Rich fare on offer at international film fest

MUMBAI: It is not often that you want to tear your hair at an Indian film festival because there’s such an embarras de richesse, but the fifth International Film Festival of Mumbai (IFFM), that runs from November 21-28, will be one of them. There’s a superb range of 75 films,many of them award winners at international festivals, not to mention a ‘Cahiers du Cinema’ package of classics.
The main festival venues are the Y.B.Chavan Centre, New Empire and Imax Adlabs (one screen) for delegates and press, and one screen at Imax Adlabs for the public. There will be five screenings a day.
Hungarian maestro Istvan Szabo (‘Mephisto, Confidence’) is expected to be here as chief guest for his opening film Taking Sides . Featuring Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgaard, it is about an American investigation into the case of German conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler who was accused of collaborating with the Nazis. The closing film will be Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Nizhalkkuthu (Shadow Kill), a rich exploration of how humans transfer their guilt, told through a tale of a Travancore hangman.
The films to watch out for include: > Nanni Moretti’s The Son’s Room (Italy) which won the Golden Palm at Cannes last year. It is about a psychotherapist’s family coping with the death of their young son. > Silvio Soldini’s Bread and Tulips (Italy) is about a housewife who is taken for granted and finds a new life in Venice. This lovely film won a shower of Italian Donatello awards. > Andrzej Wajda’s The Promised Land. It won an Oscar nomination. > Petter Naess’ Elling (Norway, Oscar nomination) on the friendship between two unlikely characters in a state institution. > Andreas Dresen’s Grill Point (Silver Bear, Berlin) is a part-comic, part docu-style tale of a radio jockey’s adulterous affair with a restaurateur’s wife. > Moufida Tlatli’s Silences of the Palace (Tunisia) has a beautiful servant’s daughter in a royal palace at the end of French colonial rule in Tunisia, discover that sexual favours are demanded of her mother. > Fred Schepisi’s Last Order (UK) is about the lives and loves of the family and friends of a butcher, who journey to immerse his ashes in the sea.
The FIPRESCI Jury will award its prize for best film. Also, Hrishikesh Mukherjee will be honoured with the lifetime achievement award, Om Puri will be honoured for his 25 years’ contribution to Indian cinema, while cinematographer V. Babasaheb will receive the Kodak award for technical excellence.
Cahiers du Cinema was a French magazine edited by Andre Bazin, whose film critics became directors and spawned the French new wave cinema of the 60s. The package of classics,marking the 50th year of the magazine, includes Claude Chabrol’s Bitter Reunion/ Handsome Serge, Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot le Fou , Eric Rohmer’s Claire’s Knee, Francois Truffaut’s The Woman Next Door , Olivier Assayas’ ‘Irma Vep’ and Agnes Varda’s ‘The Gleaners and I’.
The Indian Cinema Worldwide includes Prakash Belawadi’s Stumble, V.K. Prakash’s Freaky Chakra , Ram Madhvani’s Let’s Talk, Heeraz Marfatia’s Birj, Sufina Uberoi’s My Mother India and Bala Rajaselhuruni’s Green Card Fever. The Indian Cinema Now includes Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Manda Meyer Upakhya (Tale of a Naughty Girl), Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar’s Vastu Purus, Rituparno Ghosh’s Titli, Jayaraj’s Kannaki and Anup Singh’s Ekti Nadir Naam.
The retrospective of Argentinian director Jorge Polaco includes In the Name of the Son, Diapason, It’s Always Difficult to Return Home and Journey Through the Body . German director Andreas Dresen is honoured with Grill Point, Night Shapes, The Policewoman and Silent Country . The Focus on Japan includes Takeshi Kitano’s Sonatine, Jun Ichikawa’s Tokyo Marigold and Keisuke Kinoshita’s Carmen’s Pure Love.