of the country for promoting the country as shooting destination of the world.

The Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Digamber V. Kamat while speaking on the occasion said that the brand name of Goa for international film festivals is fast catching up and Government will leave no stone unturned to establish it further. He said that an ideal location for establishing world class infrastructure for shooting, where film people from all over the world can come is being identified in Goa . He dwelt at large upon Goa ’s contribution to film industry in the country. Shri J. P. Singh, Chief Secretary of Goa , and Shri P. F. XD’lima, Past chairman, CII Goa also spoke. Shri V.B. Pyarelal, Joint Secretary and Smt. Sangeeta Singh, Director Ministry of Information & Broadcasting also attended the Conference as panelists among others.

The Conference deliberated upon New Revenue Streams –Merchandising & Theatre Chains, New Media and developing New Markets. Earlier, Smt. Sushma Singh, Secretary (I&B), described the film industry as the fastest growing sector of Indian economy. Smt. Singh said that the Government has already formulated policy on IPTV and policy on Mobile TV is under active consideration of the Government. Government is keenly observing technological advancement in the entertainment sector and the policy on convergence and regulations aimed at developing new models of entertainment will also be formulated taking the industry in confidence. Third phase of FM radio is also on the cards, she said

Indian Panorama at IFFI – 2008 inaugurated

Shri Anand Sharma , Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting and External Affairs, inaugurated the Indian Panorama segment in the ongoing international film festival of India 2008 in the presence of Shri Digambar V. Kamat Chief Minister of Goa,. In his remarks, Shri Sharma said that the Indian Panorama is just not about bollywood films but it brings to the fore the quality films produced in different languages and in different socio-cultural settings. Opening this section with the screening of Tripura film ‘Yarwng’ in Kokborok this year is indicative of this fact. The Minister complimented Shri Joseph Pulinthanath and his team for giving this master piece to the Indian cinema.
Infact Fr.Joseph Pulinthanath is from Anikkad near Kottayam and serving the DonBosco Society in Tripura under Gauhati province.He is the Director in charge of cultural activities of the society.Fr K.J Joseph ,Director of the Donbosco Centre has produced this film.He is from kuttanad.fr K.J Joseph,and leading female actor Ms Meena have also been presented.
Shri Sharma said that Indian Panorama is an important part of IFFI, which brings together film makers and film lovers from different parts of the country. The films in Indian Panorama reflect rich cultural heritage and ethos of India and presents multi-cultural and multi-linguistic facets of Indian society. He appealed to the Indian film fraternity, both engaged in feature and non-feature film making, to ensure that richness of Indian culture is ensured and sustained through their works. While keeping pace with technological advancements they should remain rooted and connected with the richness of Indian tradition, the Minister added.

The Minister appreciated the role of juries for Feature and Non-Feature Sections for the selection of films, which offered a kaleidoscopic view of diverse Indian culture. In all, 47 films will be screened in Indian panorama. Of these, 26 are Feature and 21 Non-Feature Films

The members of feature and non-feature film jury were felicitated on the occasion. Shri K. N. T. Sastry and Shri Anjan Bose, respective chairpersons of feature and non-feature film jury introduced other jury members to the gathering and mentioned that they collectively endeavoured to present a bouquet of good cinema that have come up from different parts of the country which could be presented before the international audience as well as at festivals abroad.

Chief Minister of Goa emphasized that the festival has taken off smoothly and efforts have been made to ensure that the delegates enjoy the feast of cinema from the world, which this festival offers over ten days from now.

The cast and crew of both opening feature and non-feature films were introduced by the respective Directors viz. Shri Joseph Pulinthanath and Shri K. R. Manoj. The non-feature film began with the screening of ‘Memories, Movement and a Machine’, which walks us through the memory lane of 16 MM film days.

Noted Producer & Director, Subash Ghai, actor Randhir Kapoor and actress Tisca Chopra from India and Khatera Yousufi from Afghanistan were among other important film personalities to grace the Inaugural of Indian Panorama.

Highlights of the 39th IFFI 2008

The Cinema of the World section basket of the IFFI has 65 films from more than 40 countries . In the Film India Worldwide segment of the International programming, Tandoori Love (Switzerland), Death without Consent (USA), Barah Aana and Chaurasta – Cross Roads of Love (India) will be presented. A specialized competition for feature films from Asia, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Africa is being organized. Two Indian entries — S. Priyadarshan’s Tamil film “Kanchivaram” and Ramesh Laxman More’s acclaimed Marathi film “Mahasatta” — have been selected in the “competition” section among 13 other films chosen from Bangladesh, Russia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Philippines, Argentina, China and Japan.
The Country Focus this year contain films from Russia, Switzerland and Iran. The Foreign Retrospectives are on films of Aki Kaurusmaki (Finland), John Landis (USA) and Wong Kar Wai (Hong Kong). 8 restored heritage film classics are there in the Film Heritage – Thematic “Women” section. Besides there will be a special tribute to Niki Karimi, he mentioned.
The Indian programming at IFFI - 2008 would be under seven different segments with screening of 83 films. Besides the section Indian Panorama wherein 26 Feature and 21 Non Feature films will be screened. The Indian programming would have Retrospective of Legendary Director Bimal Roy and L.V. Prasad. Udayer Pathe, Devdas, Bandini, Gautama the Buddha, Remembering of Bimal Roy and Do Bigha Zamin will be screened in Retrospective on centenary of Bimal Roy. Other Retrospective on legendary Director and Producer L. V. Prasad on his birth centenary will have the screening of Dadi Maa and Ek Duje ke Liye.
Under the Lifetime Classics, Mughle- A - Azam of Dilip Kumar, Hum Aapke Hai Kaun & Dil Ek Mandir of eminent singer Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, Anbe Vaa and Kittur Channamma of eminent Kannada Actress B. Saroja Devi and Kabuliwala of Tapan Sinha will be screened. G. P. Sippy, B. R. Chopra, F. C. Mehra, Jayshree Gadkar, Raghuvaran, Mahendra Kapoor, Jeeva, Sridhar, Vijay Tendulkar and Nabendu Ghosh will be paid tribute under Homage section.

39th IFFI lighted up with glitz and glamour

The 39th International Film Festival of India (IFFI-08) got underway today in a colourful and star studded function at Kala Academy , Panaji, Goa. The inaugural ceremony was simple but elegant.The legendary bollywood Actress of yester years, Rekha inaugurated the Festival by lighting the ceremonial lamp in the august presence of Shri Anand Sharma , Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting and External Affairs, Dr. S. S. Sidhu the Governor of Goa, , Shri Digambar V. Kamat and the Chief Minister of Goa,. The inaugural lamp was lit with the assistance of Telugu Actress of Goan origin Illina D.Cruz. Amrita Rao, an upcoming Actress was the host and Master of the opening ceremony. Shri Pratap Singh Rane , Speaker of the Goan Assembly, , Shri Tony Rodrigues , Panjim Mayor, Randhir Kapur, Sachin, Tabu and Tisca Chopra. The Jury members of Competition Section headed by chairman Peter Chan and other jury members Mr. Marco Mueller, Ms. Niki Karimi, Mr. Lav Diaz and Ms. Tabassum Hashmi were felicitated during the Inaugural Function

Shri Anand Sharma said on the occasion that as the curtain rises from 39th edition of the festival, it brings together the film professionals from India and abroad at one platform to recognize the excellence in cinema, and creativity and dedication of hundreds of people who are involved in making films. The Minister said, cinema is a powerful medium of connecting people within the society, the nation and the continent. The journey of Indian cinema, which is almost a century old manifest how Indian cinema and its makers were deeply rooted in the reality of their time and displayed the same in their works. Shri Sharma further mentioned, films are powerful way of conveying a message and have great ability of influencing masses and imposes a great responsibility on everyone associated with the film industry to look at how to use the power of cinema to do good for society through the portrayal of attitudes that help in building tolerant and harmonious societies. He assured the film fraternity of all possible support from the Government that would lead to promotion of good cinema.
The Governor of Goa, Dr. S.S. Sidhu said that the good cinema reflects economic, cultural and social reality of the time.The Chief Minister, Shri Kamat while speaking on the occasion said that such international film festivals provide a platform for close interaction between Indian and international film makers, artistes, students of cinema etc. In her address, Smt. Sushma Singh, Secretary (I&B) mentioned that the International film Festival is one of the flagship programmes of the Ministry. The confluence of cinema from all over the world at IFFI’s platform is crucial for the development of good cinema in this part of the globe. Secretary (I&B) further added that the increase in the number of delegates from 4000 last year to over 6000 is a testimony of growing popularity of our film festival.Shri S.M. Khan, the Festival Director announced that in the section of the Cinema of the World, 65 films from more than 40 countries will be screened.

‘ Warlords ‘ ,the opening film in the 39th IFFI

International Film Festival of India commences its 39th edition with the screening of the Hongkong film in mandarin language , ‘Warlords’, directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan. It is a period film set in 19th centuary. The suffering of the 430 million Chinese people under the corrupt rule of the Qing dynasty set the stage for the Taiping Rebellion. During the chaos of the decade long civil war, 50 million people died from either hunger or battle. In the fall of 1870, General Pang stands high atop the city walls fully attired in governor's robes. Peering down upon the site of his inauguration, he is filled with dreams and ambition. Pang has taken a path of no return; had he chosen differently, he might have been one of the heroes to later overthrow the corrupt Qing imperial regime and establish a new China. He could have changed the course of history……But two bandits and a woman have changed the course of his life - helping him achieve his goal, but ultimately causing his demise. The two bandits are his sworn blood brothers: Zhao Er-Hu and Jiang Wu-Yang. The woman who comes between them is Zhao's wife Lian. Peter Chan has been quoted as saying that the film, mounted on an epic scale and marked by spectacular battle scenes and great visuals, was influenced by the late Chang Cheh's 1973 film The Blood Brothers, but also that it was not a remake.This film won awards/screened in London, San Francisco International film festivals.other crew and cast include Cinematography: Arthur Wong,Editor: Wenders Li ,Music: Chan Kwong Wing, Peter Kam, Chatchai Pongprapaphan ,Cast: Jet Li (Gen Pang), Andy Lau (Zhao Er-Hu), Takeshi Kaneshiro (Jiang Wu-Yang), Xu Jinglei (Lian).peter ho-sun chan is also the jury chairman in this festival

Rich presence of Malayalam films and Malayalee directors in 39th IFFI

Twenty six feature films and 20 non-feature have been included in the Indian Panorama section of the 39th International Film Festival of India. Adoor Gopalakrishnan's 'Oru Pennum Randu Aanum' , K.P. Kumaran's 'Aakashagopuram' Jayaraj's 'Gulmohar', M. Mohan's 'Katha Parayumbol', T.V. Chandran's 'Vilapangalkappuram', , M.G. Sasi's 'Adayalangal', and Priyanandanan's 'Pulijanmam' are the Malayalam films selected for the Indian panorama .'Pulijanmam', the winner of best feature film at the 54th National Film Awards, has been given an automatic entry. Malayalee director Priyadarshan's Tamil film 'Kanchivaram' and Kokoborok (Manipuri) film Yarwng directed by Joseph Pulinthanath –another malayalee director- have been selected for this section. 'Kanchivaram' is also included in the competition and Yarwng as the opening film of the Indian Panorama. Two Malayalam documentaries, namely K.R. Manoj's Memories, Movement and a Machine and Jayaraj's Vellapokkathil have also been included in the non-feature film category ,making malayalee directors number to eleven.

Panaji is ready to host 39th International film festival of India

Panaji , Goa is all set to host the 39th International Film Festival of India .The prestigious IFFI will begin on Nov 22 and continue up to 2nd of December. Rekha ,the famous actor of yester years will be the chief guest at the opening ceremony while Kamal Hassan will be the chief guest of closing ceremony. The festival is being jointly organised by the Directorate of film festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India and the State Government of Goa and the Indian Film Industry.
A total of 15 films from across the world will be featured for competition section which include: Kanachivaram (India-Tamil-Director Priyadarsan) and Mahasatta (India-Marathi-Director R.L More), The Red Spot (Japan/Germany), My Mother’s Tears (Argentina/Germany), Rupantor (Transformation) (Bangladesh), The Song of Sparrows (Iran), Tulpan (Kazakhstan), The Shaft (China), Pensil (Malaysia), Ploning (Philippines), Akasa Kusum (Sri Lanka), The Coffin (Thailand) etc. Peter Chan,Director, Marco Mueller, Venice Film Festival director ,Niki Karimi, Iranian actress , Lav Diaz ,Filipino director and Tabu , Indian actress are the jury members.In the homage section of this edition of the fest the films of G.P.Sippy, B.R.Chopra, F.C.Mehra, Jayashree Gadkar, Raghuvaran, Mahendra Kapoor Jeeva, Sridhar, Vijay Tendulkar and Nabendu Ghosh. There will also be a special tribute to Peter Chan, and Iranian actress and movie director Niki Karimi. Death Without Consent (USA), Barah Aana and Chaurasta-Cross Roads of Love (India), Tandoori Love (Switzerland) are included in the Film India Worldwide section . Films of Aki Kaurismaki (Finland), John Landis (USA) and Wong Kar Wai (Hong Kong) will be screened in the foreign Retrospective . Governor of Goa, S.S Siddhu, the Chief Minister, Digamber Kamath and the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Anand Sharma will also attend the inaugural function of the festival

Indian Panorama Inagural feature film IFFI 2008

YARWNG

Kokborok/95 minutes/35 mm/colours

Synopsis

Sukurai (Sushil Debbarma) learns that his wife Karmati (Meena Debbarma) had been the lover of his jhum companion Wakirai (Nirmal Jamatia). He demands an explanation. Karmati tells him that she and Wakirai were to be married but, on the night before, the newly built dam submerged the village and separated them forever.Karmati’s village Bolombasa was lost when the twin river Raima and Saima overflew their banks. Many families like hers had to bid farewell to their way of life, shift to higher planes and depend on jhum for subsistence.Karmati’s father Chokdri (Amulya Ratan Jamatia) had got hurt when soldiers destroyed their house the night before her marriage to Wakirai. It left him with a wound on his head and a hurt pride. Robbed of his zest for life, he succumbed to death.For the village Ochai priest (Manohari Jamatia), laden with an ailing wife, the harrowing times are a test of faith. When he moves out he takes along his sick wife but leaves behind the mantras and materials of his profession. Perhaps he has forgotten them, perhaps not…Wakirai now tells Sukurai that his large joint family, too, had moved out of the village. Sukurai, himself a victim of the catastrophe that drove people from the fertile valley to the hills, understands the twists of destiny. He decides his wife must meet the one she’d intended to marry. But when Karmati goes in search of Wakirai, he is taken aback. Will Wakirai ruffle the smooth sailing boat of Karmati and Sakurai’s life?

JOSEPH PULINTHANATH

The multilingual director from Tripura, Joseph Pulinthanath (42) shot into limelight with Mathia (The Bangle). The first film in the tribal language of Kokborok, it won the debut director a National award for its sensitive handling of a potent theme: witch hunting in the interior pockets of the land. Yarwng focuses on another practice peculiar to the North Eastern hills, that of jhum cultivation. After graduating in English from the North Eastern Hill University, Pulinthanath did his Master’s degree in Theology, also in Shillong. He completed his film studies and film appreciation courses in Delhi and FTII, Pune.

Cast & Credits

Producer : Sampari Pictures

Director, Screenplay : Joseph Pulinthanath

Camera : Kannan

Editing : Sasi menon

Music : Bikash Roy Debbarma

Cast : Meena Debbarma, Nirmal Jamatia

Contact

Sampari Pictures

Don Bosco Centre

Bishramganj 799103

Tripura

Tel: 09436126649/09436123473

Indian Panorama IFFI-2008

List of Films selected for Indian Panorama of International Film Festival of India – 2008

 

FEATURE FILMS

S.No.	Title	Language	Director
1.	YARWING	KOKBOROK	JOSEPH PULINTHANATH
2.	SUMMER 2007	HINDI	SUHAIL TATARI
3.	VILAPANGALKKAPPURAM	MALAYALAM	T.V. CHANDRAN
4.	GULMOHAR	MALAYALAM	JAYARAJ
5.	KALLOORI	TAMIL	BALAJI SAKTHIVEL
6.	KANACHIVARAM	TAMIL	S.PRIYADARSHAN
7.	DOHAA	MARATHI	PUSHKARAJ PARANJAPE
8.	GULABI TALKIES	KANNADA	GIRISH KASARVALLI
9.	ATAYALANGAL	MALAYALAM	M.G. SASI
10.	BANADA NERALU	KANNADA	UMASHANKARA SWAMY
11.	LITTLE ZIZOU	ENGLISH/GUJARATI/HINDI	SOONI TARAPOREVALA
12.	CHATURANGA	BENGALI	SUMAN MUKHOPADHYAY
13.	MAHASATTA	MARATHI	RAMESH LAXMAN MORE
14.	ORU PENNU RANDAANUM	MALAYALAM	ADOOR GOPALAKRISHNAN
15.	MUDHAL MUDHAL MUDHAL VARAI	TAMIL	KRISHNA SESHADRI GOMATAM
16.	AAKASHGOPURAM	MALAYALAM	K.P. KUMARAN
17.	GUBBACHIGALU	KANNADA	ABHAYA SIMHA
18.	MON JAI	ASSAMESE	M.MANIRAM
19.	MEE SREYOBHILASHI	TELUGU	V. ESHWAR REDDY
20.	KATHA PARAYUMPOL	MALAYALAM	MOHANAN
21.	A WEDNESDAY	HINDI	NEERAJ PANDEY
22.	JODHA AKBAR	HINDI	ASHUTOSH GOWARIKER
23.	TAARE ZAMMEN PAR	HINDI	AAMIR KHAN
24.	VALU	MARATHI	UMESH VINAYAK KULKARANI
25.	BILLA	TAMIL	VISHNU VARDHAN
26.	* PULIJANMAM	MALAYALAM	PRIYANANDANAN

 

*As per Clause 8.6 of Indian Panorama Regulations, this Best feature Film of 54^th National Film Awards gets direct entry into Indian Panorama 2008.

 

NON-FEATURE FILMS

S.No.	Title	Language	Director
1.	THE SHOP THAT SOLD EVERYTHING	BENGALI	ABHYUDAY KHAITAN
2.	DHIN TAK DHA	HINDI	SHRADDHA PASI
3.	THREE OF US	MUSIC ONLY	UMESH  KULKARNI
4.	VELLAPPOKKATHIL	MALAYALAM	JAYARAJ
5.	PUTTI	KANNADA	JACOB VARGHESE
6.	PARWAAZ	URDU	BIJU VISHWANATH
7.	YEARN TO LEARN	BENGALI	S.K. ABDUL RAJJAK
8.	A FRIEND TURNED FOE	ENGLISH	GAUTAM SAIKIA
9.	DUSTANT RUMBLINGS	ENGLISH	BANI PRAKASH DAS
10.	DIVIDED COLOURS OF A NATION	ENGLISH	UMESH AGGARWAL
11.	FOUR WOMEN AND A ROOM	ENGLISH	AMBARIEN AL QADAR
12.	THE JOURNALIST AND THE JIHADI	ENGLISH	RAMESH SHARMA
13.	THE LAND OF RUPSHUPAS	ENGLISH	A.K. SIDHPURI
14.	APNA ALOO BAZAAR BECHA	HINDI	PANKAJ H. GUPTA
15.	CHILDREN OF THE PYRE	HINDI	RAJESH S. JALAL
16.	ANTARDHWANI	HINDI	JABBAR PATEL
17.	REMEMBERING BIMAL ROY	HINDI/BENGALI/ENGLISH	JOY BIMAL ROY
18.	MEMORIES, MOVEMENT AND A MACHINE	MALAYALAM	K.R. MANOJ
19.	RATAN THIYAM THE MAN OF THEATRE	MANIPURI	NIRMALA CHANU & OKEN AMAKCHAM
20.	REHANA : A QUEST FOR FREEDOM	ENGLISH	GARGI SEN & PRIYANKA MUKHERJEE
21.	*  BISHAR  BLUES	BENGALI	AMITABH CHAKRABORTY

 

* direct entry into Indian Panorama 2008.