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GO FOR BROKE.
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inema
T
he first ‘Indian New Wave’ was launched at the insistence of Indira Gandhi, when she was impressed with the remarkable quality of films by master artists from Czechoslovakia ranging from directors like the narrative Jiri Menzel to the feminist and avant-garde Vera Chytilova. The Indian Government, in the same year that saw the Cannes Film Festival being disrupted and the student uprising of May, i.e. 1968, would now produce films that would claim to ‘experiment’ with film form. The first crop of film makers from the national film school in Pune under the tutelage of the zbe called that, is fairly different from the brief ‘Film Finance Corporation’ phase between 1969 and 1972. Important films from this phase include the debut works of Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani as well as the privately produced gem, Bhuvan Shome which all inspired a rivet-
The outstanding masterwork of this phase Uski Roti(1969), perhaps India’s only modernist experiment, created a sparse aesthetic reminiscent of the work of Robert Bresson but original enough to inspire a wave of films that would be influenced by its unique approach to the concepts of space and time within the logic of the Indian landscape. However, the films following this phase were made on a limited budget and if anything had to face even more limited public exposure. The Indian New Wave, if anything is characterized by non-governmental artist-backed support through the participation of mainly non-actors or atleast actors outside of the National School of Drama or the popular Bombay film. Memorable works such as Avtar Kaul’s sole work 27
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ing response or at least they did from India’s aesthetically sensitive intelligentsia.
Down(1973), Nina Shivadasani’s Chattrabhang(1976) and Mani Kaul’s Satah Se Uthata Aadmi(1980) created an original film form that has been long censored from public interface. The reason’s for this ‘censoring’ include the films and their limited funding, exposure opportunities as well as the contrary nature of the Indian public’s taste. Enlighten Film Society hopes to address this original film aesthetic comparable to the best in world cinema in the second edition of the Naya Cinema Festival, and if anything contrast these
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works with contemporary films from directors trying to challenge the mainstream. The works of almost clichéd ‘masters’ like Mani Kaul is contrasted with newer talents that have successfully shaken the feudal star system. This crop of contemporary films includes the works of masters like Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bharadwaj and Dibakar Bannerjee working in Hindi along with the works of regional talents like Umesh Kulkarni and Siddharth Sinha who have been able to challenge the domination of the HindiUrdu film. The film screenings will be complemented with discussions and key interactions with the film makers.
THE NEW.
24 DO DOONI CHAAR
25
PLAYS AT 6:30 PM, 18th JULY, AT RUSSIAN CULTURAL CENTER
OPENING FILM
14
GANDU
15
OPENING FILM
GANDU PLAYS AT 12 PM, 15th JULY, AT CINEMAX
16
UDAAN
17
UDAAN PLAYS AT 4 PM, 16th JULY, AT METRO BIG CINEMAS
THE OLD.
20
36 CHOWRINGHEE LANE PLAYS AT 7 PM, 16th JULY, AT METRO BIG CINEMAS
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36 CHOWRINGHEE LANE
truth. create. wait. film. make. enlighten
FOCUS ON KASHMIR
22 INSHALLAH FOOTBALL
23
FOCUS ON KASHMIR
INSHALLAH FOOTBALL PLAYS AT 12 PM, 17th JULY, AT CINEMAX
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23
FOCUS ON KASHMIR
HARUD PLAYS AT 12 PM, 17th JULY, AT CINEMAX
SOCIALSATIRES
30 ALBERT PINTO KO GUSSA KYON AATA HAI.
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PLAYS AT 6:30 PM, 21st JULY, AT NCPA
32 JAANE BHI DO YAARON
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PLAYS AT 6:30 PM, 22nd JULY, AT NCPA PLAYS AT 6:30 PM, 22nd JULY, AT NCPA
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SHOR IN THE CITY
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PLAYS AT 4 PM, 23rd JULY, AT METRO BIG CINEMAS
CENTERPIECE
40
PLAYS AT 12 PM, 24th JULY, AT CINEMAX(VERSOVA)
41
CENTERPIECE
DIL CHAHTA HAI
40
PLAYS AT 12 PM, 24th JULY, AT CINEMAX(VERSOVA)
41
CENTERPIECE
HKHAGOROLOI BOHU DOOR
42
FROZEN
43 PLAYS AT 6 PM, 25th JULY, AT WORLD COLLEGE SCHOOL OF MEDIA STUDIES
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BLACK FRIDAY
45
PLAYS AT 6 PM, 26th JULY, AT WORLD COLLEGE SCHOOL OF MEDIA STUDIES
28 OYE LUCKY LUCKY OYE!
29
PLAYS AT 6:30 PM, 20th JULY, AT RUSSIAN CULTURAL CENTER
MARATHI FILMS
GARAM HAWA
GIRNI
PLAYS AT 6 PM, 28th JULY,
MARATHI FILMS AT MUMBAI TIMES CAFÉ
VIHIR
50
PLAYS AT 6 PM, 29th JULY, AT MUMBAI TIMES CAFÉ
51 HARISHCHANDRACHI FACTORY
CLOSING FILM
52 GARAM HAWA
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CLOSING FILM
PLAYS AT 8 PM, 30th JULY, AT CINEMAX(VERSOVA)
O P E N I N G F I L M ( O P ) : The opening film of the festival, Kaushik Mukherjee’s Gandu, in parts surreal and bizarre provides a compelling look at Kolkata’s dark underbelly. The protagonist, Gandu raps out his hate, anger, dirt and filth of his existence. He and his rickshaw puller friend enter the world of smack, rap, porn and horror where reality and fiction combine creating a fragmented film form. C E N T E R P I E C E ( C P ) : The Naya Cinema Festival celebrates 10 years of Farhan Akhtar’s Dil Chahta Hai released on 24th July 2001 with a screening of the film followed by an exclusive panel discussion with the director and cast of the film. Dil Chahta Hai was in many ways responsible for the fresh trends in contemporary film making where dialogue was crafted in a way that captured the pulse of India’s youth. The film also sparked off a trend of making smaller films outside of the mainstream
F O C U S O N K A S H M I R ( F K ) : A key feature of the Naya Cinema Festival is the focus on Kashmir accentuated through a screening of Ashvin Kumar’s remarkable documentary Inshallah Football centering on a militant’s son and his passion for football in the tense Kashmir landscape. F U T U R E V I E W ( F V ) : The Future View section presents a bouquet of two films that will be released over the next couple of months Included as part of the section are short clips from Anand Gandhi’s Ship of Theseus and Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan. M A R A T H I F I L M S ( M F ) : at Mumbai Times Cafe (MF): Enlighten presents a selection
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that focused on character development, in line with the whole of the narrative and not as a vehicle for the ‘star.’
of three films spread across 2 days at Mumbai Times Café. The first Girni (The Grinding Machine,2004), about a child that rages against a grinding machine, is Kulkarni’s diploma film at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), whereas the second, Vihir (The Well,2009) continues Kulkarni’s preoccupation with death and childhood through the character of Sameer after his friend Nachiket drowns in a pool. Both films will be screened on the same day. The film being screened on the second day, Harishchandrachi Factory (2009) attempts at recreating a recollection-image of Dadasaheb Phalke’s attempts at making India’s first feature-length black-and- white silent film Raja Harischandra (1913). S O C I A L S A T I R E S ( S S ) : The Social Satires is a section curated to highlight the middle-of-the-road cinema produced by NFDC that tried to balance concerns for cinema’s social function with an eye for mainstream tastes and trends. Included as part of the selection are
N F D C S : Enlighten curates a selection of obscure films from NFDC’s collection including Avtar Kaul’s sole feature 27 Down (1974),Saeed Mirza’s Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai (1980), Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1982) and Kamal Swaroop’s Om Dar-B-Dar (1988). The films highlight the strong element of documentary filming within the boundaries of narrative cinema. C L O S I N G F I L M ( C F ) : The closing film of the Naya Cinema Festival is the premier of the restored print of M.S. Sathyu’s masterpiece Garam Hawa (1975). The exemplary masterpiece that makes eulogy redundant is about a Muslim businessman and his family’s struggle to come to terms with the withdrawal of rights in post-partition India, a country that was once their own.
sectionnotes
Saeed Mirza’s Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai (1980) and Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1982).