India at 60th Berlinale: Of Hope and Promise article
All those attending the 60th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival from February 11-21 will get a good deal of Indian Cinema this year. From Culinary cinema to Forum Expanded, Indian presence can be felt almost everywhere. It is a major shift from Berlinale 2009 when Indian presence in the festival was marked by only a short film Wagah by Supriyo Sen. Two days for the festival to begin, Dearcinema gives you an account of India at Berlinale this year:
The Generation 14plus competition of the Berlinale will open with Dev Benegal’s Road, Movie. In this moving homage to the mobile cinema culture of India starring Abhay Deol and Tanishtha Chatterjee, the director pays tribute to the place where screen, light and audience come together in a magical event. Umesh Kulkarni’s Vihir will also be screened under Generation 14plus section. Vihir is the story of two adolescent boys who are cousins and best friends standing on the cross roads of life. Generation is a special section for children and youth in Berlinale in which extraordinary short and feature-length films are presented in two competitions, Kplus and 14plus.
Laxmikant Shetgaonkar’s The Man Beyond the Bridge has made it to the competition for the Best First Feature Film Award wherein Debut feature films from various sections compete. The prize money consists of 50,000 Euros which is distributed between the Director and the Producer.
Delhi based filmmaker Anusha Rizvi’s debut feature film “Peepli Live” will be screened as a part of Berlinale ‘Special’ in the 60th edition of the festival. The Berlinale Special is part of the festival’s official programme and presents recent works by contemporary filmmakers and re-screens historical works.
The Panorama section of the Berlinale will screen Kaushik Ganguly’s Just Another Love Story, a film in which noted Bengali director Rituparno Ghosh plays a gay filmmaker. Rituparno Ghosh’s character is called Abhiroop Sen in the film, who is a documentary filmmaker from Delhi. He is in love with the DoP of the film. The film tells the story of making of a documentary film on the celebrated Jatra actor Chapal Chaduri, who plays himself in the film. Ritu also plays the role of young Chapal Bhaduri.
Another milestone for Indian Cinema will be achieved with the screening of Shyam Benegal’s Manthan based on the White Revolution in Gujarat in the 4th Culinary Cinema. “In The Food For Love” is the motto of Culinary Cinema which will screen eleven films revolving around the relationship between food and love, nature, and the environment.
Karan Johar’s My Name is Khan starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol will also be screened ‘Out of Competition’ in the festival.
Apart from the screenings, “Cinema City”, an installation project initiated by Indian filmmaker, curator and activist Madhusree Dutta will be on display in several cinema foyers under ‘Forum Expanded’ at the 60th edition of the Berlinale this year. It explores the questions about the relationship between urban space and cinema. Forum Expanded is a programme that explores the intersections between film and other arts.
That’s not all. 5 Indians are a part of Berlianle Talent Campus which is a six day creative summit for upcoming film makers. Siddharth Mathawan ( Production Designer/Art Director), Megha Lakhani Desai (Director), Sankhajit Biswas (Film Editor), Thomas Jacob (Director) and Kartik Nair (Film Critic) will participate in Berlinale Talent Campus which will be held from February 13-18.
As an action packed Berlinale marks the beginning of the year 2010, we hope Indian Cinema goes places this year!
