The Museum of the Moving Image and the India Center Foundation are next month launching India Kaleidoscope, a new film festival that will offer film-lovers a chance to watch the unique sights and sounds that make up the Indian regional, independent film landscape.
These films, which delve into the most relevant and pressing topics facing India, are being made by today’s most progressive filmmakers working in regional languages such as Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, and Bengali. Their films are “insightful, topical, and provocative”, bringing to light the dynamism and the challenges that face modern India and her many diverse communities.
The Dec. 8-11 festival will open with the U.S. premiere of ‘India in a Day’ by executive producer Ridley Scott and Google, and directed by Richie Mehta and Anurag Kashyap. The crowd-generated documentary captures the story of a single day, Oct. 10 2015, in the life of the world’s largest democracy.
The film is a unique document, capturing a remarkable range of characters and a personal reflection on what it means to be alive in India today, submitted by individuals from across the country. It comprises images shot by thousands of people throughout India and edited by Mehta, who will appear in person at the festival Dec. 8.
The film was born out of a unique partnership between Ridley Scott’s Scott Free UK and Google. The 90-minute feature-length documentary has Indians responding in their thousands by submitting more than 16,000 videos, containing over 365 hours of “deeply personal, heartfelt, and joyfully honest moments.”
The organizers said quoting producers that the footage came from all over India, from Rajasthan to Kerala, to the far reaching Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The resulting film offers a remarkable insight into the lives, loves, fears and hopes of people living in India today.
“Consistent with our mission to offer a platform for barrier-breaking and emerging work from the subcontinent, the films featured in India Kaleidoscope film festival are eye opening studies from all corners of India,” said Priya Giri Desai, a founding director of ICF.
“The India Center Foundation is proud to present many of these new voices for the very first time in North America. The festival represents the kind of work we hope to continue: quality collaborations that result in exposure to new sights and sounds to inspire our audience.”
The inaugural India Kaleidoscope Festival at the museum, will feature 8 films, including 7 new titles that will be making their U.S. or North American premieres, and one special presentation of a classic Indian film.
“India Kaleidoscope is an auspicious start to MoMI’s collaboration with The India Center Foundation. This dynamic partnership is proven by the quality of the festival lineup and the participation of so many emerging and established film directors,” said the museum’s chief curator, David Schwartz.
“We are thrilled to turn the spotlight on Indian regional cinema, showcasing its diversity and richness,” added Christina Marouda, festival organizer and MoMI’s director of development.
Other highlights include a pairing of Ghatashraddha (The Ritual), a key work of the Indian New Wave by pioneer Kannada Director Girish Kasaravalli, with Harikatha Prasanga (Chronicles of Hari), the directorial debut of Ananya Kasaravalli, daughter of Girish Kasaravalli, with both filmmakers appearing in person; and the closing night film Tope (The Bait), a seductively surreal, folkloric fable from prominent Bengali director, Buddhadeb Dasgupta.
The post MOMI, ICF, Launch India Kaleidoscope Film Festival In New York appeared first on News India Times.