5-day feast for cinephiles begins on Sept. 26

  • | Monday | 24th September, 2018

The inaugural will be followed by the screening of To Let by Chezhyian, that won the National Award for Best Tamil Film (2018). Alliance Française president Dr. Satish Nallam expressed delight that the Alliance Française is playing host to the first Pondicherry International Film Festival 2018, along with PickurFlick and Puducherry Tourism. The maiden edition of the Pondicherry International Film Festival (PIFF), beginning on Wednesday, promises to be a feast for cinema lovers, with its eclectic mix of feature films, short films and documentaries, from across the world. Alliance Française will host interactive question-answer sessions with directors of some of the chosen films in the AFP auditorium. The opening night of the festival will be hosted at the French Consulate in Pondicherry in the presence of the French Consul General Catherine Suard.

more-in The maiden edition of the Pondicherry International Film Festival (PIFF), beginning on Wednesday, promises to be a feast for cinema lovers, with its eclectic mix of feature films, short films and documentaries, from across the world. The cinematic bouquet for the festival — from September 26-30 — includes over 100 curated independent films from across the world, three world premieres, 11 Indian premieres, five special screenings and 47 movies in competition. Quite befittingly, Félicité by Alain Gomis, winner of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at Berlinale 2017, will open the festival, while the closing film of the festival will be Teen Aur Aadha directed by Daria Gaikalova and presented by Anurag Kashyap. The opening night of the festival will be hosted at the French Consulate in Pondicherry in the presence of the French Consul General Catherine Suard. Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy will formally inaugurate the fete the following day at the Alliance Française. The inaugural will be followed by the screening of To Let by Chezhyian, that won the National Award for Best Tamil Film (2018). The festival is organised by Indie cinema streaming platform PickurFlick, in association with Puducherry Tourism and will be conducted at the Alliance Française de Pondichéry, Multimedia Centre Auditorium, in association with Cinema Paradiso (Auroville) & Aurofilm (Auroville), J.N. Auditorium, Pondicherry University. A tribute to France The organisers have planned the event as a tribute to France, especially its contemporary women directors, while also showcasing cinema from a host of other nations worldwide. PIFF highlights include screenings of the National Award winner (2018) for Best Bengali film Mayurakshi by Atanu Ghosh, starring Prosenjit and Soumitra Chatterjee, My Son is Gay by Lokesh Rajavel, Feluda: 50 Years of Ray's Detective by Sagnik Chatterjee, National Award winner (2017) for Best Kannada film Reservation by Nikhil Manjoo, National Award Winner (2018) for Best Tulu film Paddayi by Abhaya Simha and Jimmy Shergill’s short film Papa We Love You Too by Kabir Sadanand of Fugly fame. Special screening of films by French contemporary women filmmakers will feature: Eden by Mia Hansen-Love, Raging Rose (Crache couer) by Julia Kowalski, Grand Central by Rebecca Zlotowski, Standing Tall (La tete haute) by Emmanuelle Bercot and A Castle in Italy (Un chateau en Italie) by Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi. PIFF will also conduct a dialogue on acting with actor Adil Hussain and an editing masterclass by Arghyakamal Mitra. Alliance Française will host interactive question-answer sessions with directors of some of the chosen films in the AFP auditorium. Samir Sarkar, producer at Magic Hour Films Entertainment and awards jurist, said: “As a Pondicherian, it is delightful to learn that this former French colony, which is also a seat of spirituality and culture, will host its 1st international film festival. India and France are by far the most important film producing nations in the world and therefore, this festival can become a perfect platform to showcase meaningful cinema from our two countries as well as from across the globe.” The competition section includes five animation films, nine feature films, nine documentary and seven short films, besides 14 films in the genres of drama and one each in the thriller, fantasy and horror segments. Organisers said the line up for PIFF 2018 represents a diverse mix of feature films, short films and documentaries, which include films from India, France, Italy, Iran, USA, Belgium, Bulgaria, Australia, Turkey, Venezuela, Russia, Lebanon, Austria, China, Costa Rica and Japan. National Award winning film critic and festival director Saibal Chatterjee said, “It is hugely exciting for us to showcase the work of some wonderful independent filmmakers from India and the rest of the world in a place that has always been a confluence of cultures and traditions.” ‘Dynamic platform’ “Our aim is to develop the Pondicherry International Film Festival into a dynamic platform for the celebration of unique cinematic voices as well as into an annual event that will serve to lend a new dimension to the city’s position on the world map.” Adil Hussain, who recently became the first Indian to win the Norwegian National Award for Best Actor for his role in What will People Say by Iram Haq, will be presenting the film at the festival. In fact, the film, that won six awards at this year’s Norwegian National Awards, has also been selected as Norway’s official entry to the Oscars next year. Some of Adil’s other notable films that will be screened at the event include Mukti Bhawan by Shubhashish Bhutiani, presented by producer Sanjay Bhutiani and Bengali film Ahare Mon by Pratim D. Gupta, starring Paoli Dam. French Consul General Ms. Suard termed the hosting of the event “a privilege” in her role as as the representative of a country that has produced stalwarts in cinematography such as Etienne-Jules Marey, Louis and August Lumière, Georges Méliès and Alice Guy-Blaché. “The pleasure is rendered multifold, since all our activities are in collaboration with the government,” she said. Alliance Française president Dr. Satish Nallam expressed delight that the Alliance Française is playing host to the first Pondicherry International Film Festival 2018, along with PickurFlick and Puducherry Tourism. The jury includes Samir Sarkar, Namrata Joshi (film critic), noted film society activist and critic Ashok Rane, Srinivasa Santhanam (festival programmer and curator), Arghyakamal Mitra (editor), Nayan Prasad (theatre and film personality from Assam), Frédérique Lien Vanessa Bianchi (Toulouse Indian Film Festival president), Marie-Pierre Lacombe (Emmy Award winning sound engineer), filmmaker Sachin Kundalkar, Sanjay Chouhan (screenwriter) and Fowzia Fathima (cinematographer), the organisers said.

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