Ridley Scott and Google to open festival Loktak Lairembee to feature at US premiere
Source: The Sangai Express
New York, November 06 2016:
Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) and The India Center Foundation are launching India Kaleidoscope, an exciting new festival that will present film lovers with a chance to immerse themselves in the unique sights and sounds that make up the Indian regional, independent film landscape.
These films, which delve into the most relevant and pressing topics facing India, are being made by today's most progressive filmmakers working in regional languages such as Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, and Bengali.
Their films are insightful, topical, and provocative, bringing to light the dynamism and the challenges that face modern India and her many diverse communities.
Loktak Lairembee (Lady of the Lake) directed by Haobam Paban Kumar will be shown on December 9 (Friday) at 7.30 pm (local time) .
The film wil be shown in Manipuri with English subtitles and is 71 minutes long.
Main actors of the film include Ningthoujam Sanatomba and Sagolshem Thambal.
Set amidst the unique community of fishing families that populate the floating islands of North East India's Lake Loktak, the spellbinding narrative debut from nonfiction filmmaker Haobam Paban Kumar blends documentary-like realism with a touch of the surreal.
"Consistent with our mission to offer a platform for barrier-breaking and emerging work from the subcontinent, the films featured in India Kaleidoscope film festival are eye opening studies from all corners of India," said Priya Giri Desai, a Founding Director of The India Center Foundation.
"The India Center Foundation is proud to present many of these new voices for the very first time in North America.
The festival represents the kind of work we hope to continue: quality collaborations that result in exposure to new sights and sounds to inspire our audience.
"India Kaleidoscope is an auspicious start to MoMI's collaboration with The India Center Foundation.
This dynamic partnership is proven by the quality of the Festival lineup and the participation of so many emerging and established film directors," said the Museum's Chief Curator, David Schwartz.
"We are thrilled to turn the spotlight on Indian regional cinema, showcasing its diversity and richness," added Christina Marouda, Festival Organizer and MoMI's Director of Development.
The inaugural India Kaleidoscope Festival, taking place December 8 through 11 at the Museum, will feature eight films, including seven new titles that will be making their US or North American premieres and one special presentation of a classic Indian film.
Most films will feature directors in person.
The Opening Night film is India in a Day, an ambitious documentary project initiated by Google and comprised of images shot by thousands of people throughout India, artfully edited by director Richie Mehta (who will appear in person on Dec.
8), and produced by Ridley Scott and Anurag Kashyap.
Other highlights include a pairing of Ghatashraddha (The Ritual), a key work of the Indian New Wave by pioneer Kannada director Girish Kasaravalli, with Harikatha Prasanga (Chronicles of Hari), the directorial debut of Ananya Kasaravalli, daughter of Girish Kasaravalli, with both filmmakers appearing in person; and the Closing Night film Tope (The Bait), a seductively surreal, folkloric fable from prominent Bengali director, Buddhadeb Dasgupta (who will appear in person on Dec.
11) .
See below for the full lineup.The India Kaleidoscope 2016 programming committee includes Priya Giri Desai (The India Center Foundation), Priyadarshini Shanker (NYU Cinema Studies), Anupama Kapse (Queens College), Tristine Skyler (writer and producer), and Christina Marouda (Museum of the Moving Image, founder of Indian Film Festival Los Angeles); with additional programming support from Uma da Cunha.