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.

A Girl Who Spreads Light
Jayaraj
India. 2022. 76 min

He is writing his suicide letter because of he feels misfit in this world, life is miserable, meaning less. He bought a bottle of deadly poison and started to say good bye to some people close to him and some places like school, college, beach, temple, church, all the roads, look and corner he travelled. Visited his school teacher who lost her memory. Sat on a bench where he sat first time in the school. Visited the live classroom of his college where Romeo Juliet’s final poison scene is teaching. Releasing the parrot of a fortune teller. Enjoying the colourful bangles in the shop. At last, entering in a cinema theatre to spend the time to dawn. While sitting alone in the back seat a 13-year charming girl came and sit with her younger sister and brother. Her talkative pleasant attitude and sparkling smile made his mind positive. After one year he is meeting her again in the beach side. There she looked at him and spectators with a smile.

JAYARAJ

Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj, is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry. Jayaraj is a recipient of the Crystal Bear award at the Berlinale, the Golden Peacock award at the IFF India, the Golden Crow Pheasant award at the IFF Kerala, the FIPRESCI award from the International Federation of Film Critics, the Don Quixote award from the International Federation of Film Societies, the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) award and a special mention award at the Karlovy Vary IFF for variety of his films. He is also a 6-time recipient of the National Film Award and several Kerala State Film Awards.

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CONTACT

samikshya@mountainriverfilms.com

The Fat Guy
Gudis Schneider
Israel. 2022. 93 min

Jimmy and Elik meet in the army, a minute before checking out. He is a fat corporaland she is a beautiful officer, but something clicks between them, They can talk. Ashame it doesn’t stand a chance. They run into each other through the years in thecity, Facebook and such, but only a decade later, when they’re both 30 plus, wiserand harder, they really become friends.
Everything is good, until love gets in the mix.

GUDIS SCHNEIDER

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Talking with Rivers
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Iran. 2023. 50 min

Talking with Rivers is a conversation between Iran and Afghanistan, two neighbouring countries that used to be one land. The two countries are now sharing their stories after they parted from each other, from the era of Soviet invasion to the civil war and the Taliban era, up to and including the rise and fall of America and the return of the Taliban.

MOHSEN MAKHMALBAF

Mohsen Makhmalbaf is an Iranian director, writer, producer. He is known as one of the most influential filmmakers and founders of the new wave of Iranian cinema in the world today.

During his career, Makhmalbaf has made numerous critically-acclaimed films including Salam Cinema (Cannes 1995), Time of love (Cannes 1995) Gabbeh (Cannes 1996), A Moment of Innocence (Locarno1996), The Silence (Venice 1998), Tales of Kish (Cannes 1999), Testing democracy (Venice 1999), Kandahar (Cannes 2001), Scream of the Ants (Montreal 2007), The President (Venice 2014) and The Night of Zayandeh-Rood (Venice 2017) …

He is the recipient of more than 60 international awards from some of the most prestigious film festivals across the world.

His film Kandahar has been chosen as one of the top 100 best movies of history of cinema by Times Magazine. And his film A Moment of Innocence has been selected as one of the top ten best films of the ’90s amongst the director of world international film festivals.

As a writer-director, Makhmalbaf has also published more than 30 books, many of which have been translated and published in many languages.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

During the past 40 years, I have directed and produced ten feature and documentary films about Afghanistan. I have launched and completed dozens of cultural and educational projects in Afghanistan and for that matter, for years I lived in various times in different cities around Afghanistan, closely witnessing the contemporary history of Afghanistan and the lives of the people. In all these years I have felt that the world has forgotten Afghanistan and unaware of the sufferings of the Afghan people and those who intended to help but failed, had no concrete knowledge and notion of Afghan society. This film is an attempt to explain the complexities of this situation in a plain and intelligible language.

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CONTACT

http://www.makhmalbaf.com