Issue - 11 & 12 November - December 2014 Vol - 5 Pages : 12 RNI No. KARBIL/2010/31617 | CPMG/KA/BGS/107/2012-2014 REGISTERED : £ÀªÉA§gï-r¸ÉA§gï 2014 Cinema auteur who championed women cause - S Viswanath Kailasam Balachander, 84, one of most austere auteurs of Tamil cinema, in a career spanning over four decades, lit up the Indian celluloid screens with nearly 150 feature films. Born into Tamil Brahmin family, in 1930, at Nannilam, in the then Tanjore District (now Tiruvarur district), Balachander credited with discovering and nurturing the talents of the likes of prodigious Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Saritha, Prakash Raj and Vivek, was reputed tough task master, and a man with the Midas touch. Carving a niche for himself as the most unconventional film-makers with hard-hitting social and political themes,much way ahead of the times, Balachander was known for his bold and daring portrayal of women in his films in pivotal roles. Balachander who earned the sobriquet of Iyakkunar Singaram, through his nuanced and subtle approach to unconventional and complicated subjects that spotlighted on interpersonal relationships as also social themes, began his cinematic sojourn as screenwriter. Affectionately addressed KB Sir by his legion of admirers, his clutch of cinematic oeuvres were testimony to his thematic concerns for women and their strong, bold portrayals. An ardent admirer of poet Bharathi and a feminist to the core, Balachander cast his heroines as intelligent, independent and headstrong individuals, with most of his films shaking the traditional concept in the Tamil film world fed on hero centric fares. Be it Aval Oru Thodarkadhai, one of his path- breaking works, about a selfless, hard- working woman who struggles to support her largely ungrateful family, Apoorva Raagangal exploring the relationship between anelderly singer and her young admirer, Avargal, about a modern young divorcee as she traverses relation-ships in reverse, from divorce, to marriage, to falling in love; Arangetram, where a Brahmin girl takes to prostitution to sustain a large family; Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu, that showcased the trials and tribulations of un- employed youth of the relation-ships in reverse, from divorce, to marriage, to falling in love; Arangetram, where a Brahmin girl takes to prostitution to sustain a large family; Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu, that showcased the trials and tribulations of unemployed youth of the 1980s; Thanneer, an absorbing tale about a village’s thirst for water, and lengths they would go to get it; Achamillai, a rural tale of a simple do-gooder young man, and his lover, Oru Veedu Iru Vaasal, where an idealistic, high-minded wife detests her husband's extra-marital affair; and the other a junior artist who gets a divorce from her husband, following his terrible treatment of her, 47 Natkal that traces the adversities of newly wed Indian woman living with a scurrilous, expatriate husband; Sindhu Bhairavi about the intellectual collision and subsequent romance between a lofty Carnatic musician and his ardent critic. He was drawn to theatre and drama at 12, which helped him develop an interest in acting, writing and directing amateur plays. But fed on cinema from an impressionable, early age of eight, watching films of M K Thyagaraja, he soon focused on turning his plays into scripts for celluloid, and in the ’70s moving into new narratives – extra-marital affairs, unconventional love stories and women-centric films becoming his obsession. He saw success not just at the box office, but also critical recognition and awards for his new cinema. Honoured with Padma Shri and Dadasaheb Phalke Award his foray into films began when he was asked to write dialogues for Dheiva Thaai starring MGR. Thereafter, Balachander made his directorial debut through Neerkumizhi (1965) based on his own play, following it with Naanal, Major Chandra- kanth and Ethir NeechalI. Bala- chander has left behind a rich legacy of creative, critical cinematic oeuvres to be cherished and dissected through our lifetimes. Suchitra Cinema & Cultural Academy salutes this thespian of Tamil cinema and offers condolences to his bereaved family and followers and may his soul rest in peace. Tribute to the Master Filmmaker - K Balachander By Film maker T S Nagabharana and Actor Sundar Raj followed by the screening of the movie Varumayin Niram Sigappu [1980 | 138 mins| Tamil ] th 25 January 2014 5:30 PM at Suchitra Naani Angala SPECIAL ISSUE Suchitra wishes a very Happy New Year 2015 Suchitra wishes a very Happy New Year 2015 November -December 2014
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Cinema auteur who championed women cause- S Viswanath
Kailasam Balachander, 84, one of most austere auteurs of Tamil cinema, in a career spanning over four decades, lit up the Indian celluloid screens with nearly 150 feature films. Born into Tamil Brahmin family, in 1930, at Nannilam, in the then Tanjore District (now Tiruvarur district), Balachander credited with discovering and nurturing the talents of the likes of prodigious Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Saritha, Prakash Raj and Vivek, was reputed tough task master, and a man with the Midas touch.Carving a niche for himself as the most unconventional film-makers with hard-hitting social and political themes,much way ahead of the times, Balachander was known for his bold and daring portrayal of women in his films in pivotal roles.Balachander who earned the sobriquet of Iyakkunar Singaram, through his nuanced and subtle approach to unconventional and complicated subjects that spotlighted on interpersonal relationships as also social themes, began his cinematic sojourn as screenwriter. Affectionately addressed KB Sir by his legion of admirers, his clutch of cinematic oeuvres were testimony to his thematic concerns for women and their strong, bold portrayals.An ardent admirer of poet Bharathi and a feminist to the core, Balachander cast his heroines as intelligent, independent and headstrong individuals, with most of his films shaking the traditional concept in the Tamil film world fed on hero centric fares. Be it Aval Oru Thodarkadhai, one of his path-breaking works, about a selfless, hard-working woman who struggles to support her
largely ungrateful family, Apoorva Raagangal exploring the relationship between anelderly singer and her young admirer, Avargal, about a modern young divorcee as she traverses relation-ships in reverse, from divorce, to marriage, to falling in love; Arangetram, where a Brahmin girl takes to prostitution to sustain a large family; Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu, that showcased the trials and tribulations of un-employed youth of the relation-ships in reverse, from divorce, to marriage, to falling in love; Arangetram, where a Brahmin girl takes to prostitution to sustain a large family; Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu, that showcased the trials and tribulations of unemployed youth of the 1980s; Thanneer, an absorbing tale about a village’s thirst for water, and lengths they would go to get it; Achamillai, a rural tale of a simple do-gooder young man, and his lover, Oru Veedu Iru Vaasal, where an idealistic, high-minded wife detests her husband's extra-marital affair; and the other a junior artist who gets a divorce from her husband, following his terrible treatment of her, 47 Natkal that traces the adversities of newly wed Indian woman living with a scurrilous, expatriate husband; Sindhu Bhairavi about the intellectual collision and subsequent romance between a lofty Carnatic musician and his ardent critic.He was drawn to theatre and drama at 12, which helped him develop an interest in acting, writing and directing amateur plays. But fed on cinema from an impressionable, early age of eight, watching films of M K
Thyagaraja, he soon focused on turning his plays into scripts for celluloid, and in the ’70s moving into new narratives – extra-marital affairs, unconventional love stories and women-centric films becoming his obsession. He saw success not just at the box office, but also critical recognition and awards for his new cinema.
Honoured with Padma Shri and Dadasaheb Phalke Award his foray into films began when he was asked to write dialogues for Dheiva Thaai starring MGR. Thereafter, Balachander made his directorial debut through Neerkumizhi (1965) based on his own play, following it with Naanal, Major Chandra-kanth and Ethir NeechalI. Bala- chander has left behind a rich legacy of creative, critical cinematic oeuvres to be cherished and dissected through our lifetimes. Suchitra Cinema & Cultural Academy salutes this thespian of Tamil cinema and offers condolences to his bereaved family and followers and may his soul rest in peace.
Tribute to the Master Filmmaker - K BalachanderBy Film maker T S Nagabharana and Actor Sundar Raj
followed by the screening of the movie Varumayin Niram Sigappu [1980 | 138 mins| Tamil ]th25 January 2014 5:30 PM at Suchitra Naani Angala
SPECIAL ISSUE
Suchitra wishes a very Happy New Year 2015Suchitra wishes a very Happy New Year 2015
November -December 2014
2
Bravo Biffes! Toasting creative cinema carnivalCome December, its Hajj time for City’s
avowed cinephiles. Drawn in droves, driven
by a single agenda, they headed to the 11
screens at the 7th Edition of Bengaluru
International Film Festival that sees
Namma Bengaluru turns Mecca for movies
bringing the “World in Bengaluru”.
Braving the biting December chill, the
daunting distances, the testing traffic jams,
early waking hours, they travelled The
Longest Distance, all with single minded
determination to soak in the magic of
movies that lit up the screens.
7th BIFFes Artistic & Technical team
expertise ensured that all the 170 films in
the catalogue were screened according to
the schedule, much to the delight of the
Bengaluru audience.The kind of audience
assembly at the various venues, forums
and workshops, were any indicator, of our
true blue Bengalurians, never let anything
come in their way, given their innate love
for cinema. They saw, they debated, they
dissected, and left that much the wiser,
having seen what they judiciously chose
and wished to see, as the oeuvres offered
them a perspective peek into societies and
cultures as disparate and diverse as India,
and cosmopolitan Bengaluru, would offer,
from as many as 44 nations.
By ensuring that audiences from different
strata of society, streams of personal
calling, strands of individual interests,
Biffes, as Vidyashankar rightfully puts it:
empowered each and every participant to
widen their creative, aesthetic and
appreciative possibilities by watching the
kaleidoscope of expressions from different
cultures, providing a democratic space for
cultural interaction and mirroring global
human situation, turning into a meeting of
minds.
Given that women and girl child have been
pitchforked to the centre stage of public
discourse in recent times, be it in the
National Capital, or our own State Capital,
as also the nation and world over, Biffes
fittingly ensured a special section on
Gender Violence with a selection of films
on the issue be screened. And sure enough,
the participation and the discourse that
emanated thereon proved that the festival
committee were bang on.
Likewise, from the scores of films that were
specifically culled for the audiences to
watch and assimilate their larger
implications and impact were nearly a
dozen films which had women – as mother,
as teacher, and the child as the principal
protagonists, all grappling with everyday
situations as they sought legitimate spaces
and right to be heard and be given their
due.
Be it the Tamil film Kuttram Kadithal, which
spoke about corporal punishment in
schools and its deleterious effects on the
teacher, the taught and the parents,
likewise, the Cuban film Behavior, wherein
you had the aged teacher fighting the
system to assimilate the needs of an
impoverished child, or the Argentinian film
Refugiado, where the mother whisks away
her son from an alcoholic, abusive father,
and demeaning state of care homes, the
Bulgarian film The Lesson, which spotlights
on the high moral ground a teacher takes
on discovery of a theft in her class, only to
be felled from her moralistic stance by a
social situation she herself unwittingly
finds herself in. For that matter, the Chilean
film Illiterate, a stark, social and searing
study of the education system, the
principled stand of fortunate against the
lesser privileged and whether being literate
is all and cannot the illiterate wade through
the social stream with their heads held
high, or the French film Now or Never
which spotlights on to the extent to which a
mother and a wife would go to ensure the
family’s dreams are not shattered by the
capitalist system that does least cares
about their plight, the Iranian film Trapped,
where two young women try to wade
through a plethora of societal sanctions
against women, or the Venezuelan film The
Longest Distance, wherein a young boy
seeks to come to terms with the brutal
death of his mother. The Iranian film A
Cradle for Mother, where a young, aspiring
woman, is caught between a blossoming
career and care for her ailing mother, in the
Iranian film (Sizdeh)13, as to how a 13-
year-old has to grapple with the divorce of
his parents, the Serbian film No One’s Child,
the dismal state of orphanages and their
inhabitable status impacting the life of a
boy seeking to find meaning in social
mainstream, or the Venezuelan beauty Bad
Hair, where the functional and filial
dynamics between a son and his jobless
mother is put to test and end of tether, the
Brazilian film The Ballad of Poor Jean, who
has to come to terms with the social loss
and estimate of his once privileged family.
The Korean films Be Devilled and The
Crucible, Ethiopian film Oblivion, Iranian
film The Paternal House, Afghan film
Osama, Iranian film The Stoning of Sooraya
M, British film Magdalene Sisters, all
testimony to the concerns of women and
children in society.
Of course, one could go on about the
sterling qualities of other films featured
Biffes. However the audiences, with their
wholehearted participation have given
their endorsement of the quality of films so
holistically incubated to cater to the
various constituents of viewers.
Well, with Biffes 2014, ringing the curtains
down on the celebration of cinema on a
euphoric note, and as film maker Jahnu
Barua so eloquently expressed the thought
and purpose behind Biffes “of promoting
good cinema, that works as a catalyst for
creations for the society, that inspires
people, younger talents to create a better
future,” invigorating the cinema citizens for
a whole week, and as Artistic Director
Vidyashankar observes “a great place for
meeting of minds through delivering of
thoughts and ideas in a contemporary
mode and form,” it’s time to bid adieu to
2014 and await, with bated breath for 2015
and a new sojourn with Biffes. Until then,
au revoir, auf wiedersehen, adios amigos,
sayonara and namaskara. - SV
November -December 2014
3
7th BENGALURU INT FILM FEST: A ROADMAP TO GOOD CINEMA
thThe keynote of 7 BIFFES, 2014 could be
summed up in the preface by N.
Vidyashankar, the artistic Director, who
says: “Film festivals empower the viewer
to exercise his right to see what he wants
rather than what is thrust on him at the
market place.” Such “market place” is
unfortunately a hub centre for pulling the
rank and file to the poppycock and manky
movies, strong enough to corrupt general
culture. And thus in a way it massively
augments the responsibility of the festival
Directors of the world to hive off such film-
goers to the good taste of cinema that
stands for our cultural survival.
This year as a Jury Member of the Kannada thCinema, 7 BIFFES, held between Dec 5
and 11, 2014, I could discover very good
Kannada cinema, made out of huge
commitment of the directors as well as
government efforts to promote them at
the best festival avenues. Nearly ten
Kannada films were put in the competitive
section and incidentally some of them
have emerged luminously with absolute
humanism and power over the visual
medium. No doubt, a slew of films out of
ten looked awful and lack, to be candid,
sense of cinema and seem to be made with
an eye to marshal more greens, more
returns by stupefying the public.
Yet the films I have appreciated
include December 1 by P.Seshadri,
Prakruti / Nature by Panchakshari, Agasi
P a r l o u r / S a l o n a t t h e F o r t b y
Mahantesh Ramdurg and Hajj by Nikhil
Manjoo. In December 1, we are taken to
the village of Basupura that is gearing up
for the Chief Minister ’s visit on st1 December. The director, from the
beginning, sparks off the tempo over the
official schedule of staying overnight at
Madevappas’s house. The glitzy show for
the villagers put him in high doubt.
From here Seshadri shows how a CM’s
By Pradip Biswas, Jury Member International Film Festival of India and Jury Member Fribourg
International Film Festival, Swiss and Curator International Film Festivals
proposed visit could upturn ground reality
that finally evaporates after the CM’s visit.
The poor family, suddenly tossed up to a
first grade life scale, flutters again into the
existential low marginal life, unbearable,
wrought with pathos and grimness. It is a
rare film that visualizes the uprooting of
marginal people, being represented by
Madevappa and his poor destiny. Seshadri
probes within the wrought-out fabric of
the doomed villagers and shows to what
extent our political mockery has invested
our society with greater malaise. The film
is a not only a manifestation of realistic
l o o k ove r a c t u a l s o c i o - p o l i t i ca l
atmosphere but also parades the
directional prowess of the director.
Seshadri probes within the wrought-out
fabric of the doomed villagers and shows
to what extent our political mockery has
invested our society with greater malaise.
The film is a not only a manifestation of
realistic look over actual socio-political
atmosphere but also parades the
directional prowess of the director.
Prakruti/Nature directed by Panchakshari
is equally a strong film that fortifies the
truth we live with. It narrates a story set in
independence era about a farmer
Sankappayya and his shaken family. The
protagonist’s spoilt son Nani, and his
daughter Lakshmi, driven away from her
in-laws, virtually impair and destroy
Sankappayya’s passion for growing sweet
lemons. It looks doomed against the
backdrop of assuming Lakshmi as
Goddess. It may recalled here that in
Satyajit Ray’s film DEVI (1960), the father-
in-law takes his son’s wife as Devi as she
appears to be so in a dream, leading her to
commit suicide. Sankappaya’s worries,
poverty, cunning trick of the government
officials to post a TV tower for propagation
over his land has come as a bolt from the
blue. Reasons and counter reasons, spats,
courts, law-keeping body – all seem to
have petrified the marginal farmer to
ruination. The story, though of a pre-
independence time, has a contemporary
resonance and appeal. The film has been
invested with topical sensibility. It is not
hunky-dory to make a film like this on a
story authored by the legendary
U.R.Ananthamurthy. Treatment makes the
film a subject of pride. Pre and post
independent India is in no way different
and seems to perpetuate the domination
of the plutocrats which is so evident even
now, even today.
The director Mahantesh Ramdurg tackles
another tale of a poor barber Haddapa
who, like previous marginalized families,
goes from bad to worse with the change of
time and new technology. As such
Haddapa lives by hand in mouth along with
his wife. He is rather happy with his
surroundings, his fellow people gathering,
playing cards, running tea stalls; it is like a
small community with the most ordinary
living and thinking. But a sudden change of
fate caused by his friends moving away. As
the tea stall owner moves away and makes
the haircutting salon empty. Days go by but
there is no new customer. And old
customers nearly abandon Haddappa’s
primitive, conventional hair cutting salon
forcing him to leave the old place he lived
with head held high. Thus a tragic note is
struck abruptly.
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November -December 2014
4
th7 BIFFes 2014 Award Winners
www.biffes.in
November -December 2014
5
th`7 BIFFes – World In Bengaluru` movie stills
November -December 2014
6
7th Bengaluru Intl. Film Festival - a great success!
Curtains rolled down on the 7th Bengaluru
Intl. Film Festival (7th BIFFES) with the
conferring of Awards to winners of Asian,
Indian and Kannada Competition films on
the evening of 11th Dec.2014 by H.E., the
Governor of Karnataka. The Kannada film
industry was the happiest since as many as
five Awards were bagged by the Kannada
films in the Festival. th
The bright feature of 7 BIFFes is, 8 out of
the 10 award wining films were made by
debutant directors.
The 7th edition of the Festival (7th BIFFES)
which was held from Dec. 4 to 11, 2014 was
a resounding success with the screening of
170 films from across 44 countries through
11 screens. Close to 20 international
delegates and over 50 filmmakers from
across the country participated in the
seven day long Festival with close to 2000
audience members for each show. Apart
from the films shown in the Competition
and Cinema of the World sections, special
sections like thematic study on Gender
Violence, Tributes to eminent writers such
as Dr. U.R. Ananthamurthy and ace
Cinematographer Sri V.K. Murthy,
retrospectives were also held. Also
featured in the festival were FIPRESCI and
NETPAC award winning films. Both
contemporar y f i lms and c lass ics
contributed to the Festival a sound and
multi-dimensional content.
The Artistic Dept. of the Festival had taken
pains to pool a collection of films that have
won awards at major International Film
Festivals such as Berlin, Cannes, Karlovy
Vary, Moscow, Venice, Toronto, Locarno
and Bengaluru's ardent film lovers did not
miss this rare opportunity. Films made by
world renowned filmmakers such as Zhang
Yimou, Jean Luc Godard, Ken Loach,
Krzysztof Zanussi, Phillip Noyce, Nuri Bilge
Ceylan, Robert Bresson, Jacques Tati and
others were screened during the Festival.
This year's highlight was the presentation
of a bunch of highly acclaimed Asian films
from Iran, Pakistan, Korea, Japan,
Kazakhstan, Phillipines, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka and others.
With many sections in the Festival, each
dedicated to a trend or Director or
Technician or genre, the idea was to present
to the cinelovers the entire gamut of
creative film making and bring them face to
face with the history and the contemporary
trends in international cinema. Towards the
end, the Festival has achieved its purpose
and the films that were screened not only
inspired the filmmakers but also enthralled
the film lovers.
The academic content of the Festival was
upgraded with the successful Master
Classes, seminars and Open Forum
interactions with the filmmakers for the
benefit of film professionals, discerning
audiences and students on different
aspects of cinema. Many filmmakers came
down to the city along with their films and
participated in these interactive sessions.
The panel of young directors to discuss new
age cinema was a big hit, as was the
discussion on platforms for short films and
makers to showcase their talent. A seminar
was also held on the challenges for
Contemporary Kannada Cinema.
Master Classes on Cinematography using
the texts of 5 pioneering Indian Cinemato-
graphers of yesteryears - Josef Wirsching,
Babubhai Mistry, Marcus Batley, Subroto
Mitra and V.K. Murthy was conducted by
eminent Cinematographers Shri Govind
Nihalani, G.S. Bhaskar and their team. An
interactive session on an international
project initiated by Goethe Institute on
gender, migration and identity was held
with short films and videos as texts. As part
of the Fest ival , an exhibit ion of
photographs of some of the surviving single
screen cinema halls of India was held at
Maxmueller Bhavan in Indiranagar. A rare
experiment of live music for a full length
animation film was also presented by two
musicians from Germany at the Freedom
Park.
BIFFES chose to focus on Gender Violence
with six powerful films which drew record
audience. The films screened included The
Stoning of Soraya, Osama, Mission Rape,
Oblivion, Magdelene Sisters and the
Paternal House. The audience reaction to
the movies was overwhelming. People
either left reflective, silent or in tears. An
interactive session organised by the
Janavadi Mahila Sanghatane saw a special
interest audience that was keen on probing
issues relating to gender.
Apart from the dedicated team of
Organisers led by the Festival Artistic
Director Sri N. Vidyashankar and Deputy
Artistic Director Sri Anand Varadaraj, who
left no stone unturned in making the
festival a successful one, ample support
was extended by Sri Rajendra Singh Babu,
the Chairman of KCA and his team as well as
the officials of the Dept. of Information and
Public Relations led by its Director Sri N.R.
Vishukumar. The team of enthusiastic and
young student volunteers received much
appreciation from film enthusiasts. The
Festival not only attracted the youth, but
also drew a sizeable number of senior
citizens. Owing to the demand from the
Delegates, there were repeated screenings
for some outstanding films.
It is through these Film Festivals that people
are exposed to different cultures, lifestyles,
political, social and economic conditions
around the world. They also are made
aware of countries which they had not
heard much of earlier, like Ethiopia,
Mauritania, Slovakia, Serbia, Kazakhsthan
and so on. Cinema has a universal language
and it connects people emotionally and
helps to share human experiences beyond
their boundaries of cultures. Over the
years, this Festival too, like its predecessors
has created a niche for itself through its
sheer quality content, among the cinema
lovers of Bengaluru. As the curtain came
down on the 7th BIFFES on December 11,
2014, it has been firmly established as a
special Bengaluru event which cine-lovers
look forward to year after year and
Bengaluru has emerged as a premier
International Film Festival destination of
India.
B.S. Manohar
November -December 2014
7
Let's Face it: THE INTERVIEW is Yet Another Start
Even as I type this, I check the internet to read this article online
from Geek, which flies the headline: 'Sony's Success with THE
INTERVIEW Won't Change the Way Movies are Released'. Well, it
all depends on the question: "Will not change for how long?"
Remember the denials over the takeover of 35 mm by digital
cinema? That was not so long ago was it? It all happened sooner
than anyone anticipated.
The distribution game is going to change, inexorably and totally,
and sooner than later. The Interview, the political comedy directed
by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, with a couple journalists on a
mission to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after
getting an interview appointment, has already become "Sony's
highest grossing online release ever, taking in $15 million in online
rentals, as well as $2.8million from 331 theaters since opening on
Christmas Day," according to news reports. The film was made
with a budget of about $45 million.
The film has clearly been helped by widely-publicised tantrums by
the North Korean ruler against the film and a forced internet
shutdown in his country, but there is no denying that the age of
digital cinema is not only in and entrenched technologically, in
terms of production, post-production and viewing, but is also
forcing the much-expected paradigm shift in distribution.
After many hiccups and braving threats by anonymous hackers,
Sony partnered with Google and Microsoft for the online launch.
Sony has also made the movie available online via YouTube, Xbox
Video and Google Play. It has so far realised only $3 million from
box office sales but that it because major theatrical chains of the
US - Regal Entertainment Group, AMC Entertainment Holdings
Inc., Cinemark Holdings Inc. and Carmike Cinemas Inc. - pulled out
of the release contracts. The film was then offered to a grateful
and surprised set of independent, small movie houses.
It is somewhat astonishing that the movie eventually has
managed to gross as much as that till the weekend, given that the
hacking group, 'Guardians of Peace', scared off the big theatre
chains by breaking into Sony's computer network and releasing
confidential corporate and personnel information. In a reality
twist that's curiouser than fiction, "FBI has linked the hacking
group to North Korea," says another news report. It's all
happening for the movie, but there is yet plenty to recover,
because the company has spent another $35 million to market the
film.
Even if we must accept that The Interview is a success because of a
unique coming together of real politics, current affairs and media
hype about its online release, we cannot deny that this is a
demonstration, a harbinger of a new era of digital and online
distribution. Let us not forget that it was only a little over 10 years
ago that George Lucas
defied conventions and cabals to launch the age of digital cinema.
In 2002, Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones was the first big
movie to be shot entirely on digital video. Back then, the problem
was not just distribution, but also exhibition. The digital footage
had to be converted to 35 mm print. Seems funny, to look back.
One journalist at LA International Airport apparently asked Sony
Pictures Co-Chairman Amy Pascal if The Interview "would change
the way Hollywood released movies?" She said: "No, I don't
know." Clearly, though, she "hopes so" and on that hope rides a
new generation of filmmakers who will look to break free from the
clutches of the global distribution system. In one interview, a film
historian has sounded caution: "Studios are not going to invest
that kind of money for this potential return." Yet, he added: "It
shows that video on demand is a viable medium.“
Just imagine what the scenario could be in India if the online
digital video, with secure coding to prevent hacking and a viable
payment system could be evolved over the next few years?
Whatever be our own concerns about digital cinema, there is a
very, very urgent need for every single person in the movie
business to think about what these changes could mean to our
own creativity, craft and careers.
We have already seen how digital cinema has completely
transformed both production and exhibition, Even small and
experimental filmmakers don't hesitate to use two or more
cameras for their low-budget films. Bollywood has just about
completely switched over to sync sound. This has changed not
only the way scripts are shot, but also how they get written, who
gets cast and where the films are shot. The camera and lights are
easily moving into kitchens and bedrooms and representing life
and lives in location and character that could never have been
possible a decade ago.
- Prakash Belawadi
November -December 2014
Bollywood ban on female makeup artists to be declared unlawful
India’s supreme court justices say rule enforced by film industry union for almost 60 years is illegal
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I n B a r t l e b y & C o . , a n enormously enjoyable novel, Enrique Vila-Matas tackles the theme of silence in literature: the writers and non-writers who, like the scrivener Bartleby of the Herman Melville story, in answer to any question or demand, replies: "I would prefer
not to." Addressing such "artists of refusal" as Robert Walser, Robert Musil, Arthur Rimbaud, Marcel Duchamp, Herman Melville, and J. D. Salinger, Bartleby & Co.could be described as a meditation: a walking tour through the annals of literature. Written as a series of footnotes (a non-work itself), Bartlebyembarks on such questions as why do we write, why do we exist? The answer lies in the novel itself: told from the point of view of a hermetic hunchback who has no luck with women, and is himself unable to write,Bartleby is utterly engaging, a work of profound and philosophical beauty.
PÀvÉUÁwð – PÀªÀAiÀÄwæ vÀļÀ¹ ª É ÃtÄU ÉÆÃ¥Á¯ï º À Än Öz À Ä Ý ªÀÄAUÀ¼ÀÆj£À ¨ÉÆüÁgÀzÀ°è. ªÀÄÆ®vÀB ªÀÄAUÀ¼ÀÆj£ÀªÀgÁzÀ ²æêÀÄw vÀļÀ¹ ªÉÃtÄUÉÆÃ¥Á¯ï, «ªÁºÀzÀ £ÀAvÀgÀ ªÀÄÄA¨ÉÊ£À°è
Owned, Printed & Published by N Shashidhara (President) Suchitra Film Society; Printed at Suchitra Printers & Publishers;36, 9th Main (B.V. Karanth Road), Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bangalore-560070 Ph: 080-26711785
Editor: Prakash Belawadi, [email protected] Posted at GPO Bangalore-560001 on the last day of every month.
Ph
oto
Co
urt
esy:
Sri
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ri
Sun 25 Jan 2015 | 6:30 PM
The film depicts the struggles of youth and their disillusionment with a socialist Indian society in general. Centering around three educated but unemployed youth trying to earn a living, the story touches several aspects of Indian social norms of the period.
Varumayin Niram Sivappu Dir.: K. Balachander
1980 | 138 min
Mon 26 Jan 2015 | 6:30 PMSat 24 Jan 2015 | 6:30 PM
Mariachi Gringo Dir Tom Gustafson
2012 | 107 min| Mexico
Mariachi Gringo portrays the life of Edward (Shawn Ashmore), a young American man living in a small town. His days seem to make no sense until he meets Albert, an old Mexican who in his youth was mariachi. Edward soon find passion in traditional Mexican music and travels to Guadalajara, Mexico, with one goal: to become Mariachi. On his journey he will learn along the way that to achieve your dreams you have to sacrifice many things. On the way he will find himself loving two beautiful girls, Lilia (Martha Higareda) and Sophia (Lila Downs), a feeling that will take him to places he never imagined. Mariachi Gringo explores, through music, the pursuit of a dream -- despite cultural barriers, and personal, social and geographical boundaries.
Andres reaches the Mexican border to cross into the United Sates. There between each attempt, he discovers that Tijuana is a troubled city. As he waits there, Andres is not only confronted with his feelings and what he left behind, but also with those he meets.
NORTHLESS (Norteado)
Dir:Rigoberto Pérezcano|94 min |2009|Mexico
November -December 2014
Films are subject to change or cancellation without prior noticeFilm screenings are for members of Suchitra.
Mexican & Italian Film Festival at Suchitra In collaboration with FFSI & FFSI (SR) Screening on 24,26,31 Jan and 1 Feb 2015
Sun 1 Feb 2015 | 6-30 PM
La leggenda del santo bevitore tells the story
of a drunken homeless man (played by Rutger
Hauer) in Paris who is lent 200 francs by a
stranger as long as he promises to repay it to a
local church when he can afford to; the film
depicts the man's constant frustrations as he
attempts to do so. Stylistically the film is
perhaps the most mature of E. Olmi, certainly
the most refined: its Paris landscape of the
soul, is extraordinary. It is based on the 1939
novella by the Austrian novelist, Joseph Roth.
The film depicts the struggles of youth and
their disillusionment with a socialist Indian
society in general. Centering around three
educated but unemployed youth trying to
earn a living, the story touches several aspects
of Indian social norms of the period.
THE LEGEND OF THE HOLY DRINKER(La Leggenda Del Santo Bevitore)
Dir.: Ermanno Olmi| 1988 | 127mins|Italy
Sat 17 Jan 2015 | 7:00 PM
Filmmaker Hubertus Siegert profiles the German capital's radical reconstruction since 1989..Courtesy : Goethe Institut.
Berlin BabylonDir.:Hubertus Siegert |2001 | 88 mins |