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| Meher Mirza |
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| A scene from Razi Muhammad's Velutha Rathrikal , which will be screened at the festival, reinterprets Dostoevesky's White Nights in an alternate gender context. |
A new film festival brings the best of Indian independent,art house, alternate and diaspora cinema to the city |
| Every so often, a film festival comes along that dares to undermine Bollywood. One such is the recently-concluded 16th edition of the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) 2016, an attempt at treating New Yorkers to the best of Indian independent, art house, alternate and diaspora cinema. According to Aseem Chhabra, Festival Director, NYIFF is, “the oldest and the largest Indian/South Asian festival in all of North America. Over a period of time, we have evolved into the leading international festival, programming films from India, the subcontinent and the diaspora, which includes films by Indians in various countries around the world.” Amongst the glut of mainstream cinema’s largely escapist fare, the films screened here gleam. The first India chapter of NYIFF has been brought to Mumbai via the G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture. The month-long festival provides a larger platform for Indian artists to display their work, experiment and stimulate a discourse that can weave itself into a larger fabric. Anuradha Parikh, Founder Director and CEO of G5A says, “The India Chapter of NYIFF 2016 create(s) a networking ground for such diaspora festivals and their alumni and upcoming filmmakers. [Besides] we feel it is critical that Indian audiences get an opportunity to see these films. Most of the films being screened are either National Award winners or have travelled extensively - and all had their New York premieres at the fest. We want to support and encourage contemporary Indian feature and documentary filmmakers through screenings and dialogue/interactions with the press and audiences.” Not all the films screened at NYIFF 2016 are being screened here. “We focussed on the award winners and those that were really well received at the fest this year. It’s in sync with our agenda of creating awareness regarding such fests and what they bring to the table for the filmmakers,” explains Parikh. “Also, to promote a cinema bouquet from India which is pan Indian and which showcases for the audiences a fare that is apart from the mainstream release every Friday.” Over a month, G5A will screen five features, four documentaries and four short films. The films this year deal with the collision and collusion of cultures with subjects such as alternate sexuality, gender, marginalised communities in large cities, urban alienation. Amidst the bounty of appealing films, Parikh points towards some interesting filmmakers: Shaunak Sen's Cities of Sleep, which is a sensitive unpacking of the geographies of homelessness and sleep in Delhi. Then there’ s Rinku Kalsy’s For the Love of A Man (about Rajnikanth); Nishant Roy Bombarde’s short film Daaravtha that nudges forward discussions of alternate sexuality and three of Devashish Makhija's short films, including the bizarre El'Aichi and the compelling Agli Baar. NYIFF 2016’s India Chapter will run through until July 21 at G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture. For further details, see www.g5a.org or call 2490 9393-94 The author is a freelance writer The first India chapter is now in Mumbai, and will provide a platform for Indian artists |
| URL: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/entertainment/beyond-the-multiplex/article8758476.ece |