By Sudipto Mullick
While the Kolkata International Film Festival, which was incepted in 1995 will celebrate its silver jubilee, a world renowned Satyajit Ray film will be in its 50th year of existence. Quite interestingly, the authorities have decided to screen a digitally restored copy of that classic, Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen, as the inaugural film. Dwelling on restored clasics, in fact, there will be 8 such films that have completed 50 years which will also be part of the screening schedule in this year. Golden oldies also include The Adventures Of Prince Achmed one of the oldest surviving animation film from 1926.
As with the old so with the new – on one hand 35 mm projection system will be reintroduced in this year’s festival while for the very first time in its history there will be two 3D movies to be screened, that too in two different venues.
Kiff has been rapidily gaining grounds in no less part due to its Royal Bengal Golden Tiger Trophy that comes with a 51 lakh INR and 21 lakh INR prize money – among the highest purse at International film festivals – for the best film and the best director respectively. Besides the Indian language competition section which carries a 7 Lakh INR prize money for the best film and 5 lakh INR for the best director, the best documentary and the best short film awards have been shored up from one lakh INR each to 3 lakh INR and 5 lakh INR respectively.
No surprise that they registered the highest number of entries and films to be screened – 2,492 and 366 (214 feature films and 152 short) respectively across 76 countries, this year. Incidentally, no less than 48 films – 29 in Cinema International and 19 under Maestro (special section dedicated to renowned filmmakers), released in 2019 will be screened. An exhibition of posters of all the major films featured in the festival will be find a place in the main premises.
Germany will be the focus country and they will field 42 films including pre-independence Indo-German co-productions, Shiraz: A Romance of India (1928), Prapanch Pash: A Throw of Dice (1929) and Achhut Kanya (1936) – all directed by Franz Osten, the first two, are silent films co-produced and starred by Himanshu Rai while the third, an Hindi-Urdu production, independently produced by Rai stars Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani. Germany had a great part to play in early Indian film movement as Friso Maecker, the director of Goethe Institute, who are instrumental in arranging this package, told us that “some of the oldest Indian films were shot by Osten and Joseph Wirsching, who were part of the core team that started Bombay Talkies”. The earlier mentioned two 3D films – a documentary, Pina by Win Wenders on celebrated modern dancer Pina Bausch and Measuring The World (by Detlev Buck) on the friendship of Alexander Von humboldt and Carl Friedrich Gauß, also comes from the German stable. Critically acclaimed German poet, architect, philosopher, academic and of course a film director will be given retrospective as will be the Dusan Hanak from Slovakia.
Another German director, Volker Schlondorff – a member of the New German Cinema which also included Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, Margarethe von Trotta and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and know for his film, Tin Drum based on the eponymous Gunter Grass novel will hold a master class. The other master class will be helmmed by Four Weddings And A Funeral famed American actress and model, Andie Macdowell. Though there will be no films by notorious bad boy Rainer Werner Fassbinder, his career as actor, playwright, theatre director, composer, cinematographer, editor and essayist can be gleaned through an exhibition of his works.
This year’s Homage section dedicated to Bernardo Bertolucci will have six of his films screened and another Italian director, Gilli Pontecarvo, most known for his Battle of Algiers, will be accorded the Centenary tribute.
‘Future of the Individual’ will be the topic of the Satyajit Ray Memorial lecture that will be delivered by screenwriter Kumar Sahni. Kids will not be forgotten to be entertained with a 4-film special screenings on November 14, the children’s day.
One of my favorites, India Unheard, a section dedicated to rare Indian languages, this year will see film screened in Santhali, Nagpuri, Poniya, Tulu, Bodo, Konkani, Kodava, Byari, Banzara and Rajasthani.
The journey of the last 25 years will be commemorated with an exhibition on the inaugural day and another trip that the guests will be encouraged to go on will be a guided Heritage trip mooted from this year.