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Category: Hollywood

  • Star Movies & Star Movies Select HD to air ‘Whiplash’ and ‘Fantastic Four’

    Star Movies & Star Movies Select HD to air ‘Whiplash’ and ‘Fantastic Four’

    MUMBAI: Films have always had the power to have audiences live in a world other than their own. It seeks to be a form of a dream, an experience that showcases a life through multiple genres, be it action, romance, drama, comedy and even horror. Keeping the very same dream alive by unraveling unique stories, Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD bring forth two films that have influenced the audience in their own unique ways, the unforgettable modern classic, Whiplash and acompletely fresh perspective on the classic superhero franchise, Fantastic Four.

    Whiplash will air on 14 May at 9 pm whereas Fantastic Four will be broadcasted on 15 May at 1 pm with a repeat telecast t 9 pm. 

    On Saturday, 14 May, Star Movies Select HD brings to us an exhilarating drama from ayoung American Director Damien Chazelle – a tale that challenges the common portrayals of a relationship between a mentor andhis student. The story of Whiplash portrays the clash between the passion of a 19 year old drummer and the obsession of an eccentric mentor – Terence Fletcher. It’s no wonder that J.K. Simmons who played the conductor went on to win an Academy Award for his performance. The movie went on to win a total of 87 awards in 2015.

    On Sunday, 15 May prepare yourself to face an unstoppable force with four accidental superheroes fighting to save the Earth, on the television premiere of Fantastic Four. This story is a stark departure for one of the most popular franchise as it showcases a fresh perspective to the famed superheroes. 

     

  • Naomi Kawase to preside over Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury for Festival de Cannes

    Naomi Kawase to preside over Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury for Festival de Cannes

    NEW DLEHI: Japanese director Naomi Kawase, whose film Sweet Bean (An), had been the opening film of Un Certain Regard last year, is to preside over the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury for its 69th edition of the Festival de Cannes. 

    A statement from the Festival said: “There are some directors whose careers are constantly intertwined with the Festival, much to its delight. The story with Naomi Kawase began back in 1997 when aged 27, she became the youngest winner of the Caméra d’or for her film Suzaku (Moe no Suzaku). The promise of this early discovery has since been reaffirmed time and again – as borne out by the selection in Competition of a whole series of her feature films: Shara (Sharasojyu) in 2003, The Mourning Forest (Mogari no Mori) in 2007, Hanezu (Hanezu no tsuki) in 2011 and Still the Water (Futatsume no mado) in 2014. In 2013, as a member of the Feature Film Jury, Naomi Kawase played a key role on the Croisette alongside Steven Spielberg”.

    In her films Naomi Kawase uses limited budgets and prefers non-professional actors – a sign of the director’s beginnings in the documentary genre, which first brought her to prominence after she graduated from the Photography School of Osaka. 

    When her appointment was announced, Naomi Kawase said: “Films enrich people’s lives, and their worlds inspire new possibilities. It is a little over 100 years since the advent of films, and their potential is ever expanding. They are exceptional media that can embody the diversity of world cultures, and their stories are like another life that enchants the audiences who see them. Short films are exceptionally difficult as they face the question of how much of a story can be experienced in their short duration, while they also contain myriad possibilities yet unseen. And among films created by students there will be the discovery of hidden brilliance like a gemstone, which makes me very much look forward to participating in this jury, a journey of adventure.”

    Renowned producer and director Gilles Jacob added: “From her Japanese roots, Naomi Kawase (Caméra d’or 1997) takes her extreme delicateness, refined manners and moral elegance. Her pointillist talent has helped generate a cinematic intelligence and a subtle art full of poetic mystery and graceful simplicity, conveyed through the great emotions of life and the tiny gestures of everyday existence. This year she will join a long line of great presidents of the Cinéfondation and Short Film Jury, from Martin Scorsese and Abbas Kiarostami, to Jane Campion, Hou Hsiao Hsien, John Boorman and the Dardennes brothers.”

  • Naomi Kawase to preside over Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury for Festival de Cannes

    Naomi Kawase to preside over Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury for Festival de Cannes

    NEW DLEHI: Japanese director Naomi Kawase, whose film Sweet Bean (An), had been the opening film of Un Certain Regard last year, is to preside over the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury for its 69th edition of the Festival de Cannes. 

    A statement from the Festival said: “There are some directors whose careers are constantly intertwined with the Festival, much to its delight. The story with Naomi Kawase began back in 1997 when aged 27, she became the youngest winner of the Caméra d’or for her film Suzaku (Moe no Suzaku). The promise of this early discovery has since been reaffirmed time and again – as borne out by the selection in Competition of a whole series of her feature films: Shara (Sharasojyu) in 2003, The Mourning Forest (Mogari no Mori) in 2007, Hanezu (Hanezu no tsuki) in 2011 and Still the Water (Futatsume no mado) in 2014. In 2013, as a member of the Feature Film Jury, Naomi Kawase played a key role on the Croisette alongside Steven Spielberg”.

    In her films Naomi Kawase uses limited budgets and prefers non-professional actors – a sign of the director’s beginnings in the documentary genre, which first brought her to prominence after she graduated from the Photography School of Osaka. 

    When her appointment was announced, Naomi Kawase said: “Films enrich people’s lives, and their worlds inspire new possibilities. It is a little over 100 years since the advent of films, and their potential is ever expanding. They are exceptional media that can embody the diversity of world cultures, and their stories are like another life that enchants the audiences who see them. Short films are exceptionally difficult as they face the question of how much of a story can be experienced in their short duration, while they also contain myriad possibilities yet unseen. And among films created by students there will be the discovery of hidden brilliance like a gemstone, which makes me very much look forward to participating in this jury, a journey of adventure.”

    Renowned producer and director Gilles Jacob added: “From her Japanese roots, Naomi Kawase (Caméra d’or 1997) takes her extreme delicateness, refined manners and moral elegance. Her pointillist talent has helped generate a cinematic intelligence and a subtle art full of poetic mystery and graceful simplicity, conveyed through the great emotions of life and the tiny gestures of everyday existence. This year she will join a long line of great presidents of the Cinéfondation and Short Film Jury, from Martin Scorsese and Abbas Kiarostami, to Jane Campion, Hou Hsiao Hsien, John Boorman and the Dardennes brothers.”

  • Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announces Galas and a stellar line-up

    Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announces Galas and a stellar line-up

    MUMBAI:  The 14 edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) held at ArcLight, Hollywood in Los Angeles, California from 6 to 10 April, 2016, announced its eclectic line-up of 27 films (16 features and 11 shorts) to be screened this year.

    The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of ground breaking Indian cinema globally.

    Opening the festival on April 6 is the U.S. premiere of the powerful Angry Indian Goddesses, from filmmaker and four-time IFFLA alum Pan Nalin. Anu Menon’s poignant Waiting, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin, closes the festival with its North American premiere on April 10. Gala tickets and passes are now available at http://www.indianfilmfestival.org/.

    Three films will have their world premiere at the five-day film festival namely, CRD by Kranti Kanade, Babu’s Dilemma by Collin D’Cunha, and Anurag Kashyap produced Mochi (The Cobbler) by Saqib Pandor. In addition, there will be two North American premieres, and ten U.S. premieres.
    More features and shorts from female filmmakers will be presented this year by IFFLA than ever before, including: Deepa Mehta’s gangster drama Beeba Boys; Leena Yadav’s Parched, a piercing examination of India’s patriarchal culture through the stories of four women; Ruchika Oberoi’s genre-bending triptych, Island City; and Rinku Kalsy’s documentary For the Love of a Man, about the fierce devotion shared by South-Indian superstar Rajinikanth’s fans; and in the shorts program, Payal Sethi’s Leeches, Megha Ramaswamy’s Bunny, Pritha Chakraborthy’s Ashrut (Silent Voices) and Sonejuhi Sinha’sLove Comes Later, among others.

    The festival also features two LGBT titles, Hansal Mehta’s politically-charged Aligarh and the short Daaravtha (The Threshold) by Nishant Roy Bombarde, which are bold and compelling statements from filmmakers.

    Tamil cinema has recently emerged as a force on the world stage, and this is exemplified in the two fascinating? Tamil features in the program: Visaaranai (Interrogation) and Kirumi (Virus).

    Highlights in the shorts program include the world premiere of Mochi (The Cobbler), an impressive directorial debut from Saqib Pandor, produced by Anurag Kashyap, and the North American premiere of Anuj Gulati’s The Manliest Man, a boldly told, absurdist tale that reveals a visionary emerging director.

    Attending the festival this year to present their films will be a host of celebrated filmmakers, including Bhaskar Hazarika (Kothanodi), KrantiKanade (CRD), Hansal Mehta (Aligarh), Prashant Nair & Swati Shetty (Umrika), Pan Nalin(Angry Indian Goddesses),Ruchika Oberoi (Island City), Q (Brahman Naman) and Leena Yadav (Parched).
    IFFLA will also host stars from a number of films, including Kalki Koechlin (Waiting) and many of the actors featured in Angry Indian Goddesses.

    Talking about the impressive line-up, Christina Marouda, Founder of IFFLA said, “India’s independent filmmakers are taking bold risks, defying convention, and responding to injustice in each of these visionary films, and the results are breathtaking.” Mike Dougherty, the Director of Programming adds, “I’m extremely excited for our Los Angeles audience to experience these films, which have garnered raves from around the world, or are making their world premieres with us.”

    Complete Line-up

    OPENING NIGHT GALA

    ANGRY INDIAN GODDESSES
    India/2015/115min/DCP/Hindi and English
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Pan Nalin

    Logline: When an eclectic group of women gathers to celebrate the impending nuptials of a close mutual friend, sparks fly as they each discover the power – and the fury – of the angry goddesses that lie within.  

    CLOSING NIGHT GALA

    WAITING
    India/2015/92min/DCP/Hindi and English
    North American Premiere
    Director: Anu Menon

    Logline: While their spouses lie in comas, two strangers develop a deep connection in the hospital to help support each other through the trials of waiting and grief.

    FEATURES

    •ALIGARH
    India/2015/114min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Hansal Mehta
    Logline: The true story of Dr. ShrinivasRamchandraSiras, a linguistics professor at Aligarh Muslim University whose outing and threatened termination caused an uproar.

    •BEEBA BOYS
    Canada/2015/103min/DCP/Punjabi and English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Deepa Mehta (IFFLA alum)
    Logline: A ruthless and charismatic Sikh Canadian gangster leads his crew into war for drugs, money and respect.

    •BRAHMAN NAMAN
    UK/2015/90min/DCP/English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Q
    Logline:  A team of misfits at Bangalore University makes an alcohol-fueled cross-country journey to the National Quiz Championships, determined to defeat their archrivals and lose their virginities.

    This year’s Sundance Film Festival heard non-stop buzz about director Q’s latest brazen cinematic provocation: a 1980s-set coming-of-age sex comedy. There’s much more on this film’s mind than young lust and sexual hijinks…but it does have plenty of that to spare!

    •CRD
    India/2016/108min/DCP/Hindi and English
    World Premiere
    Director: Kranti Kanade (IFFLA alum)
    Logline:  As aspiring writer Chetan prepares to compete in a prestigious college theater festival, he explores his creative impulses in radical, hilarious and destructive ways.

    •FOR THE LOVE OF A MAN
    India/2015/82min/DCP/Tamil and English
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Rinku Kalsy
    Logline: An entertaining and unforgettable look at the godlike devotion by millions of fans for South-Indian super-star Rajinikanth.

    •ISLAND CITY
    India/2015/111min/DCP/Hindi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Ruchika Oberoi
    Logline: Three stories set in the sprawling city of Mumbai reveal the absurd, bittersweet and heartbreaking ways three characters attempt to push back against society’s plans for them.

    Oberoi brilliantly plays with genre as her film effortlessly shifts from absurdist comedy to escapist fantasy to realist drama (there’s even a tinge of science fiction). Though each character’s journey is markedly different, their goals are similar: to push back against the demands forced on them without any regard for their personal desires. Oberoi’s unique vision won the Best Young Director Award of the Venice Days section at the 2015 Venice Film Festival.

    •KIRUMI (Virus)
    India/2015/99min/DCP/Tamil
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Anucharan Murugaiyan
    Logline:  An irresponsible young man finds work as a police informant, but his careless tactics soon anger some of Chennai’s most dangerous criminals, and put him and his loved ones in jeopardy.

    First-time director Anucharan Murugaiyan delivers a riveting, white-knuckle thriller from a script co-written with rising star and Tamil filmmaker M. Manikandan (director of 2015 IFFLA Audience Award winner THE CROW’S EGG). Their collaboration is a fine example of Tamil cinema’s recent emergence as a force on the world stage, and a superb elevation of the crime genre into a stylish, sophisticated look at corruption from the inside.

    •KOTHANODI (The River of Fables)
    India/2015/117min/DCP/Assamese
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Bhaskar Hazarika
    Logline:  A darker side to motherhood is revealed in these Assamese folktales about four women’s strange and unsettling relationships with their children.

    •MASAAN (Fly Away Solo)
    India, France/2015/109min/DCP/Hindi
    Director: Neeraj Ghaywan (IFFLA alum)
    Logline:  Four very different lives intersect along the Ganges, each longing to escape the moral constructs of a small town.

    In the past year, IFFLA alum Neeraj Ghaywan’s debut feature has become one of the most celebrated independent Indian films in recent memory. Its premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section saw the film win the prestigious FIPRESCI prize, and the section’s jury honored Ghaywan with the Promising Future Award. The film’s release in India garnered rave reviews and is poised to make stars of its talented young cast, including Vicky Kaushal, Richa Chadha and Shweta Tripathi.

    •OTTAAL (The Trap)
    India/2014/81min/DCP/Malayalam
    U.S. Premiere
    Director:  Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair
    Logline: When an orphan’s kind grandfather falls ill, the young boy is confronted with the bleak fate of millions of children worldwide.

    Winner of the Crystal Bear in the Generation Kplus section of the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, OTTAAL is directed with patient mastery by director Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair, and anchored by a heartbreaking performance from its young lead, Ashanth K. Sha.

    •PARCHED
    India/UK/USA/2015/117min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Leena Yadav
    Logline: Four small-town women struggling with mistreatment and misogyny find surprising ways to take control of their lives.

    Leena Yadav’s drama premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, and went on to play the Stockholm International Film Festival, where it won the festival’s Impact Award. With vivid, lived-in performances and a script by Yadav that never simplifies what is a complex reality for many Indian women, PARCHED spotlights a harsh patriarchal culture and the women and girls who remain steadfast within it.

    •UMRIKA
    India/2015/102min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Prashant Nair (IFFLA alum)
    Log line: A young man must learn the truth about what happened to his older brother after he left their small Indian village for the magical, faraway land of “Umrika.”

    Showcasing winning performances by Suraj Sharma (LIFE OF PI) and Tony Revolori (THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL), UMRIKA won the Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award along with other accolades at festivals around the world. With a moving mix of humor, piercing loss and sacrifice, writer-director and IFFLA alum Prashant Nair captures the power of stories about the faraway, mythical places that are never quite real, but we still risk everything to reach.

    •VISAARANAI (Interrogation)
    India/2015/108min/DCP/Tamil
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Vetri Maaran
    Logline: When a Tamil-speaking immigrant lands in jail on trumped up charges, he must navigate a labyrinth of police brutality and corruption.

    SHORTS

    •ASHRUT (Silent Voices)
    India/2014/26min/DCP/Bengali
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Pritha Chakraborty
    Logline: An intimate documentary portrait of three sisters and their mother that explores the women’s unrealized dreams and confinement to domesticity.

    •BABU’S DILEMMA
    India/2015/24min/HDCAM/Hindi and English
    World Premiere
    Director: Collin D’Cunha
    Logline: An immigrant construction worker in Dubai who can barely make ends meet must find a way to send an expensive gift to his wife back in India.

    •BUNNY
    India/2015/15min/DCP/Non-dialogue
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Megha Ramaswamy
    Logline: A young girl mourns the death of her stuffed bunny.

    •CHHAYA (The Shadow)
    UK/2015/10min/DCP/Non-dialogue 
    Director: Debanjan Nandy
    Logline: Fantasy and reality vehemently clash in the nursing home quarters of a lonely widower.

    •DAARAVTHA (The Threshold)
    India/2016/30min/DCP/Marathi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Nishant Roy Bombarde
    Logline: Torn between a patriarchal Indian upbringing and his natural urge to identify with the opposite gender, an adolescent boy discovers his sexuality.

    •LEECHES
    India/2016/27min/DCP/Urdu and Dakhani
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Payal Sethi
    Logline: A woman embarks on a dangerous journey to save her young sister from being sold as a One-Day Bride.

    •LOVE COMES LATER
    USA/2015/10min/Blu-ray/English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Sonejuhi Sinha
    Logline: An undocumented motel worker faces a life-altering decision when she discovers she’s pregnant.

    •MAST QALANDAR
    India/2015/15min/DCP/Punjabi and Hindi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Divij Roopchand
    Logline: All this rap-loving Sikh boy wants for his thirteenth birthday is a new hairdo.

    •MOCHI (The Cobbler)
    India/2016/20min/Blu-ray/Hindi and Marathi
    World Premiere
    Director: Saqib Pandor
    Logline: When a struggling shoe repairman loses an expensive pair of shoes, his entire world starts to crumble.

    •PLAYGROUNDS
    India/2014/18min/Blu-ray/Hindi and Tamil
    U.S. Premiere
    Directors: ShamikSen Gupta, Pallavi MD
    Logline: When a rickshaw driver discovers a young boy in the back seat of his auto, he embarks on a dark journey to find the child’s parents.

    •THE MANLIEST MAN
    India/2016/23min/DCP/ Hindi and Bundeli
    North American Premiere
    Director: Anuj Gulati
    Logline: When the village potter fails to produce a son, the community Chief calls for a “manlier” man to help the family bear a male offspring.

    About IFFLA
    Now in its 14th 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 and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.

    The five-day festival is the premiere platform for the latest in cutting-edge global Indian cinema and bridges the gap between the two largest entertainment industries in the world – Hollywood and India. The festival will showcase more than 25 films from the Indian filmmaking community across the globe, host the highly anticipated Opening and Closing red carpet Galas, and the Closing Awards ceremony.

    About ArcLight Cinemas
    ArcLight Cinemas, created by Pacific Theatres, a privately owned, Los Angeles based company with 60 years of theatrical exhibition history throughout California, Hawaii and Washington. ArcLight Cinemas operates five theaters in California including Hollywood, Pasadena, Sherman Oaks, El Segundo and La Jolla, and one theater in Bethesda, Md., with additional theaters under construction in Chicago and Santa Monica, California, slated for a 2015 opening. ArcLight also owns and operates the historic Cinerama Dome and programs the TCL Chinese Theatre and IMAX in Hollywood. Pacific Theatres currently operates theaters in Los Angeles that include The Grove and The Americana at Brand in Glendale, CA.

    Christina Marouda, Founder of IFFLA and participant filmmakers are available for interviews. Kindly let us know if you would like to speak to anyone of them.

  • Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announces Galas and a stellar line-up

    Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announces Galas and a stellar line-up

    MUMBAI:  The 14 edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) held at ArcLight, Hollywood in Los Angeles, California from 6 to 10 April, 2016, announced its eclectic line-up of 27 films (16 features and 11 shorts) to be screened this year.

    The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of ground breaking Indian cinema globally.

    Opening the festival on April 6 is the U.S. premiere of the powerful Angry Indian Goddesses, from filmmaker and four-time IFFLA alum Pan Nalin. Anu Menon’s poignant Waiting, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin, closes the festival with its North American premiere on April 10. Gala tickets and passes are now available at http://www.indianfilmfestival.org/.

    Three films will have their world premiere at the five-day film festival namely, CRD by Kranti Kanade, Babu’s Dilemma by Collin D’Cunha, and Anurag Kashyap produced Mochi (The Cobbler) by Saqib Pandor. In addition, there will be two North American premieres, and ten U.S. premieres.
    More features and shorts from female filmmakers will be presented this year by IFFLA than ever before, including: Deepa Mehta’s gangster drama Beeba Boys; Leena Yadav’s Parched, a piercing examination of India’s patriarchal culture through the stories of four women; Ruchika Oberoi’s genre-bending triptych, Island City; and Rinku Kalsy’s documentary For the Love of a Man, about the fierce devotion shared by South-Indian superstar Rajinikanth’s fans; and in the shorts program, Payal Sethi’s Leeches, Megha Ramaswamy’s Bunny, Pritha Chakraborthy’s Ashrut (Silent Voices) and Sonejuhi Sinha’sLove Comes Later, among others.

    The festival also features two LGBT titles, Hansal Mehta’s politically-charged Aligarh and the short Daaravtha (The Threshold) by Nishant Roy Bombarde, which are bold and compelling statements from filmmakers.

    Tamil cinema has recently emerged as a force on the world stage, and this is exemplified in the two fascinating? Tamil features in the program: Visaaranai (Interrogation) and Kirumi (Virus).

    Highlights in the shorts program include the world premiere of Mochi (The Cobbler), an impressive directorial debut from Saqib Pandor, produced by Anurag Kashyap, and the North American premiere of Anuj Gulati’s The Manliest Man, a boldly told, absurdist tale that reveals a visionary emerging director.

    Attending the festival this year to present their films will be a host of celebrated filmmakers, including Bhaskar Hazarika (Kothanodi), KrantiKanade (CRD), Hansal Mehta (Aligarh), Prashant Nair & Swati Shetty (Umrika), Pan Nalin(Angry Indian Goddesses),Ruchika Oberoi (Island City), Q (Brahman Naman) and Leena Yadav (Parched).
    IFFLA will also host stars from a number of films, including Kalki Koechlin (Waiting) and many of the actors featured in Angry Indian Goddesses.

    Talking about the impressive line-up, Christina Marouda, Founder of IFFLA said, “India’s independent filmmakers are taking bold risks, defying convention, and responding to injustice in each of these visionary films, and the results are breathtaking.” Mike Dougherty, the Director of Programming adds, “I’m extremely excited for our Los Angeles audience to experience these films, which have garnered raves from around the world, or are making their world premieres with us.”

    Complete Line-up

    OPENING NIGHT GALA

    ANGRY INDIAN GODDESSES
    India/2015/115min/DCP/Hindi and English
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Pan Nalin

    Logline: When an eclectic group of women gathers to celebrate the impending nuptials of a close mutual friend, sparks fly as they each discover the power – and the fury – of the angry goddesses that lie within.  

    CLOSING NIGHT GALA

    WAITING
    India/2015/92min/DCP/Hindi and English
    North American Premiere
    Director: Anu Menon

    Logline: While their spouses lie in comas, two strangers develop a deep connection in the hospital to help support each other through the trials of waiting and grief.

    FEATURES

    •ALIGARH
    India/2015/114min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Hansal Mehta
    Logline: The true story of Dr. ShrinivasRamchandraSiras, a linguistics professor at Aligarh Muslim University whose outing and threatened termination caused an uproar.

    •BEEBA BOYS
    Canada/2015/103min/DCP/Punjabi and English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Deepa Mehta (IFFLA alum)
    Logline: A ruthless and charismatic Sikh Canadian gangster leads his crew into war for drugs, money and respect.

    •BRAHMAN NAMAN
    UK/2015/90min/DCP/English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Q
    Logline:  A team of misfits at Bangalore University makes an alcohol-fueled cross-country journey to the National Quiz Championships, determined to defeat their archrivals and lose their virginities.

    This year’s Sundance Film Festival heard non-stop buzz about director Q’s latest brazen cinematic provocation: a 1980s-set coming-of-age sex comedy. There’s much more on this film’s mind than young lust and sexual hijinks…but it does have plenty of that to spare!

    •CRD
    India/2016/108min/DCP/Hindi and English
    World Premiere
    Director: Kranti Kanade (IFFLA alum)
    Logline:  As aspiring writer Chetan prepares to compete in a prestigious college theater festival, he explores his creative impulses in radical, hilarious and destructive ways.

    •FOR THE LOVE OF A MAN
    India/2015/82min/DCP/Tamil and English
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Rinku Kalsy
    Logline: An entertaining and unforgettable look at the godlike devotion by millions of fans for South-Indian super-star Rajinikanth.

    •ISLAND CITY
    India/2015/111min/DCP/Hindi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Ruchika Oberoi
    Logline: Three stories set in the sprawling city of Mumbai reveal the absurd, bittersweet and heartbreaking ways three characters attempt to push back against society’s plans for them.

    Oberoi brilliantly plays with genre as her film effortlessly shifts from absurdist comedy to escapist fantasy to realist drama (there’s even a tinge of science fiction). Though each character’s journey is markedly different, their goals are similar: to push back against the demands forced on them without any regard for their personal desires. Oberoi’s unique vision won the Best Young Director Award of the Venice Days section at the 2015 Venice Film Festival.

    •KIRUMI (Virus)
    India/2015/99min/DCP/Tamil
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Anucharan Murugaiyan
    Logline:  An irresponsible young man finds work as a police informant, but his careless tactics soon anger some of Chennai’s most dangerous criminals, and put him and his loved ones in jeopardy.

    First-time director Anucharan Murugaiyan delivers a riveting, white-knuckle thriller from a script co-written with rising star and Tamil filmmaker M. Manikandan (director of 2015 IFFLA Audience Award winner THE CROW’S EGG). Their collaboration is a fine example of Tamil cinema’s recent emergence as a force on the world stage, and a superb elevation of the crime genre into a stylish, sophisticated look at corruption from the inside.

    •KOTHANODI (The River of Fables)
    India/2015/117min/DCP/Assamese
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Bhaskar Hazarika
    Logline:  A darker side to motherhood is revealed in these Assamese folktales about four women’s strange and unsettling relationships with their children.

    •MASAAN (Fly Away Solo)
    India, France/2015/109min/DCP/Hindi
    Director: Neeraj Ghaywan (IFFLA alum)
    Logline:  Four very different lives intersect along the Ganges, each longing to escape the moral constructs of a small town.

    In the past year, IFFLA alum Neeraj Ghaywan’s debut feature has become one of the most celebrated independent Indian films in recent memory. Its premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section saw the film win the prestigious FIPRESCI prize, and the section’s jury honored Ghaywan with the Promising Future Award. The film’s release in India garnered rave reviews and is poised to make stars of its talented young cast, including Vicky Kaushal, Richa Chadha and Shweta Tripathi.

    •OTTAAL (The Trap)
    India/2014/81min/DCP/Malayalam
    U.S. Premiere
    Director:  Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair
    Logline: When an orphan’s kind grandfather falls ill, the young boy is confronted with the bleak fate of millions of children worldwide.

    Winner of the Crystal Bear in the Generation Kplus section of the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, OTTAAL is directed with patient mastery by director Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair, and anchored by a heartbreaking performance from its young lead, Ashanth K. Sha.

    •PARCHED
    India/UK/USA/2015/117min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Leena Yadav
    Logline: Four small-town women struggling with mistreatment and misogyny find surprising ways to take control of their lives.

    Leena Yadav’s drama premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, and went on to play the Stockholm International Film Festival, where it won the festival’s Impact Award. With vivid, lived-in performances and a script by Yadav that never simplifies what is a complex reality for many Indian women, PARCHED spotlights a harsh patriarchal culture and the women and girls who remain steadfast within it.

    •UMRIKA
    India/2015/102min/DCP/Hindi
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Prashant Nair (IFFLA alum)
    Log line: A young man must learn the truth about what happened to his older brother after he left their small Indian village for the magical, faraway land of “Umrika.”

    Showcasing winning performances by Suraj Sharma (LIFE OF PI) and Tony Revolori (THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL), UMRIKA won the Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award along with other accolades at festivals around the world. With a moving mix of humor, piercing loss and sacrifice, writer-director and IFFLA alum Prashant Nair captures the power of stories about the faraway, mythical places that are never quite real, but we still risk everything to reach.

    •VISAARANAI (Interrogation)
    India/2015/108min/DCP/Tamil
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Vetri Maaran
    Logline: When a Tamil-speaking immigrant lands in jail on trumped up charges, he must navigate a labyrinth of police brutality and corruption.

    SHORTS

    •ASHRUT (Silent Voices)
    India/2014/26min/DCP/Bengali
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Pritha Chakraborty
    Logline: An intimate documentary portrait of three sisters and their mother that explores the women’s unrealized dreams and confinement to domesticity.

    •BABU’S DILEMMA
    India/2015/24min/HDCAM/Hindi and English
    World Premiere
    Director: Collin D’Cunha
    Logline: An immigrant construction worker in Dubai who can barely make ends meet must find a way to send an expensive gift to his wife back in India.

    •BUNNY
    India/2015/15min/DCP/Non-dialogue
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Megha Ramaswamy
    Logline: A young girl mourns the death of her stuffed bunny.

    •CHHAYA (The Shadow)
    UK/2015/10min/DCP/Non-dialogue 
    Director: Debanjan Nandy
    Logline: Fantasy and reality vehemently clash in the nursing home quarters of a lonely widower.

    •DAARAVTHA (The Threshold)
    India/2016/30min/DCP/Marathi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Nishant Roy Bombarde
    Logline: Torn between a patriarchal Indian upbringing and his natural urge to identify with the opposite gender, an adolescent boy discovers his sexuality.

    •LEECHES
    India/2016/27min/DCP/Urdu and Dakhani
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Payal Sethi
    Logline: A woman embarks on a dangerous journey to save her young sister from being sold as a One-Day Bride.

    •LOVE COMES LATER
    USA/2015/10min/Blu-ray/English
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Director: Sonejuhi Sinha
    Logline: An undocumented motel worker faces a life-altering decision when she discovers she’s pregnant.

    •MAST QALANDAR
    India/2015/15min/DCP/Punjabi and Hindi
    U.S. Premiere
    Director: Divij Roopchand
    Logline: All this rap-loving Sikh boy wants for his thirteenth birthday is a new hairdo.

    •MOCHI (The Cobbler)
    India/2016/20min/Blu-ray/Hindi and Marathi
    World Premiere
    Director: Saqib Pandor
    Logline: When a struggling shoe repairman loses an expensive pair of shoes, his entire world starts to crumble.

    •PLAYGROUNDS
    India/2014/18min/Blu-ray/Hindi and Tamil
    U.S. Premiere
    Directors: ShamikSen Gupta, Pallavi MD
    Logline: When a rickshaw driver discovers a young boy in the back seat of his auto, he embarks on a dark journey to find the child’s parents.

    •THE MANLIEST MAN
    India/2016/23min/DCP/ Hindi and Bundeli
    North American Premiere
    Director: Anuj Gulati
    Logline: When the village potter fails to produce a son, the community Chief calls for a “manlier” man to help the family bear a male offspring.

    About IFFLA
    Now in its 14th 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 and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.

    The five-day festival is the premiere platform for the latest in cutting-edge global Indian cinema and bridges the gap between the two largest entertainment industries in the world – Hollywood and India. The festival will showcase more than 25 films from the Indian filmmaking community across the globe, host the highly anticipated Opening and Closing red carpet Galas, and the Closing Awards ceremony.

    About ArcLight Cinemas
    ArcLight Cinemas, created by Pacific Theatres, a privately owned, Los Angeles based company with 60 years of theatrical exhibition history throughout California, Hawaii and Washington. ArcLight Cinemas operates five theaters in California including Hollywood, Pasadena, Sherman Oaks, El Segundo and La Jolla, and one theater in Bethesda, Md., with additional theaters under construction in Chicago and Santa Monica, California, slated for a 2015 opening. ArcLight also owns and operates the historic Cinerama Dome and programs the TCL Chinese Theatre and IMAX in Hollywood. Pacific Theatres currently operates theaters in Los Angeles that include The Grove and The Americana at Brand in Glendale, CA.

    Christina Marouda, Founder of IFFLA and participant filmmakers are available for interviews. Kindly let us know if you would like to speak to anyone of them.

  • Star World Premiere HD to air ‘Togetherness’ season 2

    Star World Premiere HD to air ‘Togetherness’ season 2

    MUMBAI: Star World Premiere HD is all set to premiere the second season of Togetherness. The show, which will premiere on 28 February, will be aired every Sunday at 10 pm.

    Togetherness Season 2 will witness actors Amanda Peet and Melanie Lynskey alongside American film director, film producer, actor, musician and screenwriter Mark Duplass and Steve Zissis.

    After nearly reaching their breaking points in the last season, Brett and Michelle (Duplass and Lynskey) struggle to make sense of where their marriage might be heading. Alex (Zissis) returns from New Orleans reinvigorated – but his newfound success threatens to disrupt his relationships back home. Meanwhile, Michelle’s sister Tina (Amanda Peet) has a hard time coming to terms with what should be her ‘happily ever after’ life with her movie-producer boyfriend. Through it all, this makes shift family continues to face the hilarity and anxieties of everyday life, while proving that they’re truly at their best when they’re together.

  • Star World Premiere HD to air ‘Togetherness’ season 2

    Star World Premiere HD to air ‘Togetherness’ season 2

    MUMBAI: Star World Premiere HD is all set to premiere the second season of Togetherness. The show, which will premiere on 28 February, will be aired every Sunday at 10 pm.

    Togetherness Season 2 will witness actors Amanda Peet and Melanie Lynskey alongside American film director, film producer, actor, musician and screenwriter Mark Duplass and Steve Zissis.

    After nearly reaching their breaking points in the last season, Brett and Michelle (Duplass and Lynskey) struggle to make sense of where their marriage might be heading. Alex (Zissis) returns from New Orleans reinvigorated – but his newfound success threatens to disrupt his relationships back home. Meanwhile, Michelle’s sister Tina (Amanda Peet) has a hard time coming to terms with what should be her ‘happily ever after’ life with her movie-producer boyfriend. Through it all, this makes shift family continues to face the hilarity and anxieties of everyday life, while proving that they’re truly at their best when they’re together.

  • Movies Now joins hand with Romedy Now this Valentine’s

    Movies Now joins hand with Romedy Now this Valentine’s

    MUMBAI: This Valentine’s, Twitterati celebrated as two popular television channels brought the house down with the most innovative digital activity ever!

    In a first of its kind initiative, Movies Now flirted with Romedy Now and made it the most memorable Valentine’s Day for the twitter community who joined in the conversation to make sure Romedy NOW accepts the date.

    It all started at 10:30 am on February 14 when MOVIES NOW was seen making a move on Romedy NOW, who seemed a bit reticent initially, but finally agreed to go on a date with MOVIES NOW – only after MOVIES NOW pulled out all the moves to get Romedy NOW to #BeMyValentine.

    The two channels used dialogues from iconic movies and series to make the conversation an extraordinary one for all Twitterati. The conversation involved the followers of both brands to support them in their responses to each other, which enriched the exchange even more! 

    The unique activity was conceptualized by MOVIES NOW’s digital agency Carpe Diem and executed by agencies of both brands – Carpe Diem and Skarma.

  • Movies Now joins hand with Romedy Now this Valentine’s

    Movies Now joins hand with Romedy Now this Valentine’s

    MUMBAI: This Valentine’s, Twitterati celebrated as two popular television channels brought the house down with the most innovative digital activity ever!

    In a first of its kind initiative, Movies Now flirted with Romedy Now and made it the most memorable Valentine’s Day for the twitter community who joined in the conversation to make sure Romedy NOW accepts the date.

    It all started at 10:30 am on February 14 when MOVIES NOW was seen making a move on Romedy NOW, who seemed a bit reticent initially, but finally agreed to go on a date with MOVIES NOW – only after MOVIES NOW pulled out all the moves to get Romedy NOW to #BeMyValentine.

    The two channels used dialogues from iconic movies and series to make the conversation an extraordinary one for all Twitterati. The conversation involved the followers of both brands to support them in their responses to each other, which enriched the exchange even more! 

    The unique activity was conceptualized by MOVIES NOW’s digital agency Carpe Diem and executed by agencies of both brands – Carpe Diem and Skarma.

  • Australian filmmaker George Miller to head Cannes Jury in May

    Australian filmmaker George Miller to head Cannes Jury in May

    NEW DELHI: Australian director, screenwriter and producer George Miller will be heading the jury of the 69th Festival de Cannes.

    The Festival will be held from 11 to 22 May.

    Reacting to his appointment, Miller said, “What an unmitigated delight! To be there in the middle of this storied festival at the unveiling of cinematic treasures from all over the planet. To spend time in passionate discourse with fellow members of the jury! Such an honour! I’ll be there with bells on!”

    It was in Cannes last May that Mad Max: Fury Road  set out on its fantastic cavalcade across the screens. The film, shown Out of Competition in the Official Selection, marked the return not only of the hero of the legendary saga for the myriad fans of Max Rockatansky, but also the comeback of his creator, Miller, and of the visionary filmmaking that made him a household name around the world.

    The roots of Miller’s career, alongside those of Peter Weir, Bruce Beresford and Phillip Noyce stretch back to the golden age of Australian cinema from the 1980s.

    Originally from a small village in Queensland, Miller wrote and directed Violence in the Cinema, part 1 in 1971. Produced by his friend Byron Kennedy, with whom he founded the Kennedy Miller company, the short film picked up two prizes from the Australian Film Institute. This official recognition encouraged Miller to pursue a career in film and to make his first feature film.