Sydney Film Festival to show a 10-film retrospective of Satyajit Ray

The 69th Sydney Film Festival which begins today (June 8) will show an honorary retrospective on Satyajit Ray. Ten Ray classics have been selected for the special segment, curated by David Stratton, former director of the Sydney Film Festival.
Announcing the retrospective Nashen Moodley, the director of the prestigious film event, also paid his respects to the auteur.
“Satyajit Ray is one of the world’s most revered filmmakers. First and foremost a bold and visionary director and writer, his genius was broad ranging, as evidenced by the wonderful scores he composed for many of his films. Beginning with his 1955 debut Pather Panchali, Ray found a unique balance between naturalism and formalism, between simplicity and complexity. His films are almost all set in, what is now West Bengal, and while they are beautifully, proudly specific to Bengali culture and society, they are universal,” said the festival director.
Another statement released by the festival organizers reads, “Ray’s films were acclaimed worldwide in their day but are even more relevant now. Their influence on directors including Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson is huge.”
The 10 films included in the retrospective are:
‘Pather Panchali’ (1955)
‘Aparajito’ (1956)
‘The Music Room’ (Jalsaghar) (1958)
‘The World of Apu’ (Apur Sansar) (1959)
‘Devi’ (1960)
‘The Big City’ (Mahanagar) (1963)
‘Charulata’ (1964)
‘The Hero’ (Nayak) (1966)
‘Company Limited’ (Seemabaddha) (1971)
‘The Chess Players’ (Shatranj Ke Khilari) (1977)
Interestingly, previously two films by Satyajit Ray were selected at the Sydney Film Festival. The first one was ‘Mahanagar’ in 1965 and in 1980, it was ‘Joy Baba Felunath’.