India, the country honored at the 2022 Marche du Film (Cannes Film Market), marks its 75th year as an independent nation, with a six-film package to be screened in the market.
India, the country honored at the 2022 Marche du Film (Cannes Film Market), marks its 75th year as an independent nation, with a six-film package to be screened in the market.
It is set to go on screen at the 75th Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday evening, the first full-in-person version of the event in three years, screening Michel Hazanivicius’ film-themed French zombie comedy “Final Cut” . ,
India, the country honored at the 2022 Marche du Film (Cannes Film Market), marks its 75th year as an independent nation, with a six-film package to be screened in the market. In this, actor R. Madhavan’s directorial debut includes “Rocketry: The Nambi Effect”, which is slated to release in early July.
The five other films selected by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting are Nikhil Mahajan’s Marathi language “Godavari”, Shankar Sreekumar’s “Alpha Beta Gama”, Biswajit Bora’s “Bomba Ride”, Achal Mishra’s “Dhooin” and Jayaraj’s “Tree Full Off”. Off parrots”. All these will be shown on screen in the movie Marche Du. I
n festival proper, however, India’s presence is at the best. Shaunak Sen’s Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Award-winning documentary film “All That Breathes”, Khurrana’s short film debut in Le Cinef (a competition for film schools) and juror Deepika Padukone is the only ‘official’ participant in the world’s major film this year Huh. Festival.
During the festival, however, a slew of new Indian film projects will seek global breakthroughs through pitching and mentoring sessions held as part of the Cannes Film Festival or Marche du Film.
Leading the pack are “Starfruits” by FTII student Gaurav Kumar Malik produced by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni’s Arbhat Films, Sameer Sarkar’s Magic Hour Films and FTII alumnus Yudhajit Basu. It is one of nine fiction films and documentary shortlisted for La Fabrique les Cinemas du Monde, an event organized by the Institut Française as part of the Cannes Film Festival.
In the director’s own words, “Starfruits” seeks to present a “contrary to the archetypal image of a ‘gangster’ fighting the system through a unique love story”. 10 La Fabrice 2022 filmmakers will be mentored by Myanmar-born Taiwanese director Midi Jade, whose credits include features such as “Ice Poison”, “The Road to Mandalay” and “Nina Wu”.
La Fabrique 2022 has two other South Asian projects in the mix – Avinash Bikram Shah’s “Elephant in the Fog” (Nepal) and Seema Gul’s “Heaven of Hope” (Pakistan). In an unprecedented double break, Shah also has a 14-minute short film – “Lullaby (The Sadness of My Mother’s Lullaby)” at the Cannes Short Film Competition.
Another Indian film that is likely to be in the news in the coming months is Rajesh S Jala’s “Chingari” (Spark), which the director has produced himself in association with Prayas Deepti’s Inquilab Studio. It is one of five projects from around the world selected by the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum for its “HAF Goes to Cannes” programme.
The short synopsis of “Spark” reads: “A filmmaker on assignment follows a crematorium and an old woman to the ancient city of Benares with his camera. Soon, hidden realities emerge and the filmmaker’s true mission comes to the fore.” Jalla’s most famous film is the internationally acclaimed 2008 documentary “Children of the Pyre”, filmed at the largest cremation ground in Banaras on the banks of the Ganges.
Five works in progress are in various stages of production of the ‘NFDC Film Bazaar Goes to Cannes’ line-up. These are “Baghjan”, an Assamese-moran film by Jaicheng Zaxai Dohutia; Shailendra Sahu’s Hindi-Chhattisgarhi film “Bailadila”; Ektara Collective’s “Ek Jag Apni”; Harshad Nalwade’s Marathi-Kannada-Hindi film “Follower” and Jay Shankar’s Kannada film “Shivamma”.
So, while India will remain a bit of a player in the festival, filmmakers across the country can expect a lot of action at the Cannes film market.