Mumbai-based filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane’s debut feature film Court recently had a world premiere at the coveted Venice Film Festival. The film, that follows a court case in which a folk singer is tried for abetting the suicide of a manhole worker with his inflammatory song, has been acquired by Artscope, the art film label of Paris-based Memento Films.
Tamhane earlier made a short film Six Strands which screened at several film festivals including Clermont-Ferrand, Slamdance, Edinburgh and Rotterdam.
Bikas Mishra talks to Chaitanya Tamhane about the journey of Court.
How did the journey of Court begin?
I had just finished my short film Six Strands and it was doing the festival rounds. That’s when the idea of Court came to me, in 2011. I’m not a big fan of genre films. But it struck me that I have seen these courtroom dramas which are so articulate and smooth.
Tamhane earlier made a short film Six Strands which screened at several film festivals including Clermont-Ferrand, Slamdance, Edinburgh and Rotterdam.
Bikas Mishra talks to Chaitanya Tamhane about the journey of Court.
How did the journey of Court begin?
I had just finished my short film Six Strands and it was doing the festival rounds. That’s when the idea of Court came to me, in 2011. I’m not a big fan of genre films. But it struck me that I have seen these courtroom dramas which are so articulate and smooth.
- 9/6/2014
- by Bikas Mishra
- DearCinema.com
Still from Children of The Pyre
The 63rd Melbourne International Film Festival, which began on July 31 and will go on till August 17, is screening a total of 11 Indian films in different categories.
The lineup includes recent films like Kanu Behl’s Titli (world premiere at Cannes Film Festival 2014) and Avinash Arun’s Killa (world premiere at Berlin Film Festival 2014) as well as festival favourites like Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry.
A specially curated section at the festival, India in Flux: Living Resistance, will screen some of the most important Indian documentaries of recent times including Ashim Ahluwalia’s John & Jane, Rajesh Jala’s Children of the Pyre, Anand Patwardhan’s Jai Bhim Comrade, Deepa Dhanraj’s Invoking Justice, Farida Pacha’s My Name is Salt, Avijit Mukul Kishore’s Vertical City and Ranu Ghosh’s Quarter Number 4/11. These documentaries showcase the history of dissent and engagement with the ‘real’ while discussing matters of politics,...
The 63rd Melbourne International Film Festival, which began on July 31 and will go on till August 17, is screening a total of 11 Indian films in different categories.
The lineup includes recent films like Kanu Behl’s Titli (world premiere at Cannes Film Festival 2014) and Avinash Arun’s Killa (world premiere at Berlin Film Festival 2014) as well as festival favourites like Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry.
A specially curated section at the festival, India in Flux: Living Resistance, will screen some of the most important Indian documentaries of recent times including Ashim Ahluwalia’s John & Jane, Rajesh Jala’s Children of the Pyre, Anand Patwardhan’s Jai Bhim Comrade, Deepa Dhanraj’s Invoking Justice, Farida Pacha’s My Name is Salt, Avijit Mukul Kishore’s Vertical City and Ranu Ghosh’s Quarter Number 4/11. These documentaries showcase the history of dissent and engagement with the ‘real’ while discussing matters of politics,...
- 8/4/2014
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Veteran filmmaker Anand Patwardhan was honoured with the V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to promotion of documentary films movement in India at the 13th Mumbai International Film Festival (Miff) that began today.
Anand Patwardhan is known for his activism through social action documentaries on topics such as corruption, slum dwellers, nuclear arms race, citizen activism and communalism. His notable films include Bombay: Our City (1985), In the Name of God (1992), Father, Son and Holy War (1995), War and Peace (2002) and Jai Bhim Comrade (2011).
His latest documentary Jai Bhim Comrade won the Best Film award at Miff 2012.
Patwardhan in his acceptance speech said, “My feelings are mixed. My films speak about the reality of the disadvantaged. They have raised several socially relevant issues, but the impact has been marginal. The issues I highlighted through my films since 1980s continue to exist – rampant demolition of slums and uprooting of poor, communal violence,...
Anand Patwardhan is known for his activism through social action documentaries on topics such as corruption, slum dwellers, nuclear arms race, citizen activism and communalism. His notable films include Bombay: Our City (1985), In the Name of God (1992), Father, Son and Holy War (1995), War and Peace (2002) and Jai Bhim Comrade (2011).
His latest documentary Jai Bhim Comrade won the Best Film award at Miff 2012.
Patwardhan in his acceptance speech said, “My feelings are mixed. My films speak about the reality of the disadvantaged. They have raised several socially relevant issues, but the impact has been marginal. The issues I highlighted through my films since 1980s continue to exist – rampant demolition of slums and uprooting of poor, communal violence,...
- 2/3/2014
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Dharamsala, Oct 25: It took Anand Patwardhan 14 years to make "Jai Bhim Comrade", a 200-minute documentary about Dalits, but it seemed worth the effort. It was well-received at the ongoing Dharmshala International Film Festival (Diff) and the filmmaker says this was one of his few movies to get clearance from censor board without any objection.
The film, which followed protest of Maharashtra's Dalits and their miseries, was screened Friday at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in McLeod Ganj. The theatre was packed with the audience, including school children.
"It's disheartening to see such practices in India..
The film, which followed protest of Maharashtra's Dalits and their miseries, was screened Friday at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in McLeod Ganj. The theatre was packed with the audience, including school children.
"It's disheartening to see such practices in India..
- 10/25/2013
- by Anita Agarwal
- RealBollywood.com
The line-up of the 2nd edition of the Dharamshala International Film festival has been announced. The festival will showcase feature films, documentaries and short films.
Organised by White Crane Arts & Media; the festival will be held from October 24 – 27, 2013 in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala.
This year, a new section ‘Art and Film’ has been introduced at the festival in collaboration with Vienna-based Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation. The section will feature art films made by international artists Sean Snyder, Wael Shawky, Marine Hugonnier, Omer Fast, Walid Raad and Rabih Mroué.
The Best of recent Indian Shorts curated by filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni will also be showcased.
Besides, Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky’s Watermark will make its world premiere at the festival.
Some of the film personalities who will attend the festival are: Jacek Borcuch (Lasting), Nishtha Jain (Gulabi Gang), Nitin Kakkar (Filmistaan), Avijit Mukul Kishore (To Let the World In), Nagraj Manjule (Fandry...
Organised by White Crane Arts & Media; the festival will be held from October 24 – 27, 2013 in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala.
This year, a new section ‘Art and Film’ has been introduced at the festival in collaboration with Vienna-based Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation. The section will feature art films made by international artists Sean Snyder, Wael Shawky, Marine Hugonnier, Omer Fast, Walid Raad and Rabih Mroué.
The Best of recent Indian Shorts curated by filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni will also be showcased.
Besides, Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky’s Watermark will make its world premiere at the festival.
Some of the film personalities who will attend the festival are: Jacek Borcuch (Lasting), Nishtha Jain (Gulabi Gang), Nitin Kakkar (Filmistaan), Avijit Mukul Kishore (To Let the World In), Nagraj Manjule (Fandry...
- 10/16/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Tate Modern art gallery in London is hosting a Retrospective of Indian documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan from July 12-28, 2013.
The Retrospective is titled “A cinema of songs and people: the films of Anand Patwardhan”.
“Rarely viewed in Britain, the films of Anand Patwardhan represent one of the most important achievements in documentary cinema. This comprehensive retrospective, the first to be devoted to the major works of Patwardhan in London, devotes long overdue attention to a giant of cinema whose films inaugurated the independent documentary moment in India in the mid-1970s,” mentions Tate Modern website.
Each film in “A Cinema of Songs and People: The Films of Anand Patwardhan” will be introduced by Anand Patwardhan, Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun, followed by audience discussion after the screening.
Recently, a Retrospective of Anand Patwardhan’s works was also held at the British Film Institute (BFI) in an event called ‘State of...
The Retrospective is titled “A cinema of songs and people: the films of Anand Patwardhan”.
“Rarely viewed in Britain, the films of Anand Patwardhan represent one of the most important achievements in documentary cinema. This comprehensive retrospective, the first to be devoted to the major works of Patwardhan in London, devotes long overdue attention to a giant of cinema whose films inaugurated the independent documentary moment in India in the mid-1970s,” mentions Tate Modern website.
Each film in “A Cinema of Songs and People: The Films of Anand Patwardhan” will be introduced by Anand Patwardhan, Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun, followed by audience discussion after the screening.
Recently, a Retrospective of Anand Patwardhan’s works was also held at the British Film Institute (BFI) in an event called ‘State of...
- 7/13/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Edgar Wright Takeover | A Cinema Of Songs And People: The Films Of Anand Patwardhan | Showcomotion | Pride 2013 – All Our Love
Edgar Wright Takeover, London
With the release of The World's End, the final part of Wright's "Blood & Ice Cream" trilogy, coming soon (19 Jul), the cult-friendly director stages an all-nighter. It's basically a chronological retrospective, starting with a his no-budget debut A Fistful Of Fingers. That's followed by Spaced, Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. Wright introduces the event, but if it's just Blood & Ice Cream you're after, all three films play at selected Picturehouse cinemas on 27 July.
Prince Charles Cinema, WC2, Sat
A Cinema Of Songs And People: The Films Of Anand Patwardhan, London
There are the films India wants you to see – churned out prodigiously by Bollywood – and then there are the provocative documentaries of Patwardhan, which his government has routinely tried to suppress and censor.
Edgar Wright Takeover, London
With the release of The World's End, the final part of Wright's "Blood & Ice Cream" trilogy, coming soon (19 Jul), the cult-friendly director stages an all-nighter. It's basically a chronological retrospective, starting with a his no-budget debut A Fistful Of Fingers. That's followed by Spaced, Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. Wright introduces the event, but if it's just Blood & Ice Cream you're after, all three films play at selected Picturehouse cinemas on 27 July.
Prince Charles Cinema, WC2, Sat
A Cinema Of Songs And People: The Films Of Anand Patwardhan, London
There are the films India wants you to see – churned out prodigiously by Bollywood – and then there are the provocative documentaries of Patwardhan, which his government has routinely tried to suppress and censor.
- 7/6/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
A special section, ‘Anand Patwardhan: At Work’ devoted to the documentary filmmaker will be presented at the upcoming Cinema du Reel international documentary film festival in Paris (March 21 – 31, 2013).
Ten films by Patwardhan that have been curated by Nicole Brenez, a historian and professor of cinema specializing in avant-garde, will be screened under this section.
The festival will also host a masterclass with Anand Patwardhan.
Patwardhan was awarded the Special Jury prize in Cinema du réel 1986 for his film Bombay: Our City. He is well known for his documentaries on corruption, city slums, the caste system, injustices to women and the nuclear arms race.
The Retrospective is divided into seven segments, each representing the social / political cause Patwardhan has made films on: The Political Organisation Front, The Working Class Front, Trilogy of Fundamentalism 1 (Secularism), Trilogy of Fundamentalism 2 (Nationalism), Trilogy of Fundamentalism 3 (Feminism), The Anti-Nuclear Front and The Untouchables Front.
Films...
Ten films by Patwardhan that have been curated by Nicole Brenez, a historian and professor of cinema specializing in avant-garde, will be screened under this section.
The festival will also host a masterclass with Anand Patwardhan.
Patwardhan was awarded the Special Jury prize in Cinema du réel 1986 for his film Bombay: Our City. He is well known for his documentaries on corruption, city slums, the caste system, injustices to women and the nuclear arms race.
The Retrospective is divided into seven segments, each representing the social / political cause Patwardhan has made films on: The Political Organisation Front, The Working Class Front, Trilogy of Fundamentalism 1 (Secularism), Trilogy of Fundamentalism 2 (Nationalism), Trilogy of Fundamentalism 3 (Feminism), The Anti-Nuclear Front and The Untouchables Front.
Films...
- 3/2/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Anand Patwardhan
The British Film Institute (BFI) is presenting the works of documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan through February in an event called ‘State of the Nation: Anand Patwardhan’s Portraits of India’.
“…Patwardhan offers a cinema, at once humanistic and radical, dedicated to chronicling the struggles of real people – fishermen, millworkers, slum dwellers, untouchables – who are marginal, almost ghostly presences across the contemporary Indian mediascape. Fiercely independent, and never afraid to take on the television networks and governmental bodies that have sought to censor him, he has always operated outside the mainstream, not just writing and editing his own films, but finding alternative distribution networks for them,” writes film critic Sukhdev Sandhu in an introduction to Anand Patwardhan on BFI website.
He calls it “a rare opportunity to watch a body of work that is passionate and probing, timely and timeless.”
Founded in 1933, BFI is a charity engaging in film production,...
The British Film Institute (BFI) is presenting the works of documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan through February in an event called ‘State of the Nation: Anand Patwardhan’s Portraits of India’.
“…Patwardhan offers a cinema, at once humanistic and radical, dedicated to chronicling the struggles of real people – fishermen, millworkers, slum dwellers, untouchables – who are marginal, almost ghostly presences across the contemporary Indian mediascape. Fiercely independent, and never afraid to take on the television networks and governmental bodies that have sought to censor him, he has always operated outside the mainstream, not just writing and editing his own films, but finding alternative distribution networks for them,” writes film critic Sukhdev Sandhu in an introduction to Anand Patwardhan on BFI website.
He calls it “a rare opportunity to watch a body of work that is passionate and probing, timely and timeless.”
Founded in 1933, BFI is a charity engaging in film production,...
- 2/16/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
While funding and distribution in India still remain a herculean challenge, 2012 seems to have slightly bettered the prospects for Indian documentaries. At par with their fiction film cousins, they not only made waves at international film festivals but a few of them also achieved limited release in domestic theatres. DearCinema lists the top ten favourite documentaries of the year (based on festival participation, awards and reviews):
Celluloid Man
With Celluloid Man, India finally saw a documentary on the life and work of the man who built its National Film Archive reel by reel. The film was so insightful and evocative that it not only got P.K Nair due recognition at home, but also won hearts at numerous festivals abroad. Directed by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Celluloid Man was screened at International film festival of India (Iffi), International film festival of Kerala (Iffk), Mumbai, Telluride and Il Cinema Ritrovato film festivals.
Celluloid Man
With Celluloid Man, India finally saw a documentary on the life and work of the man who built its National Film Archive reel by reel. The film was so insightful and evocative that it not only got P.K Nair due recognition at home, but also won hearts at numerous festivals abroad. Directed by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Celluloid Man was screened at International film festival of India (Iffi), International film festival of Kerala (Iffk), Mumbai, Telluride and Il Cinema Ritrovato film festivals.
- 12/27/2012
- by Editorial Team
- DearCinema.com
Celluloid Man, Jai Bhim Comrade, Gulabi Gang, Songs of Mashangva, Spirit Unbound andChildren of the Pyre are shortlisted for release under the PVR Director’s Rare label by PVR Cinemas.
Celluloid Man: A Film On P.K. Nair by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur honours the contribution of P K Nair to disseminate film culture in India. Nair was the founder-director of the National Film Archive of India (Nfai), Pune. His efforts have resulted in a coveted collection of 12,000 films at the Nfai from the start-up of 124 films.
The film was screened at the 39th edition of the Telluride Film Festival (Tff) in Colorado, USA and is scheduled to screen under the Real Reel Section of the 14th Mumbai Film Festival.
Jai Bhim Comrade by Anand Patwardhan follows the music and the tradition of activism of the Dalits in India over 14 years. It won a Special Mention at the Dubai International...
Celluloid Man: A Film On P.K. Nair by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur honours the contribution of P K Nair to disseminate film culture in India. Nair was the founder-director of the National Film Archive of India (Nfai), Pune. His efforts have resulted in a coveted collection of 12,000 films at the Nfai from the start-up of 124 films.
The film was screened at the 39th edition of the Telluride Film Festival (Tff) in Colorado, USA and is scheduled to screen under the Real Reel Section of the 14th Mumbai Film Festival.
Jai Bhim Comrade by Anand Patwardhan follows the music and the tradition of activism of the Dalits in India over 14 years. It won a Special Mention at the Dubai International...
- 10/18/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Ben Affleck’s new thriller Argo has been announced as the Opening Gala film of this year’s Leeds International Film Festival. The widely-acclaimed Argo, based on the remarkable true story of a CIA expert posing as a fake film producer in order to infiltrate Iran at the time of the hostage crisis in 1979 and rescue a group of stranded Americans, will open the annual festival at Leeds Town Hall on Thursday 1 November. Argo will be released in the UK by Warner Bros on Wednesday 7 November.
Now in its 26th year, the biggest film festival in England to be held outside London runs until Sunday 18 November and will present 167 feature films and special programmes in 257 screenings and events. The full programme, available to view at www.leedsfilm.com, is presented in five distinct sections: Official Selection, Retrospectives, Fanomenon, Cinema Versa, and Short Film City.
Amour closes the Official Selection
Opening this year with Argo,...
Now in its 26th year, the biggest film festival in England to be held outside London runs until Sunday 18 November and will present 167 feature films and special programmes in 257 screenings and events. The full programme, available to view at www.leedsfilm.com, is presented in five distinct sections: Official Selection, Retrospectives, Fanomenon, Cinema Versa, and Short Film City.
Amour closes the Official Selection
Opening this year with Argo,...
- 10/12/2012
- by Phil
- Nerdly
A look at the career of revolutionary Indian documentary film-maker Anand Patwardhan
Anand Patwardhan, whose work will be featured in the Sheffield documentary festival next week, is the foremost Indian documentary maker of his generation. Time and time again, in landmark films such as Bombay Our City (1985), In The Name of God (1992) and War and Peace (2002), he has exposed the glaring realities about topics on which modern-day India, wedded to its own PR flannel about becoming a first world economy, does not care to dwell: the rise of nuclear nationalism, the role of political and religious leaders in stoking communalism, the continuing oppression of poorer castes.
Yet Patwardhan, who was born in 1950, never wanted to be a film-maker. Nor, when in 1970 he arrived in Brandeis University, Massachusetts, on a scholarship, did he see himself as particularly political. "It was the most exciting time that one could have been in the Us.
Anand Patwardhan, whose work will be featured in the Sheffield documentary festival next week, is the foremost Indian documentary maker of his generation. Time and time again, in landmark films such as Bombay Our City (1985), In The Name of God (1992) and War and Peace (2002), he has exposed the glaring realities about topics on which modern-day India, wedded to its own PR flannel about becoming a first world economy, does not care to dwell: the rise of nuclear nationalism, the role of political and religious leaders in stoking communalism, the continuing oppression of poorer castes.
Yet Patwardhan, who was born in 1950, never wanted to be a film-maker. Nor, when in 1970 he arrived in Brandeis University, Massachusetts, on a scholarship, did he see himself as particularly political. "It was the most exciting time that one could have been in the Us.
- 6/8/2012
- by Sukhdev Sandhu
- The Guardian - Film News
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