They call me Chino
Jesús Rivera
Spain. 2023. 17 min

Chino has returned to Adra after being away for some time. He’s about to turn 18 and wants to leave behind a life that has brought him nothing but trouble and make peace with his past.

JESÚS RIVERA

Jesús Rivera (Almería, Spain, 1990). Bachelor in Media and Communication, graduated by the University of Malaga. He has developed his career on theater, radio, advertising and cinema all around Spain. Seeing life with his one and a half eye, he is always looking for the way of showing his own perception of reality.

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Ajantrik
Ritwik Ghatak
India. 1958. 96 min

Bimal is a taxi-driver in a small provincial town. He lives alone. His taxi (an old 1920 Chevrolet jalopy which he named Jagaddal) is his only companion and, although very battered, it is the apple of Bimal’s eye. The film shows episodes from his life in the industrial wasteland, delivering people from one place to another.

Film critic Georges Sadoul shared his experience of watching the film in this way. He said, “What does ‘Ajantrik’ mean? I don’t know and I believe no one in Venice Film Festival knew…I can’t tell the whole story of the film…there was no subtitle for the film. But I saw the film spellbound till the very end”. According to the noted Bengali poet and German scholar Alokeranjan Dasgupta, “The merciless conflict of ethereal nature and mechanised civilization, through the love of taxi driver Bimal and his pathetic vehicle Jagaddal seems to be a unique gift of…modernism.”

RITWIK GHATAK

Ritwik Kumar Ghatak; 4 November 1925 – 6 February 1976) was a noted Indian film director, screenwriter and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily remembered for its meticulous depiction of social reality, partition and feminism. He won the National Film Award’s Rajat Kamal Award for Best Story in 1974 for his Jukti Takko Aar Gappo and Best Director’s Award from Bangladesh Cine Journalist’s Association for Titash Ekti Nadir Naam. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for Arts in 1970.

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Nirjan Saikate
Tapan Sinha
India. 1963. 122 min

The protagonist isa writer on his way to Puri by train. In the course of the journey he gets acquainted with a group of 4 Bengali widows accompanying their niece, also going to Puri. The writer was going to just get out of his day to day Kolkata life whereas these ladies were actually going to calm down their niece who had just suffered a breakup with her lover. The rest of the story revolves around these people and their attraction and involvement with the writer. The writer is amused with them and for his part tries to calm the girl. The story guides us around the different relationships the writer develops with each of the character he meets. The movie tries to show the social taboos for widows and teaches the philosophy that life is ahead of us and not behind. There is a pretty good description of Puri, Konark and Rambha. At the time this movie was shot it was possible for Tapan Sinha to shoot inside the Konark sun temple, also the bullock cart way to Konark is an extra for the viewer.

TAPAN SINHA

Tapan Sinha (2 October 1924 – 15 January 2009) was one of the most prominent Indian film directors of his time forming a legendary quartet with Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. He was primarily a Bengali filmmaker who worked both in Hindi cinema and Bengali cinema, directing films like Kabuliwala (1957), Louha-Kapat, Sagina Mahato (1970), Apanjan (1968), Kshudhita Pashan and children’s film Safed Haathi (1978) and Aaj Ka Robinhood. Sinha started his career in 1946, as a sound engineer with New Theatres film production house in Kolkata, then in 1950 left for England where he worked at Pinewood Studios for next two years, before returning home to start his six decade long career in Indian cinema, making films in Bengali, Hindi and Oriya languages, straddling genres from social realism, family drama, labor rights, to children’s fantasy films. He was one of the acclaimed filmmakers of Parallel Cinema movement of India.