Something like cinema: Exploring Ray
Jaydip Mukherjee
India. 2025. 35 min

A documentary film that explores various influences that had shaped the filmmaking craft of Satyajit Ray. The influences, borne out of his meeting with a number of gifted individuals and his experiences of an array of perception-altering incidents had molded his aesthetic sensibilities and had made him what he was. The film strives to capture how the auteur Satyajit Ray had straddled atop diverse avenues of artistic pursuits, most of which had coalesced to form the identity of an unmatched narrator of ideas, – both persuasive and profound. This film attempts to capture all these influences that had imparted alchemic touches to turn him into an auteur of impeccable standing. It explores the aesthetic psyche of Ray that relates his images with his cinematic experiences. This Documentary retraces the influences that had shaped his sensibilities, some of them inherited while the remaining imbibed from the ambiance and the people that he had come across. Several of these facets such as Illustrator, Calligrapher, Musician and Author are partly eclipsed by his phenomenal standing as a Filmmaker, yet all of them were collaborating strands of his composite aesthetic universe.

Poetries from the Bookstores: Somewhere I belong
Hou Chi-Jan
Taiwan. 2025. 93 min

Testimonies from passionate proprietors reveal the diversity of Taiwan’s independent bookshops, all with a distinct style and flair. Centring on the most human aspects of each, Hou Chi-jan’s documentary reinvigorates a love for these charming establishments as a second home.