New Delhi
India, one of the largest filmmaking countries in the world, has
again failed to mark its presence in the Cannes Film Festival's main
competition section.
While the 60th Cannes Film Festival beginning May 16 is dominated by
a European line-up, some impressive Asian works too have managed to
enter the competition section. But there are none from India.
"It is entirely up to the jury members to select films for the
various competition sections. They didn't find a single Indian film
which they felt was up to the mark," said National Award winning
film critic Saibal Chatterjee.
"India doesn't produce anything that comes close to the best
cinematic works of others," he added.
Two South Korean films - director Kim Ki-duk's "Breath" and Lee
Chang-dong's "Secret Sunshine" - and Japanese filmmaker Naomi
Kawase's "Mogari No Mor" have made it to the competition section.
This year's opening film will be Hong Kong-based director Kar Wai
Wong's romantic drama "My Blueberry Nights". The film revolves
around a young woman who takes a soul-searching journey across the
US to resolve questions about love and life, while encountering a
series of odd characters along the way.
Denys Arcand's Canadian movie "The Age of Darkness" will be the
closing film. The festival ends May 27.
From India, Raka Dutta's 28-minute film "Chinese Whispers" is the
only movie that's been selected for the students' short film section
by the jury members for Cinefondation - a not-for-profit
organisation that promotes the work of student filmmakers in
postgraduate programmes.
Dutta is a Satyajit Ray Film Institute (SRFI) graduate.
Meanwhile, the Indian media appears to be quite gungho about seven
more films from the country being screened at the prestigious
festival, though none of them are being shown in a competition
section.
They will be screened at Tous les cinemas du monde (All the cinemas
of the world), an independent section and not a part of the
festival's official selection.
The films are: G. Vasanta Balan's "Veyil" (Tamil), D. Bijukumar's "Saira"
(Malayalam), Mridul Toolsidass' "Missed Call" (Hindi/English),
Bhavna Talwar's "Dharm", Mani Ratnam's "Guru" (Hindi), Raj Kumar
Hirani's "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" (Hindi) and "Dosar" (Bengali).
"The world has moved ahead. They are making films that are cutting
edge. The filmmakers are using new ideas but we are repeating the
same old thing. In fact we don't make cinema at all. We make
entertainers to please the masses," said Chatterjee.
Boloji.com is owned and managed by Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer
No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
