New York Indian Film Festival 2019


19th Annual NEW YORK INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL
May 7-12, 2019


SCREENING SCHEDULE
Friday May 10

 
The Flight
The Flight
The Flight
Friday May 10, 2019 @ 6:00 pm, Auditorium 2
Village East Cinemas, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.


OR

THE FLIGHT
2018 | India | 83 mins | Bengali (with English subtitles)
Directed by - Buddhadeb Dasgupta
Cast - Chandan Roy Sanyal, Parno Mittra, Sudipto Chatterjee


Post Screening Q&A with lead actor Chandan Roy Sanyal

US Premiere

Trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-SKBb2slik

Synopsis: A village mechanic dreams of flying. After discovering the crash site of a World War II Japanese plane, Bachchu Mondal decides to rebuild it. His project doesn’t go unnoticed by the ghosts that haunt the place, all victims of broken dreams. Authorities begin their investigation of Mondal as a life-threatening series of bizarre events that conspire.

Buddhadeb Dasgupta Director: An ex- economics professor, an illustrious Bengali poet and writer, Buddhadeb Dasgupta is an internationally celebrated master filmmaker, considered to be India’s foremost today. His signature style rests as much on the visual poetry of his films as on the socially relevant themes he highlights. He delves into several different layers of “reality” and creates a world un-presumed. Dasgupta have won numerous national and international awards, accolades and honour from the most prestigious organisations worldwide in the last forty years of his filmmaking career. Winner of Best Director’s award from Venice International Film Festival for his Masterpiece 'Uttara' ('The Wrestlers'), he has been programmed for Masters’ of World Cinema section of Toronto International Film Festival for seven times and has won the prestigious Golden Athena, Life Time Achievement award from Athens International Film Festival. Dasgupta has been the chairman of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata, Government of India for two terms and is a part of the present Academy Award Jury Board. His filmography boasts on internationally acclaimed masterpieces like 'Duratwa' ('The Distance'), 'Grihajuddha' ('The Crossroads'), 'Bagh Bahadur' ('Tigerman'), 'Phera' ('The Return'), 'Charachar' ('In Shelter of the wings'), 'Uttara' ('The Wrestlers'), 'Mondo Meyer Upakhyan' ('Tale of a Naughty Girl'), 'Kaalpurush' ('Memories in the mist') and many more with the last work being 'Tope' ('The Bait') which world premiered in Masters of World Cinema, TIFF, 2016 and got a huge global credit. Urojahaj (The Flight) is his latest oeuvre.

Social Media Handles: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Off_(2017_film)
https://mubi.com/films/the-flight-2018

Reviews: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/flight-review-1156210

Photograph
Photograph
Photograph
Centerpiece
Friday May 10, 2019 @ 6.15 pm, Auditorium 3
Village East Cinemas, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.


OR

PHOTOGRAPH
2018 | India | 109 mins | Hindi, English, and Gujarati (with English subtitles)
Directed by – Ritesh Batra
Cast - Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra


Post Screening Q&A with director Ritesh Batra

Trailerhttps://youtu.be/LwOGIlpPqek

Synopsis: A struggling Mumbai street photographer pressured to marry by his grandmother convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée during a family visit. Despite vast cultural differences, the pair develops a surprising connection that challenges their worldviews in a wistful and funny romance from Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox).

Ritesh Batra Director: Ritesh Batra’s debut work 'The Lunchbox', was supported by the Sundance Institute and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. It was nominated for the 2015 BAFTAS. He has since worked on 'Our Souls At Night,' starring Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, 'The Sense Of An Ending' with Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling, 'Photograph'  is his newest work. He has a passion for running, reading, and fountain pens. His favorite color is blue.




Social Media Handles: Facebook I Twitter I Instagram
#PhotographMovie

Kattumaram
Kattumaram
Kattumaram
Friday May 10, 2019 @ 6:30 pm, Auditorium 4
Village East Cinemas, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.

OR

KATTUMARAM

2019 | India | 73 mins | Tamil (with English subtitles)
Directed by – Swarnavel Eswaran


Post Screening Q&A with director Swarnavel Eswaran

Synopsis: 'Kattumaram' explores the gradual transformation of a conservative maternal uncle as he begins to accept his orphaned niece’s relationship with a woman. The film’s narrative revolves around the Tsunami-affected lives of middle-aged fisherman Singaram and his orphaned niece and nephew whom he deeply cares for. As Singaram works hard to provide for his family, he also tries to arrange a groom for his niece. But she rejects the many suitors he brings. Singaram soon learns that his niece is in love with her fellow female teacher. Ostracised by his community, Singaram tries to come to terms with his niece being a lesbian. In this process, he learns to empathize with the plight of the village barber, the transgender Alankaram.

Dr. Swarnavel Eswaran PillaiDirector: Dr. Swarnavel Eswaran Pillai is an Associate Professor in the Departments of English, and Media and Information at Michigan State University. He is the director of the documentaries 'Thangam' (1996) and 'Hmong Memory At The Crossroads'(2015). 'Catamaran' is his latest film which is looking for distribution and sales.

Bhoga Khirikee
Bhoga Khirikee
Bhoga Khirikee
Friday May 10, 2019 @ 6:30 pm, Auditorium 5
Village East Cinemas, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.


OR

Bhoga Khirikee
2018 | India | 122 mins | Assamese
Directed by – Jahnu Barua
Cast – Zerifa Wahid, Seema Biswas, Joy Kashyap, Sanjay Khargharia, Kasvi Sharma, Mohommed Ali Shah and Bishnu Khargharia.


Synopsis: In a rural village in Assam, life for Togor becomes full of strains after she marries Koncheng – a militant who has been constantly on the run. Her stubborn father refuses to acknowledge the marriage, despite constant pleading by her benevolent mother. Although she agrees to the ideology of people’s fight against all injustice, Togor is more worried about the uncertainty of life that exists around her, and has to tackle with injustice heaped upon her.

However Togor is hardly aware that the most unfortunate moment of her life is yet to come… when two army men arrive at her house on a routine search visit to enquire about Koncheng… All of a sudden life takes an unexpected turn for Togor.

JAHNU BARUADirector: One of India’s internationally acclaimed filmmakers, Jahnu Barua is a twelve-time National Award winner. Conferred Padma Shri (2003) and Padma Bhushan (2015), some of his notable films are Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai (The Catastrophe), Firingoti (Spark), Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door (It’s a Long Way to the Sea), Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Mara (I did not kill Gandhi), Konikar Ramdhenu (Ride on the Rainbow), Baandhon (Waves of Silence), Ajeyo (Invincible) etc. Currently, right after the release of Bhoga Khidikee (Broken Window), Jahnu Barua will begin work on Unread Pages – an Indo-US co-production between Easterly Entertainment and Hollywood’s Ivanhoe Pictures.

GOOD GUY BAD GUY
GOOD GUY BAD GUY
GOOD GUY BAD GUY
Friday May 10, 2019 @ 9:00 pm, Auditorium 2
Village East Cinemas, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.

OR

GOOD GUY BAD GUY

2018 | India | 79 mins | Tamil/ Kannada/ English (with English subtitles)
Directed by – Indu Krishnan
Cast – Indu Krishnan, Zakhir


Post Screening Q&A with director Indu Krishnan

Trailerhttps://www.indukrishnan.com/trailer

Synopsis: 'Good Guy Bad Guy' is the story of the engaging yet elusive Zakhir, a young recycler the filmmaker befriends in her native Bangalore and follows over five years. At once alone and part of a shifting circle of acquaintances and employers, Zakhir navigates urban precarity with a kind of enigmatic pragmatism, refusing steady employment for the freedom from obligation and reinventing his dreams when they fail to materialize. 'Good Guy Bad Guy' is a story of street life and celluloid fantasy, family and violence, tenderness and inconstancy.

Indu KrishnanDirector: Indu Krishnan grew up in India and has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Delhi University. She subsequently took courses in Fine Art at Parsons School of Design and got a Masters in Media Studies at the New School for Social Research in New York. She is the recipient of numerous grants including the Rockefeller Intercultural Fellowship; Media grants from the National Endowment of the Arts, ITVS, New York State council on the Arts among others. She has worked for corporate and public television in the US and in between independently produced her own documentaries. She currently divides her time between Bangalore and San Francisco.

Social Media Handles:
https://www.indukrishnan.com/

Yours Truly
Yours Truly
Yours Truly
Yours Truly
Friday May 10, 2019 @ 9:15 pm, Auditorium 3
Village East Cinemas, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.

OR

YOURS TRULY

2018 | India | 84 mins | Hindi (with English subtitles)
Directed by SANJOY NAG
Cast – Soni Razdan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aahana Kumra, Mahesh Bhatt


Post Screening Q&A with director Sanjoy Nag

Synopsis:  As 57-year-old government employee Mithi Kumar finds herself on the brink of retirement from her mundane office job, she realises there’s just one thing she’ll miss about work- or rather her daily commute. It’s the voice of a stranger that she has been irresistibly drawn to; one she has felt a deep connection with amidst the everyday din of the railway station. That voice belongs to the station announcer- her invisible but constant companion as she goes to work every day.

Ever since the first time she heard his voice, she felt something stir in her- and over the last decade it began to feel as if he was speaking directly to her, as she began conjuring up her own images of him- even writing letters to him, sharing her deepest emotions with this stranger. As her days at work come to a close, Mithi searches anxiously for her imagined soulmate. Will she ever find him- and more importantly, is he for real? Yours Truly is a story about seeking connection and discovering how love can strike at any age- and in the most unexpected places.

Sanjoy NagDirector: Sanjoy Nag, born and raised in Kolkata, started out with documentaries before branching out to feature films. His debut feature 'Memories in March', was world premiered at the New Currents Section, Busan International Film Festival 2010 & won the Indian National Award in 2010 apart from featuring in the Indian Panorama, IFFI, Goa ‘2011; MAMI, Mumbai; Kerala IFF, Durban IFF, South Africa and numerous others across the globe. 'Parapaar', starring Rituparna Sengupta, Paoli Dam and based on a Moti Nandy novel was his sophomore feature, released in 2014. He has just completed his first Hindi feature 'Yours Truly' starring Soni Razdan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aahana Kumra & Mahesh Bhatt. 'Yours Truly' will have its World Premiere in the Windows on Asian Cinema section at the Busan International Film Festival 2018 before travelling to other Festivals and a release later in the year. Sanjoy is currently busy with the postproduction of his recent feature film 'Good Morning Sunshine' starring Revathy, Shweta Tripathi, Rituparna Sengupta, Tejaswini Kolhapure and Shabana Azmi.
Presently involved with the scripting of his feature film concept Starring Ranbir & Hrithik which was selected for the Asian Projects Market, Busan International Film Festival, 2016. A web series is also on the anvil.
An obsessive foodie and traveler, he dons the grease paint for exciting roles in films which have had their share of critical acclaim and commercial success.

MIDNIGHT DELHI
MIDNIGHT DELHI
MIDNIGHT DELHI
Friday May 10, 2019 @ 9:30 pm, Auditorium 4
Village East Cinemas, 2nd Ave @ 12th Street, NYC.


OR

MIDNIGHT DELHI
2018 | India | 75 mins | Hindi (with English subtitles)
Directed by – Rakesh Rawat
Cast – Anshuman Jha, Mukesh Bhatt, Sahdev Raj Singh Hooda, Trushant Ingle, Mukesh Prajapati, Vinod Nahardih


Post Screening Q&A with director Rakesh Rawat

US Premiere

Trailer: https://filmfreeway.com/MidnightDelhi

Synopsis: 'Midnight Delhi' is a film exploring one cruel night of Delhi. It tells the entangled stories of several troubled souls, whose fates are sewn together carrying all the possible version of truth each version as real as the last one.  It says about how a little change in intent can bring out a completely different personality. Midnight Delhi is a night in search of fortunes, love and success, longing for hope and self-preservation, a night of chaos and judgment questioning the vulnerability and existence of reality.

RakeshDirector: Rakesh is an Indian Director and Cinematographer. Born and raised in Delhi. After completing graduation in journalism (2009), he did masters in Cinematography (2010-2012). He later moved to Mumbai and started working as a freelance Director. He founded 'Thoughtful Clown Films' in 2015 and produced/directed his first feature film 'Midnight Delhi' (2018) under the same banner.


Social Media Handles
https://www.facebook.com/MidnightDelhi/
https://filmfreeway.com/MidnightDelhi

Reviews
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/midnight-delhi-wins-honours-at-film-fest-in-singapore/articleshow/66296544.cms
https://www.ibtimes.co.in/midnight-delhi-gets-thumbs-audience-jury-singapore-south-asian-film-festival-783519
   
 


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