Bharateeyans-The New Blood, Review: Overboard, gored, bored Preminchukundam Raa, Premante Idera, Kalisundam Raa, Eeswar (2002 film), Lahiri Lahirilo, Sardukupodaam Randi, Nagaram Nidrapotunna Vela and Sakhiya. These are not the names of the characters or cast of Bharateeyans-The New Blood, but the names of films written by Deena Raj, collaborating with Dr. Shankar Naidu Adsumilli, a well-known surgeon based in the USA. Deena Raj teams with Naidu again for his directorial debut, at age 53, Bha...

Mother Teresa & Me: A stunning Swiss portrait of an Indian Saint He comes across as a youngish, genial uncle, with a deadpan sense of humour. Answering to a name like Kamal Musale, he had to be at least part Indian. This Swiss-Indian film-maker’s Swiss company – Les Films du Lotus Sàrl – and his Indian company – Curry Western Productions Pvt Ltd – produce movies with Indian content, for western taste. Mother Teresa & Me transcends any such boundari...

Parveen Babi, A Life--by Karishma Upadhyay: Break-ups and break-downs Appearing out of nowhere, Parveen Babi made her screen debut with the film Charitra, acting opposite cricketer Salim Durani, in 1973. That was not the first film she had signed, which credit goes to Dhuen Ki Lakeer, released the following year. Her career really took off with Majboor (1974, co-starring Amitabh Bachchan) and she was seen in some 58 films totally, the last one releasing in 1991, years after she had given up a...

IFII 51, 49: Avijatrik, a sequel to Satyajit Ray’s Apur Sansar In an edition where the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) pays tribute to legendary film-maker Satyajit Ray, there was a fitting entry in the Indian Panorama Feature Film section of the festival, which builds on his rich cinematic contribution. Avijatrik, a sequel to Ray’s The Apu Trilogy, often cited as the three greatest films in Indian film history. The trilogy comprises the Bengali films Pather Panchali ...

IFFI 51, 16-24 January, 26: Past, Present and Future of Visualisation, according to Aditya Vikram Sengupta The shift from analogue to digital has changed the art of film-making, and also the mindset for film-making at the same time. “Digitalisation has been a game-changer. With the coming of the digital age, taking re-takes has become easier and visualisation has taken a backseat. The process of capturing an image is not real anymore”, feels award-winning film director, cinematogr...

FROM ON HIGH will have its Asian premiere with 16th Kalpanirjhar International Short Fiction Film Festival in Kolkata, India December 4-8, 2018. Written and helmed by Dawn Westlake and produced by her Ron de Cana Productions, Inc., FROM ON HIGH tells the story of a Syrian refugee girl who finds a better life in Europe. The film was shot and edited on location in Barcelona, Spain by Pol Carrizo Vilarroig of Imatge Barcelona in 2017. An original score was composed by GC Johnson of Acoustic Labs. F...

7th Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival-2018   Entries Open: Shorts films, Animation, Documentaries & Music Videos.   Submission deadline: 06 July 2018   To submit entry visit: http://miniboxoffice.com/kolkatashortsinternationalfilmfestival   For Participation Email: info.kolkata@miniboxoffice.com   ...

Siraj Syed covers CommunicAsia 2017, Singapore: Pre-event, 01: Smart City By 2030, 70% of the world’s population will be concentrated in cities. Today, we are seeing large scale rural to urban migration with an estimated of 370,000 people, forecasted to migrate daily, between 2015 and 2020. The massive growth of urban populations has brought about a series of managerial challenges, in both the public and private sectors, from resource limitations, to the constant need to adapt to consum...

In what way is this year’s KolKota festival, the 11th, different from previous years? We have continued with the same components within the previous structure but regarding film selection we have become more serious, we are looking at more cerebral films, giving better cerebral exercise to our audiences. Our Pedro Almodovar retrospective is an example of this. And in the international section there are several lesser known directors but we have given preference to them because of their crea...

2nd INDIA INTERNATIONAL WOMEN FILM FESTIVAL NEW DELHI, 11th TO 18 DEC. 2006 Venue: SIRI FORT AUDITORIUM 1, 2, 3, 4/BANGA SANSKRITI MANCH (GOLE MARKET) No. of Films : 130 Participating country : 30 Competition : World Cinema (feature), Participating Countries: France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Russia, India, Pakistan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Egypt, Mexico, Cuba, Romania, Belgium, Switzerland, Israel, Luxemburg etc. Competition : Documentary &...

November 15, 2005 THE 11th annual Kolkata(Calcutta) Film Festival (KFF) is in full swing this week with more than 125,000 people expected to see a total of 138 films at 240 screenings in eight venues. The festival got off on a high note with the showing of Christophe Barratier’s Les Choristes for the inaugural evening, marking the first time the French box-office hit has been shown in the sub-continent. The film was shown in the largest of the three halls that make up Nanda...