13th Habitat Film Festival
Photo by : Incredible India Info
17th May to 27th May 2018, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
The13th edition of Habitat Film Festival from May 17 – 27 at the India Habitat Centre hosts a handpicked selection of the Best of Indian Cinema 2017-2018, a pan Indian sweep of national award winning and critically acclaimed cinema.
The opening film of the festival is the much awaited Bengali drama Drishtikone by ace director Kaushik Ganguly on 17th May at 7:30pm at the Stein Auditorium. The line-up features Assamese film Village Rockstars by Reema Das (Won Best Film at National Film Awards 2018),hard-hitting Marathi film Ajji and Nude , high voltage Malayalam thrillers S Durga and Take off, Hindi features Omerta, Hungry and October, investigative Tamil thrillers Vikram Veda and Aran, Kaatru Veliyidai among others. Flagging the changing face of contemporary Indian Cinema, one watches out for Ralang Road (Nepali),Juze (Konkini), Mayurakshi (Bengali), Hello Arsi (Odiya), Idak, the Goat (Marathi),Reservation (Kannada),Carbon (Malayalam) from the dynamic line up put together. The closing film at the festival is the Malayalam film Ee. Ma. Yau by Lijo Jose Pellissery.
Aparna Sen (Sonata), Devashish Makhija (Ajji), Miransha Naik(Juze), Jiju Antony (Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani), Sanal Kumar Sasidharan (S Durga)
The salient features of the Festival include Retrospective Segment on visionary Malayalam director KG George, Two Tribute segments, one on the pioneering contributions of late actor and producer Shashi Kapoor (1938-2017) with select films that bear testimony to his loaded imprints in various aspects of cinema and the other that discusses and brings into focus the acting finesse&pan Indian legacy of late actress Sridevi (1963-2018) with a screening of one of her early films. Other collateral sessions in the form of master classes by leading directors, actors and screen writers such as Vishal Bharadwaj, Tisca Chopra, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, panel discussions involving film scholars, film journalists & critics, daily podcasts and newsletters, will infuse the festival with an exciting dose of contemporaneity. Post-screening Q & A sessions with directors are sure to bring out finer nuances.
A notable highlight is Gulzar’s session on 20th May in which he will be in conversation with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.
The festival will be inaugurated by film scholar par excellence, ArunaVasudev, Founder/President of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema who is revered for her pioneering contributions in carving out an undeniable space for Asian Cinema in the global film circuit, seeding multiple independent film festivals, institutions and scholarly endeavours. Bina Paul, Artistic Director of the International Film Festival of Kerala, will be in conversation with Aruna Vasudev on the opening day (17th May at 6:30pm at the Stein Auditorium).
Fast paced preparations are underway at IHC as organisers anticipate a resurgent interest in the regional language content. They point to many regional language industries at the cusp of radical shifts and transformation creating a new pan Indian audience eager to immerse and engage. A fact pointed out by the 2018 Jury head of National Film Awards, Shekhar Kapur, whose surprise and admiration for this new wave in regional cinema came to light at the recent national awards announcement day. He even mentioned in a lighter vein how regional cinema has so clearly affirmed its dominance over the Bollywood idiom with layered storytelling and deeply moving performances, and announced his return to making films in India. This year, some of the most coveted national awards were unequivocally bagged by films in Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese etc.
A firm milestone now with a run of twelve years behind it, the Habitat Film Festival has become the Capital's coveted showcase for the Best of Pan Indian Cinema. The package of films in the Festival is a one of its kind opportunity, to soak in the wealth of the creative outpourings of the country's leading talent.
The focus of the Festival remains unchanged, in its single minded focus to turn the spotlight on cinema from India that is beyond the brouhaha and blaze of mainstream Bollywood. Films, that are directorial debuts, new works of brilliance from old masters, classic archival restorations, controversial, irreverent, path breaking, retelling a tale or a fantastical work of utopian yearning. They rub shoulders at the Festival for their distinction in one or all the varied skill and craft that goes into creating the magic that is cinema.
Fact sheet for the festival:
Entry: Free (you can book your passes online or collect it from the registration desk)
Website: www.habitatfilmclub.com
Festival schedule: http://www.habitatfilmclub.com
Contact : 01143663080/90 / 9654397753
India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi
(Entry Passes can
be booked online at www.habitatfilmclub.com)
May 17, Thurs
6:30 pm: Habitat Film
Festival 2018 Inauguration by Dr.
Aruna Vasudev. Veteran Film Scholar, Film Historian, Director
– Cinefan Festival of Asian Cinema,
Editor – Cinemaya The Asian Film Quarterly and Founder of Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema
(NETPAC).
Bina
Paul, Artistic Director of International Film Festival
of Kerala, will be in conversation with Aruna Vasudev. This will be followed
by the screening of the
Opening Film Dhrishtikone (Bengali/2018/112 mins) directed by Kaushik Ganguly at 7:30pm Stein Auditorium
May 18, Fri
2:00pm Repeat
screening of Dhrishtikone (Bengali/2018/112 mins)
Dir. Kaushik
Ganguly Stein Auditorium
4:00pm The
Hungry (Hindi/English/2017/100
mins) Dir. Bornila Chatterjee Stein Auditorium
4:00pm Thuparivallan
(Blu-ray/Tamil/2017/159 mins) Dir.
Mysskin Amaltas Hall
6.30pm Kaatru Veliyidai (Tamil/2017/138 mins) Dir. Mani Ratnam The
Stein Auditorium
7:00pm Opening
of K.G. George Retrospective
8 1/2 Intercuts: Life and Films of K G George (Blue- ray/DVD/Docu/Malayalam/2017/120
mins)
Dirs. Lijin Jose & Shahina K. Rafiq Gulmohar Hall
7:00pm Watchmaker (Blu-ray/DVD/Bengali/2018/106 mins)
Dir. Anindya Banerjee Amaltas Hall
9:00pm Ajji (Hindi/2017/104 mins) Dir. Devashish Makhija Stein
Auditorium
May 19, Sat
11:00am
K.G.George Retrospective-
Yavanika (Malayalam/1982/147 mins) Stein
Auditorium
11:00am Children’s Film. Ishu (Blu-ray/DVD/Assamese/2017/91
mins)
Dir. Utpal Borpujari Amaltas Hall
2:00pm To
Let (Tamil/2017/109 mins)
Dir. Chezhian
Ra Stein Auditorium
2:00pm Karim Mohammad (Blu-ray/DVD/Hindi/Urdu/2018/99
mins) Amaltas Hall
4:00pm Carbon (Malayalam/2018/146 mins) Dir. Venu
Isc Stein Auditorium
4:00pm Up
Down and Sideways (Blu-ray/DVD/Docu/2017/83
mins)
Dir. Anushka
Meenakshi & Iswar Srikumar Amaltas Hall
6:30pm Village
Rockstars (Assamese/2017/87 mins) Dir. Rima Das Stein Auditorium
7:00pm Pupa (Blu-ray/DVD/Bengali/2017/109
mins) Dir. Indrasis Acharya Gulmohar Hall
7:00pm Redu
(Blu-ray/DVD/Marathi/2017/125 mins) Dir.
Sagar Vanjari Amaltas
Hall
9.00pm Omerta (Hindi/2017/96 mins) Dir. Hansal Mehta Stein Auditorium
May 20, Sun
11:00am Dharasnan (Bengali/2018/150 mins) Dir. Haranath Chakraborty Stein
Auditorium
|
Harper @
Cinema at HFF | Collab. HarperCollins India (Entry by registration only. Registration opens at the
Programmes desk from May 10 onwards for Habitat Film Club members only. Open
to all from May 13) 11:00am-12:30pm - Masterclass with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra on
“Filmmaker’s Visionâ€. Introduction
by Shantanu Chaudhuri. Amaltas Hall 1:45pm-3:30pm - Masterclass
on ‘Word to Screen: Translating
Shakespeare & Ruskin Bond’, with Vishal
Bhardwaj. Introduction by Shantanu Chaudhuri. Amaltas Hall 3:45pm-5:00pm - Masterclass on ‘Hindi Film Music and Playback Singing’
with Rekha Bharadwaj in
conversation with Kaveree Bamzai,
India Today. Amaltas Hall 5:15pm-6:15pm - Panel Discussion on ‘Writing Indian Cinema’ Moderated by
Kaveree Bamzai. Panellists – Shubhra Gupta, Gautam Chintamani,
Shantanu Chaudhuri. Casuarina 6.30pm-7.30pm
- Session ‘Music. Masti. Memories’ R. D. Burman Songs performed by Balaji
Vittal & Anirudh Bhattacharya. Stein
Auditorium 7.30pm-9:00pm - Gulzar in
conversation with Rakeysh Omprakash
Mehra & Vishal Bhardwaj - Reminiscing
Kal, Aaj aur Kal. Stein Auditorium |
2:00pm Alorukkam
(Malayalam/2018/124 mins) Dir. V.C. Abhilash Stein
Auditorium
2:00pm Vikram
Vedha (Blu-ray/DVD/Tamil/2017/148
mins) Dirs. Pushkar-Gayathri
Amaltas Hall
7:00pm Aswadakan: The Connoisseur (Blu-ray/DVD/Malayalam/Sanskrit/2017/40 mins)
Dir.
Suraj Varma Gulmohar Hall
7:00pm Opening
of Shashi Kapoor Tribute –
The
Householder (DVD/Hindi/English/1963/101
mins)
Dir. James Ivory Amaltas Hall
May 21, Mon
6:30pm Reservation (2018/Kannada/90 mins) Dir. Nikhil Manjoo Stein Auditorium
7:00pm Ananya (Blu-ray/DVD/Assamese/2017/96 mins) Dir. Arup Manna Gulmohar Hall
7:00pm Tribute
to Shashi Kapoor – Shakespeare Wallah (DVD/English/1965/122
mins)
Dir.
James Ivory Amaltas Hall
8:30pm Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani (Marathi/Hindi/English/2017/81
mins)
Dir. Jiju
Antony Stein Auditorium
May 22, Tue
6:30pm
Sridevi Tribute - A session that
brings into focus the pan Indian legacy of
late actress Sridevi (1963-2018)
with the screening of one of her early films.
Film Journalist, Anna Vetticad, leads the screening and
discussion.
Stein Auditorium
7:00pm
Idak: The Goat (Blu-ray/DVD/Marathi/2017/106 mins)
Dir. Deepak Gawade Amaltas Hall
7:00pm Alifa
(Blu-ray/DVD/Bengali/2018/109 mins) Dir. Deep Choudhury Gulmohar Hall
9:00pm K.G. George Retrospective – Aadaminte Variyellu (Malayalam/1983/142
mins)
Stein Auditorium
May 23, Wed
6:30pm S
Durga (Malayalam/2018/90mins) Dir. Sanal Kumar Sasidharan Stein Auditorium
7:00pm Raju - Kannad Medium (Blu-ray/DVD/Kannada/2018/132
mins)
Dir. Nanditha Yadav
Gulmohar Hall
7:00pm Shashi Kapoor Tribute - In Custody (Blu-ray/DVD/Hindi/1993/126 mins)
Dir. Ismail Merchant Amaltas Hall
8:30pm Teen Aur Aadha (Hindi/Marathi/English/2017/119
mins)
Dir. Dar Gai Stein
Auditorium
May 24, Thursday
6:30pm Pimpal (Marathi/2017/92
mins) Dir. Gajendra Ahire Stein
Auditorium
7:00pm Calendar (Blu-ray/DVD/Assamese/2018/90 mins)
Dir. Himjyoti Talukdar
Gulmohar Hall
7:00pm Paathi (Blu-ray/DVD/Malayalam/2017/92 mins)
Dir. Chandran Narikkode Amaltas
Hall
9:00pm Tribute to Shashi Kapoor
–
Jab Jab Phool Kile (Marathi/2017/92 mins)
Dir. Gajendra Ahire Stein Auditorium
May 25, Fri
1:30pm Panchlait (Hindi/2017/125mins) Dir. Prem
Prakash Modi
Stein Auditorium
2:00pm Uma (Blu-ray/DVD/Bengali/2018/149
mins) Dir. Srijit Mukherji Amaltas Hall
4:00pm Kachcha Limbu (Marathi/2017/116 mins) Dir. Prasad
Oak Stein Auditorium
5:00pm Ralang
Road (Blu-ray/DVD/Nepali/2017/112
mins) Dir. Karma Takapa Amaltas Hall
6:30pm Juze (Blu-ray/DVD/Konkani/2017/94 mins) Dir. Miransha Naik Stein Auditorium
7:00pm Naach Bhikari Naach (Blu-ray/DVD/Docu/Bhojpuri/2018/72
mins)
Dir. Jainendra Dost & Shilpi Gulati Gulmohar Hall
7:00pm Manusangadha (Blu-ray/DVD/Tamil/Not Released/93 mins)
Dir. Amshan Kumar Amaltas Hall
8:15pm K.G. George Retrospective -
Lekhayude Maranam: Oru Flashback (Malayalam/1983/172
mins) Stein Auditorium
May 26, Sat
11:00am K.G. George Retrospective - Irakal (Malayalam/1985/142
mins) Stein Auditorium
11:00am
Children’s
Film - Swanam (Blu-ray/DVD/Malayalam/2017/83
mins) Dir. Deepesh T.
Gulmohar Hall
1:30pm Ashwatthama (Braj/2017/120 mins) Dir. Pushpendra Singh Stein Auditorium
2:00pm Sound
of Silence (Blu-ray/DVD/Pahari/Tibetan/Hindi/2017/89 mins)
Dir.
Bijukumar Damodaran Gulmohar Hall
4:00pm Mrityubhoj- The Death Feast (Docu/Blu-ray/DVD/Hindi/2018/52 mins)
Dir. Akanksha
Sood Amaltas Hall
4:00pm Aram (Blu-ray/DVD/Tamil/2017/120
mins) Dir. Gopi Naynar Gulmohar Hall
4:00pm Rong
Beronger Korhi (Bengali/2018/133
mins) Dir. Ranjan Ghosh Stein
Auditorium
6:30pm October
(Hindi/2018/115 mins) Dir. Shoojit Sarkar Stein Auditorium
6:30pm And
they Made Classics (Blu-ray/DVD/English/2017/59
mins)
Dir. Ratnotamma Sengupta. A tribute
to Nabendu Ghosh (1917 - 2017)
who scripted classics such as
Devdas, Sujata, Bandini, among
other films. Followed by the launch
of That Bird Called Happiness
published by Speaking Tiger. The
book is a collection of nine stories of Nabendu Ghosh in English translation
edited by
Ratnotamma
Sengupta. Gulmohar Hall
7:00pm
Shashi Kapoor Tribute -
New Delhi Times (Hindi/1986/123
mins)
Dir.
Ramesh Sharma Amaltas Hall
9:00pm Sonata (English/2017/103 mins) Dir.
Aparna Sen Stein Auditorium
May 27, Sun
11:00am Nude (Marathi/2018/112 mins) Dir. Ravi Jadhav Stein Auditorium
11:00am Children’s Film. Rainbow Jelly (Blu-ray/DVD/Bengali/2017/122
mins)
Dir. Soukarya
Ghosal Amaltas Hall
02:00pm Padai
Veeran (Tamil/2018/130 mins) Dir. Dhanasekaran Stein Auditorium
02:00pm Walking
with the Wind (Blu-ray/DVD/Ladakhi/2017/79
mins)
Dir.
Praveen Morchhale Amaltas Hall
4:00pm Mayurakshi (Bengali/2017/102 mins) Dir. Atanu Ghosh Stein Auditorium
4:00pm Paddayi
(Blu-ray/Tulu/2017/100 mins) Dir. Abhaya Simha Amaltas Hall
4:00pm Machines
(Blu-ray/DVD/Docu/2017/71 mins) Dir. Rahul
Jain Gulmohar Hall
6:30pm Nana
- A Tale of Us (Blu-ray/DVD/Nagamese/2017/105
mins)
Dir. Tiakumzuk Aier Amaltas Hall
6:45pm CLOSING FILM - Ee. Maa. Yau (Malayalam/2018/120
mins) Dir. Lijo Jose Pellissery Stein Auditorium
………………………
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