Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: The 5th Tri Continental Film Festival, organised by the human rights organisation Breakthrough, will commence from 23 January in Mumbai.

The festival, which ends on 25 January, will screen 28 selected films from more than 20 countries and then travel to Goa, Bangalore and Kolkata over four weeks.

“Through the cinema for human rights, we encounter and explore the narratives of exploitation, violence, destitution, apathy as well as internal turmoil‘s of real people who are at the core of these films. This year‘s selection will not just be representing these protagonists but also give them a voice that we are sure will resonate with our own circumstances close to home,” said Breakthrough associate director and festival director Alika Khosla.

There are four categories in the festival this year.

1. Body Public – There are six films from five countries in this section. While four are from India, two are co-productions from Spain/ South Africa and Canada/Iran. The films explore the interactions of the human body with the public space and how it comes to embody the social, political and even economic consequences like domestic violence, HIV/Aids and prostitution.

2. Not All in Good Faith – This section has seven films from nine countries that aim to probe and bring to the forefront the indignity and exploitation rendered by neo-liberal development ventures and businesses across the globe where human beings have been reduced to mere pawns.

3. The Line That Defines – Dwelling on the post-modern subject of border crossing, this section comprises four films from five countries. In different ways, the films trace the role of the political border in the making of a refugee, an exile or an illegal immigrant.

4. Zones of War – Eleven films from nine countries explore the zones of war in diverse contexts and historical and contemporary circumstances around the world.

The jury for the 2009 festival comprises five members: Aruna Vasudev (India), Nick Deocampo (Philippines), Madhusree Dutta (India), Amir Muhammad (Malaysia) and Anurag Kashyap (India). They will also decide the winners for the Jury Award for Best Film as well as the Jury Special Mention Award.

MUMBAI: Compact Disc India (CDI) has earmarked $63 million (Rs 3.09 billion) for production, gaming, and merchandising of an animation film based on soccer. The Chandigarh-based company has roped in soccer legend Pele as an executive producer for the movie.

CDI has agreed to buy 50 per cent in Laser Infomedia Ltd, a gaming development firm. It will invest Rs 927 million for the multi-platform gaming development project.

“While the animation film will have a budget of $20 million, we will invest $23 million in developing the gaming project and $10 million towards merchandising. A further $10 million will be towards merchandising,” Compact Disc India chairman Suresh Kumar tells Indiantelevision.com.

CDI plans to release the film just before the Fifa World Cup in 2010. “Developing the game will take us around 18 months,” says Kumar.

CDI has also approved a mid-term loan of $10 million offered by iMedia Ventures at Libor plus 175 basis points for a period of 10 years. “This loan is secured in a foreign company promoted by CDI,” says Kumar.

MUMBAI: NDTV Lumiere and Excel Home Videos have released world titles namely Short Sharp Shock (German), Crossed Tracks (French), Playtime (1967) (French), Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (1953) (French), Jour De Fete (1953) (French) and Mon Uncle (1958) (French) on DVD. The DVDs are priced at Rs 499.

German director Fatih Akin’s debut film Short Sharp Shock is a ghetto-centric gangster movie, depicting the gritty story of three men whose friendship is put to test on the mean streets of the city.

Claude Lelouch’s Crossed Tracks won the Cesar Awards 2008 and was screened at festival de Cannes 2008, The Copenhagen International film festival 2007 and The Palm Springs International Film Awards 2008. Crossed Tracks, a romantic thriller, is a taut and tense journey of suspense and second-guessing filled to the brim with red herrings and false endings.

French filmmaker Jacque Tati’s fourth film, Playtime, won the 1969 Bodil Award for Best European Film. Playtime depicts Paris a soulless concrete jungle where Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Caught in the tourist invasion, Hulot roams around Paris with a group of American tourists, causing chaos in his usual manner.

Considered by many to be Jacques Tati’s funniest film, Mr. Hulot’s Holiday was nominated for an Oscar for best writing, story and screenplay in 1956, and won the Prix Louis Delluc, France’s highest film award, in 1953.

Jacques Tati’s first feature film, Jour De Fete, was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival (1949). A silent comedy film set in the French countryside, it casts a look at the modern day obsession with speed and efficiency.

Jacques Tati’s third feature Mon Uncle has won multiple awards including the Prix Special Du Jury at the Festival de Cannes, the New York Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Film and the 1959 Oscar for Best Foreign Film. This comedy centers around a dimwitted yet lovable character of Monsieur Hulot and his quixotic struggle with postwar France‘s infatuation with modern architecture, mechanical efficiency and American-style consumerism.

MUMBAI: Twilight 2008, which was held as part of the Delhi International Arts Festival, gave away the best student film award to Tran Eka Tran by Ashtha Gohil while Murli Manohar got the best director award for Karan Motcham. Antaral by Ujjwal Utkarsh received a special mention.

The Last Act by Madhavi Tangella of SRFTI (Kolkata) got the screenplay award while The Last Board by N Sundar received special mention in the screenplay category. Trip, by Emannuel Quindo Palo of FTII, Pune, bagged the best script award. In Transit by Arunima Sharma from FTII, Pune, won a special mention for script and also swept the best camera and sound award.

Priyanka Chhabra of the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad won two awards. Her film The Furnished Room got the editing award while Say No To Plastics got a special mention in the animation category. Solo by Anjali Nayar of NID, Ahmedabad, was adjudged the best animation film.

In the Professional’s category, the best screenplay (Fiction) award was given to Jugal Kishore Tayal who made his film Best Friend’s Promise with a handycam. The film has been produced by Dark Wizard.

The screenplay award for animation went to H2O by Nilesh Nevgi for SCNN Production. Sujan Bandhu – a Day with a Boatman by Viplab Majumdar received the best script award for a documentary. In the professional awards, there was special mention of a biographical film on Lenin by Arunava Ganguly.

The Professional category awards were given away by filmmaker Shyam Benegal while the Students’ awards were presented by senior script-writer and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap in the presence of film critic Aruna Vasudev who was the Chief Guest. The jury members who included Madan Gopal Singh, Gargi Sen, Namrata Joshi and Amit Sengupta.

Twilight was held at the India Islamic Cultural Centre and the Alliance Francaise, showcasing around 60 short films made by students and budding filmmakers from India.

MUMBAI: The Berlin Film Festival, which runs from 5-15 February, is set to honour Oscar-winning French composer Maurice Jarre with lifetime achievement award.

84-year-old Jarre, winner of three Oscars for Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and A Passage to India, will receive his Golden Bear at a ceremony on 12 February.

“Film composers often are in the shadows of great directors and acting stars. It‘s different with Maurice Jarre; the music of Doctor Zhivago, like much of his work, is world-famous and remains unforgotten in the history of cinema,” said Berlinale festival director Dieter Kosslick.

MUMBAI: The Screen Actors Guild (Sag) will hold a town hall meeting in Los Angeles on 17 November in the evening. Sag is seeking a strike authorisation vote from its members and ballots go out next month.

Sag notes that the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has failed to address the needs of actors at the bargaining table despite the efforts of the negotiating team and the intervention of a federal mediator.

A Sag statement says, “Your national negotiating committee has directed that a strike authorisation ballot be sent to paid up Sag members for their consideration and approval.

“This Town Hall meeting will give Hollywood members an update on the negotiations and a chance to ask questions about the upcoming strike authorization ballot referendum. A strike authorisation from Sag members will show the AMPTP that the unique needs of actors cannot be addressed by a pattern of bargaining. Actors needs must be addressed for deal to be made.”

The AMPTP says that it hopes that working actors will study its contract offer carefully and come to the conclusion that no strike can solve the problems that have been created by Sag‘s own failed negotiation strategy.

Meanwhile, several top actors including George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Cameron Diaz and Edward Norton have signed a letter that is being circulated among Sag‘s membership. The letter looks to persuade actors not to give the authorisation to the Sag board to strike.

“We feel very strongly that Sag members should not vote to authorise a strike at this time. We don‘‘t think that an authorisation can be looked at as merely a bargaining tool. It must be looked at as what it is an agreement to strike if negotiations fail.

“None of our friends in the other unions are truly happy with the deals they made in their negotiations. Three years from now all the union contracts will be up again at roughly the same time. At that point if we plan and work together with our sister unions we will have incredible leverage,” the letter says.

MUMBAI: After distributing 15 Hindi movies, UTV Software Communications is apparently exiting the home video business.

The company has entered into a strategic alliance with Moser Baer Entertainment Limited (MBEL), selling its exclusive home video distribution rights for 25 movies. UTV has been paid an undisclosed MG (minimum guarantee) amount and after a particular threshhold is reached, it will also enjoy a revenue share with Moser Baer.

As per the alliance, MBEL will get domestic rights to UTV‘s home video catalogue which comprises 10 Bollywood films. Moser Baer Entertainment will also get home video rights to all UTV productions released until mid 2009.

The acquisition gives Moser Baer Entertainment access to premium content from UTV, which is planning to release 15 new films over the next six months.

Says UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur, “The home video business in India is growing significantly and with the kind of revenue potential it has, it can no longer be seen as just another ancillary revenue stream. It makes strategic sense for us to license home video rights of our films to a company like Moser Baer Entertainment, which has particular expertise in this area and is instrumental in growing the home video market in the country. This gives our movies unparalleled access to millions of potential new viewers.”

UTV will also hand over the home video rights to the slate of world cinema titles it has acquired. “We will be doing a separate deal with Moser Baer for world movies in the first quarter of next year,” Kapur says.

The DVDs for the Hindi movies are being priced at Rs 99. The time window for DVD will vary between 4-8 weeks of theatrical release.

Says MBEL CEO Harish Dayani, “Moser Baer‘s entertainment business is working towards the consolidation of the home video space in India. Our strategy is based on the twin pillars of affordable prices to curb piracy and everywhere distribution to drive mass consumption. UTV has emerged in recent times as one of the leading studios in the country and its home video titles add lustre to our product line. This development further reinforces our position as the dominant player in the home video space in India.”

Moser Baer has a predominant collection of catalogue movies. The deal with UTV will help it to expand widely into new film content.

Moser Baer is also looking at releasing sports DVDs over the next six months, Dayani adds.

MUMBAI: Australian actor Hugh Jackman will host the 81st Academy Awards.

The announcement was made by the show‘s producer Laurence Mark and Executive Producer Bill Condon. This will be Jackman‘s first time centre stage at the Oscar show, although he has previously been a presenter.

Mark and Condon in a joint statement said, “Hugh Jackman is a consummate entertainer and an internationally renowned movie star. He also has style, elegance and a sense of occasion. Hugh is the ideal choice to host a celebration of the year‘s movies and to have fun doing it.”

The Oscar Awards take place on 22 February 2009 and will air in India on Star Movies. Jackman stars opposite Nicole Kidman in Australia directed by Baz Luhrmann. He will next be seen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, having portrayed the title character in the previous three X-Men movies.

NEW DELHI: France is the focus country and a total of around 80 feature and short films from over 40 countries are to be screened at the 4th India International Women Film Festival which has commenced in Delhi.

The eight-day festival which concludes on 21 December will relate to women empowerment, where women are being showcased not just as objects of visual pleasure but behind the camera.

The Festival was inaugurated by renowned Kuchipudi dancer and social activist Shalu Jindal in the presence of Sevgi Boz who is the Cultural Attache in the Turkish Embassy, Amit Dev of Time Broadband Services Limited, and Sandeep Marwah of the Asian Academy of Film and Television which is an associate partner of the Festival.

Boz said making a film was difficult enough, but it became more difficult when the maker was a woman. She expressed the hope that the number of women filmmakers all over the world would increase.

Jindal said she had been encouraged by the fact that a woman had taken the initiative for a festival of this kind and sustained it for four years.

Marwah said cinema was the real cultural ambassador of any country, and festivals were the showcase for this. But he said this could only be done by people passionate about their work.

Dev felt that women were more creative behind the camera than many male filmmakers.

The Festival opened with the screening of ‘Istanbul My Love’ by Seckin Yang of Turkey.

MUMBAI: Chandigarh-based Compact Disc India (CDI) has roped in soccer player Pele to work on a 3D-animation feature film based on soccer.