Every week, I get several press releases, screening invitations and other notifications from a handful of studio contacts. While I won’t be sharing any information regarding my screening invites, some of the press releases might be of interest to my readers, so I thought I’d start sharing them in toto with all of you. These could include new image galleries for various films or important updates to upcoming releases from various smaller studios and art house production companies. (Note, you must click “Click here to continue reading this article” for the links below to work.
- Image Gallery: Immortals
- Image Gallery: J. Edgar
- Image Gallery: We Need to Talk About Kevin – Poster
- Press Release: South Asian International Film Festival Schedule
Image Gallery: Immortals
Image Gallery: J. Edgar
Image Gallery: We Need to Talk About Kevin – Poster
Press Release: South Asian International Film Festival Schedule
OPENING NIGHT FILM
Abu, Son of Adam (Adaminte Makan Abu), 2011, India, 101 min, Malayalam (with English Subtitles), North American Premiere, India’s Entry to Oscars
Directed by: Salim Ahamed
Wednesday, November 9, 8:00pm
In Abu, Son of Adam, Abu and his wife Aisumma struggles to achieve their aspiration of going to the Hajj. Amoving and heart wrenching portrayal of an old man’s desire to complete the holy pilgrimage, and director Salim Ahmed’s debut feature. The film, which garnered the most coveted honors at national and state film awards in India, steals the viewer’s heart with sincerity, emotional poignancy and color-rich visuals.
CENTERPIECE PREMIERE
The Error Attack (Shakal Pe Mat Ja), 2011, India, 123 min, Hindi (with English Subtitles), World Premiere
Directed By:Shubh Mukherjee
Tuesday, November 15, 8:00pm
Four young boys are mistakenly arrested at the airport on suspicion of being terrorists. The Error Attack deals with the goof ups, mistaken identities, and madness of the day.
CLOSING NIGHT FILM
It’s Love in Bihar! (Jo Dooba So Paar), 2011, India, 97 min, Hindi (with English Subtitles), International Premiere
Directed By: Praveen Kumar
Saturday, November 12, 7:30pm
It’s Love in Bihar! is the story of the lovable Bihari boy Keshu, son of a truck driver and a school dropout, and his infatuation with the U.S.-bred Sapna, who makes a sudden entry into his village on a college project. While the story set in contemporary Bihar, it could take place anywhere in the country, or the world, as it speaks the pure and universal language of love, affection, warmth and togetherness.
CONVERSATION WITH SHEKHAR KAPUR
Listen to a master storyteller Shekhar Kapur tell personal stories about the evolution of his illustrious career from his start as a Bollywood actor to his global success as the director of Bandit Queen, Elizabeth and The Four Feathers, and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Throughout his impressive career, Kapur has worked with such Actors as Nasserruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Anil Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Seema Biswas, Kate Hudson, Heath Ledger, Geoffery Rush, Vincent Cassel, Clive Owen, and Cate Blanchett. His historical biopics of Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth and its sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age) garnered Academy Award® nominations for Cate Blanchett.
During the event, Shekhar also will be presented with the SAIFF Foundation Award.
Saturday, November 12, 2011 at 2:00pm at NYIT Auditorium on Broadway.
DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Corrode (Kshay), 2011, India, 92 min., Hindi (with English Subtitles), New York Premiere, Official Competition 2011 Chicago International Film Festival
Directed By: Karan Gour
Friday, November 11, 7:00pm
Chhaya, a woman of limited means, leads a good, decent life alongside her husband Arvind until she becomes obsessed with a sculpture of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth. Chhaya will stop at nothing to bring home this statue, and soon her past weaknesses and disappointments (including a miscarriage) bubble to the surface, consuming and corroding her soul. Kshay is the latest example of an exciting new wave of independent Indian cinema.
Alms of a Blind Horse (Anhey Ghorhey De Daan), 2011, India, 113 min., Punjabi (with English Subtitles), North American Premiere, Special Jury Award 2011 Abu Dhabi International Film Festival, Official Selection 2011 Venice Film Festival
Directed By: Gurvinder Singh
Sunday, November 13, 7:30pm
On a foggy winter morning, a family in a village in Punjab wakes up to the news of the demolition of a house on the outskirts of the village. Father, a silent sympathizer, joins the community in demanding justice. The same day, his son Melu, a rickshaw puller in the city, participates in a strike by his union. Injured and alienated, Melu spends the day quietly resting and hesitantly drinks with friends that night as they debate the meaning of their existence. Cycling through the city streets, Melu feels lost and wonders where to go and what to do. Back in the village, his mother feels humiliated at the treatment by the landlords in whose fields she works. On the night of a lunar eclipse, gunshots are heard in the night and the village is tense. A man wanders asking for the traditional alms while Father decides to visit the city with a friend, even as his daughter Dayalo walks alone through the village streets that night.
Temple (Deool), 2011, India, 135 min., Marathi (with English Subtitles), North American Premiere
Directed By: Umesh Kulkarni
Thursday, November 10, 7:00pm
Deool is a humorous take on a small, forgotten village called Mangrool that lies in the neglected areas of Maharashtra. Bad weather and drought has taken a toll on the spirits of people from Mangrool. Nuanced with local village politics, hopes and aspirations of youth, the film essentially depicts the irony of life in Indian villages.
Greater Elephant, 2011, India, 120 min, Hindi (with English Subtitles), World Premiere
Directed By:Srinivas Sunderrajan
Saturday, November 12, 4:00pm
A mahout has lost his elephant. A theater owner has lost her god. A god has lost his identity. A devil has lost his teeth. A constable has lost his faith. And they’ve all lost their marbles. Greater Elephant is a wicked assembly of diverse characters looking for a purpose.
The Stagnant (Achal), 2011, India, 90 min., Bengali (with English Subtitles), World Premiere
Directed By: Bikramjit Gupta
Monday, November 14, 7:00pm
Krishna earns money by performing as a living statue on the streets of Kolkata. The only people in his life are his Uncle, his friend Rasu and a beautiful mannequin with which he is incurably infatuated.
Krishna’s dream shatters when he finds his beloved mannequin without a head. As he begins to scour the streets in search of her head, his uncle breathes his last breathe, and his friend Rasu also spirals into drug addiction leading to his death in a freak accident.
Having lost his love, uncle, and friend, life becomes an agony for Krishna. The only thing he has now is his livelihood as a living statue
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Good Morning, 2011, India, 40 min., Hindi (with English Subtitles), World Premiere
Directed By: Kabir Singh Chowdhry
Friday, November 11, 7:00pm
Good Morning slowly unfolds the bitter and brutal account ofthe collapse of a happy marriage that unravels because of alienation and the inability to communicate. The story lays out the early morning routine of a married couple in the meticulous detail amidst a constant and embarrassing reminder of the wife’s infidelity.
Noise (Shor), 2011, India, 16 min., Hindi (with English Subtitles), North American Premiere, Official Selection 2011 Rome Film Festival Official Selection 2011 Abu Dhabi International Film Festival
Directed By: Neeraj Ghaywan
Sunday, November 13, 7:30pm
Lallan and Meena, are consumed by their pursuit to survive in the city of Mumbai. Lallan has lost his job at the factory and now is hopelessly unemployed. Meena takes up a job in a sewing factory. One day over a phone call, the two find each other while embracing death, divorce and redemption. It takes the darkest hour of their existence to regain consciousnesses back in to life.
Sujata, 2011, India, 18 min., Hindi (with English Subtitles), World Premiere
Directed By:Shlok Sharma
Thursday, November 10, 7:00pm
A riveting tale of a young girl, Sujata, who is incessantly harassed by her brother. Each time she tries to escape from the cycle of abuse she is hunted down. Fearful, shattered, and bruised, she decides to fend for herself.
Aakra-Man, 2011, India, 4 min., Hindi (with English Subtitles), International Premiere, Official Selection 2011 Mumbai International Film Festival
Directed By: Mihir Desai
Monday, November 14, 7:00pm
Human by day. Super Human by night. India’s first super hero.
Kharoch, 2011, India, 24 mins, Hindi (with English Subtitles), International Premiere, Official Selection 2011 Mumbai International Film Festival
Directed By: Chirag Arora
Saturday, November 12, 4:00pm
Kharoch is the simple story of Naseeb and the choices he makes in life. In his hunger to earn more money he finds himself in the most atrocious conditions imaginable.
SPECTRUM
The Golden Bird (Sonchidi), 2011, India, 55 min., Hindi (with English Subtitles), North American Premiere, Official Selection 2011 Venice Film Festival
Directed By: Amit Dutta
Thursday, November 10, 10:00pm
The Golden Bird is about two travelers who are in search of a flying-craft, which one of them thinks is made by a mad engineer that he remembers from his childhood. They believe that if they can find the craft it could lead them to the ultimate escape from the cycle of reincarnation. On their way to find this machine, they record their memories, dreams and fears on a sound-recorder and a notebook.
Love, Wrinkle-Free, 2011, India, 107 mins, English, International Premiere, Official Selection 2011 Mumbai International Film Festival
Directed By: Sandeep Mohan
Friday, November 11, 10:00pm
Set in Goa, Love, Wrinkle-Free is a story about Savio, a 38-year-old sales manager who works at an underwear company. Savio’s mundane life is thrown out of whack with the unplanned pregnancy of his 46-year-old religious wife Annie. Complicating matters further is the reaction of their adopted teenage daughter Ruth, a girl with Asian and North East Indian Features, to the pregnancy. Love, Wrinkle-Free is an offbeat, light-hearted story about love going beyond cosmetic barriers – a universal theme with resonance across the world.
Ballad of Rustom, 2011, India, 117 min, Hindi (with English Subtitles), North American Premiere, Official Selection 2011 Rome International Film Festival
Directed By: Ajita Suchitra Veera
Sunday, November 13, 10:00pm
Rustom works in a small government office in the countryside. He wanders from place to place in his small town, spending time with Kapil, who works on the railway, and his eccentric boss. He is magically transported into his imaginary other world in the far reaches of this beautiful and lonely countryside.
You Are My Sweetheart, 2011, India, 140 min., Hindi (with English Subtitles), International Premiere
Directed By: Aron Govil
Sunday, November 13, 5:00pm
You are My Sweetheart is a simple love story about Reena (Preeti) and Akash(Mikaal), who are complete opposites. Living continents away from each other, Akash in New York and Reena in Chandigarh, fate brings them together in Mumbai. During their brief encounter, the vivacious Reena, who nurtures the dream of making it big in Bollywood, and the suave and ruthless billionaire Akash, manage to change each other’s lives forever.
DRAMATIC and SHORT COMPETITION JURY
Jury Chair: Richard Lorber, President & CEO, Kino Lorber
David Kwok, Director of Programming, Tribeca Film Festival
Paul Rachman, Filmmaker & Co-Founder, Slamdance Film Festival
Cindi Rowel, DVD Producer, New Yorker Films
Grady Hendrix, Co-Founder & Programmer, New York Asian Film Festival
Mark DeFrancis, Head of Acquisitions, Indiepix Films
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