Europe’s Largest South Asian Film Event is Back!
Emma Thompson’s Sold, Million Dollar Arm & Bollywood Stars at London INDIAN Film Festival
Executive produced by actor Emma Thompson, Sold will be the red carpet European Premiere opening night film of the Fifth annual London INDIAN Film Festival (July 10-17). This film is a powerful, survival against the odds tale about a young Nepali girl who is trafficked to Kolkata, India. Gillian Anderson stars with a great Indian and Nepali ensemble cast including Seema Biswas (Bandit Queen). Central highlights of the festival will be the UK Premiere of the true story Million Dollar Arm, from The Walt Disney Company, starring Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi). Bollywood’s hottest actor Farhan Akhtar and South Indian cinematography supremo Santosh Sivan will be giving rare screen talks at the BFI Southbank. Closing the festival will be the World Premiere of Hemalkasa, an homage to the revolutionary human rights leader Prakash Baba Amte, starring Bollywood hero Nana Patekar. Many other special guests are expected to a packed week of UK first screenings.
Now Europe’s largest platform for Indian cinema, the London Indian Film Festival returns to the Capital, in association with Pure Heaven, the British Film Institute, and official Hotel Partner Grange Hotels, celebrating the exploding movement of Indian Independent cinema and bringing to UK audiences a rare selection of cutting-edge films from some of the Indian subcontinent’s hottest independent talents. Going way beyond Bollywood, the festival presents a kaleidoscope of new films that challenge, shock, generate debate and present a more realistic view of India and the subcontinent today, in all its diversity. The festival will stretch citywide, opening in the West End at the historic Cineworld Haymarket, and continuing at BFI Southbank, Cineworld cinemas Wembley, Wood Green, Wandsworth and O2 in Royal Greenwich and ICA near the Pall Mall, so there is a screening near you.
ULIDAVARU KANDANTE
The first weekend of this high-impact festival launches with Sold, on 10th July which explores the controversial theme of child trafficking; one school girl’s battle against the odds and the dangerous journey to liberate her from the Kolkata mafia; expect a glamorous line up of celebs to follow X Files and The Fall actress Gillian Anderson down the red carpet. On 12th July Rotterdam Film Festival headliner Qissa: Tale of a Lonely Ghost, has its UK Premiere, Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi) plays a rural Punjabi father hell bent on having a son and heir, no matter what the consequences. Apur Panchali, based on a true-life story, is an emotionally charged homage to Satyajit Ray’s impoverished child character Apu and the real-life person who played one of the most famous child roles in world cinema. It screens on 13th July. By contrast Slamdance audience winner Hank and Asha explores a new generation of trans-global online romance, at ICA and Cineworlds across London. The festival’s Central Gala is the inspirational true story Million Dollar Arm that follows the uplifting journey of two Indian boys whose lives are transformed by a national TV contest and against the odds end up going to the US to train to become major sports stars.
As well as films in the Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages, and UK/Pakistani film Anima State, in Urdu, the festival previews its first Bangladesh based film Shongram (Struggle) directed by Munsur Ali. In terms of special talks, India’s most celebrated cinematographer and acclaimed director Santosh Sivan gives a unique Masterclass at BFI Southbank, 11th July. The multi-talented singer, actor and director Farhan Akhtar rocks into town on 15th July and offers an insight on his high-octane career so far, including his iconic recent role as muscle rippling athletics hero Milkha Singh in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Expect lots of female fans! Bollywood icon Nana Patekar stars in the festival’s uplifting closing World Premiere of Hemalkasa. Directed by Samruddhi Porey it’s guaranteed to make you cry and smile at the same time.
Dir. Pranay Patwardhan’s Alchemy
London Indian Film Festival also includes industry events at BAFTA, exploring UK and Indian subcontinent co-productions. The winner of the annual Satyajit Ray Short Film Competition will be announced at the end of the festival, with short-listed contenders battling it out at the ICA on 15th July. We are delighted to announce that our Major Sponsors this year will include Queen’s Award for Enterprise International Trade winner Sunmark Ltd, producers of Pure Heaven brand and founding sponsor Grange Hotels. The festival is also grant funded for by the BFI Film Festival Fund.
Emma Thompson comments: “It is wonderful to have our film premiered at London Indian Film Festival, to raise awareness of child-trafficking, which is an issue close to my heart and is shockingly on the increase world-wide. We hope that this film will make people think and highlight the support for key charities such as The Helen Bamber Foundation and others working in this difficult area in India, Nepal and elsewhere”.
Says Farhan Akhtar: “At its heart, Cinema is about sharing ones culture with the world. Be it on screen or in representation of ones work. I look forward to sharing my experiences, memories and motivations.”
Cary Rajinder Sawhney, Festival Director comments: “We are delighted that the festival is now firmly established on the London and international scene after five amazing years. If you want to find out more about South Asian cinema, come to London and soak yourself in a week of magnificent, world class cinema”.
Talent will be available for interviews.
For more information on the festival please visit:
www.londonindianfilmfestival.co.uk
2014 PROGRAMME
The London INDIAN Film Festival Programme is here! Please scroll down to view this year’s fantastic line-up and check back for further updates…
SOLD | OPENING NIGHT | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | Cert 15
FILM INFO
English Language l 97 mins l USA l Dir. Jeffrey Brown l with Gillian Anderson, Seema Biswas, David Arquette, Niyar Saikia, Tillotama Shome, Parambrata Chatterjee.
10 JULY | 18:00 | CINEWORLD HAYMARKET
12 JULY | 18:00 | CINEWORLD HAYMARKET
SYNOPSIS
Sold is a remarkable film based on Particia McCormick’s bestseller which tells the tale of Laxmi (Niyar Saikia), a young Nepali girl who lives an impoverished life with her parents in the Himalayas. One day a lady comes to visit offering to take Laxmi to work as a domestic servant in Kolkata. Laxmi’s father agrees and she is led down the mountain and soon ends up in Kolkata only to realise that she has been trafficked into a brothel. Laxmi makes a bid to escape. Her cries for help attract the attention of a US photographer (Gillian Anderson), who helps local agencies spearhead a dangerous mission to rescue her. Superbly scripted with powerful performances including by Seema Biswas and Tillotama Shome.
Q&A with Dir. Jeffrey Brown and Actor Gillian Anderson, other talent expected.
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HEMALKASA | CLOSING NIGHT | WORLD PREMIERE | Cert U
FILM INFO
Hindi with English subtitles | 117 mins | India |Dir. Samruddhi Porey | with Nana Patekar, SonaliKulkarni, Mohan Agashe.
17 JULY | 18:00 | CINEWORLD HAYMARKET
SYNOPSIS
This inspirational biopic follows the selfless journey of Dr. Prakash Baba Amte and his wife Dr. Mandakini Amte, a couple who dedicated their lives to a project for the development of tribal people of Maharashtra, India, in the toughest of conditions with little or no support from the establishment. The project, located at Hemalkasa, eventually led to the formation of a free hospital, a free residential school and an orphanage for injured wild animals. For their pioneering efforts, the Amtes were accorded the prestigious Magsasay Award for Community Leadership. Nana Patekar and Sonali Kulkarni deliver the performance of their lives in this outstanding example of the best Indian independent cinema. Incredibly moving, the film will leave you with a tear in your eye, a fond smile on your lips and an immediate desire to improve the world that we live in.
Q&A with special guests.
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HANK AND ASHA | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | Cert U
FILM INFO
English language l 73 Mins l USA l Dir James E. Duff l with Andrew Pastides, Mahira Kakkar.
11 JULY | 18:30 | ICA
12 JULY | 20:00 | CINEWORLD WEMBLEY
12 JULY | 20:20 | ICA
13 JULY | 18:00 | CINEWORLD O2
SYNOPSIS
Winner of the Slamdance Audience Award, this tender delight of a movie tells of the courtship of two loveable young strangers searching for connection in an online world. Adorable Indian, Asha, is studying in Prague, where she watches a film by an American, called Hank, which she adores, but misses him at the post screening Q&A, so she takes a risk and sends him a video blog. To her surprise handsome Hank responds with a video blog from his home in New York. Very quickly the two bond and are soon communicating regularly and before they know it, they plan their first actual date in Paris, but one of them has held back a secret.
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BAREFOOT TO GOA | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | Cert U
FILM INFO
Hindi with English subtitles l 80 mins l India l Dir.Praveen Morchhale l with Purva Parag, Farrukh Jaffar, Saara Nahar.
11 JULY | 19:00 | CINEWORLD WANDSWORTH
12 JULY | 18:00 | CINEWORLD WEMBLEY
13 JULY | 15:00 | ICA
14 JULY | 19:00 | CINEWORLD WOOD GREEN
SYNOPSIS
A hit at festivals around India, Barefoot to Goa explores with great sensitivity the Indian middleclass dilemma of what to do with ageing parents and the intergenerational ties that powerfully bind families together. Diya and Prakhar live with their busy parents in bustling Mumbai. Their grandmother in rural Goa regularly sends her son and family countless letters asking them to visit, but never gets a reply, even though her grandchildren love her dearly. One day the kids discover that their mum has been hiding the un-opened letters in a box. They read that their grandmother is ill and upset, decide to set off to see their grandmother in Goa by themselves.
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SULEMANI KEEDA (WRITERS) | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | Cert 15
FILM INFO
Hindi with English subtitles | 89 mins | India/US |Dir. Amit V Masurkar | with Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari, Aditi Vasudev.
11 JULY | 20:00 | CINEWORLD WEMBLEY
12 JULY | 18:20 | ICA
SYNOPSIS
Two struggling writers dare to dream big and try to peddle their screenplay in Bollywood. Perennially hungry and horny, they lie, drink, hit on unsuspecting girls in bookshops and attend poetry readings where they read their vulgar verses. Things look bright when they meet a bizarre wannabe auteur who wants to make a film inspired by Tarkovsky and commissions them to come up with a script idea. When one of the writers falls in love with a woman who is leaving India in a matter of days, he is faced with a choice – whether to co-write a film he doesn’t believe in or woo the girl he has fallen in love with. This racy romp through the filmi underbelly of suburban Mumbai is also richly populated with a host of Bollywood celebrities in cameos, playing themselves. We’re not telling you who they are – come and find out for yourselves!
Q&A with Dir. Amit V Masurkar
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ILAI (LEAF) | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | Cert 15
FILM INFO
Tamil with English subtitles l 67 mins l India lDir. Rajiv Reddy Pochareddy l with Manjula Odanadi,
Pritham Charavarthy, Mighty Gibson.
11 JULY | 19:00 | CINEWORLD WOOD GREEN
15 JULY | 18:15 | CINEWORLD SHAFTSBURY AVE
SYNOPSIS
With great pathos, and a riveting narrative, Ilai (Leaf) encapsulates the stories of many thousands of Indians arriving in the big cities each year, in the hope of a better future, or sometimes just by chance. Often their only baggage is a troubled past. We are introduced to one such story, a lonely little girl from the countryside who accidentally finds herself in a bustling metropolis. The girl can’t speak the city’s language, or understand its high-speed ways. She wanders the mean streets to find shelter, but soon realises she must enlist the help of others, including a homeless old woman to ensure her survival.
Ilai (Leaf) is screening with a short film – FOREST MAN | Dir. William Douglas McMaster.A doc. based on the true story of a man who planted an Indian forest from scratch.
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GOOPI GAWAIYA BAGHA BAJAIYA | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | Cert U
FILM INFO
Hindi with English subtitles l 79 mins l India l Dir. Shilpa Ranade l with voices of Manish Bhawan, Shailendra Pande, Rajeev Raj.
12 JULY | 15:00 | CINEWORLD WOOD GREEN
13 JULY | 16:00 | ICA
SYNOPSIS
Premiered at Toronto Film Festival, The World of Goopi and Bagha is a delightful and hilarious animated feature, based on a story for children of all ages immortalised by Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Goopy and Bagha are such terrible singers and musicians that they are thrown out of their own respective towns. They bump into each other in the forest and immediately become best buddies. They also then bump something more terrifying – the King of Ghosts, but he likes their terrible music so much he gives them a pair of magical slippers each and three wishes. Armed with this new magical confidence they set out on the road toadventure.
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ULIDAVARU KANDANTE | INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE | Cert 15
FILM INFO
Kannada with English subtitles | 154 mins | India |Dir. Rakshit Shetty | with Rakshit Shetty, Kishore, Tara.
12 JULY | 18:00 | CINEWORLD WANDSWORTH
13 JULY | 17:30 | ICA
SYNOPSIS
This dazzling epic manages to cram in homages to Sin City, Pulp Fiction, Agneepath, Scarface, Shankar Nag, Rashomon and a host of other tributes while telling an utterly compelling and original story. In this kinetic suspense thriller that deals with five interconnected stories, a journalist sets out to uncover the truth behind an incident from the past, through the perspectives of different people, and how they and their lives are intertwined with it. Along the way she encounters gangsters, fisherwomen, precocious children, tiger dancers, motor mechanics and a wide array of other colourful characters that help together in piecing together what happened one fateful night years ago. Rakshit Shetty, the star of blockbuster hit Simple Agi Ondh Love Story, makes his directorial debut with this film and also puts in a swaggering central performance where he faces off against the other rising Kannada star Kishore.
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QISSA: THE TALE OF A LONELY GHOST | UK PREMIERE | Cert 12A
FILM INFO
Punjabi with English subtitles | 109 min | India,Germany, Netherlands, France | Dir. Anup Singh | with Irrfan Khan, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal.
12 JULY | 20:10 | BFI SOUTHBANK
13 JULY | 18:00 | CINEWORLD HAYMARKET
SYNOPSIS
Acclaimed actor and LIFF 2013 guest Irrfan Khan (Lunchbox, Life of Pi), plays the role of Umber Singh, a rural Sikh, dispossessed from his homeland by the Partition. He obsessively focuses on the ‘ideal’ of having a son and heir, but as his fourth daughter is born he hides the child’s true identity, she becomes the son of his dreams, but at a terrible cost. Deftly directed by Anup Singh with stunning performances from an ensemble cast including Tillotama Shome as the ‘son’.
Q&A with Dir. Anup Singh
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APUR PANCHALI (APU’S SONG) | UK PREMIERE | Cert 12A
FILM INFO
Bengali with English subtitles | 97 min | India | Dir. Kaushik Ganguly | with Parambrata Chatterjee, Ardhendu Banerjee, Parno Mitra.
13 JULY | 15:00 | BFI SOUTHBANK
14 JULY | 19:00 | CINEWORLD WEMBLEY
SYNOPSIS
One of the greatest child characters in cinema history is the little boy Apu in Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road). Kaushik Ganguly’s heart-touching, jewel box of a film is inspired by the real-life actor Subir Banerjee, who played the young Apu. 58 years after Pather Panchali a film student goes in search of Subir. He carries news that a German film festival are keen to honour Subir, but the student discovers a reticent older man, whose life has ironically reflected the tragic character he played. With sparkling character performances and intercut with Ray’s Apu trilogy, this film is cineaste heaven.
Q&A with Dir. Kaushik Ganguly
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KANYAKA TALKIES (VIRGIN TALKIES) | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | Cert 12A
FILM INFO
Malayalam with English subtitles | 115 mins | India |Dir. K.R. Manoj | with Murali Gopy, Lena Kumar, Indrans, Manianpilla Raju.
13 JULY | 16:00 | CINEWORLD WANDSWORTH
16 JULY | 18:15 | ICA
SYNOPSIS
A gripping tale is woven around Kanyaka Talkies, a twenty-year-old movie theatre in a sleepy Kerala village, where the mainstay was the screening of softporn. The theatre owner moves away and leaves the theatre to the parish, which decides to convert it into a church. The priest who comes to the village to spread the word of the Lord is haunted by a woman’s voice. Whose voice is it? Is it the voice of the countless heroines from C grade movies, which were previously screened in the cinema? The priest is slowly driven crazy and suffers a crisis of faith. Adding to the mix is a woman who leads the double life of a home nurse and a porn star. The film deftly weaves themes of body, desire, guilt and forbidden pleasures into its racy and spellbinding narrative. Unmissable!
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ANIMA STATE | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | Cert 15
FILM INFO
Urdu with English subtitles | 80 mins | Pakistan / UK | Dir. Hammad Khan | with Uns Mufti, Malika Zafar, Osman Khalid Butt.
14 JULY | 18:15 | CINEWORLD HAYMARKET
15 JULY | 19:00 | CINEWORLD – THE O2
SYNOPSIS
A man with a bandage mask across his face goes on a shooting spree across a Pakistani city, gunning down random people. He soon realises that his actions have no consequences and nobody appears to be interested in his murderous deeds, and so he decides to go on live television with a view to committing suicide on air. And that’s when there is a huge twist in the plot. The film is an unflinching and surreal look at contemporary Pakistan and will provoke and entertain in equal measure. Racy and unafraid of controversy from start to finish, the film is an exhilarating cinematic ride, dealing with persecution, paranoia and that blurry line between dreams and harsh reality. With this, his second feature after Slackistan, Hammad Khan firmly establishes himself as the boldest voice in British Pakistani cinema.
Q&A with Dir. Hammad Khan.
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SHONGRAM (STRUGGLE) | WORLD PREMIERE | Cert 15
FILM INFO
Bangla with English subtitles | 103 mins |Bangladesh / UK | Dir. Munsur Ali | with Anupam Kher, Asia Argento, Amaan Reza, Dilruba Yasmeen Ruhee.
14 JULY | 19:30 | CINEWORLD O2
16 JULY | 20:30 | CINEWORLD SHAFTESBURY AVE
SYNOPSIS
In this powerful romantic drama set during the 1971 liberation struggle of Bangladesh, a London reporter interviews a British Bengali on his deathbed, where four decades later, Karim is able to recall and finally share his past. We are transported to 1971, when Bangladesh was still East Pakistan and a young Karim (a Muslim) is in love with a beautiful Asha (a Hindu). Their peaceful village life is suddenly interrupted by war and Karim must grow up fast to survive in an era where mass killings and abduction was common. He must also carry out his duty to his people and seek revenge before he can finally search for Asha, who has gone missing. Bangladesh’s stunning vistas are captured as never seen before and act as a counterpoint to the brutal horrors of war. Profound, potent and poignant, the emotional swoop of this mesmerising film will enthral, entertain and educate in equal measure.
Q&A with Dir. Munsur Ali and other special guests.
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MILLION DOLLAR ARM | UK PREMIERE – CENTREPIECE GALA | Cert PG
FILM INFO
English language | 124 mins | US | Dir. Craig Gillespie | With Jon Hamm, Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal, Lake Bell, Alan Arkin
14 JULY | 18.15 | CINEWORLD SHAFTESBURY AVE
SYNOPSIS
Based on an inspirational true story, Million Dollar Arm is a funny and uplifting journey. US sports agent JB Bernstein (Jon Hamm) travels to India in an effort to save his career by finding a young cricketer to turn into a baseball star. With the help of a retired scout (Alan Arkin) JB sets up a talent contest “The Million Dollar Arm”, discovering Rinku (Life of Pi’s Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh (Slumdog Millionaire’s Madhur Mittal) who have a knack for throwing a fastball. Hoping to make a quick buck he brings them to LA to train, but the boys struggle to adjust. His livelihood on the line and relationship with the boys at stake, with the help of his friend Brenda (Lake Bell) JB realises that family and friendships are more important than sealing the deal. The film features a brilliant score from Oscar, BAFTA and Grammy winning Indian composer A.R. Rahman.
MILLION DOLLAR ARM is released in cinemas August 29
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AN AMERICAN IN MADRAS | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | Cert U
FILM INFO
English, Tamil, Hindi with English subtitles | 80 mins | India | Dir. Karan Bali | with Kamal Haasan, Radha Viswanathan, K. Hariharan.
15 JULY | 20:20 | ICA
16 JULY | 19:00 | CINEWORLD WANDSWORTH
SYNOPSIS
This fascinating and fast-paced documentary traces the journey of American-born filmmaker Ellis R. Dungan who arrived in India in 1935 intending to stay for 6 months but ended up staying for 15 years! During this period, he brought many technical innovations to the developing Tamil Film Industry of the 1930s and ’40s, and infused a sense of professionalism into its filmmaking. All this, without understanding a word of the language! Dungan directed the great Tamil superstar MGR’s first film, Sathi Leelavathi, as well as famed Carnatic vocalist MS Subbulakshmi’s most famous films, Sakuntalai and Meera. The film traces Dungan’s Indian connection right up to 1994, when on a trip to India, the Tamil Film Industry felicitated him in Chennai for his contribution to its development, a good 43 years after he had left India.
Q&A with Dir. Karan Bali.
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SATYAJIT RAY FOUNDATION’S SHORT FILM COMPETITON | FREE EVENT
FILM INFO
Language(s) : Various, with English subtitlesRunning Time : 115 mins
Director : Various | Actors : Various
15 JULY | 18:20 | ICA
Details of Shortlisted films will be posted here soon….
SANTOSH SIVAN | MASTERCLASS
11 JULY | 18:30 | BFI SOUTHBANK
SYNOPSIS
Santosh Sivan is India’s foremost and most awarded cinematographer. He is also the only Indian member of the American Society of Cinematographers. He shot to prominence on the national stage with Mani Ratnam’s Thalapathi and is celebrated for his work on Roja, Dil Se, Iruvar and Kaala Pani. His international credits include Bride & Prejudice and Mistress Of Spices. Sivan debuted as director with Halo followed by Malli , both films aimed at children. The world took notice of his next film The Terrorist (premiered at BFI London Film Festival), about a suicide bomber wrestling with her conscience. John Malkovich championed the film andensured that it found global distribution.
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FARHAN AKHTAR | SCREEN TALK
16 JULY | 18:20 | BFI SOUTHBANK
SYNOPSIS
Farhan Akhtar is the renaissance man of Indian entertainment, being a director, producer, actor, singer, screenwriter, lyricist and television host. The son of legendary writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar and screenwriter, actor and director Honey Irani, Farhan made his directorial debut with Dil Chahta Hai, a film that changed filmmaking mores in Bollywood. He made his lyric writing debut with Bride and Prejudice and his acting and singing debut with Rock On!! His turn as the Olympian athlete Milkha Singh in the biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has seen him win every major Indian acting award this year!
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SOLD
English Language l 97 mins l USA l Dir. Jeffrey D Brown with Gillian Anderson, Seema Biswas, David Arquette,Niyar Saikia, Tillotama Shome, Parambrata Chatterjee.
EUROPEAN PREMIERE | OPENING NIGHT | 10 JULY | 18:00 | CINEWORLD HAYMARKET
Executive produced by actor Emma Thompson, Sold will be the red carpet European Premiere opening night film of the Fifth annual London INDIAN Film Festival (July 10-17). This film is a powerful, survival against the odds tale about a young Nepali girl who is trafficked to Kolkata, India.
Q&A with Dir. Jeffrey D Brown and Actor Gillian Anderson, other talent expected.
HEMALKASA
Hindi with English subtitles | 117 mins | India Dir. Samruddhi Porey | with Nana Patekar, Sonali Kulkarni, Mohan Agashe.
WORLD PREMIERE | CLOSING NIGHT | 17 JULY | 18:00 | CINEWORLD HAYMARKET
This inspirational and incredibly moving biopic follows the selfless journey of Dr. Prakash Baba Amte and his wife Dr. Mandakini Amte, a couple who dedicated their lives to a project for the development of tribal people of Maharashtra, India, in the toughest of conditions with little or no support from the establishment.
Q&A with special guests.
MILLION DOLLAR ARM
English language | 124 mins | US | Dir. Craig Gillespie | With Jon Hamm, Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal, Lake Bell, Alan Arkin.
UK PREMIERE | CENTREPIECE GALA | 14 JULY | 18.15 | CINEWORLD SHAFTESBURY AVE
An inspirational true story that follows the uplifting journey of two Indian boys whose lives are transformed by a national TV contest and against the odds end up going to the US to train to become major sports stars.
SANTOSH SIVAN MASTERCLASS
JULY 11 | BFI SOUTHBANK
India’s most celebrated cinematographer and a successful director, whose credits include The Terrorist, Bride & Prejudice and Roja, delivers a rare masterclass at the British Film Institute.
FARHAN AKHTAR SCREEN TALK
JULY 16 | BFI SOUTHBANK
The renaissance man of Indian entertainment, who acts, directs, writes, produces and sings discusses his storied career that includes Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Dil Chahta Hai, Don and Rock On!! at the British Film Institute.
QISSA: THE TALE OF A LONELY GHOST
Punjabi with English subtitles | 109 min | India, Germany, Netherlands, France | Dir. Anup Singh | with Irrfan Khan, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal.
UK PREMIERE | 12 JULY | 20:10 | BFI SOUTHBANK
Acclaimed actor and LIFF 2013 guest Irrfan Khan (Lunchbox, Life of Pi), plays the role of Umber Singh, a rural Sikh, dispossessed from his homeland by the Partition, who obsessively focuses on the ‘ideal’ of having a son and heir, but as his fourth daughter is born he hides the child’s true identity.
Q&A with Dir. Anup Singh.
ANIMA STATE
Urdu with English subtitles | 80 mins | Pakistan/UK Dir. Hammad Khan | with Uns Mufti, Malika Zafar, Osman Khalid Butt.
EUROPEAN PREMIERE | 14 JULY | 18:15 | CINEWORLD HAYMARKET
A man with a bandage mask across his face goes on a shooting spree across a Pakistani city, in this unflinching and surreal look at contemporary Pakistan that will provoke and entertain in equal measure.
Q&A with Dir. Hammad Khan.
APUR PANCHALI (APU’S SONG)
India with English subtitles | 97 min | Dir. Kaushik Ganguly | with Parambrata Chatterjee, Ardhendu Banerjee, Parno Mitra.
UK PREMIERE | 13 JULY | 15:00 | BFI SOUTHBANK
One of the greatest child characters in cinema history is the little boy Apu in Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) and Kaushik Ganguly’s heart-touching, jewel box of a film is inspired by the real-life actor Subir Banerjee, who played the young Apu.
Q&A with Dir. Kaushik Ganguly.
HANK AND ASHA
English language l 73 Mins l USA l Dir James E. Duff l with Andrew Pastides, Mahira Kakkar.
EUROPEAN PREMIERE | 11 JULY | 18:30 | ICA
Winner of the Slamdance Audience Award, this tender delight of a movie tells of the courtship of two loveable young strangers searching for connection in an online world.
Q&A with Dir. James E Duff.
SHONGRAM (STRUGGLE)
Bangla with English subtitles | 103 mins | Bangladesh/UK | Dir. Munsur Ali | with Anupam Kher, Asia Argento, Amaan Reza, Dilruba Yasmeen Ruhee.
WORLD PREMIERE | 14 JULY | 19:30 | CINEWORLD O2
In this powerful romantic drama set during the 1971 liberation struggle of Bangladesh, a Muslim falls in love with a Hindu, but their peaceful life is suddenly interrupted by war.
Q&A with Dir. Munsur Ali and other special guests.
AN AMERICAN IN MADRAS
English, Tamil, Hindi with English subtitles | 80 minutes | India | Dir. Karan Bali | with Kamal Haasan, Radha Viswanathan, K. Hariharan.
EUROPEAN PREMIERE |15 JULY | 20:20 | ICA
This fascinating and fast-paced documentary traces the journey of American-born filmmaker Ellis R. Dungan who arrived in India in 1935 intending to stay for 6 months but ended up staying for 15 years, during which he brought many technical innovations to the developing Tamil Film Industry of the 1930s and ‘40s, and infused a sense of professionalism into its filmmaking, all without understanding a word of the language!
Q&A with Dir. Karan Bali.
SULEMANI KEEDA (WRITERS)
Hindi with English subtitles | 89 mins | India/US | Dir. Amit V Masurkar | with Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari,Aditi Vasudev.
EUROPEAN PREMIERE | 11 JULY | 20:00 | CINEWORLD WEMBLEY
This tale of two struggling writers dare to dream big and try to peddle their screenplay in Bollywood is a racy romp through the filmi underbelly of Mumbai richly populated with a host of Bollywood celebrities in cameos, playing themselves.
Q&A with Dir. Amit V Masurkar.
ULIDAVARU KANDANTE (AS SEEN BY THE REST)
Kannada with English subtitles | 154 mins | India | Dir. Rakshit Shetty | with Rakshit Shetty, Kishore, Tara.
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE 12 JULY | 18:00 | CINEWORLD WANDSWORTH
This dazzling epic manages to cram in homages to Sin City, Pulp Fiction, Agneepath, Scarface, Shankar Nag, Rashomon and a host of other tributes while being a kinetic suspense thriller that deals with five interconnected stories, where a journalist sets out to uncover the truth behind an incident from the past, through the perspectives of different people, and how they and their lives are intertwined with it.
GOOPI GAWAIYA BAGHA BAJAIYA
Hindi with English subtitles l 79 mins l India l Dir. Shilpa Ranade l with voices of Manish Bhawan, Shailendra Pande, Rajeev Raj.
EUROPEAN PREMIERE | 12 JULY | 15:00 | CINEWORLD WOOD GREEN
Premiered at Toronto Film Festival, The World of Goopi and Bagha is a delightful and hilarious animated feature,based on a story for children of all ages immortalised by Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray.
KANYAKA TALKIES (VIRGIN TALKIES)
Malayalam with English subtitles | 115 mins | India | Dir. K.R. Manoj | with Murali Gopy, Lena Kumar, Indrans,Manianpilla Raju.
EUROPEAN PREMIERE | 13 JULY | 16:00 | CINEWORLD WANDSWORTH
In this gripping tale a twenty-year-old movie theatre showing soft porn as its mainstay gets converted into a
church and the new parish priest suffers a crisis of faith as he hears disturbing voices from porn stars from pastscreenings.
BAREFOOT TO GOA
Hindi with English subtitles l 80 mins l India l Dir. Praveen Morchhale l with Purva Parag, Farrukh Jaffar, Saara Nahar.
EUROPEAN PREMIERE | 11 JULY | 19:00 | CINEWORLD WANDSWORTH
A hit at festivals around India, Barefoot to Goa explores with great sensitivity the Indian middleclass dilemma of what to do with ageing parents and the intergenerational ties that powerfully bind families together, and follows two children on a road trip adventure across India as they run away from home to visit their ailing grandmother.
ILAI (LEAF)
Tamil with English subtitles l 67 mins l India l Dir. Rajiv Reddy Pochareddy l with Manjula Odanadi, Pritham Charavarthy, Mighty Gibson.
EUROPEAN PREMIERE | 11 JULY | 19:00 | CINEWORLD WOOD GREEN
A lonely little girl from the countryside accidentally finds herself in a bustling metropolis where she doesn’t know the city’s language, or understand its high-speed ways.
SATYAJIT RAY FOUNDATION’S SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Languages: Various with English subtitles | Total Running Time: 115 mins
15 JULY | 18:20 | ICA
LIFF presents the prestigious Satyajit Ray Foundation’s annual short film competition. The winner of the £1,000 award will be announced on 17 July at the Closing Night Gala.
2014 Jury: Hammad Khan (director) Pratibha Parmar (director) Kaleem Aftab (journalist) Nirpal Dhaliwal (journalist) Satwant Gill (LIFF Jury Chair).
Shortlisted films:-
KUSH
Dir. Shubhashish Bhutiani | 20 mins | India | 2013
COUNTRY OF BODIES, BOMBAY IN DANCE
Dir. Puneet Rakheja | 8mins | India | 2013
RANI
Dir. Manish Sharma | 10 mins | India | 2013
NO LOVE LOST
Dir. Shekhar Bassi | 15 mins | UK | 2013
FLY, BIRD (CHIDIYA UDH)
Dir. Pranjal Dua | 21 mins | India | 2013
ALCHEMY
Dir. Pranay Patwardhan, Janmeet Singh, Shivangi Ranawan | 4 mins | India/China | 2013
OUT POST
Dir. Shiva Shankar Bajpai | 16 mins | India | 2013
DEVIL IN THE BLACK STONE (KAPPU KALLINA SAITANA)
Dir