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Calcutta film festival from Nov. 10
By Our Special Correspondent
CALCUTTA. Nov. 6
The City is in the grip of a film fever. The third Calcutta film festival, sponsored by the West Bengal Government, will begin on November 10. The festival will be spread over eight days.
The curtain will go up on the festival with the film of late Andrei Tarkovsky, the well-known Russian director, The Steamroller and the Violin”. The organisers are also trying to get ‘Nostalgia”, another Tarkovsky creation which, like the Steamroller”, has not been in the Indian circuit till date. The director's son, who was slated to be present at the inauguration, would perhaps join in a few days later as he has been required to rush to Paris to attend on his ailing mother. His video film on Tarkovsky is also included in the fare.
Besides Tarkovsky, the city’s film buffs are eagerly waiting to see, a package of films by France's Farncois Truffaut. “It’s certainly not easy to get so many films of Tarkovsky and Truffaut,” says Mr. Angshu Sur, director of Nandan, the State- run cultural complex.
The movie-crazy Calcuttans would perhaps be disappointed as the renowned Indian director, Govind Nihalani’s newest creation, ‘"Hazar Churashir Ma” would not be screened at the festival as its sub-titling work is not over. The film has created a great deal of interest as it is based on the Magsaysay award winner Bengali author, Mahasweta Devi’s novel of the same title. The book has always remained a subject of discussion among the city’s intellectuals as the story is woven round the naxalites who acquired prominence during the late sixties and early seventies. Apart from these, the Japanese master, Akira Kurosawa’s "Dreams” would certainly be an attraction.
The festival is expected to be a dazzling affair with the presence of the Polish director, Krystoff Zanussi, whose latest film, “In Full Gallop” would be screened. Calcutta’s one of the favourite French directors, Jean Luc Goddard, would be present through the screening of his two films, “Contempt” and ‘Keep Your Right Up”.
A galaxy of Indian film personalities are expected to be present during the festival. Among them are: Jaya Bachchan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Anupam Kher, Seema Biswas, Nandita Das and Govind Nihalani.
Bhaben Saikia’s ‘Kal Sandhya,” a film on the militant activities in Assam, is eagerly awaited. So is the case with Deepa Mehta’s first film, "Sam and Me”, Gautam Ghosh’s "Gudia” and Anjan Dutt’s “"Bada Din”.
The accent of the festival is also on increasing awareness among the public on good cinema. With this in view, the organisers have arranged for a series of seminars at Nandan in which noted film-makers are expected to participate.
It being the 50th year of Independence, the organisers have collected a number of films with patriot themes. They are: “Kalapani”, “Gandhi”, ‘Sardar Patel”, ‘The Making of the Mahatma,” “Train to Pakistan” and “Mammo”.
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