News

Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV fest, and German film-tv powerhouse Beta Group has revealed the 10 projects in the first edition of Seriesmakers, unveiling what must be one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023,

A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, Series Mania features in development drama series from “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, ‘Bang Gang’s’ Eva Husson and “Birds of a Passage’s” Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego.

Also in the mix is “Amigas,” the first TV project of Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”), one of Brazil’s foremost young movie directors, “The Invisible Ink,” teaming Cannes best first feature winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”)and New Uruguay Cinema founding father Fernando Epstein; and Indian arthouse filmmaker Pushpendra Singh, who scored with Berlin Encounters’ title “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.”

All in all, Seriesmakers, which is just...

Award-winning filmmaker Reema Maya’s (aka Reema Sengupta) short film ‘Nocturnal Burger’ will have its World Premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film festival 2023 in the ‘Short Film Section’ on 21st January 2023. Reema’s last short film ‘Counterfeit Kunkoo’ had its World Premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film festival as the only short film from India at the festival and the first Indian fiction short to be selected there in 16 years. It has since been selected at 120+ international film festivals and won 40 awards. It was also showcased in Sundance 2022 as part of their 40th Anniversary program. The film was also featured on Criterion, Mubi, Nowness and was awarded Vimeo Staff Pick – Best of Month.

The 28-minute short film is about a 13-year-old girl and a 30-year-old man who are brought to a police station in Mumbai in the middle of the night by two strangers. Amidst questionable motives and unreliable narrators, a...

Pune, Oct 2 (Ians) Defending champions Sail Hockey Academy, Rourkela, Odisha were held to an exciting 3-3 draw by Sukhjeevan Sports Academy, Agra in the 6th Snbp All-India Hockey Tournament (Boys’ Under-16) at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, on Sunday.

A last-minute penalty stroke earned by the Agra team and subsequently converted by Deonath Nanwar (59th) denied Sail the chance to gain full points from their opening Pool-g fixture

Sail got off to a sound start with Akash Rajbhar (6th) making it 1-0, however, Sunil Lakhra (13th) was quick to bring the match on level for Sukhjeevan Sports Academy. At the end of two quarters, the match stood on level terms.

On resumption, Sail struck twice in a span of three minutes through Manish Kumar — the first off a penalty corner (35th) and the next off a field goal to help his side take a 3-1 lead.

The Agra side,...

The Kashmir region is defined by it beauty and the many cultures its conveys. However, its territory also highlights the troubled history of India after the partition when Kashmir became the most fought-over region, resulting in three wars between Pakistan and India, and the region finally being subdivided among the two states, as well as China. Its history as well as its rich culture is what attracted Indian director Pushpendra Singh for his third feature “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs” whose story is set within the Indian-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir. The movie, which had its world premiere at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival, tells a story about the region, but also one about oppression and liberation, about desire and attraction.

“The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs” lands on digital and video-on-demand March 15, 2022 in North America from Deaf Crocodile Films and Gratitude Films, collaborating with digital partner Grasshopper Films.

The Unknown Man Of Shandigor (1967) Lands On Video-on-demand March 1St From Deaf Crocodile And Grasshopper Films

Long-Unseen 60s Swiss Black & White Cold War Spy Thriller Stars Marie-France Boyer, Ben Carruthers, Jacques Dufilho, Daniel Emilfork, and Famed Singer-Songwriter Serge Gainsbourg

Recently restored in 4K from the camera negative by the Cinémathèque suisse with additional digital restoration by Deaf Crocodile, Jean-Louis Roy’s visually stunning The Unknown Man Of Shandigor originally screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967 and stars legendary French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and famed Chilean cult actor Daniel Emilfork. Deaf Crocodile Films and Grasshopper Films will be releasing the long-unseen 60s Cold War super-spy thriller on VOD on March 1st, 2022.

The Unknown Man Of Shandigor is a marvelous and surreal hall of mirrors, part-dr. Strangelove, part-Alphaville, with sly nods to British TV shows like “The Avengers” and “Doctor Who.” The film stars a who’s who of...

. The Surreal Romanian Sci-Fi Animated film Delta Space Mission from Directors Mircea Toia And Călin Cazan is set for February 2022 Release with Ocn Distribution, Digital Releases To Follow With Grasshopper Films. Here’s a New Teaser From The Restoration:

Deaf Crocodile Films is proud to announce the upcoming 4K restoration release of the wildly surreal Romanian animated sci-fi film Delta Space Mission (Misiunea SPAȚIALĂ Delta) from directors Mircea Toia and Călin Cazan. Pre-sales will launch on February 1, 2022, followed by a digital launch several weeks after, released in collaboration with Grasshopper Films.

Delta Space Mission features a new 4K restoration from the original 35mm picture and sound elements by the Arhiva Nationala de Filme – Cinemateca Romana / National Film Archive – Romanian Cinematheque and the Centrul National al Cinematografiei / Romanian Film Centre (Cnc). The Blu-ray edition of Delta Space Mission contains a new interview with co-director Călin Cazan, an essay by acclaimed comic...

We don’t want to overwhelm you, but while you’re catching up with our top 50 films of 2021, more cinematic greatness awaits in 2022. Ahead of our 100 most-anticipated films (all of which have yet to premiere), we’re highlighting 30 titles we’ve enjoyed on the festival circuit this last year (and beyond) that either have confirmed 2022 release dates or await a debut date from its distributor. There’s also a handful of films seeking distribution that we hope will arrive in the next 12 months, as can be seen here.

As an additional note, a number of 2021 films that had one-week qualifying runs will also get expanded releases in 2022, including A Hero (Jan. 7), Cyrano (Jan. 28), The Worst Person in the World (Feb. 4), Mothering Sunday (Feb. 25), Petite Maman, and A Chiara.

The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs (Pushpendra Singh; Jan. 12)

Northwest India’s Jammu and Kashmir region resides at the center of a...

One of the most beautiful films I’ve seen in the last few years, Pushpendra Singh’s The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs is finally getting a U.S. theatrical release next month. A selection at Berlinale and New Directors/New Films, the drama will come to The Museum of Modern Art, courtesy of Deaf Crocodile Films and theatrical partner Gratitude Films, beginning on January 12th, 2022 for a week-long run, followed by a spring 2022 VOD release, with support from Grasshopper Film.

The fourth feature from Singh is the second of their works adapting celebrated Rajasthani writer Vidaydan Detha, while also taking great inspiration from 14th-century Indian folklore. Divided into seven separate sections, each structured around a unique song that acts as insight into the protagonist’s inner world, the film follows a young bride, Laila (Navjot Randhawa), who marries into a tribe of nomadic Bakarwal herders. Already harassed by local police as a minority,...

India’s annual Film Bazaar market has revealed the five projects chosen for its work-in-progress lab.

The selected projects are Jaicheng Zxai Dohutia’s Assamese and Moran-language “Baghjan”; Shailendra Sahu’s Hindi and Chattisgarhi-language “Bailadila; Ektara Collective’s Hindi-language “Ek Jagah Apni; Harshad Nalawade’s Marathi, Kannada and Hindi-language “Follower”; and Jai Shankar’s Kannada-language “Shivamma.”

The director and editor of the selected films show their rough cuts to the panel of mentors and receive in-depth one-on-one feedback. The international editor assigned to the film guides the director and editor of the selected films through two sessions of the editing lab.

Mentors this year include producers Philippa Campbell (“Top of the Lake”) and Olivia Stewart (“The House of Mirth”), veteran film festival curator Marco Müller, editor and festival curator Marie-Pierre Duhamel, editors Jacques Comets and Lizi Gelber (“Venice Elsewhere”) and critic Derek Malcolm.

Since its inception in 2008, the lab has...

Investment

Media group Vivendi has acquired a stake in France and U.K. headquartered Pernel Media, the independent production company behind “Legends of the Pharaohs,” “The Real War of Thrones,” “Wheeler Dealers France,” “Attila’s Forbidden Tomb” and “Ancient Superstructures.

Pernel will remain an autonomous entity led by Samuel Kissous and will keep expanding the range of broadcast partners and platforms it is working with in France and internationally. The company goal aims to accelerate its international business, consolidate factual output with premium global series, and firm up its scripted projects.

As part of the financing restructure, previous shareholders Alliance Entreprendre and Odyssee Venture are exiting the company.

In July, Pernel hired former head of Arte Distribution Celine Payot Lehmann as international executive producer.

Streaming

HBO Max will stream original drama series “Kamikaze” on Nov. 14 in 46 countries and territories where the streamer is available across Europe, the U.S. and Latin America.

Hong Kong-based international boutique sales company Asian Shadows has acquired Locarno selection “Shankar’s Fairies” by Indian filmmaker Irfana Majumdar. The film will world premiere on Aug. 13 in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente section of the Locarno Film Festival.

Set in 1962, in a recently independent India, which is class-bound and exploitative, “Shankar’s Fairies” follows Shankar, a villager, who is the indispensable butler at the mansion of the parents of the little Anjana and her brother. Anjana loves his incredible stories and follows him around. Anjana’s mother handles the servants with a tough hand and her father is an authoritarian as well. Meanwhile, back in his village, Shankar’s daughter falls ill and he would like to go home.

The project participated at the Goa Film Bazaar in 2019 and at Film Bazaar Goes to Cannes in 2020.

Majumdar is the founding artistic director of the Nirman Theatre and Film Studio in Varanasi,...

New US distribution companies Deaf Crocodile and Gratitude Films have picked up two Indian arthouse titles – The Shepherdess And The Seven Songs and The Village House – as their first acquisitions in a move to bring world cinema and restorations to North American audiences.

Separately, Deaf Crocodile is also working on a 4K restoration of John Carpenter’s Assault On Precinct 13, in collaboration with the film’s executive producer Joseph Kaufman, which it plans to release theatrically in early 2022 following a festival premiere.

Deaf Crocodile is founded by former American Cinematheque general manager and Cinelicious Pics founder Dennis Bartok and restoration specialist Craig Rogers,...

Two Indian art house films, “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs” and “The Village House” head the joint slate of a pair of new distribution companies addressing the North American market.

Deaf Crocodile and Gratitude Films aim to give the two titles theatrical and digital releases in the second half of 2021, when it is hoped that North American cinemas are open and audiences return. They are also handling world sales outside India on “The Village House.”

Headed by Craig Rogers and Dennis Bartok, Deaf Crocodile will straddle distribution, restoration and post-production. Its focus is on world animation, LGBTQ films, cult horror and fantasy. Gratitude is sited in Los Angeles and Mumbai-based and headed by Anu Rangachar, producer and former programmer at the Mumbai Film Festival. The two companies aim to work together on four to six films per year.

Deaf Crocodile is separately working on a restoration of John Carpenter...

FilmApart from this, 12 films have been selected in the ‘Malayalam Cinema Today’ category and seven in the ‘Indian Cinema Now’ category.Tnm StaffLijo Jose Pellissery’s Churuli and Jayaraj’s Hasyam have been selected for competition at the 25th edition of the prestigious Iffk (International Film Festival of Kerala) in Thiruvananthapuram. The two Malayalam films have been selected for competition in the International category and will be screened at the Iffk, which will be held from February 12 to February 19 next year. Filmmaker Mohit Priyadarshi’s Hindi film Kosa and Akshay Indiker’s Marathi film Chronicle of Space or Sthalpuran have also been selected in this category. Further, 12 Malayalam films have been selected to compete in a category named ‘Malayalam Cinema Today’. These are: Gramavrikshathile Kuyil (Cuckoo on the Village Tree) by Kp Kumaran, C U Soon by Mahesh Narayan, Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam (The First Secret to Happiness) by Don Palathara,...

Northwest India’s Jammu and Kashmir region resides at the center of a longstanding geopolitical stalemate involving neighboring Pakistan. While those tensions are referenced in The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs, they are not the film’s focal point. Instead, paranoia and opportunism have become fully ingrained in the forest area’s mountainous bedrock. Of more importance is why these characters either accept or subvert such societal realities, and how they normalize modes of corruption and gender inequality under the guise of tradition or progress.

When split in half, the title of Pushpendra Singh’s riveting character study represents competing forces of assimilation and freedom, patriarchy and artistic expression. Laila (Navjot Randhawa), who comes by her occupation not out of choice but an arranged marriage to the shepherd Tanvir (Sadakkit Bijran), embodies this strain wholeheartedly. To make sense of the suffocation felt as an independent woman in spirit and kept bride in practice,...

Indian arthouse filmmaker Pushpendra Singh’s latest effort, feminist fable “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs” (Laila Aur Satt Geet) is bowing at the Singapore International Film Festival after plaudits at Berlin, Hong Kong and Jeonju.

The film, based on renowned Rajasthani writer Vidaydan Detha’s story of a woman discarding all identities society wants to impose on her, and making her own choices, uses the narrative device of seven local folk songs to describe the protagonist Laila’s inner and outer worlds.

“I had read the folktale in 2010 and was fascinated that Vijaydan Detha wrote a feminist story in the late 1960s which also dealt with desire and exploitation and how a woman in a conservative feudal society asserts herself and makes her own choices,” Singh tells Variety. “The idea to adapt it to contemporary times was also a strong drive to choose the subject.”

Sanjay Gulati and Ajit Singh Rathore...

In the vast and gorgeous region of Kashmir (which most outsiders might only associate with its contestation between India and Pakistan), nomadic tribes still live difficult but not unpleasant lives, herding their animals beneath the beauty and drama of the Himalayas. Though their existence is under constant threat of the increasing and generally useless bureaucracy and scrutiny of civil servants and police. Magic still exists in these forests and mountains; Pushpendra Singh’s luscious tale The Shephardess and the Seven Songs, inspired by poetry by 14th century mystic Lalleshwari and an old folktale, infuses this magic to the modern world as one particular woman struggles for independence of body, mind, and spirit. It seems that Laila (Navjot Randhawa) has no choice but to marry Tanvir (Sadakkit...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The 9th edition of the Dharamshala Film Festival is going online for the first time. Its highlights include the Indian premiere of Massoud Bakhshi’s Sundance grand jury prize winner “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness,” and a conversation with Oscar-winner Asif Kapadia (“Amy”).

Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, Dharamshala is best known internationally as the seat of the Dalai Lama, who has been based there since being exiled from Tibet in 1959. The festival directors Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam are filmmakers in their own right. Their chronicles of the Tibetan condition like 2005’s “Dreaming Lhasa,” 2010’s “The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle for Freedom” and 2018’s “The Sweet Requiem” have received considerable festival play, including at Toronto and Manila.

The Dharamshala festival directors will be in conversation with Kapadia and also with Chaitanya Tamhane, director of this year’s Venice and Toronto award-winning title “The Disciple.

InterviewThis will be the first Tamil film to premiere at Canada's Montreal Festival Du Nouveau Cinema.Anjana ShekarDirector Balaji Vembu Chelli’s Nilanadukkam (The Tremor) will be the first Tamil film to premiere at Canada’s 49th Montreal Festival Du Nouveau Cinema that will be held between October 7 and 18 this year. Previously, Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Malayalam film Jallikattu had premiered in this festival and the only other Indian film to make it to the festival this time is Laila Aur Satt Geet (The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs) by director Pushpendra Singh, originally made in Gojri language. “It was exciting for us to get the invite. The festival has a rich history of independent films. We have been selected under the Temps section which we hear is quite popular with the audience. We are very curious to know about their reaction,” says the 33-year-old filmmaker who hails from Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

The 51st Edition of the International Film Festival of India, scheduled to be held at Goa from Nov. 20-28, 2020, has been postponed to Jan. 16-24, 2021.

India’s minister of information & broadcasting Prakash Javadekar discussed the matter with Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant. Together they arrived at the postponement decision.

Like many festivals around the world these days, the festival will take place as a hybrid combining in person and virtual.

“All Covid related protocols will be strictly enforced as per the festivals convened recently in the International Film Festival circuit,” the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement.

It was earlier announced that the annual Film Bazaar, South Asia’s leading co-production and project market and works in progress showcase that is held concurrently with the film festival, would go fully online this year between Nov. 20-24. Organized by India’s National Film Development Corporation, the event sees...

The Hong Kong International Film Festival named Zheng Lu Xinyuan’s “The Cloud in Her Room” and “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection” by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese as winners of its Firebird Young Cinema competitions, despite the event having been canceled due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The festival was initially postponed from its usual spring slot to summer due to the coronavirus, and was eventually canceled. But organizers revealed the names of the films they selected and then saw the competition sections judged by a virtual jury. They handed out 13 awards

“The Cloud in Her Room” was the winner in the Chinese-language category, with its lead star Jin Jing also bagging the best actress award. The jury headed by auteur Stanley Kwan, director and cinematographer O Sing-pui and May Fung, independent art and cultural worker, called the drama, Zheng’s debut, “witty” and “a delicate portrait of the new generation’s state of mind.

The Cloud In Her Room and This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection were named as best films.

Zheng Lu Xinyuan’s The Cloud In Her Room and Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection were named as best films at this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff), which was cancelled due to Covid-19, but went ahead with online judging for its competition sections.

Both films also won best actress in their respective sections – Jin Jing for The Cloud In Her Room in the Young Cinema Competition (Chinese-language), and Mary...

The Hong Kong International Film Festival has taken the unusual decision of revealing the pictures it selected for its now canceled 44th edition. It also plans to award prizes in its competition sections, though there will be neither in-person or online screenings for the public.

The festival had previously rescheduled its 44th edition from its usual slot in March, due to the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak. And then set Aug 18-31 Aug. dates instead. But, with the city now facing a third wave of the virus, organizers last Friday bowed to the inevitable and announced the cancellation of HKIFF44 and the smaller Cine Fan activities in September and October.

Now it says that this year’s Firebird Awards and Fipresci prize competitions will proceed with online judging. Winners will be announced on Aug. 20.

“The decision to announce the original program is intended to pay tribute to filmmakers whose...

Chinese social drama film “Damp Season” was this week named as the Grand Prize winner at the Jeonju International Film Festival. The well-established Korean festival has been held in largely virtual form this year in reaction to the coronavirus outbreak.

At the end of April, festival organizers confirmed that Jiff would go ahead May 28 to June 6, roughly a month after its usual late-April slot. But they said that it would be stripped down to become “an exclusive edition with no public audience,” consisting of just three sections: an international competition; a Korean competition; and a competition for Korean-made short films. Some films will be available for public, online screening until September 20.

Directed by Gao Ming, who previously made 2006 feature-length documentary “Pai Gu,” “Damp Season” tracks the relationships of four young men and women in mega-city Shenzhen.

The festival held a ceremony with 80 people in attendance including chairman Kim Seung-su of the organizing committee,...

Competition screenings were held with only jury members and limited domestic guests in attendance.

South Korea’s Jeonju International Film Festival has awarded its Grand Prize to Chinese film Damp Season, directed by Gao Ming, in its first Covid-19 pandemic edition with closed-door and online screenings only.

The festival held its awards ceremony at Cgv Jeonjugosa yesterday (June 1) with 80 people in attendance, including organising committee chairman Kim Seung-su, festival director Lee Joondong, jury members and directors and actors with films in the Korean competition. Its opening ceremony was broadcast online May 28 with guests wearing masks.

With a mandatory two-week quarantine...

A small but splendid Indian tale inspired by poems written by Lalleshwari, a 14th century woman mystic from Kashmir, as well as a Rajasthan folk story, Pushpendra Singh’s The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs (Laila aur satt geet) takes the viewer deep into the heart of northwest India, where a young nomadic bride plays with her desires and toys with the lust of a young ranger. The spectacular Himalayas become the backdrop to a woman’s self-determination in a magical ending that leaves the viewer thinking. The film bowed in the Berlin International Film Festival’s new Encounters sidebar ...

A small but splendid Indian tale inspired by poems written by Lalleshwari, a 14th century woman mystic from Kashmir, as well as a Rajasthan folk story, Pushpendra Singh’s The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs (Laila aur satt geet) takes the viewer deep into the heart of northwest India, where a young nomadic bride plays with her desires and toys with the lust of a young ranger. The spectacular Himalayas become the backdrop to a woman’s self-determination in a magical ending that leaves the viewer thinking. The film bowed in the Berlin International Film Festival’s new Encounters sidebar ...

Producer Mohammad Nagman Lateef who produced music videos like Chingaari featuring Digangana Suryavanshi has added another milestone in his journey with short film Our Own Sky which is said to be a love story featuring Shivangi Joshi, Aditya Khurana, and Asifa Haque in the lead and the film is said to be going for Cannes film festival.

On 17th January 2020, Mohammad Nagman Lateef along with the cast and director Pushpendra Singh announced the film which was followed by a cake cutting.

Mohammad Nagman Lateef rocked a Rohit arora outfit, while Asifa Haque looked total diva in Red high slit dress designed by mamta begum. Aditya Khurana looked dashing in famous ?kloset designer from Thailand and Shivangi Joshi totally looked chic rocking the blue blazer outfit.

Also read:?Song Lyrics of Pyar Mil Jaye Piya Ka from Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai

This project is a debut for Aditya Khurana and...

The 70th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 20 – March 1) unveiled its Encounters program today, featuring the premieres of new works by Tim Sutton and Romanian director Cristi Puiu.

Also screening is Josephine Decker’s Shirley with Elisabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg, marking the film’s international premiere after its upcoming Sundance bow, and Gunda by Victor Kossakovsky, whose last pic was the 2018 Venice doc Aquarela.

Encounters is a newly-created competitive section at the Berlin festival that looks to highlight “new voices in cinema and to give more room to diverse narrative and documentary forms.” A three-member jury will choose the winners for Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award.

“As a result of passionate research, the 15 titles chosen for Encounters present the vitality of cinema in all of its forms. Each film presents a different way of interpreting the cinematic story: autobiographical, intimate, political,...

‘Shirley’, starring Elisabeth Moss, among films in the new competitive strand.

The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 20-Mar 1) has unveiled the 15 features that will comprise its first ever Encounters competitive strand.

The new section has been introduced to support new voices in cinema, running alongside the long-established competition and Berlinale Shorts, which award the Golden and Silver Bears.

A three-member jury, which has yet to be announced, will choose the winners of best film, best director and a special jury award.

The section will open with Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog, a 200-minute drama in which an elite group of individuals...

European cinemas body Europa Cinemas has named the winners of its 2019 awards. The Best Programming Award went to the team behind historical Slovenian cinema Kinodvor, director Metka Daris and programmer Koen Van Daele.

Established in 1923, the venue has two screens and regularly exceeds 120,000 admissions a year, as well a hosting up to 15 film festivals. Europa’s Young Audience activities prize went to two French cinemas with three screens each: the Lux in Caen, directed by Gautier Labrusse and Didier Anne, and the Café des Images in Hérouville-Saint-Clair, directed by Elise Mignot.

The two venues are independent but co-program and participate in numerous joint activities aimed at young people. Finally, the Best Entrepreneur Award went to Yanaki and Christo Dermendjiev, two brothers who have actively campaigned for the development of exhibition in Bulgaria. Today, they manage 12 cinemas and open-air theaters, and also work in distribution. The 2019 Europa Cinema awards were held in Lisbon.

SandalwoodThe 'Work In Progress' lab is open only to fictional feature films that are looking for theatrical release.Tnm StaffCourtesy: Film Bazaar/FacebookKannada film Pedro, directed by Natesh Hegde, is one among the five Indian films selected for the prestigious Nfdc Film Bazaar’s Work In Progress (Wip) Lab, which will be held in Panjim from November 20 to 24. Wip Lab is open only to fiction features looking for theatrical release. According to information on Nfdc Film Bazaar’s website, “the director and editor of the selected film screen their rough cuts to the panel of mentors and receive an in-depth one-on-one feedback. The international editor assigned to the film guides the director and editor of the selected film through two sessions of the editing lab which takes place at Film Bazaar itself.” Those who mentor the director and editors include a film festival director, producer and film editors. Since the...

Selected projects include four debut features and the second fiction feature from Pushpendra Singh.

Film Bazaar, organised by India’s National Film Development Corp (Nfdc), has selected five projects to participate in this year’s Work-in-Progress (Wip) Lab, four of which are from first-time directors.

The four debut features are Kannada-language Pedro, directed by Natesh Hegde, and Hindi-language titles Shankar’s Fairies, directed by Irfana Majumdar, Switzerland, from Ajitpal Singh, and The Knot (Uljhan), from Ashish Pant. The one project from a returning director is the Gujari-language The Shepherdess And The Seven Songs, directed by Pushpendra Singh (Lajwanti).

The mentors...

Young and beautiful, EstAsia Festival is back with its 3rd edition in Reggio Emilia, one of the more bountiful regions of of Italy, from the 11th to the 18th of June 2018.

Curated by Cineclub Peyote, Fondazione Palazzo Magnani e Comune di Reggio Emilia, EstAsia’s aim is to brings to the big screen a selection of the best Asian Movies seen over the year in Festivals but unseen in Italian cinemas. The participant countries include India, Vietnam and Singapore but this edition has allowed more space to explore works from China and Japan.

EstAsia has finally revealed the full programme of its 2018 edition. The selection is very promising and comprises a good mix of both independent and commercial features, plus some European premieres, and this year – for the first time – a jury will award a winner. The Festival will have also some international guests introducing their works to the audience.

Nfdc Film Bazaar is introducing a new segment for films in need of gap financing this year. Eighteen projects will be pitched to potential investors to find finishing funds at the first Investor Pitch in Goa this year.

“We learnt that independent films invariably run out of budget at post-production stage. So we thought of organizing a pitching session of such films from Nfdc Recommends section and presenting them to investors, producers and distributors. Here prospective investors can get to watch full films,” says Deepti DCunha, the curator of Investor Pitch.

In order to try out the idea, Nfdc invited selected filmmakers from the Viewing Room section last year for a pitching forum. Filmmakers were asked to showcase the trailers and talk about their films for about five minutes.

One of the filmmakers who pitched his film at the forum last year was Lajwanti director Pushpendra Singh. He met Delhi-based...

India@Berlinale

What:

Film Discussion on ‘India@Berlinale’.

A discussion with Indian filmmakers whose films were selected for the Berlin Film Festival 2014. The conversation will include short clips from the selected films, and will be moderated by the Berlin Film Festival’s India Consultant Meenakshi Shedde.

Organised by the Goethe Institut at Max Mueller Bhawan.

When:

25 April 6.30 Pm

Entry:

Free and open to all.

Venue:

Galerie Max Mueller

Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan

K Dubash Marg

Kala Ghoda

Mumbai 400001

About the event:

The Berlin Film Festival, also known as the Berlinale, is one of the top international film festivals in the world today. This year the Berlinale selected a record 12 Indian films, including international films by directors of Indian origin. This reflects the exciting vitality of Indian cinema today, as well as its young talent: three directors, who were selected by Berlin for their first feature films, are still in their 20s!

Avinash Arun’s “Killa”

Avinash Arun’s debut film Killa, won the Crystal Bear at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival in the Generation KPlus section. Killa is about an 11 year old child who is coping with the death of his father and finds it difficult to adapt to a new place he has migrated to. Director Avinash Arun tells us more about the film.

You’ve been describing Killa as autobiographical. In what sense is it so?

I come from a small town called Solapur in Maharashtra. My father kept getting transferred from one place to another. It was very difficult for me to make friends in one place and suddenly, do it all over again. This went on and on. Later, I realized that it is necessary to explore. So this nostalgia resulted in the genesis of the idea of Killa while I was still at the Ftii.

Pushpendra Singh’s debut feature Lajwanti (The Honour Keeper), based on the story by late Rajasthani author Vijaydan Detha, will have its world premiere in the Forum section of the Berlin International Film Festival on February 10. The actor-turned-director talks to DearCinema about the journey of Lajwanti:

Lajwanti premieres at Berlinale Forum

You are an Ftii trained actor. You have worked as an actor for Amit Dutta (Aadmi Ki Aurat aur Anya Kahaniya) and later assisted him (Nainsukh) and Anup Singh (Qissa) in their films. What led to this transition?

I think it was natural. An actor is constantly directing himself by giving choices while preparing for a role. Acting in films never happens in isolation. An actor has to be aware about how the camera is relating to him, how the shot is going to be edited or whether his tone is on the right note or not. I...

Lajwanti (The Honour Keeper) directed by Pushpendra Singh has been selected for the 44th edition of the Berlinale Forum, a section of the Berlin International Film Festival that showcases independent, artistic filmmaking with a disregard for convention. Berlinale Forum will screen twenty-eight world and eight international premieres this year.

Lajwanti was part of Market Recommendations at Nfdc Film Bazaar last year. Based on a folk tale set in the Thar desert by Rajasthani writer Vijaydan Detha, the film explores the inner struggles of a married woman to honour a dream and in that search find the higher meaning of love and freedom.

A trained actor from the Film and Television Institute of India (Ftii), Pushpendra Singh has acted in films like Amit Dutta’s Aadmi ki aurat aur anya kahaniya and Nainsukh. He has also assisted Dutta in Nainsukh and The Seventh Walk. Lajwanti marks his feature debut after recently assisting Anup Singh on Qissa.

Pitobash Tripathy

Think Pitobash Tripathy as Mandook in Shor in the City, or Raj Kumar Yadav in Love Sex Aur Dhoka and Ragini Mms. Or think Divyendu Sharma a.k.a Liquid in Pyaar ka Punchnama. Call it the “Indian New Wave” or the surge of new blood into Indian Cinema, the common thread that runs through it is that these youngsters have formally been trained in film schools before making their mark in the industry.

Love Express, the latest release of Mukta Searchlight Films marked the debut of 10 artists and technicians from Whistling Woods International Film School in Mumbai. Cycle Kick, another Subhash Ghai production which is scheduled for a release on June 17 features graduates from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune in lead roles. Director-producer Subhash Ghai says, “How many stories can you write keeping stars in mind? If we have to tell new stories and entertain in a new fashion,...

Pushpendra Singh

DearCinema profiles Berlinale Talent Campus participants for you, one at a time (This article is third in the series).

Pushpendra Singh is a passionate actor. He was an active member of Barry John’s Imago theatre group in Delhi, before graduating from Ftii in Acting. He was also part of his Theatre-in-education company and taught drama and conducted workshops at schools.

He still continues to work with children and conduct workshops for them. He recently conducted an acting workshop with children from Chhatisgarh for Siddharth Sinha’s next short film. He is also assisting Anup Singh on his next feature film Qissa.

Pushpendra has acted and assisted in Nainsukh directed by Amit Dutta and a Lodz film school project Tamal directed by Alexandra Gowin. Amit Dutta’s Aadmi ki aurat aur anya kahaniya is a film that he holds very close to his heart, it being his diploma...