Location: Shahid Bhavan, near MLA Quarters
Date: Mon, 2011/11/28 – 6:30pm
Price: Free and open to all
Category: Festival
Cannes in India Film Festival – 26th to 28th November 2011
Presented by Alliance Française de Bhopal and Directorate of Culture, Madhya Pradesh, in collaboration with Swaraj Sansthan Sanchanalaya.
A selection of Indian films which were selected by the Cannes Film Festival. Most of the films are first films. The package includes features, short films and an animation film from various parts of the country – in Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam. Cannes in India Film Festival is curated by Ms. Meenakshi Shedde.
A VERY VERY SILENT FILM by Manish Jha (2001, 5 min.)
An exploration of the social ills that affect women in poverty: another woman dies again on the streets after living a life of mental and physical abuse.
Recognition at Cannes: The film was awarded the Prix du jury at the Cannes Film Festival 2002 for best short film.
KHOJ by Tridib Poddar (2002, 26 min.)
This Bengali film is about a man in search of his friend, missing for a decade. The film captures the despair and pain of the pursuit and juxtaposes it all with hope.
Recognition at Cannes: This film was selected for the Cinéfondation section (for film school entries) of the Cannes Film Festival in 2002.
TETRIS by Anirban Datta (2006, 30 min.)
A film writer, cameraman, production manager and actress set off on a car trip driving through the ‘story’–but the director chooses to stay behind. He believes it’s a story the road will write. All he needs is the writer to refine the route map…pen and petrol. The crew soon falls apart one by one, but the trip continues till they meet a dead end. But the story has to return…
Recognition at Cannes: This short film competed in the Cannes Film Festival 2006 as part of Cinéfondation section.
MARANA SIMHASANAM (Throne of Death) by Murali Nair (1999) with Vishwas Njarakkal, Lakshmi Raman and Suhas Thayat (Malayalam, 57 min.)
Though Krishnan toils all day planting rice, he struggles to feed his family. One day, he is made a scapegoat when caught stealing coconuts from his landlord: he is framed for a number of unsolved murders and sentenced to death. With the import of America’s latest high-tech instrument of death: the “electric chair”, guilt and innocence fall by the wayside as everyone, including Krishnan, is awestruck by this gleaming new technology. A dark, political satire.
Recognition at Cannes: Murali Nair has a long and distinguished connection with the Cannes Film Festival. His short film Oru Neenda Yathra (A Long Journey) was at Cannes in 1996; his debut feature Marana Simhasanam was in Cannes’ Official Selection in 1999; his feature Pattiyude Divasam (A Dog’s Day) was in Cannes’ Official Selection (Un Certain Regard) in 2001 and his feature Arimpara (A Story That Begins at the End) was in Cannes’ Official Selection (Un Certain Regard) in 2003. In fact, he was also a member of the Cannes’ Camera d’Or Jury in 2002.