Sir directed by Rohena Gera

We all love stories and cinema is the ultimate story-teller which spins magical tales of love and loss, set in unimagined realms. Sometimes cinema is a mirror of society, sometimes a celebration of the imagination and the invincibility of the human spirit. It is always the catalyst which draws us into people’s lives, into new ways of thinking, of seeing.

Once again, the long-awaited New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) brings a wonderfully curated collection of films for its 19th year of screening Independent, art house, alternate, and Diaspora films from the Indian subcontinent (May 7– May 12) at the Village East Cinemas in Manhattan.This well-loved festival, created by the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) has been a tradition in New York for many years.

You will see the heartbeat of Indian life in these films which touch upon relationships, the disparities of life, caste, class and the hope and challenge of a new India. For movie fans, the good news is that they can binge watch on 32 screenings (29 narrative, 3 documentary and 32 short films). NYIFF will be featuring 7 World Premieres along with an International Premiere and 5 US premieres and the rest of the films being NY premieres.

The bonus for film-goers on opening night is the red carpet with celebrities like Mira Nair, Madhur Jaffrey, Vikas Khanna, Pooja Kumar, Samrat Chakrabarti, Melanie Chandra and Shezi Sardar, among others. After the screening of Sir there is a Q and A with director Rohera Gera.

Sir, the opening night movie is a winner – it is a tale of the class divide in India where Ratna, a domestic live-in help seems entitled to live only small dreams. This fairy-tale shows all that is possible and is directed by Rohera Gera and stars the very talented Tillotama Shome.

The centerpiece film is the acclaimed Ritesh Batra film Photograph – an unusual love story set on the streets of Mumbai between two strangers who meet accidentally. Fans of Ritesh Batra who loved his debut film The Lunchbox are in for a treat starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra. The screening is followed by a Q and A with Ritesh Batra.

One of the major highlights of the NYIFF is Gurinder Chadha’s stunning new film Blinded by the Light which is making its New York debut after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival where it was bought by Amazon Studios for $15 million. This beautiful coming of age film is inspired by the true story of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor and his lifelong love of the music of Bruce Springsteen and received a standing ovation at Sundance.Film Festival.

The closing night film which falls on May 12 is appropriately enough on Mother’s Day, a paean to women’s lives. ‘The Last Color’ is the creation of celebrity chef and filmmaker Vikas Khanna who was recently named the Brand Ambassador of the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC). The Last Color stars the remarkable Neena Gupta and a cast of talented young natural actors in a story from the heart which is bound to touch the hearts of film-goers.

Since this closing night screening takes place on Mother’s Day, a pink carpet is planned to honor all mothers, with a request that guests wear pink. They will also find a pink scarf on their seats as a gift, since pink is the favorite color of Noor in the film, the color of women’s power.

The festival is so much about ordinary lives and many of the movies echo that – Yours Truly starring Soni Razdan, Pankaj Tripathi and Aahana Kumra is about the connections we form, sometimes to a disembodied voice on the loudspeaker on a daily commute. Love can happen anywhere, anytime and at any age.

This year NYIFF has the largest number of regional (non-Hindi) language films with the languages ranging from Assamese, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, to Kannada, Ladakhi, Punjabi, and Harayanavi and all the films will have English subtitles. There’s even a Sindhi movie, a rare occurrence indeed! Sindhustan is a must-see documentary directed by Sapna Bhavnani, who will be available after the screening for an insightful Q and A.

Bengali Master Buddhadev Dasgupta’s Urojahaj (The Flight) will be a part of the special focus on Bengali cinema that NYIFF will be presenting this year. Seven features will be a part of this presentation, many by first time filmmakers, putting a spotlight on a resurgence of films from West Bengal.

There’s also the pleasure of watching Rituparna Sengupta, Aparna Sen and Soumitra Chatterjee in The Bose Family directed by Suman Ghosh and inspired by the novella ‘The Dead’ by James Joyce, an examination of today’s family.

Other highlights of the festival include Assamese filmmaker, Rima Das whose last film Village Rockstars was India’s official entry for the 2019 Oscars. Rima’s new film Bulbul Can Sing will have its NY premiere at NYIFF along with Assamese master and National Film Award Winner Jahnu Barua’s World premiere of his new film Bhoga Khirikee

If you love Arijit Singh’s singing you’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that this popular Bollywood performer is a film director too. His film Sa is a tribute to Satyajit Ray and Ravi Shankar, with the added bonus of Anoushka Shankar’s sitar. And these are just some of the surprises you’ll encounter at the NYIFF, not to mention thoughtful Q and A’s with filmmakers, networking with other film fans and also getting a chance to watch some really thoughtful cinema.

So put aside the daily grind and escape to the New York Indian Film Festival for six days of binge-watching of the best movies from India! For more information on tickets and scheduling: NYIFF2019 Schedule