White Crane Arts & Media Trust Announces
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| L to R Tenzing Sonam, Ritu Sarin,Umesh Kulkarni, Hansal Mehta and Saibal Chatterjee at DIFF 2013 announcement in Delhi |
New Delhi Sep 26th 2013(Sailesh Gandhi): The film festival bringing independent cinema to the mountains has been announced today in the capital by noted filmmakers and DIFF directors, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam. From 24th to 27th October, the hills of Dharamshala will come alive with the sights and sounds of approximately 30 films – fiction, documentaries, shorts and experimental – carefully selected from the best of contemporary world cinema.
The announcement was followed by apanel discussion on "Indian Indie Cinema: Coming of Age?" with filmmakers Hansal Mehta, Umesh Kalkarni and Ritu Sarin, and film critic Saibal Chatterjee, highlighted the challenges facing independent filmmakers and directors in India today. Hansal Mehta argued that independent cinema needs to operate as a part of the mainstream film industry in India, adding that some big production houses are now moving toward supporting documentaries and independent film. Meanwhile, Umesh Kulkarni elaborated on how the independent cinema industry in India is growing and slowly gaining popularity. During the discussion, Saibal Chatterjee expressed his view that if filmmakers can continue to make and direct good cinema, audiences in India will increasingly acknowledge and appreciate their work. The panellists agreed that festivals like DIFF which celebrate independent cinema are an important platform for achieving this objective.
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| L-R, Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin-Festival Directors - announcing details of the second edition of DIFF 2013 |
DIFF 2013 is excited to announce that several India premieres are on the programme. These include: Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin’s provocative Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer; Polish filmmaker Jacek Borcuch’s Sundance award-winning feature, Lasting; Australian director Kate Shortland’s moving post-World War II drama, Lore; British artist Shezad Dawood’s debut sci-fi feature, Piercing Brightness; and Japanese cult director Takanori Tsujimoto’s martial arts extravaganze, Bushido Man.
This year, we have a special focus on Indian documentaries with strong social concerns. DIFF 2013 will be presenting Nishtha Jain’s Gulabi Gang, Amit Virmani’s Menstrual Man, and Anand Patwardhan’s Jai Bhim Comrade.
A number of films have young protagonists at their centre, children or teenagers struggling to overcome a range of personal setbacks and dilemmas. Among these are Kim Mordaunt’s coming-of-age drama set in Laos, The Rocket; Dominga Sotomayor’s Chilean road movie, Thursday Till Sunday; and the above-mentioned Lore.
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| L to R Tenzing Sonam, Ritu Sarin,Saibal Chatterjee, Hansal Mehta & Umesh Kulkarni after t he announcement of programme highlights of DIFF 2013 |
DIFF 2013 will also have strong representation from the new Indian indie wave. These include, Nagraj Popatrao Manjule’s Fandry, and Q’s Tasher Desh.
Other notable films screening at the festival are Kleber Mendonça Filho’s remarkable first film and the official Brazilian entry to the Oscars, Neighbouring Sounds; Ramon Zürcher’s droll and off-beat The Strange Little Cat; Alison Klayman’s revealing portrait of China’s most famous dissident artist, Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry; Avijit Mukul Kishore’s chronicle of the birth of contemporary Indian art, To Let the World In; Joshua Oppenheimer’s much-laudedaward-winning documentary, The Act of Killing; and Prasanna Vithanage’s touching Sri Lankan drama, With You, Without You.
An unusual and exciting sidebar, curated in collaboration with Vienna-based Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation, will present a series of films made by leading international artists, rarely seen outside the gallery space.
Another sidebar will showcase the best of recent short films from India, curated by noted Indian filmmaker Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni.
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| L to R Umesh Kulkarni, Hansal Mehta & Saibal Chatterjee speaking on the issues & concerns of Independent Cinema in India |
Attending the festival will be filmmakers, producers, film critics, film festival directors, and of course, legions of film lovers, all coming together to celebrate independent cinema in the beautiful mountain setting of Dharamshala. With its unique and intimate atmosphere, the festival will offer visitors an exceptional and exciting opportunity for creative inspiration and the exchange of ideas, rare outside India’s metropolitan areas.
DIFF is delighted to be inviting to Dharamshala a number of acclaimed Indian and international filmmakers and industry professionals who will be interacting with the audience through Q&A sessions, panel discussions and filmmaking masterclasses to provide inspiration to budding local filmmakers and nurture fresh talent. They include:
Jacek Borcuch, award-winning Polish actor, director and screenwriter.
Prasanna Vithanage, one of Sri Lanka's most notable filmmakers whose films have won many awards, both local and international.
Anand Patwardhan, one of India’s leading documentary filmmakers known for tackling divisive issues at the core of social and political life in India.
Nishtha Jain, director and producer whose films have received several international awards and been extensively screened at international film festivals.
Ramon Zürcher, German writer/director, described as a bold new talent whose enchanting first feature, A Strange Little Cat, has been critically acclaimed.
Sylvia Wilczynski, producer of The Rocket and several other award-winning fiction and documentary films.
Alison Klayman, director, producer and cinematographer whose debut documentary feature, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, was awarded a Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Defiance at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
Avijit Mukul Kishore, Mumbai-based filmmaker and cinematographer, specialising in documentary film and collaborations with visual artists on video and film-based installations.
Amit Virmani, Singapore-based documentary filmmaker of Indian origin whose debut, Cowboys in Paradise, was one of the most talked about Asian documentaries in recent years.
Q, director of the Bengali fantasy film,Tasher Desh (The Land of Cards), praised by international critics for its vivid experimental cinematography and unusual style.
Francesca von Habsburg, a leading figure in the art world who regularly participates in the major biennales by commissioning new works of contemporary art through her foundation, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, which she founded in 2002 in Vienna, Austria.
The programming for DIFF 2013 promises to be eclectic and adventurous and we look forward to welcoming our visitors to enjoy this very special festival in the Himalayas!
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