One of L.A.'s most eclectic and renowned festivals, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla), has announced its 2015 lineup of narrative and documentary features and short filmsl. The impressive program, which includes several works that premiered in Cannes and Berlin, reflects the rich diversity of Indian cinema, as well as the future of Indian filmmaking, with cutting-edge filmmakers bringing their acclaimed films to Los Angeles.
Celebrating its 13th year, Iffla will run April 8-12 at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival’s home since its inception. You can purchase Festival Passes and Gala tickets on the festival's website. Individual screening tickets are also available.
Iffla 2015 will screen 25 films, including four world premieres, seven North American premieres, two U.S. premieres, and 10 Los Angeles premieres. The films hail from six different countries, including India, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Cuba, in 10 different languages, from Hindi and Tamil to English, Spanish, and German.
Highlights include: the centerpiece and world premiere screening of "One Crazy Thing," directed by Iffla alum Amit Gupta ("Jadoo") and featuring BAFTA ‘Breakthrough Brit’ winner Ray Panthaki and Daisy Bevan ("The Two Faces of January") in a comedic story about a man who meets the girl of his dreams, but struggles to find a way to tell her how he became an internet sensation and the Los Angeles premiere of Academy Award-winner Danis Tanovic's latest feature film "Tigers," starring Bollywood heartthrob Emraan Hashmi in a political thriller based on the true story of a salesman who took on a multinational pharmaceutical corporation guilty of marketing a baby formula that caused hundreds of infant deaths.
Additional highlights include: "Jai Ho," a documentary feature on one of the most prolific composers in the world, A.R. Rahman directed by Umesh Aggarwal; Kanu Behl’s "Titli," which had its world premiere at Cannes in 2014, shot on Super 16 and starring gifted newcomer, Shashank Arora, in a coming of age story set against Dehli’s dark side where perpetual cruelty and violence prevail; and "Miss India America," directed by Iffla alum Ravi Kapoor and starring Tiya Sircar ("The Internship") and Hannah Simone ("New Girl"), is the story of a woman's plan to win the crown after her boyfriend runs off with the former Miss India America.
The Opening and Closing night red-carpet galas have also been announced: Shlok Sharma’s debut feature film "Haraamkhor," starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and produced by Anurag Kashyap ("Gangs of Wasseypur") and Guneet Monga ("The Lunchbox") will open the festival with its world premiere. Nagesh Kukunoor’s "Dhanak" ("Rainbow") will have its U.S. premiere as the Closing Night film, fresh from 2015 Berlinale where it won Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury for best feature film.
The 2015 lineup also includes titles from the diverse regional language cinemas of India. Along with Bengali and Malayalam films, Iffla will screen two Marathi language features, including the North American Premiere of "Elizabeth Ekadashi." Tamil language titles include the documentary "Amma and Apaa,"about a filmmaking South Indian/German couple and their parents, and the U.S. premiere of the delightful "The Crow’s Egg," which premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. Produced by famed South Indian actor Dhanush (best known for the popular song “Why This Kolaveri Di” from the film 3), the film follows two young boys in a slum who try to get their first bite of pizza after seeing it in an ad.
“Many of the films at this year's Iffla look at contemporary youth from diverse backgrounds, united in their creative ways of overcoming life’s situations. The palpable energy of youth spirit runs throughout our film lineup, and these stories take you on an adventurous journey,” said Jasmine Jaisinghani, Iffla’s Artistic Director. “I believe our audiences will engage with these riveting characters and be fully entertained."
A special inclusion for Iffla 2015 is a Secret Screening for passholders only, offering a first look at a film that has become a sensation in festivals around the world, winning numerous awards. The film is slated to release later this year. Directed by one of the most exciting auteurs in contemporary Indian cinema, and featuring a powerhouse performance by one of India's brightest young stars, this is a film. It's expected to be a highlight of this year's festival.
The festival’s popular “Bollywood by Night” series returns this year with an exciting screening of Bollywood smash "Taal." Directed by Subhash Ghai and featuring Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Akshaye Khanna. Originally released in 1999 to worldwide acclaim, "Taal" features iconic music composed by A.R. Rahman and is considered one of the best soundtracks in Bollywood history.
The shorts competition showcases an diverse selection of 10 films including narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works. Highlights of this year’s program include: acclaimed director Gitanjali Rao’s "TrueLoveStory," a stunning animated film that made its premiere at the Critics’ Week section of Cannes; Jayisha Patel's multiple award-winning documentary "A Paradise" ("Un Paraiso"); and the U.S. premiere of three of India’s National Award winners, Pranjal Dua’s "Fly, Bird" (Chidiya Udh), Christo Tomy’s "Virgin" ("Kanyaka"), and Ruchir Arun’s "Mandrake! Mandrake!." In addition, screening with "Jai Ho" will be Satyajit Ray’s "Two," a spellbinding and deeply affecting short film by India’s master storyteller, which has been beautifully preserved by the Academy Film Archive.
Attending the festival this year to present their films will be a group of celebrated filmmakers, including Nagesh Kukunoor ("Dhanak"), Kanu Behl ("Titli"), Amit Gupta ("One Crazy Thing"), Ravi Kapoor ("Miss India America"), Paresh Mokashi ("Elizabeth Ekadashi"), Bikas Mishra ("Four Colors ), Shlok Sharma and award-winning producer Guneet Monga ("Haraamkhor").
Iffla will also host a number of the films’ stars, including: Ray Panthaki and Daisy Bevan from "One Crazy Thing;" critically-acclaimed Nawazuddin Siddiqui for "Haraamkhor;" and from"Miss India America," Hannah Simone ("New Girl"), Tiya Sircar ("The Internship"), and Meera Simhan ("Anger Management") who is also the film’s co-writer.
For tickets and the festival's schedule visit Here...
Celebrating its 13th year, Iffla will run April 8-12 at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival’s home since its inception. You can purchase Festival Passes and Gala tickets on the festival's website. Individual screening tickets are also available.
Iffla 2015 will screen 25 films, including four world premieres, seven North American premieres, two U.S. premieres, and 10 Los Angeles premieres. The films hail from six different countries, including India, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Cuba, in 10 different languages, from Hindi and Tamil to English, Spanish, and German.
Highlights include: the centerpiece and world premiere screening of "One Crazy Thing," directed by Iffla alum Amit Gupta ("Jadoo") and featuring BAFTA ‘Breakthrough Brit’ winner Ray Panthaki and Daisy Bevan ("The Two Faces of January") in a comedic story about a man who meets the girl of his dreams, but struggles to find a way to tell her how he became an internet sensation and the Los Angeles premiere of Academy Award-winner Danis Tanovic's latest feature film "Tigers," starring Bollywood heartthrob Emraan Hashmi in a political thriller based on the true story of a salesman who took on a multinational pharmaceutical corporation guilty of marketing a baby formula that caused hundreds of infant deaths.
Additional highlights include: "Jai Ho," a documentary feature on one of the most prolific composers in the world, A.R. Rahman directed by Umesh Aggarwal; Kanu Behl’s "Titli," which had its world premiere at Cannes in 2014, shot on Super 16 and starring gifted newcomer, Shashank Arora, in a coming of age story set against Dehli’s dark side where perpetual cruelty and violence prevail; and "Miss India America," directed by Iffla alum Ravi Kapoor and starring Tiya Sircar ("The Internship") and Hannah Simone ("New Girl"), is the story of a woman's plan to win the crown after her boyfriend runs off with the former Miss India America.
The Opening and Closing night red-carpet galas have also been announced: Shlok Sharma’s debut feature film "Haraamkhor," starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and produced by Anurag Kashyap ("Gangs of Wasseypur") and Guneet Monga ("The Lunchbox") will open the festival with its world premiere. Nagesh Kukunoor’s "Dhanak" ("Rainbow") will have its U.S. premiere as the Closing Night film, fresh from 2015 Berlinale where it won Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury for best feature film.
The 2015 lineup also includes titles from the diverse regional language cinemas of India. Along with Bengali and Malayalam films, Iffla will screen two Marathi language features, including the North American Premiere of "Elizabeth Ekadashi." Tamil language titles include the documentary "Amma and Apaa,"about a filmmaking South Indian/German couple and their parents, and the U.S. premiere of the delightful "The Crow’s Egg," which premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. Produced by famed South Indian actor Dhanush (best known for the popular song “Why This Kolaveri Di” from the film 3), the film follows two young boys in a slum who try to get their first bite of pizza after seeing it in an ad.
“Many of the films at this year's Iffla look at contemporary youth from diverse backgrounds, united in their creative ways of overcoming life’s situations. The palpable energy of youth spirit runs throughout our film lineup, and these stories take you on an adventurous journey,” said Jasmine Jaisinghani, Iffla’s Artistic Director. “I believe our audiences will engage with these riveting characters and be fully entertained."
A special inclusion for Iffla 2015 is a Secret Screening for passholders only, offering a first look at a film that has become a sensation in festivals around the world, winning numerous awards. The film is slated to release later this year. Directed by one of the most exciting auteurs in contemporary Indian cinema, and featuring a powerhouse performance by one of India's brightest young stars, this is a film. It's expected to be a highlight of this year's festival.
The festival’s popular “Bollywood by Night” series returns this year with an exciting screening of Bollywood smash "Taal." Directed by Subhash Ghai and featuring Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Akshaye Khanna. Originally released in 1999 to worldwide acclaim, "Taal" features iconic music composed by A.R. Rahman and is considered one of the best soundtracks in Bollywood history.
The shorts competition showcases an diverse selection of 10 films including narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works. Highlights of this year’s program include: acclaimed director Gitanjali Rao’s "TrueLoveStory," a stunning animated film that made its premiere at the Critics’ Week section of Cannes; Jayisha Patel's multiple award-winning documentary "A Paradise" ("Un Paraiso"); and the U.S. premiere of three of India’s National Award winners, Pranjal Dua’s "Fly, Bird" (Chidiya Udh), Christo Tomy’s "Virgin" ("Kanyaka"), and Ruchir Arun’s "Mandrake! Mandrake!." In addition, screening with "Jai Ho" will be Satyajit Ray’s "Two," a spellbinding and deeply affecting short film by India’s master storyteller, which has been beautifully preserved by the Academy Film Archive.
Attending the festival this year to present their films will be a group of celebrated filmmakers, including Nagesh Kukunoor ("Dhanak"), Kanu Behl ("Titli"), Amit Gupta ("One Crazy Thing"), Ravi Kapoor ("Miss India America"), Paresh Mokashi ("Elizabeth Ekadashi"), Bikas Mishra ("Four Colors ), Shlok Sharma and award-winning producer Guneet Monga ("Haraamkhor").
Iffla will also host a number of the films’ stars, including: Ray Panthaki and Daisy Bevan from "One Crazy Thing;" critically-acclaimed Nawazuddin Siddiqui for "Haraamkhor;" and from"Miss India America," Hannah Simone ("New Girl"), Tiya Sircar ("The Internship"), and Meera Simhan ("Anger Management") who is also the film’s co-writer.
For tickets and the festival's schedule visit Here...
- 3/24/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Cast your minds back to 2002 - a time when Pop Idols didn't need to have The X Factor, Fifty Shades of Grey were just colours on a paint sampler chart and David Beckham was a mere international superstar rather than global megastar.
Bend It Like Beckham, with a modest estimated budget of £3.7 million, opened that same year and became a critical and commercial success - breaking box office records and scoring BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations, as well as making household names of many of its stars.
As the cast continues preparing for the West End stage adaptation of Gurinder Chadha's screen hit ahead of previews on May 15, find out what the movie's ensemble cast went on to achieve - including who is coming back for the musical...
Parminder Nagra (Jess Bhamra)
Nominated for Best Newcomer at the Empire Awards on the back of the movie's success, Parminder went...
Bend It Like Beckham, with a modest estimated budget of £3.7 million, opened that same year and became a critical and commercial success - breaking box office records and scoring BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations, as well as making household names of many of its stars.
As the cast continues preparing for the West End stage adaptation of Gurinder Chadha's screen hit ahead of previews on May 15, find out what the movie's ensemble cast went on to achieve - including who is coming back for the musical...
Parminder Nagra (Jess Bhamra)
Nominated for Best Newcomer at the Empire Awards on the back of the movie's success, Parminder went...
- 3/22/2015
- Digital Spy
Exclusive: UK sales outfit boards psychological thriller ahead of Toronto.
London-based sales outfit Parkland Pictures has boarded world rights to Steve Reeves’s thriller, Keeping Rosy, which will play at Dinard Film Festival (Oct 8-12).
Parkland will introduce the film to international buyers at Toronto.
Maxine Peake stars as a career-driven woman who is passed over for a long-expected promotion, leading to frustration which boils over with dire consequences.
The film also stars The Inbetweeners’ Blake Harrison and was produced by Richard Holmes (Eden Lake, Waking Ned), his third collaboration with French producer Isabelle Georgeaux after Jadoo and Resistance.
It marks Reeves’ first feature film, accompanied by DoP Roger Pratt (Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, Chocolat) and composer Stephen Warbeck (Shakespeare in Love, Billy Elliot).
The deal was negotiated by John Cairns and Pierre-Louis Manes-Murphy for Parkland Pictures and by Richard Holmes and Isabelle Georgeaux on behalf of Redemption Films.
London-based sales outfit Parkland Pictures has boarded world rights to Steve Reeves’s thriller, Keeping Rosy, which will play at Dinard Film Festival (Oct 8-12).
Parkland will introduce the film to international buyers at Toronto.
Maxine Peake stars as a career-driven woman who is passed over for a long-expected promotion, leading to frustration which boils over with dire consequences.
The film also stars The Inbetweeners’ Blake Harrison and was produced by Richard Holmes (Eden Lake, Waking Ned), his third collaboration with French producer Isabelle Georgeaux after Jadoo and Resistance.
It marks Reeves’ first feature film, accompanied by DoP Roger Pratt (Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, Chocolat) and composer Stephen Warbeck (Shakespeare in Love, Billy Elliot).
The deal was negotiated by John Cairns and Pierre-Louis Manes-Murphy for Parkland Pictures and by Richard Holmes and Isabelle Georgeaux on behalf of Redemption Films.
- 8/20/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
London based urban thriller Honour comes to DVD on 28 April 2014 and to celebrate, we have 3 DVDs to give away!
Starring Paddy Considine (Tyrannosaur, The World’s End) and Aiysha Hart, star of the BBC’s Atlantis and Harvey Virdi (East is East, Bend it Like Beckham), the film comes from BAFTA nominated director Shan Khan and boasts strong supporting performances from upcoming UK talent; Nikesh Patel (Jadoo, Bedlam), Shubham Saraf and Faraz Ayub.
After a failed attempt at an honour killing at the hands of her family, Mona (Hart) is forced to go on the run. The family, desperate to save face, enlists the services of a bounty hunter (Considine) to search the streets of London to track her down.
Honour is available for digital download from 18 April 2014 and available on DVD from 28 April 2014.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Small Print...
Starring Paddy Considine (Tyrannosaur, The World’s End) and Aiysha Hart, star of the BBC’s Atlantis and Harvey Virdi (East is East, Bend it Like Beckham), the film comes from BAFTA nominated director Shan Khan and boasts strong supporting performances from upcoming UK talent; Nikesh Patel (Jadoo, Bedlam), Shubham Saraf and Faraz Ayub.
After a failed attempt at an honour killing at the hands of her family, Mona (Hart) is forced to go on the run. The family, desperate to save face, enlists the services of a bounty hunter (Considine) to search the streets of London to track her down.
Honour is available for digital download from 18 April 2014 and available on DVD from 28 April 2014.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Small Print...
- 4/24/2014
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The 15th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival (Nbff) will present its UK Celebration takes place on April 25 followed by an Australian Spotlight on April 28.
The UK event will feature the regional premieres of Amma Asante’s period drama Belle, Stuart Murdoch’s musical God Help The Girl and Amit Gupta’s comedy Jadoo, followed by a UK Gala.
The Gala is a signature event of BritWeek – Oc and is hosted by Jaguar Land Rover Newport Beach and Ted Baker London.
The Australian Spotlight on April 28 will feature the West Coast Premiere of Mark Lamprell’s feelgood film Goddess, followed by a festive Pacific Rim Gala.
“The Newport Beach Film Festival is extremely proud to showcase the very best in contemporary UK cinema,” said Newport Beach Film Festival CEO Gregg Schwenk. We are thrilled to partner with Ted Baker London and BritWeek and celebrate UK films and filmmakers,” stated Gregg Schwenk, CEO of the...
The UK event will feature the regional premieres of Amma Asante’s period drama Belle, Stuart Murdoch’s musical God Help The Girl and Amit Gupta’s comedy Jadoo, followed by a UK Gala.
The Gala is a signature event of BritWeek – Oc and is hosted by Jaguar Land Rover Newport Beach and Ted Baker London.
The Australian Spotlight on April 28 will feature the West Coast Premiere of Mark Lamprell’s feelgood film Goddess, followed by a festive Pacific Rim Gala.
“The Newport Beach Film Festival is extremely proud to showcase the very best in contemporary UK cinema,” said Newport Beach Film Festival CEO Gregg Schwenk. We are thrilled to partner with Ted Baker London and BritWeek and celebrate UK films and filmmakers,” stated Gregg Schwenk, CEO of the...
- 4/21/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Nagraj Manjule’s entry has scooped the grand jury prize for best feature and Richie Mehta’s Siddarth earned an honourable mention at the 12th annual Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles.
The grand jury prize for best documentary went to co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar for Powerless.
Best short honours were presented to Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat and Janmeet Singh’s Alchemy and an honourable mention went to Sandhya Daisy Sundaram’s Love. Love. Love.
The awards were handed out at the closing ceremony (13) that included the La premiere of Amit Gupta’s Jadoo.
This year the festival showcased more than 30 film features, documentaries, and shorts at ArcLight Hollywood.
“The awards are bittersweet, as this means the festival has reached its conclusion,” said Iffla artistic director Jasmine Jaisinghani.
“We’ve had an incredible six days celebrating Indian cinema, creating dialogue between our filmmakers and our wonderful Los Angeles audiences, and building...
The grand jury prize for best documentary went to co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar for Powerless.
Best short honours were presented to Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat and Janmeet Singh’s Alchemy and an honourable mention went to Sandhya Daisy Sundaram’s Love. Love. Love.
The awards were handed out at the closing ceremony (13) that included the La premiere of Amit Gupta’s Jadoo.
This year the festival showcased more than 30 film features, documentaries, and shorts at ArcLight Hollywood.
“The awards are bittersweet, as this means the festival has reached its conclusion,” said Iffla artistic director Jasmine Jaisinghani.
“We’ve had an incredible six days celebrating Indian cinema, creating dialogue between our filmmakers and our wonderful Los Angeles audiences, and building...
- 4/15/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Nagraj Manjule’s entry has scooped the grand jury prize for best feature and Richie Mehta’s Siddarth earned an honourable mention at the 12 annual Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles.
The grand jury prize for best documentary went to co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar for Powerless.
Best short honours were presented to Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat and Janmeet Singh’s Alchemy and an honourable mention went to Sandhya Daisy Sundaram’s Love. Love. Love.
The awards were handed out at the closing ceremony (13) that included the La premiere of Amit Gupta’s Jadoo.
This year the festival showcased more than 30 film features, documentaries, and shorts at ArcLight Hollywood.
“The awards are bittersweet, as this means the festival has reached its conclusion,” said Iffla artistic director Jasmine Jaisinghani.
“We’ve had an incredible six days celebrating Indian cinema, creating dialogue between our filmmakers and our wonderful Los Angeles audiences, and building...
The grand jury prize for best documentary went to co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar for Powerless.
Best short honours were presented to Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat and Janmeet Singh’s Alchemy and an honourable mention went to Sandhya Daisy Sundaram’s Love. Love. Love.
The awards were handed out at the closing ceremony (13) that included the La premiere of Amit Gupta’s Jadoo.
This year the festival showcased more than 30 film features, documentaries, and shorts at ArcLight Hollywood.
“The awards are bittersweet, as this means the festival has reached its conclusion,” said Iffla artistic director Jasmine Jaisinghani.
“We’ve had an incredible six days celebrating Indian cinema, creating dialogue between our filmmakers and our wonderful Los Angeles audiences, and building...
- 4/15/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
This year the 12th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) includes a lineup of narrative and documentary features and short films. The impressive program reflects the rich diversity of Indian cinema, as well as the future of Indian filmmaking, with cutting-edge filmmakers and emerging voices bringing their acclaimed films to Los Angeles.
The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema globally. Iffla will run April 8-13 at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival’s home since its inception. Jadoo, an exploration of family bonds amidst two feuding brothers’ restaurants in England, will screen as the festival’s Closing Night Gala. The film is written and directed by Iffla alum Amit Gupta, and first premiered at the 2013 Berlinale. It features a wonderful ensemble cast that includes Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, and Madhur Jaffrey. As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown’s Sold, produced by Jane Charles and executive produced by Emma Thompson.
Iffla 2014 wil l present more than 33 films, including three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
“I'm thrilled and proud that Iffla's line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora,” said Iffla’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani. "We would like to thank our Programming Advisor in India, Uma Da Cunha, for helping our programming team source some of these exceptional films."
Program highlights include: the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s latest, Ugly an intense, masterfully directed psychological thriller that premiered in the 2013 Director’s Fortnight section of Cannes; Liar's Dice, the remarkable directorial debut of South Indian actress Geetu Mohandas that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, starring Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire), winner of Netpac Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Dioraphte Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam; the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival Hank and Asha , an exploratory, romantic look at two people bonding in the digital age by newcomer James E. Duff; Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, a highly praised debut feature for its multilayered emotion and realism on the subject of caste discrimination; Brahmin Bulls starring Roshan Seth (Gandhi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Mississippi Masala) and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Beauty and the Beast, Heroes) as an estranged father and son unexpectedly brought together to confront the family’s past; and Siddharth, a nuanced look at a family whose son goes missing, by lauded Canadian director and Iffla alum Richie Mehta (Amal).
The festival's feature documentary competition includes an eclectic mix of films from established and upcoming filmmakers that consider India's unique traditions and dynamic future. The films include: the world premiere of
The Auction House , an intimate and funny look at two brothers trying to keep their anachronistic family business going in the digital age; festival favorite Powerless, which depicts intense struggles over electricity in a mid-size Indian city; Faith Connections, Iffla alum Pan Nalin's beautiful and rare look at the Kumbh Mela; and the National Award-winning Shepherds of Paradise, about an arduous, mountainous trek through an animal drive in the Kashmiri winter.
The Bollywood by Night series returns this year with Bombay Talkies and Monsoon Shootout. Premiering at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Bombay Talkies is a quartet of short films that celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema. The omnibus film features work by four of India’s most exciting contemporary directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, and Anurag Kashyap, as well as a stellar cast that includes Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, and Katrina Kaif. Monsoon Shoutout is a thrilling debut by Iffla alum writer/director Amit Kumar about how a split-second decision made by a rookie police officer has rippling effects in his life and the lives of those around him.
The shorts competition showcases a diverse selection of 15 films that include narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works. Highlights of this year’s program include Academy Award® shortlisted Kush; Sundance award winner Love.Love.Love.; and the world premiere of acclaimed director Umesh Kulkarni’s The Fly.
Festival Passes and Gala tickets are currently on sale at the festival's website.
For more information, please visit:
Website: www.indianfilmfestival.org.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ indianfilmfestival
Twitter: https://twitter.com /iffla
Tumblr: http://indianfilmfestival.tumblr.com/
About Iffla
Now in its 12th year, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, honoring entertainment industry business executives, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.
Opening Night Gala
Sold
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2014/97min
Director: Jeffrey D. Brown
Producer: Jane Charles
Executive Producer: Emma Thompson
Screenwriters: Joseph Kwong, Jeffrey D. Brown
Composer: John McDowell, Sammy Chand, Salim & Sulaiman Merchant
Cast: Susmita Mukherjee, Seema Biswas, Tillotama Shome, Niyar Saikia, Priyanka Bose, Ankur Vikal, Parambrata Chatterjee, Gillian Anderson, David Arquette
Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Jeffrey D. Brown adapts Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold – a National Book Award finalist – into a vivid, harrowing and inspiring story of a young girl’s resilience in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
Closing Night
Jadoo
Los Angeles Premiere
UK/2013/84 mins
Director: Amit Gupta
Producers: Amanda Faber, Isabelle Georgeaux, Richard Holmes, Nikki Parrott
Screenwriter: Amit Gupta
Composer: Stephen Warbeck
Cast: Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, Madhur Jaffrey
Set in Leicester, England, Amit Gupta’s culinary comedy charts the chaos that ensues when young Shalini gets engaged to her longtime boyfriend Mark. The fact that Mark is not Indian is the least of Shalini’s concerns. Her father Raja and uncle Jagi have been at war for years. After a legendary falling out that caused them to close their family restaurant, each man opened his own establishment – directly across the street from one another! Shalini’s dream wedding would see both men put aside their differences and prepare the feast together, but resentment runs deep and neither man can hear mention of the other’s name without a spike in blood pressure. Both the prospect of disappointing their beloved Shalini and the threat of a new, hip restaurant opening in the area force Raja and Jagi to work together – but for how long? In this uproariously funny and heartfelt exploration of family bonds, shared history and gastronomic perfection, Gupta’s cast is endlessly appealing. Plus, there’s enough mouth-watering Indian food on display to have your stomach growling before the credits roll.
Feature Films
Before My Eyes (Ankhon Dekhi)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/107min
Director: Rajat Kapoor Producer: Manish Mundra
Screenwriter: Rajat Kapoor
Cast: Sanjay Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Rajat Kapoor, Taranjeet, Maya Sarao
Celebrated writer, director, and actor Rajat Kapoor (Midnight’s Children, Monsoon Wedding, Mixed Doubles, Mithya) paints an offbeat yet thought-provoking portrait of domestic life in modern day Delhi when an incident prompts head of the family Bauji to reject anything he himself has not experienced, much to the exasperation of his extended family but to the delight of his newfound philosopher disciples. Balancing the comical and the existential, both Bauji and the film ask the basic question, ‘Can you know truth without true experience?’
Brahmin Bulls
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/96min/2013
Director: Mahesh Pailoor
Producer: Yoshinobu Tsuji
Screenwriters: Anu Pradhan, Mahesh Pailoor
Cast: Sendhil Ramamurthy, Roshan Seth, Mary Steenburgen, Justin Bartha, Cassidy Freeman, Monica Raymund, Michael Lerner
Mahesh Pailoor's tender, funny, and touching debut tells the story of estranged father and son Ashok and Sid, who reunite at Sid's Los Angeles home when Ashok arrives unexpectedly. Each man is keeping secrets from one another, and when the truth is revealed, parent and child must work even harder to close the rift between them.
Fandry
North American Premiere
India/2013/103min
Director: Nagraj Manjule
Producers: Vivek Kajaria, Nilesh Navalakha
Screenwriter: Nagraj Manjule
Cast: Kishor Kadam, Chhaya Kadam, Somnath Awghade, Suraj Pawar, Rajshree Kharat, Sakshi Vyavhare, Aishvarya Shinde, Nagraj Manjule
Marathi poet Nagraj Manjule's impressive debut feature tells the story of Jabya, a Dalit boy, and his family's struggle against daily prejudice in their Maharashtra village. Jabya's carefree childhood desires and antics are soon stifled by his family's "untouchable" status, and the film's gradual transformation into an insightful and damning look at caste discrimination builds from a murmur to a defiant roar. Refusing to reduce his Dalit characters to victims – most explicitly at the film's explosive conclusion - Manjule's socially reflective film has received critical acclaim in India.
Hank and Asha
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/73min
Director: James E. Duff
Producers: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Screenwriters: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Cast: Mahira Kakkar, Andrew Pastides
James E. Duff's feature directorial debut, the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival, is an endearing tale of a long-distance connection in the digital age. Hank and Asha, two aspiring filmmakers separated by an ocean, connect with one another through video messages and quickly find themselves heading towards romance. That is, until Asha reveals some surprising news. Duff has created a captivating ode to the new possibilities open to us now that the world's gotten smaller.
Liar's Dice
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/104min
Director: Geetu Mohandas
Producers: Alan McAlex, Ajay G. Rai
Screenwriter: Geetu Mohandas
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Geetanjali Thapa, Manya Gupta
Established actress Geetu Mohandas steps behind the lens for her bracing directorial debut. A woman named Kamala and her daughter journey from their remote Himalayan village to Delhi in search of Kamala's missing husband. They find a guide in an unfriendly wanderer whose interest may lie more in his personal gain than in any help he can offer them. Beautifully shot by Rajeev Ravi (Gangs of Wasseypur), Mohandas' film evokes a hazardous world where answers may never be clear and a helping hand always comes at a price.
Phoring
North American Premiere
India/2013/128min
Director: Indranil Roychowdhury
Producers: Anasua Roychowdury, Sugata Bal
Screenwriters: Indranil Roychowdhury, Sugata Sinha
Cast: Akash Adhikary, Sohini Sarkar, Sourav Basak, Ritwick Charaborty, Shankar Debnath, Senjuti Roymukherjee
Indranil Roychowdhury's stunning feature debut is an evocative, unpredictable tale of confused adolescence in a struggling North Bengal town. Phoring, an imaginative adolescent boy, and his beautiful new teacher Doel form a close friendship that soon arouses doubt and suspicion when Doel's presence in the town is revealed to have less-than-noble origins. Roychowdhury accomplishes a tricky feat with his first film by luring us with the promise of an inspirational teacher-student story before ultimately delivering a much more complex and truthful account of the joys and pains of growing up.
Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost (2013)
Los Angeles Premiere Germany-India-Netherlands/2013/109min
Director: Anup Singh
Producers: Bero Beyer, Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper, Thierry Lenouvel
Screenwriter: Anup Singh, Madhuja Mukherjee
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal
Set in 1940s Punjab, Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa details the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistan Partition through the experiences of one Sikh family, headed by Umber (Irrfan Khan). Following the family’s forceful displacement from their village, Umber’s desire for a male heir is stronger than ever. When his wife gives birth to their fourth daughter, Kanwar, Umber makes the fateful decision to raise her as a boy. This tragic choice ends up dividing the family in violent ways, and provokes a series of increasingly unsettling situations for Kanwar as she grows up. While in a sense a ghost story, the source of pain and suffering is all too real.
Siddharth
Los Angeles Premiere
Canada-India/2013/96min
Director: Richie Mehta
Producers: David Miller, Steven N. Bray
Screenwriter: Richie Mehta
Cast: Rajesh Tailang, Tannishtha Chatterjee
A celebrated Iffla alum, Canadian director Richie Mehta returns to the festival with a heartbreaking story of parents Mahendra and Suman, whose son goes missing after being sent to work 200 miles north of Delhi. Carried by powerful yet restrained performances from Rajesh Tailang and Tannishtha Chatterjee as the parents, Mehta and cast capture the dignity of those facing the unthinkable. Mehta's chance encounter with a man searching for his lost son alerted him to the underreported plight of the families of 44,000 children estimated missing in India every year.
Ugly
North American Premiere
India/2013/128mins/Dcp
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Writer: Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Vikas Bahl, Madhu Mantena, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vivek Rangachari, Arun Rangachari
Cast: Rahul Bhatt, Ronit Roy, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Anshika Shrivastava
When ten-year-old Kali disappears from her father Rahul's car on the busy streets of Mumbai, the events that follow quickly spiral out of control and plunge into a morass of corruption and violence. Rahul and Kali's mother, Shalini, are divorced. Shalini is now married to Shoumik, the local police chief. When Shoumik learns that his stepdaughter is missing, he and Rahul clash in a breathless race to find the girl. With intricate plotting and vivid characterizations, Iffla alum Anurag Kashyap fashions a story that's sure to keep the heart racing.
Writers (Sulemani Keeda)
North American Premiere
India/2013/90min
Director: Amit V Masurkar
Writer: Amit V Masurkar
Producer: Datta Dave
Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari, Aditi Vasudev and Karan Mirchandani
Writing partners Dulal and Mainak dream of shaking up Bollywood in director Amit Masurkar's slacker comedy. The two young men take a job from the wealthy, oddball son of a famous B-movie producer, but soon fear they're on the path to selling out. Masurkar's film captures the creative spirit of Andheri West, a Mumbai suburb where writers, directors, and actors come from all over India with the dream of working in the film industry, and is a sweet taste of things to come from the new "hindie" cinema.
Documentary Features
The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers
World Premiere
UK/2014/85min
Director: Ed Owles
Producers: Ed Owles, Giovanna Stopponi
The auction houses of Kolkata used to be where the rich and famous found the right high-end objects to decorate their homes. Today, the family-owned Russell Exchange is the last, and oldest, one to remain in India. Director Ed Owles follows two brothers, with the older brother moving back to Kolkata from London with hopes of using his Western business acumen to bring the Exchange into the 21st century. However, in a country radically transformed by technology and a rising youth culture, it may already be too late.
Faith Connections
Los Angeles Premiere
France-India/2013/115min/Dcp
Director: Pan Nalin
Producers: Raphaël Berdugo, Gaurav Dhingra, Pan Nalin, Virginie Lacombe
Every three years, Hindus gather at one of four rotating sites for Kumbh Mela, a religious celebration of faith and devotion marked by bathing in the sacred waters of the Ganges. With 100 million people at the 2013 Kumbh Mela, the pilgrimage is said to be the largest gathering on the planet. Iffla alum Pan Nalin crafts a moving and unique view of the mass gathering and presents unique stories of how individuals came to be there to share in the belief of the divine.
Powerless (Katiyabaaz)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/82min
Director: Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar
Producers: Fahad Mustafa, Deepti Kakkar, Judy Tam, Leopold Koegler
Screenwriter: Fahad Mustafa
In Kanpur, a city of three million that has seen better days, one of the only ways for many residents to get electricity is to steal it. Co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar focus their attention on the likes of pirate engineers like Loha Singh and first female CEO at the local power authority Ritu Maheshwari. Coupled with beautiful photography of the intricately tied together powerlines of the city and a pulsating original score, they present a unique documentary about current-day India and its future battles over limited resources.
Shepherds of Paradise
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/50min
Director/Producer/Screenwriter/Cinematographer/Editor: Raja Shabir Khan
Composer: Bilal Iran
Nomadic herder Gafoor has to lead his large flock of goats, sheep, cows and horses across Jammu all the way to Kashmir so they can graze. Director Raja Shabir Khan presents lives few have ever seen, let alone lived, with simple beauty and real terror in a film that has won major National Awards in India. A cinematic wonder that must be seen to truly understand, Shepherds of Paradise is a testament of the power of film to transport us to other lands and experiences.
Bollywood By Night
Bombay Talkies
North American Premiere
India/117min/2013
Directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Guneet Monga
Screenwriters: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan , Rani Mukerji, Katrina Kaif, Randeep Hooda, Saqib Saleem, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
A quartet of short films directed by four of India’s most exciting contemporary filmmakers celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema in this omnibus film. Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap crafts a tale of ordinary people whose love of movies profoundly alters the course of their lives. Each story beautifully captures how lovers of cinema can’t help but carry that fascination into their day-to-day life. Haven’t we all wished, at one time or another, that our lives were more like a film?
Monsoon Shootout
Los Angeles Premiere
India-uk-Netherlands/2013/88min
Director: Amit Kumar
Producers: Trevor Ingman, Guneet Monga, Martijn De Grunt
Screenwriter: Amit Kumar
Cast: Vijay Varma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Geetanjali Thapa
A split-second decision made by a rookie police officer propels writer/director Amit Kumar’s debut feature, which fascinatingly splinters into three separate, equally pulse-pounding scenarios. In a secluded alley drenched in the pouring rain, principled cop Adi aims his gun at Shiva, a vicious gangster on the run. What Adi decides to do next will reverberate throughout his personal and professional life in ways he could never imagine. Kumar thus explores the ripple effect our choices have, and how we unknowingly alter the lives of those around us.
Shorts
Aarti
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
USA/2013/4min
Director: David Walter Lech
Producer: Terrie Samundra
A hypnotic look into the nightly “ceremony of light” ritual in a Hindu temple in Sheikhupur, Punjab.
Alchemy
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/5min
Directors: Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat, Janmeet Singh
Producer: Pritesh Varia
A bold and vibrant song to the intricate fabric of modern day India, a kaleidoscope of voices, colors and traditions.
Bhiwani Junction
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/18min
Director: Abhi Singh
Producer: Abhi Singh
A poignant documentary portrait of Himanshu, a 12-year old boxer, whose formidable commitment to the sport makes his lofty dreams to become an Olympic champion appear well within reach.
Black Rock (Kaatal)
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/22min
Director: Vikrant Pawar
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Two young lovers spend one last afternoon together. A beautiful meditation on the ephemeral nature of young love that has won three of India’s National Film Awards.
The Fly (Makhi)
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
India/2013/31min
Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Employed as a Fly Killer in an upscale restaurant, Pipal must ensure a fly-free environment by smacking dead the flies that buzz over the patrons’ heads. When a nearby drainage is closed and the source of the fly infestation eradicated, Pipal must find a way to produce enough live flies to save his job, in this delightfully absurdist commentary on urban India’s emerging work culture.
Beloved (Humsafar)
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors/Writers: Swapnil Awate, Laura Erbacher
Producer: Dsk Supinfocom
A sweeping single shot takes us on the breathtaking animated journey of two lovers and their eternal pursuit of harmony.
Jaya
Shorts Program 2
USA/2013/19min
Director: Puja Maewal
Producer: Puja Maewal
Young Jaya is able to survive the gruesome gang life in the unforgiving streets of Mumbai by posing as a boy. When she meets a wealthy businessman who looks like he could be the father who abandoned her, she sets out to reclaim her identity, in this engrossing drama that was shortlisted for a Student Academy Award®.
Kush
Shorts Program 1
India/2013/25min
Director: Shubhashish Bhutiani
Producer: Shubhashish Bhutiani
A bus full of schoolchildren boisterously makes its way back from a field trip when the news of Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards breaks. As violence quickly erupts across the country, Kush, the only Sikh student in the class, must find a way to escape the unquenchable fury of retribution, in this gripping drama that was shortlisted for an Academy Award®.
Little Gypsy (Kachho Gadulo)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors: Saptesh Chaubal, Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat
Producer: D.S.K. Supinfocom
Inspired by the folk traditions of various parts of India, this stunning animated film sweeps us into a mythical journey that celebrates the power of play and imagination.
Love.Love.Love.
Shorts Program 2
Los Angeles Premiere
Russian Federation/2013/12min
Director: Sandhya Daisy Sundaram
Producers: Tanya Petrik, Guillaume Protsenko
An intimate ode to the wondrous force of love, as it takes new shapes and forms through the endless Russian winters. Love. Love.Love. won the Short Film Special Jury Award for Non-Fiction at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Outpost
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India-usa/2013/17min
Director: Shiva Shankar Bajpai
Producer: Aditi Anand
In the barren desert of the India-Pakistan border, two lone army guards on the opposite sides of the line yearn for booze, mosquito repellent and some human contact, in this humorous glimpse into the absurdity of rigid immaterial divides.
Presence
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/17min
Directors: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Producers: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Long days and nights spent within the bellies of the rising structural beasts that rapidly transform the city of Bangalore bring on visions of ghosts that speak of the construction workers’ memories, longings and fears, in this haunting meditation on the migrant experience.
Skin Deep
Screens with Writers
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/20min
Director: Hardik Mehta
Producers: Devang Bhavsar, Niraj Kothari
Sanjay and Sushma plan to elope to escape a looming arranged marriage. They are in love and their future together shines bright and perfect and filled with possibility--that is, as long as an extra piece of skin that complicates their sex life gets fixed in what should be a routine medical procedure. But Mumbai’s electricity gods have other plans in store for them.
Small Yellow Field (Tau Seru)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
Australia-India/2013/8min
Director: Rodd Rathjen
Producer: Rodd Rathjen
In the remote vastness of the Himalayas, a young nomad's curiosity lies beyond the horizon. This stunningly photographed film made its world premiere at Cannes Critics’ Week.
The Puppet (Tamaash)
Screens with Shepherds Of Paradise
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/32min
Directors: Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
Producers: Datta Dave, Chaitanya Hegde, Omar Nissar Paul, Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
A mysterious puppet offers young Anzar the chance to escape his father’s relentless punishments over his poor school grades by granting him the power to inflict misfortune on his nemesis, his brilliant classmate, Sadat. However, his newfound peace is short-lived as Sadat falls severely ill and Anzar comes to realize that the puppet’s powers are spiraling out of his control...
The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema globally. Iffla will run April 8-13 at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival’s home since its inception. Jadoo, an exploration of family bonds amidst two feuding brothers’ restaurants in England, will screen as the festival’s Closing Night Gala. The film is written and directed by Iffla alum Amit Gupta, and first premiered at the 2013 Berlinale. It features a wonderful ensemble cast that includes Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, and Madhur Jaffrey. As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown’s Sold, produced by Jane Charles and executive produced by Emma Thompson.
Iffla 2014 wil l present more than 33 films, including three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
“I'm thrilled and proud that Iffla's line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora,” said Iffla’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani. "We would like to thank our Programming Advisor in India, Uma Da Cunha, for helping our programming team source some of these exceptional films."
Program highlights include: the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s latest, Ugly an intense, masterfully directed psychological thriller that premiered in the 2013 Director’s Fortnight section of Cannes; Liar's Dice, the remarkable directorial debut of South Indian actress Geetu Mohandas that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, starring Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire), winner of Netpac Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Dioraphte Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam; the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival Hank and Asha , an exploratory, romantic look at two people bonding in the digital age by newcomer James E. Duff; Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, a highly praised debut feature for its multilayered emotion and realism on the subject of caste discrimination; Brahmin Bulls starring Roshan Seth (Gandhi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Mississippi Masala) and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Beauty and the Beast, Heroes) as an estranged father and son unexpectedly brought together to confront the family’s past; and Siddharth, a nuanced look at a family whose son goes missing, by lauded Canadian director and Iffla alum Richie Mehta (Amal).
The festival's feature documentary competition includes an eclectic mix of films from established and upcoming filmmakers that consider India's unique traditions and dynamic future. The films include: the world premiere of
The Auction House , an intimate and funny look at two brothers trying to keep their anachronistic family business going in the digital age; festival favorite Powerless, which depicts intense struggles over electricity in a mid-size Indian city; Faith Connections, Iffla alum Pan Nalin's beautiful and rare look at the Kumbh Mela; and the National Award-winning Shepherds of Paradise, about an arduous, mountainous trek through an animal drive in the Kashmiri winter.
The Bollywood by Night series returns this year with Bombay Talkies and Monsoon Shootout. Premiering at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Bombay Talkies is a quartet of short films that celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema. The omnibus film features work by four of India’s most exciting contemporary directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, and Anurag Kashyap, as well as a stellar cast that includes Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, and Katrina Kaif. Monsoon Shoutout is a thrilling debut by Iffla alum writer/director Amit Kumar about how a split-second decision made by a rookie police officer has rippling effects in his life and the lives of those around him.
The shorts competition showcases a diverse selection of 15 films that include narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works. Highlights of this year’s program include Academy Award® shortlisted Kush; Sundance award winner Love.Love.Love.; and the world premiere of acclaimed director Umesh Kulkarni’s The Fly.
Festival Passes and Gala tickets are currently on sale at the festival's website.
For more information, please visit:
Website: www.indianfilmfestival.org.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ indianfilmfestival
Twitter: https://twitter.com /iffla
Tumblr: http://indianfilmfestival.tumblr.com/
About Iffla
Now in its 12th year, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, honoring entertainment industry business executives, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.
Opening Night Gala
Sold
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2014/97min
Director: Jeffrey D. Brown
Producer: Jane Charles
Executive Producer: Emma Thompson
Screenwriters: Joseph Kwong, Jeffrey D. Brown
Composer: John McDowell, Sammy Chand, Salim & Sulaiman Merchant
Cast: Susmita Mukherjee, Seema Biswas, Tillotama Shome, Niyar Saikia, Priyanka Bose, Ankur Vikal, Parambrata Chatterjee, Gillian Anderson, David Arquette
Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Jeffrey D. Brown adapts Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold – a National Book Award finalist – into a vivid, harrowing and inspiring story of a young girl’s resilience in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
Closing Night
Jadoo
Los Angeles Premiere
UK/2013/84 mins
Director: Amit Gupta
Producers: Amanda Faber, Isabelle Georgeaux, Richard Holmes, Nikki Parrott
Screenwriter: Amit Gupta
Composer: Stephen Warbeck
Cast: Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, Madhur Jaffrey
Set in Leicester, England, Amit Gupta’s culinary comedy charts the chaos that ensues when young Shalini gets engaged to her longtime boyfriend Mark. The fact that Mark is not Indian is the least of Shalini’s concerns. Her father Raja and uncle Jagi have been at war for years. After a legendary falling out that caused them to close their family restaurant, each man opened his own establishment – directly across the street from one another! Shalini’s dream wedding would see both men put aside their differences and prepare the feast together, but resentment runs deep and neither man can hear mention of the other’s name without a spike in blood pressure. Both the prospect of disappointing their beloved Shalini and the threat of a new, hip restaurant opening in the area force Raja and Jagi to work together – but for how long? In this uproariously funny and heartfelt exploration of family bonds, shared history and gastronomic perfection, Gupta’s cast is endlessly appealing. Plus, there’s enough mouth-watering Indian food on display to have your stomach growling before the credits roll.
Feature Films
Before My Eyes (Ankhon Dekhi)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/107min
Director: Rajat Kapoor Producer: Manish Mundra
Screenwriter: Rajat Kapoor
Cast: Sanjay Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Rajat Kapoor, Taranjeet, Maya Sarao
Celebrated writer, director, and actor Rajat Kapoor (Midnight’s Children, Monsoon Wedding, Mixed Doubles, Mithya) paints an offbeat yet thought-provoking portrait of domestic life in modern day Delhi when an incident prompts head of the family Bauji to reject anything he himself has not experienced, much to the exasperation of his extended family but to the delight of his newfound philosopher disciples. Balancing the comical and the existential, both Bauji and the film ask the basic question, ‘Can you know truth without true experience?’
Brahmin Bulls
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/96min/2013
Director: Mahesh Pailoor
Producer: Yoshinobu Tsuji
Screenwriters: Anu Pradhan, Mahesh Pailoor
Cast: Sendhil Ramamurthy, Roshan Seth, Mary Steenburgen, Justin Bartha, Cassidy Freeman, Monica Raymund, Michael Lerner
Mahesh Pailoor's tender, funny, and touching debut tells the story of estranged father and son Ashok and Sid, who reunite at Sid's Los Angeles home when Ashok arrives unexpectedly. Each man is keeping secrets from one another, and when the truth is revealed, parent and child must work even harder to close the rift between them.
Fandry
North American Premiere
India/2013/103min
Director: Nagraj Manjule
Producers: Vivek Kajaria, Nilesh Navalakha
Screenwriter: Nagraj Manjule
Cast: Kishor Kadam, Chhaya Kadam, Somnath Awghade, Suraj Pawar, Rajshree Kharat, Sakshi Vyavhare, Aishvarya Shinde, Nagraj Manjule
Marathi poet Nagraj Manjule's impressive debut feature tells the story of Jabya, a Dalit boy, and his family's struggle against daily prejudice in their Maharashtra village. Jabya's carefree childhood desires and antics are soon stifled by his family's "untouchable" status, and the film's gradual transformation into an insightful and damning look at caste discrimination builds from a murmur to a defiant roar. Refusing to reduce his Dalit characters to victims – most explicitly at the film's explosive conclusion - Manjule's socially reflective film has received critical acclaim in India.
Hank and Asha
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/73min
Director: James E. Duff
Producers: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Screenwriters: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Cast: Mahira Kakkar, Andrew Pastides
James E. Duff's feature directorial debut, the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival, is an endearing tale of a long-distance connection in the digital age. Hank and Asha, two aspiring filmmakers separated by an ocean, connect with one another through video messages and quickly find themselves heading towards romance. That is, until Asha reveals some surprising news. Duff has created a captivating ode to the new possibilities open to us now that the world's gotten smaller.
Liar's Dice
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/104min
Director: Geetu Mohandas
Producers: Alan McAlex, Ajay G. Rai
Screenwriter: Geetu Mohandas
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Geetanjali Thapa, Manya Gupta
Established actress Geetu Mohandas steps behind the lens for her bracing directorial debut. A woman named Kamala and her daughter journey from their remote Himalayan village to Delhi in search of Kamala's missing husband. They find a guide in an unfriendly wanderer whose interest may lie more in his personal gain than in any help he can offer them. Beautifully shot by Rajeev Ravi (Gangs of Wasseypur), Mohandas' film evokes a hazardous world where answers may never be clear and a helping hand always comes at a price.
Phoring
North American Premiere
India/2013/128min
Director: Indranil Roychowdhury
Producers: Anasua Roychowdury, Sugata Bal
Screenwriters: Indranil Roychowdhury, Sugata Sinha
Cast: Akash Adhikary, Sohini Sarkar, Sourav Basak, Ritwick Charaborty, Shankar Debnath, Senjuti Roymukherjee
Indranil Roychowdhury's stunning feature debut is an evocative, unpredictable tale of confused adolescence in a struggling North Bengal town. Phoring, an imaginative adolescent boy, and his beautiful new teacher Doel form a close friendship that soon arouses doubt and suspicion when Doel's presence in the town is revealed to have less-than-noble origins. Roychowdhury accomplishes a tricky feat with his first film by luring us with the promise of an inspirational teacher-student story before ultimately delivering a much more complex and truthful account of the joys and pains of growing up.
Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost (2013)
Los Angeles Premiere Germany-India-Netherlands/2013/109min
Director: Anup Singh
Producers: Bero Beyer, Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper, Thierry Lenouvel
Screenwriter: Anup Singh, Madhuja Mukherjee
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal
Set in 1940s Punjab, Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa details the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistan Partition through the experiences of one Sikh family, headed by Umber (Irrfan Khan). Following the family’s forceful displacement from their village, Umber’s desire for a male heir is stronger than ever. When his wife gives birth to their fourth daughter, Kanwar, Umber makes the fateful decision to raise her as a boy. This tragic choice ends up dividing the family in violent ways, and provokes a series of increasingly unsettling situations for Kanwar as she grows up. While in a sense a ghost story, the source of pain and suffering is all too real.
Siddharth
Los Angeles Premiere
Canada-India/2013/96min
Director: Richie Mehta
Producers: David Miller, Steven N. Bray
Screenwriter: Richie Mehta
Cast: Rajesh Tailang, Tannishtha Chatterjee
A celebrated Iffla alum, Canadian director Richie Mehta returns to the festival with a heartbreaking story of parents Mahendra and Suman, whose son goes missing after being sent to work 200 miles north of Delhi. Carried by powerful yet restrained performances from Rajesh Tailang and Tannishtha Chatterjee as the parents, Mehta and cast capture the dignity of those facing the unthinkable. Mehta's chance encounter with a man searching for his lost son alerted him to the underreported plight of the families of 44,000 children estimated missing in India every year.
Ugly
North American Premiere
India/2013/128mins/Dcp
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Writer: Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Vikas Bahl, Madhu Mantena, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vivek Rangachari, Arun Rangachari
Cast: Rahul Bhatt, Ronit Roy, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Anshika Shrivastava
When ten-year-old Kali disappears from her father Rahul's car on the busy streets of Mumbai, the events that follow quickly spiral out of control and plunge into a morass of corruption and violence. Rahul and Kali's mother, Shalini, are divorced. Shalini is now married to Shoumik, the local police chief. When Shoumik learns that his stepdaughter is missing, he and Rahul clash in a breathless race to find the girl. With intricate plotting and vivid characterizations, Iffla alum Anurag Kashyap fashions a story that's sure to keep the heart racing.
Writers (Sulemani Keeda)
North American Premiere
India/2013/90min
Director: Amit V Masurkar
Writer: Amit V Masurkar
Producer: Datta Dave
Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari, Aditi Vasudev and Karan Mirchandani
Writing partners Dulal and Mainak dream of shaking up Bollywood in director Amit Masurkar's slacker comedy. The two young men take a job from the wealthy, oddball son of a famous B-movie producer, but soon fear they're on the path to selling out. Masurkar's film captures the creative spirit of Andheri West, a Mumbai suburb where writers, directors, and actors come from all over India with the dream of working in the film industry, and is a sweet taste of things to come from the new "hindie" cinema.
Documentary Features
The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers
World Premiere
UK/2014/85min
Director: Ed Owles
Producers: Ed Owles, Giovanna Stopponi
The auction houses of Kolkata used to be where the rich and famous found the right high-end objects to decorate their homes. Today, the family-owned Russell Exchange is the last, and oldest, one to remain in India. Director Ed Owles follows two brothers, with the older brother moving back to Kolkata from London with hopes of using his Western business acumen to bring the Exchange into the 21st century. However, in a country radically transformed by technology and a rising youth culture, it may already be too late.
Faith Connections
Los Angeles Premiere
France-India/2013/115min/Dcp
Director: Pan Nalin
Producers: Raphaël Berdugo, Gaurav Dhingra, Pan Nalin, Virginie Lacombe
Every three years, Hindus gather at one of four rotating sites for Kumbh Mela, a religious celebration of faith and devotion marked by bathing in the sacred waters of the Ganges. With 100 million people at the 2013 Kumbh Mela, the pilgrimage is said to be the largest gathering on the planet. Iffla alum Pan Nalin crafts a moving and unique view of the mass gathering and presents unique stories of how individuals came to be there to share in the belief of the divine.
Powerless (Katiyabaaz)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/82min
Director: Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar
Producers: Fahad Mustafa, Deepti Kakkar, Judy Tam, Leopold Koegler
Screenwriter: Fahad Mustafa
In Kanpur, a city of three million that has seen better days, one of the only ways for many residents to get electricity is to steal it. Co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar focus their attention on the likes of pirate engineers like Loha Singh and first female CEO at the local power authority Ritu Maheshwari. Coupled with beautiful photography of the intricately tied together powerlines of the city and a pulsating original score, they present a unique documentary about current-day India and its future battles over limited resources.
Shepherds of Paradise
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/50min
Director/Producer/Screenwriter/Cinematographer/Editor: Raja Shabir Khan
Composer: Bilal Iran
Nomadic herder Gafoor has to lead his large flock of goats, sheep, cows and horses across Jammu all the way to Kashmir so they can graze. Director Raja Shabir Khan presents lives few have ever seen, let alone lived, with simple beauty and real terror in a film that has won major National Awards in India. A cinematic wonder that must be seen to truly understand, Shepherds of Paradise is a testament of the power of film to transport us to other lands and experiences.
Bollywood By Night
Bombay Talkies
North American Premiere
India/117min/2013
Directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Guneet Monga
Screenwriters: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan , Rani Mukerji, Katrina Kaif, Randeep Hooda, Saqib Saleem, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
A quartet of short films directed by four of India’s most exciting contemporary filmmakers celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema in this omnibus film. Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap crafts a tale of ordinary people whose love of movies profoundly alters the course of their lives. Each story beautifully captures how lovers of cinema can’t help but carry that fascination into their day-to-day life. Haven’t we all wished, at one time or another, that our lives were more like a film?
Monsoon Shootout
Los Angeles Premiere
India-uk-Netherlands/2013/88min
Director: Amit Kumar
Producers: Trevor Ingman, Guneet Monga, Martijn De Grunt
Screenwriter: Amit Kumar
Cast: Vijay Varma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Geetanjali Thapa
A split-second decision made by a rookie police officer propels writer/director Amit Kumar’s debut feature, which fascinatingly splinters into three separate, equally pulse-pounding scenarios. In a secluded alley drenched in the pouring rain, principled cop Adi aims his gun at Shiva, a vicious gangster on the run. What Adi decides to do next will reverberate throughout his personal and professional life in ways he could never imagine. Kumar thus explores the ripple effect our choices have, and how we unknowingly alter the lives of those around us.
Shorts
Aarti
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
USA/2013/4min
Director: David Walter Lech
Producer: Terrie Samundra
A hypnotic look into the nightly “ceremony of light” ritual in a Hindu temple in Sheikhupur, Punjab.
Alchemy
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/5min
Directors: Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat, Janmeet Singh
Producer: Pritesh Varia
A bold and vibrant song to the intricate fabric of modern day India, a kaleidoscope of voices, colors and traditions.
Bhiwani Junction
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/18min
Director: Abhi Singh
Producer: Abhi Singh
A poignant documentary portrait of Himanshu, a 12-year old boxer, whose formidable commitment to the sport makes his lofty dreams to become an Olympic champion appear well within reach.
Black Rock (Kaatal)
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/22min
Director: Vikrant Pawar
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Two young lovers spend one last afternoon together. A beautiful meditation on the ephemeral nature of young love that has won three of India’s National Film Awards.
The Fly (Makhi)
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
India/2013/31min
Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Employed as a Fly Killer in an upscale restaurant, Pipal must ensure a fly-free environment by smacking dead the flies that buzz over the patrons’ heads. When a nearby drainage is closed and the source of the fly infestation eradicated, Pipal must find a way to produce enough live flies to save his job, in this delightfully absurdist commentary on urban India’s emerging work culture.
Beloved (Humsafar)
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors/Writers: Swapnil Awate, Laura Erbacher
Producer: Dsk Supinfocom
A sweeping single shot takes us on the breathtaking animated journey of two lovers and their eternal pursuit of harmony.
Jaya
Shorts Program 2
USA/2013/19min
Director: Puja Maewal
Producer: Puja Maewal
Young Jaya is able to survive the gruesome gang life in the unforgiving streets of Mumbai by posing as a boy. When she meets a wealthy businessman who looks like he could be the father who abandoned her, she sets out to reclaim her identity, in this engrossing drama that was shortlisted for a Student Academy Award®.
Kush
Shorts Program 1
India/2013/25min
Director: Shubhashish Bhutiani
Producer: Shubhashish Bhutiani
A bus full of schoolchildren boisterously makes its way back from a field trip when the news of Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards breaks. As violence quickly erupts across the country, Kush, the only Sikh student in the class, must find a way to escape the unquenchable fury of retribution, in this gripping drama that was shortlisted for an Academy Award®.
Little Gypsy (Kachho Gadulo)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors: Saptesh Chaubal, Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat
Producer: D.S.K. Supinfocom
Inspired by the folk traditions of various parts of India, this stunning animated film sweeps us into a mythical journey that celebrates the power of play and imagination.
Love.Love.Love.
Shorts Program 2
Los Angeles Premiere
Russian Federation/2013/12min
Director: Sandhya Daisy Sundaram
Producers: Tanya Petrik, Guillaume Protsenko
An intimate ode to the wondrous force of love, as it takes new shapes and forms through the endless Russian winters. Love. Love.Love. won the Short Film Special Jury Award for Non-Fiction at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Outpost
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India-usa/2013/17min
Director: Shiva Shankar Bajpai
Producer: Aditi Anand
In the barren desert of the India-Pakistan border, two lone army guards on the opposite sides of the line yearn for booze, mosquito repellent and some human contact, in this humorous glimpse into the absurdity of rigid immaterial divides.
Presence
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/17min
Directors: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Producers: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Long days and nights spent within the bellies of the rising structural beasts that rapidly transform the city of Bangalore bring on visions of ghosts that speak of the construction workers’ memories, longings and fears, in this haunting meditation on the migrant experience.
Skin Deep
Screens with Writers
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/20min
Director: Hardik Mehta
Producers: Devang Bhavsar, Niraj Kothari
Sanjay and Sushma plan to elope to escape a looming arranged marriage. They are in love and their future together shines bright and perfect and filled with possibility--that is, as long as an extra piece of skin that complicates their sex life gets fixed in what should be a routine medical procedure. But Mumbai’s electricity gods have other plans in store for them.
Small Yellow Field (Tau Seru)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
Australia-India/2013/8min
Director: Rodd Rathjen
Producer: Rodd Rathjen
In the remote vastness of the Himalayas, a young nomad's curiosity lies beyond the horizon. This stunningly photographed film made its world premiere at Cannes Critics’ Week.
The Puppet (Tamaash)
Screens with Shepherds Of Paradise
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/32min
Directors: Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
Producers: Datta Dave, Chaitanya Hegde, Omar Nissar Paul, Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
A mysterious puppet offers young Anzar the chance to escape his father’s relentless punishments over his poor school grades by granting him the power to inflict misfortune on his nemesis, his brilliant classmate, Sadat. However, his newfound peace is short-lived as Sadat falls severely ill and Anzar comes to realize that the puppet’s powers are spiraling out of his control...
- 4/8/2014
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
From April 8th to the 11th, Indian films will once again be showcased in the Us at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla). In its 12th year, Iffla boasts an incredible lineup of fabulous films that reflects the rich diversity of Indian cinema. Iffla’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani says, “I’m thrilled and proud that Iffla’s line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora.”
Iffla 2014 presents 33 films that include feature films, documentaries and shorts. The festival will have three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
Bollywood will be well represented with three outstanding films all showing during the festival’s run.
Iffla 2014 presents 33 films that include feature films, documentaries and shorts. The festival will have three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
Bollywood will be well represented with three outstanding films all showing during the festival’s run.
- 3/21/2014
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
Honour is Shan’s first feature film as writer – director, he has been part of the industry for many years. Training first as an actor, then moving into theatre and TV, with both, acting, writing and directing. Shan trained as an actor at Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and on leaving took parts at The Bristol Old Vic, The National Theatre and The Traverse to name a few. In TV Drama he took the lead in Channel 4′s Bombay Blue and notable roles in Trial & Retribution and Judge John Deed.
Shan has written several projects for TV including The Vice for Carlton TV, River City, Maryhill Jihad and Glasgow Dreams for BBC. He currently has a single drama Five Pillars in development with BBC.
In his main passion film, Shan made his directorial debut with Candy Bar Kid, a 4 minute short, which was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Short Film.
Shan has written several projects for TV including The Vice for Carlton TV, River City, Maryhill Jihad and Glasgow Dreams for BBC. He currently has a single drama Five Pillars in development with BBC.
In his main passion film, Shan made his directorial debut with Candy Bar Kid, a 4 minute short, which was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Short Film.
- 3/20/2014
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
Washington, March 20: Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) will screen 'Jadoo', a film written and directed by Iffla alum Amit Gupta, at the festival's closing night gala.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, 'Jadoo', which was first premiered at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival, is a culinary comedy which tells the story of two feuding brothers who each have restaurants in England.
Iffla will run from April 8 to 13 at the ArcLight Hollywood and the festival will present 33 films, including three world premieres. (Ani)...
According to the Hollywood Reporter, 'Jadoo', which was first premiered at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival, is a culinary comedy which tells the story of two feuding brothers who each have restaurants in England.
Iffla will run from April 8 to 13 at the ArcLight Hollywood and the festival will present 33 films, including three world premieres. (Ani)...
- 3/20/2014
- by Lohit Reddy
- RealBollywood.com
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) has released a complete list of the narrative and documentary films that will be screening at this year's festival. As previously announced, the festival will open with "Sold," a feature length drama about human trafficking, executive produced by Emma Thompson. Amit Gupta's "Jadoo," which premiered at last year's Berlinale, will close out the festival. "Jadoo" marks Gupta's second time at Iffla. His short film, "Love Story," screened at Iffla back in 2008. Other titles of note on this year's schedule include Anurag Kashyap's latest feature, "Ugly," as well as an anthology of shorts titled "Bombay Talkies," celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema. Both "Ugly" and "Bombay Talkies" screened at Cannes last year. Entering it's 12th year, Iffla bills itself as "the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema globally." The festival will take place April 8-13th at the ArcLight Hollywood. See below...
- 3/19/2014
- by Shipra Gupta
- Indiewire
New Delhi, March 19: Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) will be celebrating its 12 years, and will run from April 8-13 at Arc Light Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival's home since its inception.
Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown's 'Sold', produced by Jane Charles and executive produced by Emma Thompson, and will be closed by the culinary comedy 'Jadoo', a film by London-based director and Iffla alum, Amit Gupta.
The highlights of the festival will include Anurag Kashyap's 'Ugly', 'Liar's Dice', Irrfan Khan starrer 'Qissa' and Mumbai spotlight films 'Bombay Talkies' and 'Monsoon Shootout'.
Iffla's.
Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown's 'Sold', produced by Jane Charles and executive produced by Emma Thompson, and will be closed by the culinary comedy 'Jadoo', a film by London-based director and Iffla alum, Amit Gupta.
The highlights of the festival will include Anurag Kashyap's 'Ugly', 'Liar's Dice', Irrfan Khan starrer 'Qissa' and Mumbai spotlight films 'Bombay Talkies' and 'Monsoon Shootout'.
Iffla's.
- 3/19/2014
- by Shiva Prakash
- RealBollywood.com
A still from Jadoo
The 12th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla), to be held from April 8-13, announced its 2014 line-up of feature films and short films.
Amit Gupta’s Jadoo, an exploration of family bonds amidst two feuding brothers’ restaurants in England, will screen as the festival’s closing night gala. The film premiered at the 2013 Berlinale.
As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown’s Sold. The 2014 edition of the festival will present more than 33 films.
Program highlights include the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly, Geethu Mohandas’ Liar’s Dice, Anup Singh’s Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost and the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival Hank and Asha by James E. Duff.
Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, Mahesh Pailoor’s Brahmin Bulls and Richie Mehta’s Siddharth will also be screened at the festival.
The festival’s feature...
The 12th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla), to be held from April 8-13, announced its 2014 line-up of feature films and short films.
Amit Gupta’s Jadoo, an exploration of family bonds amidst two feuding brothers’ restaurants in England, will screen as the festival’s closing night gala. The film premiered at the 2013 Berlinale.
As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown’s Sold. The 2014 edition of the festival will present more than 33 films.
Program highlights include the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly, Geethu Mohandas’ Liar’s Dice, Anup Singh’s Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost and the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival Hank and Asha by James E. Duff.
Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, Mahesh Pailoor’s Brahmin Bulls and Richie Mehta’s Siddharth will also be screened at the festival.
The festival’s feature...
- 3/19/2014
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Iffla alum Amit Gupta’s film will close the 12th Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles (Iffla) set to run in Hollywood from April 8-13.
Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison and Madhur Jaffrey star in Jadoo, which premiered in Berlin.
As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D Brown’s Sold, on which Emma Thompson serves as executive producer.
All in all Iffla 2014 will screen 33 films including three world premieres, six North American premieres, six Us premieres and 16 Los Angeles premieres.
“I’m thrilled and proud that Iffla’s line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora,” said Iffla artistic director Jasmine Jaisinghani.
“We would like to thank our programming advisor in India, Uma Da Cunha, for helping our programming team source some of these exceptional films.”
Programme highlights include the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s psychothriller Ugly, Sundance premiere...
Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison and Madhur Jaffrey star in Jadoo, which premiered in Berlin.
As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D Brown’s Sold, on which Emma Thompson serves as executive producer.
All in all Iffla 2014 will screen 33 films including three world premieres, six North American premieres, six Us premieres and 16 Los Angeles premieres.
“I’m thrilled and proud that Iffla’s line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora,” said Iffla artistic director Jasmine Jaisinghani.
“We would like to thank our programming advisor in India, Uma Da Cunha, for helping our programming team source some of these exceptional films.”
Programme highlights include the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s psychothriller Ugly, Sundance premiere...
- 3/18/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
A delicious British foodie comedy, Jadoo's (2013) secret ingredient is a delightful romantic twist, which sees young, aspiring cook Shalini (Amara Karan) attempt to get her feuding father and uncle talking again. She hatches a plan and asks them to work together to cook her a perfect Indian wedding banquet - but will she succeed? To celebrate the DVD release of Jadoo: Kings of Curry this Monday (17 February), we have Three DVD copies of the film to give away, provided by the dedicated team at Metrodome Distribution. This is an exclusive competition for our Facebook and Twitter fans, so if you haven't already, 'Like' us at facebook.com/CineVueUK or follow us @CineVue before answering the question below.
- 2/20/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Exclusive: Sex tape romance, from the director of Resistance and Jadoo, stars the daughter of Joely Richardson and Tim Bevan.
Post-production is underway on Nothing Like This, the new British feature from director Amit Gupta (Resistance, Jadoo).
The film is produced by Dean Fisher (City Rats, Squat) and is the first feature from production company Canary Wharf Films – a joint venture between Fisher’s Scanner-Rhodes Productions and Urban Way Productions.
The cast is led by Ray Panthaki (28 Days Later) and Daisy Bevan (Elizabeth), the daughter of actress Joely Richardson and Working Title boss Tim Bevan.
Panthaki plays actor Jay, whose sex tape made him an internet sensation and ruined his career. His parents refuse to speak to him, his acting career is reduced to offers for condom commercials and no girl wants to date the man on that tape but things start to change when Jay meets Hannah, played by Bevan. This relationship...
Post-production is underway on Nothing Like This, the new British feature from director Amit Gupta (Resistance, Jadoo).
The film is produced by Dean Fisher (City Rats, Squat) and is the first feature from production company Canary Wharf Films – a joint venture between Fisher’s Scanner-Rhodes Productions and Urban Way Productions.
The cast is led by Ray Panthaki (28 Days Later) and Daisy Bevan (Elizabeth), the daughter of actress Joely Richardson and Working Title boss Tim Bevan.
Panthaki plays actor Jay, whose sex tape made him an internet sensation and ruined his career. His parents refuse to speak to him, his acting career is reduced to offers for condom commercials and no girl wants to date the man on that tape but things start to change when Jay meets Hannah, played by Bevan. This relationship...
- 2/18/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
New funds aimed at helping regional filmmakers and production companies across England have been launched this week by Creative England.
The funds, intended to support regional film companies and help develop new talent, are being managed by industry experts from both film and television.
The Creative England Production Fund, managed by Richard Holmes, is an all-England fund, focused on regional filmmakers and/or stories.
Holmes, producer of Eden Lake, Jadoo and the upcoming Keeping Rosy, said: “We’ll be looking for ambitious films that can be made by committed filmmakers for under £1.5m.”
The fund will support between 10% and 50% of total budget with individual awards typically in the range of £50-£150k.
The West Midlands Production Fund (Wmpf), also managed by Richard Holmes, and supported through the European Regional Development Fund, can invest in both film and TV drama production.
Productions must be based in the West Midlands, and must demonstrate a positive impact on the region...
The funds, intended to support regional film companies and help develop new talent, are being managed by industry experts from both film and television.
The Creative England Production Fund, managed by Richard Holmes, is an all-England fund, focused on regional filmmakers and/or stories.
Holmes, producer of Eden Lake, Jadoo and the upcoming Keeping Rosy, said: “We’ll be looking for ambitious films that can be made by committed filmmakers for under £1.5m.”
The fund will support between 10% and 50% of total budget with individual awards typically in the range of £50-£150k.
The West Midlands Production Fund (Wmpf), also managed by Richard Holmes, and supported through the European Regional Development Fund, can invest in both film and TV drama production.
Productions must be based in the West Midlands, and must demonstrate a positive impact on the region...
- 10/16/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
London – U.K. regional funding giant Creative England is to go live Monday Oct. 14 with its two production funds to boost filmmakers and has hired veteran U.K. producer Richard Holmes to head up its both production cashpools. Holmes, whose resume as a producer boasts Jadoo, Eden Lake, Shooting Fish and Waking Ned will be sitting on the other side of the negotiating table holding the purse strings. Holmes is charged with looking after both the Creative England Production Fund, the all-England cashpool focused on regional filmmakers and/or stories and the West Midlands production fund (Wmpf) for
read more...
read more...
- 10/13/2013
- by Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
F rom the works of masters like Costa-Gavras and Asghar Farhadi to newcomers like Nagraj Manjule and Kim Mordaunt, the Mumbai Film Festival 2013 offers above 200 films to choose from for an entire week!
Anu Rangachar, the Program Director of Mumbai Film Festival, lists her 20 favourite films in the lineup.
1. The Act of Killing
Dir.: Joshua Oppenheimer (2012 / Col. / 115′)
Section: The Real Reel
The film won the Panorama Audience Award and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival 2013 and the Cph:dox Award at the Cph:dox Film Festival 2012. It has bagged several other awards in film festivals at Istanbul, Prague, Geneva, Warsaw, Barcelona, Zagreb, Mexico, etc.
An Indonesian documentary, The Act of Killing challenges the total impunity on genocide by the death squad leaders. In 1965, Anwar Congo and his friends were promoted to the ranks of Death Squad Leaders to help the army obliterate more than one million alleged communists,...
Anu Rangachar, the Program Director of Mumbai Film Festival, lists her 20 favourite films in the lineup.
1. The Act of Killing
Dir.: Joshua Oppenheimer (2012 / Col. / 115′)
Section: The Real Reel
The film won the Panorama Audience Award and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival 2013 and the Cph:dox Award at the Cph:dox Film Festival 2012. It has bagged several other awards in film festivals at Istanbul, Prague, Geneva, Warsaw, Barcelona, Zagreb, Mexico, etc.
An Indonesian documentary, The Act of Killing challenges the total impunity on genocide by the death squad leaders. In 1965, Anwar Congo and his friends were promoted to the ranks of Death Squad Leaders to help the army obliterate more than one million alleged communists,...
- 10/10/2013
- by Editorial Team
- DearCinema.com
Gajendra Ahire’s Marathi film Touring Talkies will open the Indian Film Festival, The Hague 2013.
The festival that will be held from October 2-6, 2013 in The Netherlands will host art-house films, documentaries and popular Hindi films from India.
Full Line up:
Asha 80 by Henk Schepers and Mahindra Goercharan
B.A. Pass by Ajay Bahl
Ballad of Rustom by Ajita Suchitra Veera
Bombay Talkies by Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap
Celluloid Man by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur
Commando – A One Man Army by Dilip Ghosh
Fukrey by Mrigdeep Singh Lamba
Gangoobai by Priya Krishnaswamy
Jadoo by Amit Gupta
Kai Po Che by Abhishek Kapoor
Mumbai Cha Raja by Manjeet Singh
Nina’s Heavenly Delights by Pratibha Parmar
Oass – The Dew Drop by Abhinav Shiv Tiwari
Omg – Oh My God! by Umesh Shukla
Ramaiya Vastavaiya by Prabhudeva
Shahid by Hansal Mehta
Special 26 by Neeraj Pandey
Mine – Story of a...
The festival that will be held from October 2-6, 2013 in The Netherlands will host art-house films, documentaries and popular Hindi films from India.
Full Line up:
Asha 80 by Henk Schepers and Mahindra Goercharan
B.A. Pass by Ajay Bahl
Ballad of Rustom by Ajita Suchitra Veera
Bombay Talkies by Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap
Celluloid Man by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur
Commando – A One Man Army by Dilip Ghosh
Fukrey by Mrigdeep Singh Lamba
Gangoobai by Priya Krishnaswamy
Jadoo by Amit Gupta
Kai Po Che by Abhishek Kapoor
Mumbai Cha Raja by Manjeet Singh
Nina’s Heavenly Delights by Pratibha Parmar
Oass – The Dew Drop by Abhinav Shiv Tiwari
Omg – Oh My God! by Umesh Shukla
Ramaiya Vastavaiya by Prabhudeva
Shahid by Hansal Mehta
Special 26 by Neeraj Pandey
Mine – Story of a...
- 9/24/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
The Great Beauty | About Time | Riddick | Ain't Them Bodies Saints | Museum Hours | Pieta | The Stuart Hall Project | The Great Hip Hop Hoax | No One Lives | More Than Honey | Jadoo | Any Day Now
The Great Beauty (15)
(Paolo Sorrentino, 2013, Ita/Fra) Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, 141 mins
Sorrentino proves himself a worthy successor to Fellini here, tracking modern Roman decadence with staggering exuberance and an eye for the stylishly surreal. Filling the Marcello Mastroianni role is Servillo's world-weary writer and socialite, who stalks the city's elite demi-monde of hedonistic parties, pretentious art, cynical grotesques and faded glories – but finds reveries and regrets around every corner.
About Time (12A)
(Richard Curtis, 2013, UK) Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams. 123 mins
A sci-fi element reinvigorates Curtis's trademarked romcom formula, but there's still a feeling of deja vu to this middle-class love story, in which Gleeson uses his inherited time-travelling powers to woo McAdams – albeit at a cost.
The Great Beauty (15)
(Paolo Sorrentino, 2013, Ita/Fra) Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, 141 mins
Sorrentino proves himself a worthy successor to Fellini here, tracking modern Roman decadence with staggering exuberance and an eye for the stylishly surreal. Filling the Marcello Mastroianni role is Servillo's world-weary writer and socialite, who stalks the city's elite demi-monde of hedonistic parties, pretentious art, cynical grotesques and faded glories – but finds reveries and regrets around every corner.
About Time (12A)
(Richard Curtis, 2013, UK) Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams. 123 mins
A sci-fi element reinvigorates Curtis's trademarked romcom formula, but there's still a feeling of deja vu to this middle-class love story, in which Gleeson uses his inherited time-travelling powers to woo McAdams – albeit at a cost.
- 9/7/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
★★★☆☆ Released in UK cinemas this week following a world premiere in Berlin earlier this year comes light-hearted British delicacy Jadoo (2013), from the team behind 2011's Resistance. Trading the rolling hills of the Welsh countryside for an urban setting, the director, Amit Gupta, returns back to his roots with his second feature. Portraying competing Indian restaurants in his native Leicester, Jadoo is a warm comedy that neatly balances its specific and more general themes and is liberally seasoned with laughs. We begin as Shalini (Amara Karan) returns to her home town to inform her family that she is getting married.
Shalini's one wish for the wedding is that both her father, Raja (Harish Patel), and uncle, Jagi (Kulvinder Ghir), will attend but the feuding restaurateurs are cold to her pleas. Their fierce rivalry has been ongoing for twenty-odd years, with each possessing half of their mother's fabled recipe book. Between them...
Shalini's one wish for the wedding is that both her father, Raja (Harish Patel), and uncle, Jagi (Kulvinder Ghir), will attend but the feuding restaurateurs are cold to her pleas. Their fierce rivalry has been ongoing for twenty-odd years, with each possessing half of their mother's fabled recipe book. Between them...
- 9/5/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
First things first, do not go into this film on an empty stomach, because you will be distracted by the dishes on display. Go into it thinking part self-exposition story, part Indian cuisine lesson, on behalf of the writer-director Amit Gupta (who gave us wartime drama Resistance back in 2011). Gupta’s second feature Jadoo has a little too many ingredients that spoil the overall product – in fact it’s a little overcooked, without going into caricature, and often undercooked when it comes to some basic story facts. That said it’s very hard not to enjoy the sweet centre it offers too.
Brilliant chefs but rival Indian brothers Raja (Harish Patel) and younger Jagi (Kulvinder Ghir) fell out years before when a family recipe was sold off, and have not spoken since, even though they each own identically named restaurants on opposite sides of the road in Leicester’s ‘Golden Mile’. The trouble is,...
Brilliant chefs but rival Indian brothers Raja (Harish Patel) and younger Jagi (Kulvinder Ghir) fell out years before when a family recipe was sold off, and have not spoken since, even though they each own identically named restaurants on opposite sides of the road in Leicester’s ‘Golden Mile’. The trouble is,...
- 9/5/2013
- by Lisa Giles-Keddie
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Making its world debut out in Berlin back in the spring, Jadoo is just a few weeks away from arriving on our shores, and has its sights on becoming the best British-Asian comedy since Four Lions.
With its 6th September release date on our shores very much on the horizon, we’ve exclusively got the film’s new poster to share, which will hopefully be arriving on the Underground and in bus shelters soon.
Jadoo, in cinemas, 6th Sept, is a British-made film set in Leicester, and tells the story of two brothers, Raja (Harish Patel – Run Fatboy Run) and Jagi (Kulvinder Ghir – Bend it Like Beckham). Both wonderful chefs, who fall out so catastrophically that in the climax of their dispute they rip the family recipe book in half: one brother gets the starters and the other gets the main courses. They set up rival restaurants, on opposite sides...
With its 6th September release date on our shores very much on the horizon, we’ve exclusively got the film’s new poster to share, which will hopefully be arriving on the Underground and in bus shelters soon.
Jadoo, in cinemas, 6th Sept, is a British-made film set in Leicester, and tells the story of two brothers, Raja (Harish Patel – Run Fatboy Run) and Jagi (Kulvinder Ghir – Bend it Like Beckham). Both wonderful chefs, who fall out so catastrophically that in the climax of their dispute they rip the family recipe book in half: one brother gets the starters and the other gets the main courses. They set up rival restaurants, on opposite sides...
- 7/31/2013
- by Kenji Lloyd
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Still from Dekh Tamasha Dekh
The 13 New York Indian Film Festival will open with Feroze Abbas Khan’s political satire Dekh Tamasha Dekh and close with Nitin Kakkar’s Filmistaan. The festival will be held from April 30 – May 4, 2013.
This year the festival will screen 22 Indian features, all having their New York City premieres.
Khan’s 108 minute film Dekh Tamasha Dekh explores a country where bizarre is normal through a poor man in search for his religious identity. While Kakkar’s 117 minute film Filmistaan connects humans and cultures through cinema.
The festival will celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema with the screenings of Rudradeep Bhattacharjee’s The Human Factor, Jaideep Varma’s Baavra Mann, Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, M S Sathyu’s Garam Hawa and Uday Shankar’s Kalpana. Whereas, Hansal Mehta’s Shahid will be presented under the Centrepiece section and Amit Gupta’s Jadoo under Special Screening.
The 13 New York Indian Film Festival will open with Feroze Abbas Khan’s political satire Dekh Tamasha Dekh and close with Nitin Kakkar’s Filmistaan. The festival will be held from April 30 – May 4, 2013.
This year the festival will screen 22 Indian features, all having their New York City premieres.
Khan’s 108 minute film Dekh Tamasha Dekh explores a country where bizarre is normal through a poor man in search for his religious identity. While Kakkar’s 117 minute film Filmistaan connects humans and cultures through cinema.
The festival will celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema with the screenings of Rudradeep Bhattacharjee’s The Human Factor, Jaideep Varma’s Baavra Mann, Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, M S Sathyu’s Garam Hawa and Uday Shankar’s Kalpana. Whereas, Hansal Mehta’s Shahid will be presented under the Centrepiece section and Amit Gupta’s Jadoo under Special Screening.
- 4/6/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Former ICM chairman Jeff Berg's newly formed talent, rights, finance and sales agency Resolution has taken on worldwide sales duties for British comedy Jadoo. The movie is set for its world debut as the closing night movie for the Berlinale culinary cinema section. Written and directed by Amit Gupta, the comedy details the story of two brothers, both wonderful chefs, who fall out so catastrophically that they tear the fabled family recipe book in half – one brother gets the starters, and the other gets the main courses. After setting up rival restaurants on opposite sides of the road, they
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- 2/9/2013
- by Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The British comedy Jadoo by Amit Gupta is about serving up spicy Indian food made at two restaurants whose chefs are not just brothers, but feuding rivals. This is one of the films that is part of the 7th Culinary Cinema of the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). This year the motto of this regular yet quirky Berlinale programme is “Dig Your Food – From Field to Fork” and the festival will seriously promote kitchen gardening urging people to become Read More...
- 1/22/2013
- Bollywood Trade
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