News

Hot Docs runs from April 27-May 7.

A71 has acquired My Enemy, My Brother ahead of the film’s world premiere at Hot Docs on Saturday (29).

Ann Shin directed the story of two former enemies who become blood brothers after one, an Iranian boy who left home to join the army, saved the life of the other, an Iraqi conscript, during the Iran-Iraq War. The men lost contact for 25 years until they were reunited.

My Enemy, My Brother began as a short film and was shortlisted for the Oscar in 2015. The feature will screen again in Hot Docs on May 1 and May 6.

“We are very happy to have acquired the Canadian rights to My Enemy, My Brother,” David Miller, co-president of A71 Entertainment, said. “Ann and her team obviously had such great success with the short, and they did a fantastic job turning this into a powerful feature length story.”

Shin also produced. Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, [link...

Exclusive/Film Bazaar: Siddharth director Richie Mehta is planning two new projects in Delhi, financing will determine which will shoot first.

Feature film A Last Life has Sienna Films (Canada) and Vivek Kajaria’s Holy Basil (India) producing, and backing from Telefilm Canada.

The original script is about an elite family in Delhi whose heiress daughter becomes involved with the cook’s son, who is involved in an attack that further complicates their relationship. To prove his innocence, she has to journey through parts of Delhi that open her eyes. “She goes from the mansion to the garbage dump, and she’s finally understanding where he comes from,” writer/director Mehta said.

A Last Life will be a musical in the style of 1950s/1960s Indian musicals, he added. The film will be in English and Hindi, with the songs in a mix of languages including Hindi and Urdu.

The other project is a TV series, as yet...

Exclusive/Film Bazaar: Siddharth and India In a Day director Richie Mehta is planning two new projects in Delhi, financing will determine which will shoot first.

Feature film A Last Life has Sienna Films (Canada) and Vivek Kajaria’s Holy Basil (India) producing, and backing from Telefilm Canada.

The original script is about an elite family in Delhi whose heiress daughter becomes involved with the cook’s son, who is involved in an attack that further complicates their relationship. To prove his innocence, she has to journey through parts of Delhi that open her eyes. “She goes from the mansion to the garbage dump, and she’s finally understanding where he comes from,” writer/director Mehta said.

A Last Life will be a musical in the style of 1950s/1960s Indian musicals, he added. The film will be in English and Hindi, with the songs in a mix of languages including Hindi and Urdu.

The other project...

unINDIAN director Anupam Sharm with stars Brett Lee and Tannishtha Chatterjee.

Following on from its showing on Australian screens last year, unINDIAN.is set for release in India and the Middle East.

Star Brett Lee.will walk the red carpet along with co-stars Tannishtha Chatterjee, Supriya Pathak, Gulshan Grover and Akash Khurana and director Anupam Sharma at the Indian premiere on August 19. The film will then open on 300 screens across the country.

unINDIAN is a romantic comedy that follows the chequered path of Aussie bloke Will (Brett Lee), as he attempts to woo Meera (Tannishtha Chatterjee, Bhopal: A Prayer of Rain, Siddharth, Brick Lane), a gorgeous Indian woman who lives in Sydney with her daughter.

Among the other cast members are John Howard, Tiriel Mora, Maya Sathimoorthy, Arka Das, Sarah Roberts, Adam Dunn, Nicholas Brown, Kumud Merani and Pallavi Sharda. The film was produced by Sharma, Lisa Duff and Nitika Thakur.

To help sift through the increasing number of new releases (independent or otherwise), the Weekly Film Guide is here! Below you’ll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.

Starting this month, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list here, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.

See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for June 2016

Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, June 17. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.

Wide

Central Intelligence

Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Aaron Paul, Amy Ryan, Danielle Nicolet, Ryan Hansen, Bobby Brown, Megan Park, Timothy John Smith

Synopsis: “After he reunites with an old pal through Facebook, a mild-mannered accountant is lured into the world of international espionage.

Anupam Sharma’s cross cultural Australian comedy unINDIAN, featuring cricket star, Brett Lee and internationally acclaimed Indian actress, Tannishtha Chatterjee, will be screened in the Antipodes Festival at Cannes during Cannes Films Festival this May 2016, then in October 2016 during St Tropez Film Festival (https://issuu.com/michelolivier/docs/cannesantipodes2016__bd_). The film was produced with financial assistance from Screen Australia and Screen Nsw and major investment from Australia India Film Fund.

Opening with a world premiere at Montreal, unINDIAN continued to be screened at number of film festivals throughout Europe and America. The film opened across 70 screens in Australia, with Madman picking up ancilliary sales in Australia. The producers will be selling the film to various territories, particularly India, through their global sales agents, Yellow Affair at Cannes. Speaking from Cannes, Miira Paasillinna and Chris Howard from Yellow Affair said “We are delighted to be selling this warm and funny Australian film.

Composer Andrew Lockington scores Warner Bros.Pictures’ disaster thriller San Andreas.

Directed by Brad Peyton, the film follows a search and rescue pilot (Dwayne Johnson) and his estranged wife (Carla Gugino) as they make their way from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their only daughter after the infamous San Andreas Fault gives, triggering a magnitude 9-plus earthquake in California.

Director Brad Peyton turned to Lockington, his frequent collaborator, at the earliest possible point in the film’s production. Peyton explains, “The way I like to build the world is to look at the tone and the music. For ‘San Andreas,’ the question was how to create an original, epic and very emotional score, so we just dove in and started playing around to find the themes and the vibe of this movie.”

Always open to unique influences, Lockington incorporated sounds derived from actual waveform data collected from the...

Anurag Kashyap who fought tooth and nail to remove the mandatory anti-smoking warnings from his last film and was even willing to go all the way to the Supreme Court to prevent the statutory anti-smoking warnings from making their way into his film has agreed to let the anti-smoking ticker play throughout his new film Bombay Velvet.

A reliable source from the censor board informs, "Bombay Velvet is set in the 1960s when smoking was considered fashionable in society and in films. The film is shot in smoky clubs with one or the other character constantly lighting up a cigarette. In terms of the smoky ambience Bombay Velvet is like Guru Dutt's Aar Paar or Chetan Anand's Taxi Driver... Considering the number of times the characters light up in Bombay Velvet it would have been very distracting to have the anti-smoking ticker coming and going... far less distracting to just...

Film Circuit™, Tiff’s national film outreach program, revealed that audiences across the country awarded Don McKellar’sThe Grand Seduction and Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox as winners of the 11th annual Film Circuit People’s Choice Awards. The Grand Seduction was named Best Canadian Film and The Lunchbox was selected as the Best International Film.

Film Circuit operates through domestic grassroots networks and strong community partnerships, bringing Canadian and international independent films and artists to communities across Canada. From Prince Rupert to Charlottetown, Film Circuit has 174 groups in 155 locations. 2014 saw record attendance, with 342,091 people attending 2,116 screenings.

“Now in its 20th year, Film Circuit continues to grow and establish new groups across the country,” said Jesse Wente, Director of Film Programmes, Tiff. “Along with that growth, films are working Film Circuit into their release plans as a way to reach new and engaged audiences.”

In 2014, guests travelled to communities across...

The eighth season of the Indian Premier League has begun and people seem to be enjoying it just like the previous seasons. It isn't a hidden fact that Indians are die-hard cricket fans and Bollywood movies releasing during the Ipl season have suffered. During the initial seasons, there were not many releases during the tournament, but now there are around nine movies releasing. Here is a list of the Bollywood films releasing during the Ipl season, check them out...

Ek Paheli Leela and Dharam Sankat Mein

Both the films Ek Paheli Leela and Dharam Sankat Mein release today i.e the 10th April, 2015.

Ek Paheli Leela stars Sunny Leone, Jay Bhanushali, Rajniesh Duggal, Mohit Ahlawat, Jas Arora, Rahul Dev and others is directed by Bobby Khan and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Ahmed Khan and Shaira Khan.

Dharam Sankat Mein stars Paresh Rawal, Naseeruddin Shah, Annu Kapoor, Murli Sharma and others.

Filming is now complete on the highly anticipated Australian feature film unINDIAN. Wrapping last week, the cross-cultural comedy is the first production of the newly established Australia India Film Fund (Aiff).Highlighting the complexities of Indian diaspora and wooing another from a different culture unINDIAN, a film by Anupam Sharma, stars internationally acclaimed actress Tannishtha Chatterjee (Bhopal: A Prayer of Rain, Siddharth, Brick Lane) and Brett Lee in his first lead role.

Seen in Indian Traditional outfit, Brett looked like he enjoyed the dramatic and larger than life dance sequence that Indian films are known for. After wrapping up the shoot Tannishtha Chatterjee has returned to India while Brett Lee took to the microphone to commentate for the Icc Cricket World Cup.

Anupam Sharma, producer and director of the film says, “We were all excited prepping up for this final number composed by Salim Sulaiman. Specially because the number has some interesting twists and turns,...

Suffer the Children: Coimbra’s Dark Debut is an Affair to Remember

Kidnapping and abduction often make for unsettling cinematic subjects, especially when involving small children. The directorial debut of Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Coimbra is no exception to that tradition, but his tale is laced with tragic elements that make his film a bit more memorable. In fact, the kidnapping that seems at first central to the film’s narrative takes a backseat to the warped triangle of entanglement that unfolds in reverse order. The film recalls a famous Greek tragedy from Euripides, of which Coimbra has claimed to be the influence for A Wolf at the Door. To dig further into discussion of that particular text may give too much away, as the emotional impact of the film seems more surprising when approached cold.

Sylvia (Fabiula Nascimento) goes to pick up her daughter from school only to find her daughter to be missing.

Indie science fiction with a rare humanism, a scientific and emotional mystery with a solution Hollywood wouldn’t dare go anywhere near. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m a big sci-fi geek

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

I needed a really good science fiction flick to wipe away the couple of bad ones I’ve had to endure in the past week or so, and Continuum — aka I’ll Follow You Down in the U.S. and Canada — did the trick beautifully. This is almost the movie that Project Almanac wanted to be — kinda maybe, if it could have broken out of the cheap Hollywood trope in which FX trump emotion — an exploration of the human impact that time-travel could potentially have. There are next to no FX here, and not even any new SFnal ideas. What there is...

Vienna film festival to include a tribute to Viggo Mortensen and a retrospective on John Ford.Scroll down for list of higlights

Highlights of the 52nd Vienna International Film Festival (Oct 23-Nov 6) have been unveiled, including buzz titles from Cannes and Sundance as well as a tribute to actor Viggo Mortensen and a retrospective on director John Ford.

The feature film programme includes Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language 3D, Olivier Assayas’s Clouds of Sils Maria and the Dardenne brothers’ Two Days, One Night. Other titles include Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, Ruben Ostlund’s Turist and Lenny Abrahamson’s Frank.

In the documentary line-up, highlights include Nick Cave doc 20,000 Days On Earth, from directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard; Frederick Wiseman’s National Gallery; and Tessa Louise Salome’s Mr Leos Carax.

The Viennale will pay tribute to American-Danish actor Viggo Mortensen, whose films range from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to David Cronenberg features...

Academy Award nominee Haley Joel Osment (Best Supporting Actor, The Sixth Sense, 1999), Emmy Award winner Gillian Anderson (Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, “The X Files,” 1993), Rufus Sewell (Dark City) and Victor Garber (TV’s “Alias”) star in the sci-fi drama I’LL Follow You Down, debuting on Blu-ray™ and DVD Aug. 5 from Well Go USA Entertainment. Written and directed by Richie Mehta (Siddharth), the film is a sci-fi exploration of wormholes, parallel universes, love, and the possibility of starting over. After the disappearance of an accomplished physicist (Rufus Sewell), his son Erol (Haley Joel Osment) and wife Marika (Gillian Anderson) struggle to cope. Years later, now a young scientist himself, Erol discovers a formula that could kill him, throw him into the unknown … or bring his family back together. Bonus materials include a behind-the-scenes featurette and deleted scenes.

Synopsis:

An accomplished physicist (Rufus Sewell) mysteriously disappears on a business trip.

A still from “Millions can Walk”

Richie Mehta’s Siddharth won the German Star of India award in the feature film category at the 11th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart that concluded recently. The award, comprising of 4000 Euros, is given to a film that narrates a very serious political theme in a very poetic and humorous way.

The German Star of India award in the short film category went to Tamaash by Satyanshu and Devanshu Singh. The prize comprises of 1000 Euros. Tamaash is the story of Anzar, a poor performer at school who is scorned by his elders. He is expected to fare better than Sadat, a high scorer in class. Anzar seeks the help of a mysterious stranger, but following the new guide becomes increasingly tough for him and his kid brother.

In the documentary category, Millions can Walk by Swiss director Chistoph Schaub and Swiss-Indian director Kamal Musale was named the winner.

Every taking-the-law-into-your-own-hands story has that moment when the officials admit to helplessness.

In Siddharth, an indie Indian drama following a father's search for his son from Delhi to Mumbai, that admission, from a curiously blasé woman in a children's shelter, contains multitudes: "We're underfunded as it is," she says. Then she talks like a wiki of herself: "There are so many missing children this time of year. It's a big business. It feeds the organ trade, sex trade, child labor."

It's a wide-ranging social crisis rather than mere plotting that forces scraping-by Mahendra (Rajesh Tailang) to traverse half the subcontinent and trust his wife with his zipper-repair business. (This involves wandering the streets with a megaphone, soliciting cust...

In a Child’s Name: Mehta’s Sophomore Film a Gripping Ordeal

Following up on his 2007 debut, Amal, Toronto based filmmaker Richie Mehta returns to Delhi for his sophomore feature, Siddharth, a rather somber affair about one working class family’s tragedy. With narrative and visual strengths that recall the works of Satyajit Ray and Vittorio Di Sicca, Mehta’s film falls short of being a true comparison to scions of neorealism with a gradual dependence on manipulation via an ever encroaching score that hardly seems at home amidst the jarring bustle of urban squalor. Despite a tendency to force the tragic consequences of the situation, some first rate performances tend to override the film’s smaller faults to concoct a gravely serious and affecting film.

As the opening credits roll we overhear a father, Mahendra (Rajesh Tailang), bid adieu to his young son, Siddharth, off-screen. Upon returning home to his wife,...

Opening tomorrow, June 6, in limited release is Richie Mehta's time travel drama/thriller, I'll Follow You Down. Mehta's brief CV is quite impressive, starting with Amal back in 2007, and moving on to last year's Siddharth (Todd Brown's top film of 2013). I'll Follow You Down premiered at last year's Fantasia Film Festival where our Kurt Halfyard hemmed and hawed about the film, praising Mehta's writing abilities but somewhat less effusive about his directorial abilities.The good people at Well Go USA have, once again, served us up an exclusive clip to whet the appetite of viewers and readers eager for a new time travel story. Kurt places I'll Follow You Down's story alongside formidable company like Rian Johnson's Looper, and such immortals as Back to...

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

The 61st Sydney Film Festival, to be held from June 4-15, will screen Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox, Pan Nalin’s Faith Connections and Richie Mehta’s Siddharth in different sections.

Satyajit Ray’s Charulata, which was first screened at the festival in 1966, will be screened again.

The Lunchbox is the story of a housewife, Ila and Saajan Fernandes, who correspond to each other in letters sent inside a lunchbox. The Lunchbox has been one of the most successful Indian films in the festival circuit.

Richie Mehta’s film Siddharth revolves around Mahendra who works on street corners as a chain-wallah (a zipper-fixer). To contribute to the family income, his boy Siddharth is sent far away from home, from New Delhi to Ludhiana, where a relative has a job for him and a place to sleep. It seems like a dream come true to his father, until he realises that...

Time travel movies are awesome. Their very nature means that the dramatic possibilities are endless. There’s the pursuit of happiness, the danger of disaster, the ethical and moral quandaries, the psychological challenges, the existential questions, and the up-close look at the fabric of the universe. From this selection of ingredients, great cinema can be made – and that’s exactly what we’re hoping for with I’ll Follow You Down.

It’s a mistake to label this as part of a sudden re-emergence for Haley Joel Osment – Oscar-nominated child star of The Sixth Sense and A.I Artificial Intelligence. He never really disappeared. He just took himself off in a direction many weren’t expecting – namely voice work and video games. This was possibly a smart move on his part – stepping off-screen for that awkward child-to-adult phase that seems to trip so many young movie performers up these days.

Berlinale Golden Bear winner picked up by territories throughout Europe.

Fortissimo Films has completed further sales deals for Black Coal, Thin Ice, which picked up Golden and Silver Bears at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.

Germany indie distributor Weltkino has acquired the film for Germany, Austria and German speaking Switzerland, while further deals were secured for Italy (Movies Inspired); Greece (Seven Films); and Turkey (Yeni Bir). Emphasis has picked up global airline rights.

These are on top of a number of previously announced sales including Hong Kong, where Edko releases theatrically on May 15, and France where Memento Films releases in early June.

Directed by Diao Yinan, the film tells the story of Zhang (Liao Fan) a former detective who, while investigating a series of murders, falls in love with a mysterious woman (Gwei Lun Mei) with a link to all the victims.

Fortissimo’s Hong Kong genre hit Rigor Mortis, which will have...

Richie Mehta’s Siddharth was awarded best film at the close of the Beijing International Film Festival (Bjiff), while Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster picked up three prizes including best director.

The Grandmaster also scooped best actress for Zhang Ziyi and best cinematography for Philippe Le Sourd at the festival’s Tiantan Awards on Wednesday night. Wong Kar Wai and Zhang both won prizes for the film in the same categories at the recent Asian Film Awards in Macau.

Best actor at Beijing’s Tiantan Awards went to Guillaume Gouix for French director Sylvain Chomet’s Attila Marcel, which also won best music. Korean director Lee Joon-ik’s Hope won best supporting actress for the performance of child actor Lee Re. Alan Rickman won best supporting actor for his role in Patrice Leconte’s A Promise.

Peter Ho-sun Chan’s American Dreams In China won best screenplay (Zhou Zhiyong, Zhang Ji and...

A still from Alchemy

Nagraj Manjule’s critically acclaimed film Fandry won the Jury Grand Prize for narrative feature film at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) 2014.

“It is an award for me that I am here in La, in the USA,” Manjule said in his acceptance speech.

Siddharth by Richie Mehta won the audience choice award in narrative feature category.

In the documentary category, Powerless (Katiyabaaz) by Deepti Kakkar and Fahad Mustafa won the Jury award and Pan Nalin’s Faith Connections won the Audience Choice award.

Alchemy, directed by Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat and Janmeet Singh, won the Jury Prize in the short film category while Kush by Shubhashish Bhutiani won the Audience Choice award.

The 12th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles was held from April 8-13, 2014.

This year the 12th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) includes a lineup of narrative and documentary features and short films. The impressive program reflects the rich diversity of Indian cinema, as well as the future of Indian filmmaking, with cutting-edge filmmakers and emerging voices bringing their acclaimed films to Los Angeles.

The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema globally. Iffla will run April 8-13 at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival’s home since its inception. Jadoo, an exploration of family bonds amidst two feuding brothers’ restaurants in England, will screen as the festival’s Closing Night Gala. The film is written and directed by Iffla alum Amit Gupta, and first premiered at the 2013 Berlinale. It features a wonderful ensemble cast that includes Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, and Madhur Jaffrey. As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown’s Sold, produced by Jane Charles and executive produced by Emma Thompson.

Iffla 2014 wil l present more than 33 films, including three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.

“I'm thrilled and proud that Iffla's line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora,” said Iffla’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani. "We would like to thank our Programming Advisor in India, Uma Da Cunha, for helping our programming team source some of these exceptional films."

Program highlights include: the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s latest, Ugly an intense, masterfully directed psychological thriller that premiered in the 2013 Director’s Fortnight section of Cannes; Liar's Dice, the remarkable directorial debut of South Indian actress Geetu Mohandas that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, starring Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire), winner of Netpac Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Dioraphte Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam; the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival Hank and Asha , an exploratory, romantic look at two people bonding in the digital age by newcomer James E. Duff; Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, a highly praised debut feature for its multilayered emotion and realism on the subject of caste discrimination; Brahmin Bulls starring Roshan Seth (Gandhi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Mississippi Masala) and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Beauty and the Beast, Heroes) as an estranged father and son unexpectedly brought together to confront the family’s past; and Siddharth, a nuanced look at a family whose son goes missing, by lauded Canadian director and Iffla alum Richie Mehta (Amal).

The festival's feature documentary competition includes an eclectic mix of films from established and upcoming filmmakers that consider India's unique traditions and dynamic future. The films include: the world premiere of

The Auction House , an intimate and funny look at two brothers trying to keep their anachronistic family business going in the digital age; festival favorite Powerless, which depicts intense struggles over electricity in a mid-size Indian city; Faith Connections, Iffla alum Pan Nalin's beautiful and rare look at the Kumbh Mela; and the National Award-winning Shepherds of Paradise, about an arduous, mountainous trek through an animal drive in the Kashmiri winter.

The Bollywood by Night series returns this year with Bombay Talkies and Monsoon Shootout. Premiering at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Bombay Talkies is a quartet of short films that celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema. The omnibus film features work by four of India’s most exciting contemporary directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, and Anurag Kashyap, as well as a stellar cast that includes Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, and Katrina Kaif. Monsoon Shoutout is a thrilling debut by Iffla alum writer/director Amit Kumar about how a split-second decision made by a rookie police officer has rippling effects in his life and the lives of those around him.

The shorts competition showcases a diverse selection of 15 films that include narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works. Highlights of this year’s program include Academy Award® shortlisted Kush; Sundance award winner Love.Love.Love.; and the world premiere of acclaimed director Umesh Kulkarni’s The Fly.

Festival Passes and Gala tickets are currently on sale at the festival's website.

For more information, please visit:

Website: www.indianfilmfestival.org.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ indianfilmfestival

Twitter: https://twitter.com /iffla

Tumblr: http://indianfilmfestival.tumblr.com/

About Iffla

Now in its 12th year, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, honoring entertainment industry business executives, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.

Opening Night Gala

Sold

Los Angeles Premiere

USA/2014/97min

Director: Jeffrey D. Brown

Producer: Jane Charles

Executive Producer: Emma Thompson

Screenwriters: Joseph Kwong, Jeffrey D. Brown

Composer: John McDowell, Sammy Chand, Salim & Sulaiman Merchant

Cast: Susmita Mukherjee, Seema Biswas, Tillotama Shome, Niyar Saikia, Priyanka Bose, Ankur Vikal, Parambrata Chatterjee, Gillian Anderson, David Arquette

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Jeffrey D. Brown adapts Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold – a National Book Award finalist – into a vivid, harrowing and inspiring story of a young girl’s resilience in the face of unspeakable cruelty.

Closing Night

Jadoo

Los Angeles Premiere

UK/2013/84 mins

Director: Amit Gupta

Producers: Amanda Faber, Isabelle Georgeaux, Richard Holmes, Nikki Parrott

Screenwriter: Amit Gupta

Composer: Stephen Warbeck

Cast: Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, Madhur Jaffrey

Set in Leicester, England, Amit Gupta’s culinary comedy charts the chaos that ensues when young Shalini gets engaged to her longtime boyfriend Mark. The fact that Mark is not Indian is the least of Shalini’s concerns. Her father Raja and uncle Jagi have been at war for years. After a legendary falling out that caused them to close their family restaurant, each man opened his own establishment – directly across the street from one another! Shalini’s dream wedding would see both men put aside their differences and prepare the feast together, but resentment runs deep and neither man can hear mention of the other’s name without a spike in blood pressure. Both the prospect of disappointing their beloved Shalini and the threat of a new, hip restaurant opening in the area force Raja and Jagi to work together – but for how long? In this uproariously funny and heartfelt exploration of family bonds, shared history and gastronomic perfection, Gupta’s cast is endlessly appealing. Plus, there’s enough mouth-watering Indian food on display to have your stomach growling before the credits roll.

Feature Films

Before My Eyes (Ankhon Dekhi)

Los Angeles Premiere

India/2013/107min

Director: Rajat Kapoor Producer: Manish Mundra

Screenwriter: Rajat Kapoor

Cast: Sanjay Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Rajat Kapoor, Taranjeet, Maya Sarao

Celebrated writer, director, and actor Rajat Kapoor (Midnight’s Children, Monsoon Wedding, Mixed Doubles, Mithya) paints an offbeat yet thought-provoking portrait of domestic life in modern day Delhi when an incident prompts head of the family Bauji to reject anything he himself has not experienced, much to the exasperation of his extended family but to the delight of his newfound philosopher disciples. Balancing the comical and the existential, both Bauji and the film ask the basic question, ‘Can you know truth without true experience?’

Brahmin Bulls

Los Angeles Premiere

USA/96min/2013

Director: Mahesh Pailoor

Producer: Yoshinobu Tsuji

Screenwriters: Anu Pradhan, Mahesh Pailoor

Cast: Sendhil Ramamurthy, Roshan Seth, Mary Steenburgen, Justin Bartha, Cassidy Freeman, Monica Raymund, Michael Lerner

Mahesh Pailoor's tender, funny, and touching debut tells the story of estranged father and son Ashok and Sid, who reunite at Sid's Los Angeles home when Ashok arrives unexpectedly. Each man is keeping secrets from one another, and when the truth is revealed, parent and child must work even harder to close the rift between them.

Fandry

North American Premiere

India/2013/103min

Director: Nagraj Manjule

Producers: Vivek Kajaria, Nilesh Navalakha

Screenwriter: Nagraj Manjule

Cast: Kishor Kadam, Chhaya Kadam, Somnath Awghade, Suraj Pawar, Rajshree Kharat, Sakshi Vyavhare, Aishvarya Shinde, Nagraj Manjule

Marathi poet Nagraj Manjule's impressive debut feature tells the story of Jabya, a Dalit boy, and his family's struggle against daily prejudice in their Maharashtra village. Jabya's carefree childhood desires and antics are soon stifled by his family's "untouchable" status, and the film's gradual transformation into an insightful and damning look at caste discrimination builds from a murmur to a defiant roar. Refusing to reduce his Dalit characters to victims – most explicitly at the film's explosive conclusion - Manjule's socially reflective film has received critical acclaim in India.

Hank and Asha

Los Angeles Premiere

USA/2013/73min

Director: James E. Duff

Producers: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison

Screenwriters: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison

Cast: Mahira Kakkar, Andrew Pastides

James E. Duff's feature directorial debut, the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival, is an endearing tale of a long-distance connection in the digital age. Hank and Asha, two aspiring filmmakers separated by an ocean, connect with one another through video messages and quickly find themselves heading towards romance. That is, until Asha reveals some surprising news. Duff has created a captivating ode to the new possibilities open to us now that the world's gotten smaller.

Liar's Dice

Los Angeles Premiere

India/2013/104min

Director: Geetu Mohandas

Producers: Alan McAlex, Ajay G. Rai

Screenwriter: Geetu Mohandas

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Geetanjali Thapa, Manya Gupta

Established actress Geetu Mohandas steps behind the lens for her bracing directorial debut. A woman named Kamala and her daughter journey from their remote Himalayan village to Delhi in search of Kamala's missing husband. They find a guide in an unfriendly wanderer whose interest may lie more in his personal gain than in any help he can offer them. Beautifully shot by Rajeev Ravi (Gangs of Wasseypur), Mohandas' film evokes a hazardous world where answers may never be clear and a helping hand always comes at a price.

Phoring

North American Premiere

India/2013/128min

Director: Indranil Roychowdhury

Producers: Anasua Roychowdury, Sugata Bal

Screenwriters: Indranil Roychowdhury, Sugata Sinha

Cast: Akash Adhikary, Sohini Sarkar, Sourav Basak, Ritwick Charaborty, Shankar Debnath, Senjuti Roymukherjee

Indranil Roychowdhury's stunning feature debut is an evocative, unpredictable tale of confused adolescence in a struggling North Bengal town. Phoring, an imaginative adolescent boy, and his beautiful new teacher Doel form a close friendship that soon arouses doubt and suspicion when Doel's presence in the town is revealed to have less-than-noble origins. Roychowdhury accomplishes a tricky feat with his first film by luring us with the promise of an inspirational teacher-student story before ultimately delivering a much more complex and truthful account of the joys and pains of growing up.

Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost (2013)

Los Angeles Premiere Germany-India-Netherlands/2013/109min

Director: Anup Singh

Producers: Bero Beyer, Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper, Thierry Lenouvel

Screenwriter: Anup Singh, Madhuja Mukherjee

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal

Set in 1940s Punjab, Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa details the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistan Partition through the experiences of one Sikh family, headed by Umber (Irrfan Khan). Following the family’s forceful displacement from their village, Umber’s desire for a male heir is stronger than ever. When his wife gives birth to their fourth daughter, Kanwar, Umber makes the fateful decision to raise her as a boy. This tragic choice ends up dividing the family in violent ways, and provokes a series of increasingly unsettling situations for Kanwar as she grows up. While in a sense a ghost story, the source of pain and suffering is all too real.

Siddharth

Los Angeles Premiere

Canada-India/2013/96min

Director: Richie Mehta

Producers: David Miller, Steven N. Bray

Screenwriter: Richie Mehta

Cast: Rajesh Tailang, Tannishtha Chatterjee

A celebrated Iffla alum, Canadian director Richie Mehta returns to the festival with a heartbreaking story of parents Mahendra and Suman, whose son goes missing after being sent to work 200 miles north of Delhi. Carried by powerful yet restrained performances from Rajesh Tailang and Tannishtha Chatterjee as the parents, Mehta and cast capture the dignity of those facing the unthinkable. Mehta's chance encounter with a man searching for his lost son alerted him to the underreported plight of the families of 44,000 children estimated missing in India every year.

Ugly

North American Premiere

India/2013/128mins/Dcp

Director: Anurag Kashyap

Writer: Anurag Kashyap

Producers: Vikas Bahl, Madhu Mantena, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vivek Rangachari, Arun Rangachari

Cast: Rahul Bhatt, Ronit Roy, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Anshika Shrivastava

When ten-year-old Kali disappears from her father Rahul's car on the busy streets of Mumbai, the events that follow quickly spiral out of control and plunge into a morass of corruption and violence. Rahul and Kali's mother, Shalini, are divorced. Shalini is now married to Shoumik, the local police chief. When Shoumik learns that his stepdaughter is missing, he and Rahul clash in a breathless race to find the girl. With intricate plotting and vivid characterizations, Iffla alum Anurag Kashyap fashions a story that's sure to keep the heart racing.

Writers (Sulemani Keeda)

North American Premiere

India/2013/90min

Director: Amit V Masurkar

Writer: Amit V Masurkar

Producer: Datta Dave

Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari, Aditi Vasudev and Karan Mirchandani

Writing partners Dulal and Mainak dream of shaking up Bollywood in director Amit Masurkar's slacker comedy. The two young men take a job from the wealthy, oddball son of a famous B-movie producer, but soon fear they're on the path to selling out. Masurkar's film captures the creative spirit of Andheri West, a Mumbai suburb where writers, directors, and actors come from all over India with the dream of working in the film industry, and is a sweet taste of things to come from the new "hindie" cinema.

Documentary Features

The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers

World Premiere

UK/2014/85min

Director: Ed Owles

Producers: Ed Owles, Giovanna Stopponi

The auction houses of Kolkata used to be where the rich and famous found the right high-end objects to decorate their homes. Today, the family-owned Russell Exchange is the last, and oldest, one to remain in India. Director Ed Owles follows two brothers, with the older brother moving back to Kolkata from London with hopes of using his Western business acumen to bring the Exchange into the 21st century. However, in a country radically transformed by technology and a rising youth culture, it may already be too late.

Faith Connections

Los Angeles Premiere

France-India/2013/115min/Dcp

Director: Pan Nalin

Producers: Raphaël Berdugo, Gaurav Dhingra, Pan Nalin, Virginie Lacombe

Every three years, Hindus gather at one of four rotating sites for Kumbh Mela, a religious celebration of faith and devotion marked by bathing in the sacred waters of the Ganges. With 100 million people at the 2013 Kumbh Mela, the pilgrimage is said to be the largest gathering on the planet. Iffla alum Pan Nalin crafts a moving and unique view of the mass gathering and presents unique stories of how individuals came to be there to share in the belief of the divine.

Powerless (Katiyabaaz)

Los Angeles Premiere

India/2013/82min

Director: Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar

Producers: Fahad Mustafa, Deepti Kakkar, Judy Tam, Leopold Koegler

Screenwriter: Fahad Mustafa

In Kanpur, a city of three million that has seen better days, one of the only ways for many residents to get electricity is to steal it. Co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar focus their attention on the likes of pirate engineers like Loha Singh and first female CEO at the local power authority Ritu Maheshwari. Coupled with beautiful photography of the intricately tied together powerlines of the city and a pulsating original score, they present a unique documentary about current-day India and its future battles over limited resources.

Shepherds of Paradise

U.S. Premiere

India/2013/50min

Director/Producer/Screenwriter/Cinematographer/Editor: Raja Shabir Khan

Composer: Bilal Iran

Nomadic herder Gafoor has to lead his large flock of goats, sheep, cows and horses across Jammu all the way to Kashmir so they can graze. Director Raja Shabir Khan presents lives few have ever seen, let alone lived, with simple beauty and real terror in a film that has won major National Awards in India. A cinematic wonder that must be seen to truly understand, Shepherds of Paradise is a testament of the power of film to transport us to other lands and experiences.

Bollywood By Night

Bombay Talkies

North American Premiere

India/117min/2013

Directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap

Producers: Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Guneet Monga

Screenwriters: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Anurag Kashyap

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan , Rani Mukerji, Katrina Kaif, Randeep Hooda, Saqib Saleem, Nawazuddin Siddiqui

A quartet of short films directed by four of India’s most exciting contemporary filmmakers celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema in this omnibus film. Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap crafts a tale of ordinary people whose love of movies profoundly alters the course of their lives. Each story beautifully captures how lovers of cinema can’t help but carry that fascination into their day-to-day life. Haven’t we all wished, at one time or another, that our lives were more like a film?

Monsoon Shootout

Los Angeles Premiere

India-uk-Netherlands/2013/88min

Director: Amit Kumar

Producers: Trevor Ingman, Guneet Monga, Martijn De Grunt

Screenwriter: Amit Kumar

Cast: Vijay Varma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Geetanjali Thapa

A split-second decision made by a rookie police officer propels writer/director Amit Kumar’s debut feature, which fascinatingly splinters into three separate, equally pulse-pounding scenarios. In a secluded alley drenched in the pouring rain, principled cop Adi aims his gun at Shiva, a vicious gangster on the run. What Adi decides to do next will reverberate throughout his personal and professional life in ways he could never imagine. Kumar thus explores the ripple effect our choices have, and how we unknowingly alter the lives of those around us.

Shorts

Aarti

Shorts Program 2

World Premiere

USA/2013/4min

Director: David Walter Lech

Producer: Terrie Samundra

A hypnotic look into the nightly “ceremony of light” ritual in a Hindu temple in Sheikhupur, Punjab.

Alchemy

Shorts Program 2

U.S. Premiere

India/2013/5min

Directors: Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat, Janmeet Singh

Producer: Pritesh Varia

A bold and vibrant song to the intricate fabric of modern day India, a kaleidoscope of voices, colors and traditions.

Bhiwani Junction

Shorts Program 1

Los Angeles Premiere

USA/2013/18min

Director: Abhi Singh

Producer: Abhi Singh

A poignant documentary portrait of Himanshu, a 12-year old boxer, whose formidable commitment to the sport makes his lofty dreams to become an Olympic champion appear well within reach.

Black Rock (Kaatal)

Shorts Program 1

U.S. Premiere

India/2012/22min

Director: Vikrant Pawar

Producer: Film and Television Institute of India

Two young lovers spend one last afternoon together. A beautiful meditation on the ephemeral nature of young love that has won three of India’s National Film Awards.

The Fly (Makhi)

Shorts Program 2

World Premiere

India/2013/31min

Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni

Producer: Film and Television Institute of India

Employed as a Fly Killer in an upscale restaurant, Pipal must ensure a fly-free environment by smacking dead the flies that buzz over the patrons’ heads. When a nearby drainage is closed and the source of the fly infestation eradicated, Pipal must find a way to produce enough live flies to save his job, in this delightfully absurdist commentary on urban India’s emerging work culture.

Beloved (Humsafar)

Shorts Program 2

U.S. Premiere

India/2012/6min

Directors/Writers: Swapnil Awate, Laura Erbacher

Producer: Dsk Supinfocom

A sweeping single shot takes us on the breathtaking animated journey of two lovers and their eternal pursuit of harmony.

Jaya

Shorts Program 2

USA/2013/19min

Director: Puja Maewal

Producer: Puja Maewal

Young Jaya is able to survive the gruesome gang life in the unforgiving streets of Mumbai by posing as a boy. When she meets a wealthy businessman who looks like he could be the father who abandoned her, she sets out to reclaim her identity, in this engrossing drama that was shortlisted for a Student Academy Award®.

Kush

Shorts Program 1

India/2013/25min

Director: Shubhashish Bhutiani

Producer: Shubhashish Bhutiani

A bus full of schoolchildren boisterously makes its way back from a field trip when the news of Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards breaks. As violence quickly erupts across the country, Kush, the only Sikh student in the class, must find a way to escape the unquenchable fury of retribution, in this gripping drama that was shortlisted for an Academy Award®.

Little Gypsy (Kachho Gadulo)

Shorts Program 1

Los Angeles Premiere

India/2012/6min

Directors: Saptesh Chaubal, Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat

Producer: D.S.K. Supinfocom

Inspired by the folk traditions of various parts of India, this stunning animated film sweeps us into a mythical journey that celebrates the power of play and imagination.

Love.Love.Love.

Shorts Program 2

Los Angeles Premiere

Russian Federation/2013/12min

Director: Sandhya Daisy Sundaram

Producers: Tanya Petrik, Guillaume Protsenko

An intimate ode to the wondrous force of love, as it takes new shapes and forms through the endless Russian winters. Love. Love.Love. won the Short Film Special Jury Award for Non-Fiction at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

Outpost

Shorts Program 1

U.S. Premiere

India-usa/2013/17min

Director: Shiva Shankar Bajpai

Producer: Aditi Anand

In the barren desert of the India-Pakistan border, two lone army guards on the opposite sides of the line yearn for booze, mosquito repellent and some human contact, in this humorous glimpse into the absurdity of rigid immaterial divides.

Presence

Shorts Program 2

U.S. Premiere

India/2012/17min

Directors: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan

Producers: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan

Long days and nights spent within the bellies of the rising structural beasts that rapidly transform the city of Bangalore bring on visions of ghosts that speak of the construction workers’ memories, longings and fears, in this haunting meditation on the migrant experience.

Skin Deep

Screens with Writers

U.S. Premiere

India/2013/20min

Director: Hardik Mehta

Producers: Devang Bhavsar, Niraj Kothari

Sanjay and Sushma plan to elope to escape a looming arranged marriage. They are in love and their future together shines bright and perfect and filled with possibility--that is, as long as an extra piece of skin that complicates their sex life gets fixed in what should be a routine medical procedure. But Mumbai’s electricity gods have other plans in store for them.

Small Yellow Field (Tau Seru)

Shorts Program 1

Los Angeles Premiere

Australia-India/2013/8min

Director: Rodd Rathjen

Producer: Rodd Rathjen

In the remote vastness of the Himalayas, a young nomad's curiosity lies beyond the horizon. This stunningly photographed film made its world premiere at Cannes Critics’ Week.

The Puppet (Tamaash)

Screens with Shepherds Of Paradise

Los Angeles Premiere

India/2013/32min

Directors: Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh

Producers: Datta Dave, Chaitanya Hegde, Omar Nissar Paul, Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh

A mysterious puppet offers young Anzar the chance to escape his father’s relentless punishments over his poor school grades by granting him the power to inflict misfortune on his nemesis, his brilliant classmate, Sadat. However, his newfound peace is short-lived as Sadat falls severely ill and Anzar comes to realize that the puppet’s powers are spiraling out of his control...

Sudabeh Mortezai’s Macondo won the Firebird Award in the Young Cinema Competition of this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff), while Tetsuichiro Tsuta’s The Tale Of Iya took the Jury Prize.

The jury praised Macondo, an Austrian drama centring on an 11-year-old Chechnyan refugee, for its “simplicity and humanity [which] show great sensitivity to universal human problems”. Ayumi Sakamoto’s Forma received a special mention in the Young Cinema Competition.

The Firebird Award in the Documentary Competition went to Farida Pacha’s My Name Is Salt, while the Jury Prize went to Gu Tao’s The Last Moose Of Aoluguya and Bernard Bloch’s Meat And Milk received a special mention.

Hu Wei’s The Butter Lamp, about Tibetan nomads, won the Firebird Award in the Short Film Competition. The Jury Prize went to Leo Woodhead’s Cold Snap, while Janie Geiser’s Kriminalistik won the Internet Audience Award and Reka Bucsi’s [link...

Richie Mehta’s film scooped the Best World Feature prize at the 17th Sonoma International Film Festival (Siff).

The festival ran from April 2-6 in the California locale and wrapped after five days of screenings.

“This has been an extraordinary year,” said Siff executive director Kevin McNeely. “We are energized by the talent we’ve seen by both emerging and established filmmakers and we’ve enjoyed introducing them to our vibrant community.”

Siff winners:

Best American Independent Feature

Brahmin Bulls, dir Mahesh Pailoor

Best World Feature

Siddharth, dir Richie Mehta

Best Documentary Feature

The Human Experiment, dir Donald Hardy Jr

Best Narrative Short

Door God, dir Yulin Liu

Best Documentary Short

Happy Hands, dir Honey Lauren

The Stolman Audience Award of $1,000 for Best American Independent Feature

The Fourth Noble Truth, dir Gary T McDonald

A3 Audience Award of $1,000 for Best Documentary

Taking My Parents To Burning Man, dir Joel Ashton McCarthy and Bryant H Boesen

Audience Award of...

A still from My Name is Salt

My Name is Salt, directed by Farida Pacha, won the Firebird award in Documentary competition at the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival that concludes today.

A Jury consisting of Japanese documentary filmmaker Soda Kazuhiro; Lee Daw-Ming, Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Filmmaking, Taipei National University of the Arts; and Hong Kong based filmmaker Angie Chen awarded the Firebird award of Usd 3,000.

My Name is Salt had also won the First Appearance award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) 2013. The India/Switzerland co-production revolves around the families that move to a barren desert in India year after year. They work for eight months straight to produce the “whitest salt in the world”, until monsoon season is upon them. The documentary patiently observes the intense work done by a family of salt pan workers.

The other Indian films that screened...

Rajkumar Hirani

Rajkumar Hirani will be part of the 7-member Tiantan Award International Jury at the 4th edition of Beijing International Film Festival. Richie Mehta’s Siddharth is one among the fifteen films in competition for the Tiantan Award.

The Beijing International Film Festival will be held from April 16-23, 2014.

Director of three critically acclaimed features- Munna Bhai Mbbs, Lage Raho Munna Bhai and 3 Idiots- Rajkumar Hirani is the only Indian on the jury. His film 3 Idiots, featuring Aamir Khan, was a major commercial success at the Chinese box-office. Besides, it was screened at the inaugural edition of the Beijing International Film Festival in 2011.

Headed by Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo, the international jury at the festival comprises of Spanish producer Andrés Vicente Gómez; Irish director, scriptwriter and producer Jim Sheridan; Chinese director, scriptwriter and executive producer Lu Chuan; Italian actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta; and French director, scriptwriter and producer Philippe Muyl.

Still from A Prayer for Rain

A Prayer for Rain, directed by Ravi Kumar, will open the 28th Fribourg International Film Festival which will take place from March 29- April 5 in Fribourg, Switzerland.

The film is based on true events leading up to December 3rd 1984, when a pesticide leak killed more than 10,000 people in Bhopal, India. The film features Martin Sheen, Mischa Barton, Kal Penn, Rajpal Yadav and Tannishtha Chatterjee. The film has been screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival earlier.

Richie Mehta’s Siddharth has been selected in the International Competition section. Documentary Millions can walk and short film Fly, Bird will also be screened at the festival.

Continuing its journey in the international festival circuit, Richie Mehta’s Indo-Canadian venture Siddharth will compete at the festival. Grand Jury prize winner at South Asian International Film Festival (Saiff), Siddharth has been previously screened at Venice Days (an independent...

From April 8th to the 11th, Indian films will once again be showcased in the Us at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla). In its 12th year, Iffla boasts an incredible lineup of fabulous films that reflects the rich diversity of Indian cinema. Iffla’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani says, “I’m thrilled and proud that Iffla’s line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora.”

Iffla 2014 presents 33 films that include feature films, documentaries and shorts. The festival will have three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.

Bollywood will be well represented with three outstanding films all showing during the festival’s run.

A still from Jadoo

The 12th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla), to be held from April 8-13, announced its 2014 line-up of feature films and short films.

Amit Gupta’s Jadoo, an exploration of family bonds amidst two feuding brothers’ restaurants in England, will screen as the festival’s closing night gala. The film premiered at the 2013 Berlinale.

As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown’s Sold. The 2014 edition of the festival will present more than 33 films.

Program highlights include the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly, Geethu Mohandas’ Liar’s Dice, Anup Singh’s Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost and the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival Hank and Asha by James E. Duff.

Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, Mahesh Pailoor’s Brahmin Bulls and Richie Mehta’s Siddharth will also be screened at the festival.

The festival’s feature...

I've been attending the Dallas International Film Festival since the first installment, when it was still AFI Dallas. I can honestly say that 2014's full lineup is probably the strongest, most Twitch-friendly line up that the Dallas Iff has had since those first three years. I've been happy with the films in past years, but mostly as a result of catching things I wasn't expecting to enjoy. This year, my anticipation is off the charts.Twitch readers should be familiar with films like Alex de la Iglesia's Witching & Bitching, Matsumoto HItoshi's R100, Ti West's The Sacrament, Ari Folman's The Congress, and Richie Mehta's Siddharth (Todd's top film of 2013), however, there's a lot more in there to get you guys excited. There are also tons...

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

A Still from Liar’s Dice

The 21st edition of the International Film Festival Prague will screen three Indian films- Monsoon Shootout, Liar’s Dice and Siddharth- in the Asian Panorama section. The festival will be held from March 20-28, 2014 in Prague.

Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout, an existential thriller, has earlier screened at Cannes, Durban, Sydney, Jerusalem and London Indian Film Festival among others. Guru, a rookie cop, has Shiva, a suspected gangster, in his line of fire. Guru has a moment of reckoning. Should he shoot a man whose guilt he is uncertain of? The film presents three scenarios, all departing from the decision that Guru makes.

Geethu Mohandas’ Liar’s Dice had its international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and was also screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2014. It is a road movie in which a headstrong woman (Geetanjali Thapa) from...

With the dust fully settled on the Academy Awards, we point our attention northward with tonight’s 2014 Canadian Screen Awards. Many of the television winners have already been announced in glitzy fashion during this Canadian Screen Week, but with baited breath, we’re more keen on seeing how the film award honors will pan out. Last year’s Tiff saw Denis Villeneuve bring not one (Prisoners), but a pair of feature films and it is the offbeat, doppelgänger delight Enemy that should reap in the top awards of the evening. Here are my predictions of who will win, who should win, and who should have been nominated in each of the most anticipated film categories.

Best Motion Picture:

The nominees are: Enemy, The Dismantlement, Empire of Dirt, The F Word, Gabrielle, The Grand Seduction, Maina, Tom at the Farm

Screenie voters tend to favor Canada’s yearly submission for the...

Hong Kong, March 1: Three Indian movies will be screened at the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff) here March 27 March-April 7.

Amit Kumar's Bollywood film "Monsoon Shootout" and Farida Pacha's Swiss-Indian documentary "My Name Is Salt" will have their Asian premiere at the fest. Richie Mehta's Indo-Canadian feature "Siddharth" will also be screened at the gala.

Anurag Kashyap-backed "Monsoon Shootout", featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tannishtha Chatterjee, was earlier screened at the Cannes International Film Festival.

"My Name is Salt", an observational documentary,.

Siddharth at Hkiff

The 38th edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff) will screen four Indian films- Monsoon Shootout, Siddharth, My Name is Salt and His New Hands. The festival is scheduled to take place from 27 March- 4 April, 2014.

Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout has traveled to several film festivals following its world premiere at Cannes last year. The film is an existential thriller. Guru, a rookie cop, has Shiva, a suspected gangster, in his line of fire. Guru has a moment of reckoning. Should he shoot a man whose guilt he is uncertain of? The film presents three scenarios, all departing from the decision that Guru makes.

Richie Mehta’s Indo-Canadian feature Siddharth is about Mahendra, a south Delhi street vendor barely eking out a living repairing zippers who finds himself stuck in a nightmare when his 12-year-old son goes missing. He embarks on a trek to find his son,...

Mumbai, 18th February: As we draw closer to the 15th International Indian Film Academy (Iifa) Weekend & Awards in Tampa Bay, Florida, the Academy held a press conference on the lawns of the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, yesterday. Friends of Iifa, members from the film fraternity were present today along with U.S. Ambassador Peter Haas, and the Tampa Bay delegation to show their support for the upcoming celebrations in the United States of America. The 15th Videocon D2H Iifa Weekend and the Tata Motors Iifa Awards will be held from the 23rd – 26th of April.

As we told you yesterday, actors Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Bipasha Basu and music director Pritam were on hand to announce the details of the Videocon D2H Iifa Weekend. Leading the delegation from Tampa were Mayor of Tampa Bay – Bob Buckhorn, Hillsborough County Commissioner – Al Higginbotham and Santiago Corrada,...

Top brass at the Miami International Film Festival have announced a roster of 42 non-competitive films that will screen in two categories during the festival, set to run from March 7-16.

The Cinema 360° selection includes Amma Asante’s Belle (pictured, UK), David Trueba’s Goya nominee Living Is Easy with Your Eyes Closed (Vivir Es Fácil Con Los Ojos Cerrados, Spain), Richie Mehta’s Siddharth (Canada-India), Witching & Bitching (Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi, Spain) by Álex de la Iglesia and Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive (Us).

Doc-You-Up entries include the North American premiere of Santiago Mitre and Juan Onofri Barbato’s Los Posibles (Argentina) and Michael Kleiman’s Web (Us).

The films join Juan José Campanella’s previously announced Latin American hit Foosball.

The full programme of films screening at the 31st Miami International Film Festival will be announced on January 29. For the full list of the 42 films visit the official website.

The Academy Of Canadian Cinema & Television has announced the Canadian Screen Awards nominees.

“We are exceedingly proud today to reveal the nominees for the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards,” said Academy chair Martin Katz.

“This was a year marked by a record-breaking number of submissions, reflecting a robust level of activity in the screen-based industries in Canada which we will celebrate during Canadian Screen Week, March 3-9. Congratulations to all.”

David Cronenberg will receive the lifetime achievement award. For the full list of winners invcluding television, digital and special awards click here.

The feature nominees in full:

Best Motion Picture

The Dismantlement (Le Démantèlement) – Bernadette Payeur, Marc Daigle

Empire Of Dirt – Jennifer Podemski

Enemy – Kim McCraw, Luc Déry, Miguel A Faura, Niv Fichman, Sari Friedland

The F-Word – Andre Rouleau, David Gross, Macdara Kelleher

Gabrielle – Kim McCraw, Luc Déry

The Grand Seduction – Barbara Doran, Roger Frappier

Maïna – Karine Martin, Michel Poulette, Yves Fortin

Tom At The Farm (Tom À La Ferme) – [link...

The Academy Of Canadian Cinema & Television has announced its nominees.

“We are exceedingly proud today to reveal the nominees for the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards,” said Academy chair Martin Katz. “This was a year marked by a record-breaking number of submissions, reflecting a robust level of activity in the screen-based industries in Canada which we will celebrate during Canadian Screen Week, March 3-9. Congratulations to all.”

David Cronenberg will receive the lifetime achievement award. For the full list of winners invcluding television, digital and special awards click here.

The fearure nominees in full:

Best Motion Picture

The Dismantlement (Le Démantèlement) – Bernadette Payeur, Marc Daigle

Empire Of Dirt (pictured) – Jennifer Podemski

Enemy – Kim McCraw, Luc Déry, Miguel A Faura, Niv Fichman, Sari Friedland

The F-Word – Andre Rouleau, David Gross, Macdara Kelleher

Gabrielle – Kim McCraw, Luc Déry

The Grand Seduction – Barbara Doran, Roger Frappier

Maïna – Karine Martin, Michel Poulette, Yves Fortin

Tom At The Farm (Tom À La Ferme) – [link...

After an intense 2013 with the release of many memorable films, 2014 looks very promising. From Salman Khan’s new film to Anurag Kashyap’s upcoming project, Bollywood fans will have to make an effort to track the most awaited releases. BollySpice offers you a guide with all the films you cannot miss next year.

Dedh Ishqiya

The first big release of the year, Abhishek Chaubey’s film stars Madhuri Dixit, Arshad Warsi, Naseeruddin Shah and Huma Qureshi in the lead roles. A sequel of 2010 Ishqiya, the film follows the romantic adventures of Khalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi). If Vidya Balan was the main actress in the first film, Madhuri Dixit and Huma Qureshi are the love interests in the sequel, who play the roles of Begum Para and her confidant Muniya respectively. Set in a small town in Uttar Pradesh and very inspired by the Lucknowi culture, Madhuri Dixit...

The nominations for the 20th annual Screen Awards was announced yesterday and not only that we learned who would be the Mc of the grand event – none other the King Khan! Yes, Shah Rukh Khan will play host to the star studded event. In a statement he said, “I’ve always enjoyed hosting award functions and making people around me happy and Screen Awards gives me that opportunity, the chance to return all the love and the wishes that my audiences have always blessed me with.”

And the nominations are…

Popular Choice (Male)

Aamir Khan – Dhoom: 3

Shah Rukh Khan – Chennai Express

Hrithik Roshan – Krrish 3

Dhanush – Raanjhanaa

Ranveer Singh – Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela

Ranbir Kapoor – Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

Farhan Akhtar – Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Akshay Kumar – Boss, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, Special 26

Saif Ali Khan – Race 2

Aditya Roy Kapur – Aashiqui 2

John Abraham – Shootout At Wadala,...

Top brass at the 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff) have announced a new programme on Canadian Cinema as well as the traditionally strong roster of foreign-language films eligible for the Fipresci Award in the Awards Buzz section, and Modern Masters.

The festival will screen 45 of the 76 official foreign-language Oscar submissions under the umbrella of Awards Buzz.

“We’ve selected Canadian films for a special focus at this year’s festival for many reasons, not the least of which is the wealth of talent emerging from its relatively small, indigenous film industry, and the depth and richness of story and character portrayal its films exemplify,” said festival director Darryl Macdonald.

“Whether it’s established auteurs like Denis Coté, Denis Villenueve and Atom Egoyan, gifted actor-directors like Don McKellar and Sarah Polley or newly emerging talents like Chloé Robichaud, Craig Goodwill and Sébastien Pilote, Canadian creative ingenuity is on abundant display in its films. All of this...

Still from Siddharth

Richie Mehta’s Siddharth won the Grand Jury Prize at the South Asian International Film Festival (Saiff) which concluded in New York recently. Richie Mehta also won the Best Director Award.

“This intense, boundary-pushing art is representative of why we started this festival in the first place,” said South Asian International Film Festival founder Shilen Amin.

Kamal Km’s festival favourite I.D. took home the festival’s Jury Prize. [Read I.D. actor Geetanjali Thapa’s interview]

The Grand Jury Prize for Shorts was awarded to Shubhashish Bhutiani’s Kush. The film also won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at Venice Film Festival 2013 and is long-listed for the Academy awards.

Read Shubhashish Bhutiani’s interview here.

Richie Mehta’s Siddharth took home South Asian International Film Festival’s grand jury prize at the event’s awards gala on December 7 in New York.

Director Richie Mehta also took home the director award.

“This intense, boundary-pushing art is representative of why we started this festival in the first place,” said South Asian International Film Festival founder Shilen Amin.

The festival’s jury prize was awarded to I.D. from Kamal Km.

For more details visit the official website.

Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout will open the 10th Annual South Asian International Film Festival which will be held from December 3-8, 2013.

Gyan Correa’s The Good Road, India’s official submission to the Oscars in the foreign-language category, will screen as the closing film.

Pakistani filmmaker Sabiha Sumar’s Good Morning Karachi will be screened as the Centerpiece film. The film addresses the tension between religious extremism and modernity through the eyes of a young woman, Rafina, coming of age in Karachi city.

Hammad Khan’s Anima State, Rajat Kapoor’s Ankhon Dekhi, Richie Mehta’s Siddharth, Kamal K.M.’s I.D and Anup Singh’s Qissa will compete in Feature Film Competition.

Rahul Desai’s Khoon Ltd, Shiva Shankka’s Outpost, Rodd Rathjen’s Tau Seru, Anand Tiwari’s Neighbours and Shubhashish Bhutiani’s Kush are the short films in competition.

The Spectrum section of the festival will...

The 15th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival will be held from October 17 – 24, 2013. Liberty Cinema, New Marine Lines, will be the main venue where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held. Besides, Metro Cinema, Marine Lines and Cinemax / PVR, Versova will be the satellite venues. Read in detail here.

The festival has launched an online ticketing system this year which means no queues for popular films any more. Read about it here.

Lee Daniel’s The Butler will be the opening film while Bill Condon’s The Fifth Estate will close the festival. Read about the closing film here.

Showcasing over 200 films from over 65 countries, the festival will award $220,000 in cash prizes. The countries in focus this year are Spain, Cambodia and Afghanistan.Know more about it here.

The festival has launched a brand new Experimental film section and will pay homage to Yash Chopra, Rituparno Ghosh and Pran.

F rom the works of masters like Costa-Gavras and Asghar Farhadi to newcomers like Nagraj Manjule and Kim Mordaunt, the Mumbai Film Festival 2013 offers above 200 films to choose from for an entire week!

Anu Rangachar, the Program Director of Mumbai Film Festival, lists her 20 favourite films in the lineup.

1. The Act of Killing

Dir.: Joshua Oppenheimer (2012 / Col. / 115′)

Section: The Real Reel

The film won the Panorama Audience Award and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival 2013 and the Cph:dox Award at the Cph:dox Film Festival 2012. It has bagged several other awards in film festivals at Istanbul, Prague, Geneva, Warsaw, Barcelona, Zagreb, Mexico, etc.

An Indonesian documentary, The Act of Killing challenges the total impunity on genocide by the death squad leaders. In 1965, Anwar Congo and his friends were promoted to the ranks of Death Squad Leaders to help the army obliterate more than one million alleged communists,...

Richie Mehta’s Siddharth and Anup Singh’s Qissa will compete under the Narrative Competition and New Horizons Competition respectively at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (October 24 – November 2 , 2013).

Besides these, Aparna Sen’s The Jewellery Box and Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry will be screened under the Showcase section, while Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa, Ritwik Ghtak’s Subarnarekha, Mani Kual’s Duvidha, M S Sathyu’s Garam Hawa and Jahnu Barua’s Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai will be showcased in the Special Programmes section.

The Narrative Competition section showcases original storytelling from international filmmakers. In Siddharth, Mahendra sends his son far away to earn and contribute to the family’s meagre income. But the son, Siddharth is lost and nowhere to be found. Mahendra sets out in search of his son, travelling all over India. This is Richie Mehta’s second feature film after Amal. The film was screened at the 57th BFI London Film Festival,...