Saroj Dutta and His Times
Kasturi Basu, Mitali Biswas
India. 2018. 115 min
A communist poet and radical journalist, a secret State killing, an attempted revolution sparked in the village of Naxalbari at the Himalayan foothills. Setting out to tell the story of the slain revolutionary Saroj Dutta (lovingly known as comrade S.D.), the film gets drawn into a vortex of his tumultuous times, tracing turns and twists of the communist movement in India over three decades. A search by present-generation filmmakers, the film uses personal and public historical archives and conversations with rebels of the Naxalbari rebellion. Five decades later, the film holds a key to understanding the turbulent, audacious sixties and seventies in India and the world.
Jordanian filmmaker Zain Duraie is making waves with award-winning movies that take a provocative stance on social and gender taboos. BroadcastPro ME spoke to her about her motivations, resources and convictions. Continue reading Zain Duraie making waves with award winning movie→
Molly Stuart is an up-and-coming filmmaker with a message to send. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Molly was a 2018 Women Peace and Security Fellow. She did all this while earning an MFA in cinema at San Francisco State University. That’s not all. Molly has won the Bill Nichols Excellence in Cinema Award, the Canon Best in Show Award, the Spotlight on Women in Film Award, and the Barbara Hammer Award. Continue reading Molly Stuart (Objector) In Imagineindia→
Jessica Oreck is a writer and director. Her first film, “Beetle QueenConquers Tokyo,” was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in 2010 and aired on PBS’ “Independent Lens” series, as well as playing theatrically around the world. Since then, her credits have included ” “Venus,” “Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys,” and “The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga.”Continue reading Meet Jessica Oreck – “One man dies a million times”→
The radical filmmaker, teacher at Berkeley and writer talks essentialism in identity politics and why her films are neither documentary nor fiction.
Trinh T. Minh-ha’s first film, Reassemblage (1982), is in some sense a work of ethnographic cinema. Shot in Senegal, it is filled with scenes of daily life, especially of village women. Continue reading Trinh Minh Ha at Imagineindia 2020→
She was the Jury President at the 19th edition at Imagineindia in 2020.
Born on October 17, 1970 in Tehran, Iran, in 2006 she was appointed UNICEF National Ambassador in Iran.
She was taking acting courses when she was cast for the role of Helen in The Men of Angelos, which earned her national recognition. She later appeared in films such as Mummy III and RainMan, for which she was nominated for the Fajr Crystal Simorgh International Film Festival. She then appeared in dramas such as Saint Mary and Crimson Soil and the films Hell, Purgatory, Heaven, There are things you don’t know, Alzheimer’s and the private life of Mr. and Mrs. M .. She won a Crystal Simorgh for Best Actress in a supporting role for Twenty In 2015, winner of the Award for Best Actress International Imagineindia Film Festival.
Keramati won the Best Actress Award at Imagineindia for her performance in “Ghosts” by acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui.
After the earthquake of Bam City which occurred on 26 December 2003, she approached philanthropy and charity work and on 30 December she was one of the artists partaking in a charity meeting for quake-stricken people of Bam. From 2013, releasing prisoners-sentenced-to-nemesis, have become one of the charity work she does and she has put some efforts in collecting blood money and getting the next of kin’s satisfaction. In this respect Shahab Moradi has been one of her companions. She is also a women’s rights activist.
Young Indian cinematographer Modhura Palit EICA (Eastern India Cinematographers Association), IWCC (Indian Women Cinematographers Collective) will receive the 2nd Angénieux “special encouragement” award on May 24th, 2019 during the “Pierre Angénieux ExcelLens in Cinematography” ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival. This recognition will allow Modhura the opportunity to use the most sophisticated Angénieux lenses on an upcoming project. She told us more about herself and her vision of cinematography.
Trained in commercial arts, Pooja Gupte has alternated between the world of commercials and independent shorts, documentaries, and features.
Here, Pooja speaks of the demands of her job – the artistry, the technicalities, and team-work. From the well-thought-out composition of visuals to the intuitive composition of team dynamics, Pooja zooms in and tracks her world behind the camera. She recounts her fascinating career that started off as an assistant cinematographer, and has spanned from a cinematographer for National-award-winning film CrossingBridges to Director of Photography in Netflix’s latest production, Brij Mohan Amar Rahe. Continue reading Cinematographer in focus: Pooja Gupte→
“Representing your country is both exhilarating and nerve-racking” – Reema Sengupta on the Sundance 2018 premier of her film Counterfeit Kunkoo”
Reema Sengupta, a name that is going to make a tumultuous entry in the feature-length Indian independent scene very soon, has made a fabulous one with her short fiction ‘Counterfeit Kunkoo’ already. The wearer of many hats, Reema is a writer, director, and an editor, has done some stellar work via the advertising agency that she founded called CATNIP. Reema is known for her documentaries, stop-motion animations, interactive video installations, and fiction films that she has made and worked in across India, UK, South Korea, & the US. Continue reading Interview with Reema Sengupta→
How do you make a feature film without Hollywood connections? According to filmmaker Lena Khan, the answer is serious hustle. She began with a Kickstarter campaign where she rallied the South Asian and Muslim communities to which she belongs, to write, direct, and produce The Tiger Hunter. The film, starring Danny Pudi and Jon Heder, follows an Muslim-Indian immigrant on his journey to discover where he fits in 1970s America. Continue reading Interview to Lena Khan (The Tiger Hunter)→
imagineindiafestival.com 