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20th GAIFF: Highlight of the week was meeting French Critic Brigiitte LeloireGOLDEN APRICOT YEREVAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 9 — 16 July 2023. by Alex Deleon Filmfestivals.com
Looking back at the 20th GAIFF Golden Apricot film festival I can say that the most interesting person I met here was Brigitte Leloire Kerackian, Armenian French journalist from Lyon France. I was surprised to find that Brigitte shares my interest in Indian cinema, especially the Bollywood cinema, and has done extensive interviews with some of the most outstanding personalities of the Indian film world .... among them the likes of superstar actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and old-time director Ramesh Sippy of the landmark "Indian Western", SHOLAY.
Some of her Indian interviews were arranged by another Yerevan connection, Indian Actress Bijaya Jena, now a mutual friend. I first met Bijaya here in Yerevan when she was on the GAIFF competition jury in 2014 and have maintained a close relationship ever since. Brigitte met Bijaya at Cannes to complete the chain. Bijaya was the helpful in setting up key interviews when Brigitte visited India. Brigitte Leloire is the kind of interviewer who always asks the kinds of questions that draw the interviewee out to a maximum of free expression, filling out a rich picture of a major cinema industry -- Bollywood, in transition. Moreover, with her deep knowledge of the industry she knows who to seek out.
Perhaps her most significant interview in this respect was with versatile star character actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, today one of the most sought after actors by enterprising Indian directors. Siddiqui is known for his roles in Gangs of Wasseypur and The Lunchbox, among others. As many as eight films in which he features have been screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
At the Cannes festival where she interviewed him there was a focus on his career and three of his major films were on display.
These interviews have been published in French only and I am now in the process of translating them into English as they are all Eye-Openers offering a fresh new view of the poorly understood Bollywood cinema outside of India itself.
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Brigitte Leloire with Nawaz Siddiqui at Cannes
And with Bijaya Jena, in India --
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And here with former Bollywood superstar and reining beauty, Waheeda Rehman, still beautiful at age 85.
![]() Waheeda Rehman is regarded as one of Hindi cinema's finest actresses. Rehman's accolades include a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. Rehman was honoured with the Padma Shri by Government of India in 1972, later receiving the Padma Bhushan in 2011 -- the highest civilian awards of all.
When my translations of Brigitte Leloire's magnificent interviews are finished I will present the cream of the crop here on filmfestivals.com. Alex, Yerevan
24.07.2023 | ALEX FARBA's blog
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