Feature

The Oscar bug is in the air. On the 7th of March this year, the rich and famous celebrities will haul a lineup on the famous red carpet. The flash of a few hundred cameras would only be a start to a magical experience. Certainly 'dressed to impress' would be their code for the evening. The media hawks eyeing their every move would also be a part of a few million witnessing this grand event live on television all around the globe.

Increasingly, it has begun to seem, that the kind of cinema being encouraged around the world is the blandly ‘humanist’ kind. The films that stretch the limits of the medium are either absent or remain unrewarded.

lt has been said of Anand Patwardhan that he is 'a kind of phenomenon; in that he has all along faced official apathy, disapproval, and at times, censorship and open discrimination. Perhaps, this is the way it should be for any creative artist wanting to grapple with political abuses, social injustices and economic disparities in a determined effort to educate, expose, inform, reform and effect change in a resistant and otherwise unenlightened world.

The 33rd Gothenburg International Film Festival (GIFF) ended last Sunday. This port city on Sweden’s west coast and home to the Volvo company, is the world’s largest market for Nordic films. The main event at the festival is the prestigious Nordic Competition, where films from the five Nordic countries – Sweden, Norway, Finland, Demark, and Iceland are screened.

As the name suggests, quite literally, the film is about two things: road and movie(s). The storyline is simple and elegant: Vishnu (Abhay Deol) is unhappy to support and take over his father’s business of producing and selling Atma hair oil.

The 8th Berlin Talent Campus commenced on February 13. The Berlinale Talent Campus is a creative academy and networking platform for 350 up-and-coming filmmakers from all over the world. It will last for six days and will offer a huge variety of different programme elements

Roman Polanski may not be here, but his presence is felt. Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, the stars of his latest film, The Ghost Writer, presented in world premiere in the Berlinale Competition, have no doubts: “He’s always very concentrated on the set, he never leaves you. At least not until a little while ago”.

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.

Long takes seem to characterize a group of films in this year’s Tiger Awards competition. Each one of these films ends of being distinct and memorable. This is the kind of fare that only programmers can identify, not those who market the films.