14th Kolkata Film Festival

Kolkata, 23rd November 2009

7 feature films, 3 documentaries and 1 short film. That was our tally at the end of the 14th kolkata film festival.

The films and documentaries which I saw with my wife in several different theatres over the festival week:

Films:
1. Emma's Bra - 2007 - Directed by Maryse Sistach (Mexico)
2. The Banishment - 2007 - Directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev (Russia)
3. All Screwed Up/Tutto a Posto e Niente In Ordine - 1974 - Directed by Lina Wertmuller (Italy)
4. Wake Up Arezoo/Bidar Show, Arezoo - 2005 - Directed by Kianoush Ayari (Iran)
5. Sweet Hours/Dulces Horas - 1981 - Directed by Carlos Saura (Spain)
6. Landscape In The Mist/Topio Stin Omichli/Τοπίο στην ομίχλη - 1988 - Directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos (Greece)
7. The Song Of Sparrows/Avaze Gonjeshk-ha - 2008 - Directed by Majid Majidi (Iran)

Documentaries:
1. The Soldier's Tale - 2007 - Directed by Penny Allen (France)
2. The Funa of Victor Jara - 2008 - Directed by Nèlida Ruiz & Cristian Villablanca (Spain, Chile)
3. Ladakh - Land of Mystery - 2003 - Directed by Biyot Projna Tripathy (India)

Short Film:
1. Oleg And Olga - 2008 - Directed by Sergei Voevodin (Russia)

It was a weekend very well spent. So many films from around the globe!! I must agree that there was ample food for thought to make you happy. We faced some difficulties acquiring passes for few shows but overall I must say that the film festival was well managed and real movie lovers were certainly not let down.

The movie which moved me the most was the Iranian "Avaze Gonjeshk-ha/The Song of Sparrows". I was absolutely spellbound to say the least. It is sheer poetry. A masterpiece. I would love to watch the film a thousand times and again. I think I am already in love with Majid Majidi's films. It is sad indeed that the film perhaps will never make it to India in DVD.

Kolkata Film Festival official website:
http://www.kff.in/

Nice to have a website, but the site is disappointing. The schedule was uploaded after the festival started and weighs a mammoth 37MB. Takes a day to load. :-)