River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival
Encyclopedia
River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival is an annual film festival in Florence
, Italy
that showcases independent and low-budget Indian films. It is under the patronage of the Embassy of India in Italy and is the first film festival in the world entirely devoted to films from and about India.
The festival, founded and run by Selvaggia Velo, is supported by Mediateca Regionale Toscana-Film Commission as part of the Cinquanta Giorni di Cinema Internazionale a Firenze. The 2010 festival took place from 3 to 9 December at Odeon
, a 1920s
-style theatre located in the heart of Florence.
, including Sri Lanka
, Nepal
, Pakistan
and Bangladesh
.
Indian cinema had been recognized outside of its country of origin, but the Golden Lion
won by Mira Nair
with Monsoon Wedding
at the Venice Film Festival
in 2001 inspired new interest on an international level. Indian cinema has traditionally been best known for the mainstream masala
films of Bollywood
; the goal of the River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival is to promote the less prominent independent
and parallel films
of India. Every year feature films, short films and documentaries are screened at the festival.
During its first year, the festival had a large audience and a positive press response. The 8 films shown were from directors like Dev Benegal
, Biju Viswanath
and Preeti Chandrakant
.
and Anand Patwardhan
, and journalist Uma da Cunha.
by Vishal Bhardwaj
, Matrubhoomi-A Nation Without Women by Manish Jha
, Chokher Bali
by Rituparno Ghosh
and the short film by Amit Kumar
, "The Bypass".
Special events included the screening of India seen by Rossellini; Om Puri
Night, a tribute to the Indian actor; and the preview of TFSA (Travelling Film South Asia) 2004.
The River to River. Manish Jha won the Digimovies Audience Award for his film Matrubhoomi - A Nation Without Women by Manish Jha. The special guests of the festival were the directors Roysten Abel and Manish Jha
, the journalist and director Meenakshi Shedde, and Uma da Cunha.
, winner of the FIFF Digimovies Audience Award.
Among the 2004 screenings were Let the Wind Blow by Partho Sen Gupta, White Noise by Vinta Nanda, the short film Holly Bolly by Dishad Husain, and Goutam Ghose’s Impermanence. Ray, a documentary on Satyajit Ray
was screened before the Ray Trilogy.
Among the festival guests were filmmakers Goutam Ghose, Herbert Krill, Dishad Husain, Vinta Nanda and Partho Sen Gupta, actress Koel Purie
and producer Mohanjit Singh.
and Calcutta (1969) by Louis Malle
, a cinematographic portrait of the Indian city where devotees, beggars and streets swarming with people play the leading role. The festival also featured a retrospective devoted to producer and director Ismail Merchant
.
The winners of the Florence Indian Film Festival Digichannel Audience Award in the 3 sections were: Sof Haolam Smola (Turn Left at the End of the World) by Avi Nesher
(best feature film), "6 ft. in 7 min." by Rafael Del Toro (best short film), and Between the Lines by Thomas Wartmann (best documentary).
(I did not kill Gandhi) by Assamese
director Jahnu Barua
, dealing with the universal subject of senile dementia in a quintessentially Indian setting, the death of Gandhi; the gangster-story Dubai Return by Aditya Bhattacharya
; and Dombivli Fast by Nishikant Kamat
. The surreal "The Cherry on Top and Flower Girl" premiered in the short films section and the documentaries Kalasam by Anna Pitscheider, Cricket Cup by Massimiliano Pacifico and Diego Liguori, and Waiting by Shabnam Ara and Atul Gupta were screened in the documentary section.
The Festival included a retrospective on Mira Nair
(Salaam Bombay and Monsoon Wedding
).
A special screening of Notturno Indiano by Alain Corneau
took place on the last evening. From Antonio Tabucchi
’s short story, Notturno Indiano tells the story of a nameless traveller who arrives in Mumbai in search of a friend.
The winners of the FIFF Digichannel Audience Award were also screened on the last day of the festival:
was given during the Festival, ending with the screening of Bandini. A portion of the 2007 ticket sales were donated to Médecins Sans Frontières
to help the victims of Cyclone Sidr
in Bangladesh
.
The winners of the River to River Digichannel Audience Award were:
. The three winning films of the Advantage India 3 minute film competition were also screened.
During the final evening, the River to River Digichannel Audience Awards were announced:
was highlighted at the 2007 Festival with workshops on the music in his films. Other workshops were taught on gender issues in India.
The winners of the River to River Digichannel Audience Awards were:
's films Iti Mrinalini
and The Japanese Wife
were the opening and closing films of the Festival. Onir
's I Am
was screened as well as the more mainstream Hindi
films Ishqiya
, Raajneeti and Love Aaj Kal
.
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
that showcases independent and low-budget Indian films. It is under the patronage of the Embassy of India in Italy and is the first film festival in the world entirely devoted to films from and about India.
The festival, founded and run by Selvaggia Velo, is supported by Mediateca Regionale Toscana-Film Commission as part of the Cinquanta Giorni di Cinema Internazionale a Firenze. The 2010 festival took place from 3 to 9 December at Odeon
Odeon
Odea, Odeon, or Odeum may refer to:* Odeon , ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for singing exercises, musical shows and poetry competitions-Modern era:* Cineplex Odeon, North America...
, a 1920s
1920s
File:1920s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In...
-style theatre located in the heart of Florence.
The Festival
The first edition of the River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival took place in October 2001 in Florence, Italy, as the first festival in the world totally devoted to Indian cinema and films about IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, including Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
Indian cinema had been recognized outside of its country of origin, but the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
won by Mira Nair
Mira Nair
Mira Nair is an Indian film director and producer based in New York. Her production company is Mirabai Films.She was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her debut feature film, Salaam Bombay! , won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned the nomination...
with Monsoon Wedding
Monsoon Wedding
* Originally featured in the Hindi film Loafer * Originally featured in the Hindi film Biwi No.1 -Awards:The movie won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival...
at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
in 2001 inspired new interest on an international level. Indian cinema has traditionally been best known for the mainstream masala
Masala (film genre)
Masala is a term given to films of Indian cinema that mix various genres in one film. Typically these films freely mix action, comedy, romance, and drama or melodrama. These films tend to be musicals that include songs filmed in picturesque locations...
films of Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
; the goal of the River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival is to promote the less prominent independent
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
and parallel films
Parallel Cinema
The Indian New Wave, commonly known in India as Art Cinema or Parallel Cinema as an alternative to the mainstream commercial cinema, is a specific movement in Indian cinema, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the sociopolitical climate of the times...
of India. Every year feature films, short films and documentaries are screened at the festival.
2001
The first River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival was held in 2001. The works were low budget, part of the festival's aim to focus on directors who deal in a strong and innovative way with stories about topical questions, but are crushed by the commercial machine of Bollywood.During its first year, the festival had a large audience and a positive press response. The 8 films shown were from directors like Dev Benegal
Dev Benegal
Dev Benegal is an Indian director and screenwriter, most known for his debut film English, August , which won the 1995 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English....
, Biju Viswanath
Biju Viswanath
Biju Viswanath is an Award-winning international Film Director and Director of Photography.Viswanath works in a wide range of genres: Thriller, Mystery, Horror and Romance...
and Preeti Chandrakant
Preeti Chandrakant
Preeti Chandrakant is a Zürich based Swiss Indian artist, and film maker, who was born in Mumbai, and educated in film and ethnology in the United States and Switzerland.Chandrakant's work explores the interrelationship between experience and transformation...
.
2002
The second year of the Festival, which was held at Florence from 11 to 15 December, showcased a large selection of independent productions. It included a tribute to the Bengali director Ritwik Ghatak and to the 17 documentaries of TFSA (Travelling Film South Asia). The guests of the Festival were the directors Rahul BoseRahul Bose
Rahul Bose is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and rugby union player.Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English,...
and Anand Patwardhan
Anand Patwardhan
Anand Patwardhan is an Indian documentary filmmaker, known for his activism through social action documentaries on topics such as corruption, slum dwellers, nuclear arms race, citizen activism and communalism...
, and journalist Uma da Cunha.
2003
In the festival's third year a variety of films were screened: MaqboolMaqbool
Maqbool , a 2004 Indian film directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and starring Pankaj Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Tabu and Masumeh Makhija is an adaptation of the play Macbeth by Shakespeare....
by Vishal Bhardwaj
Vishal Bhardwaj
Vishal Bhardwaj is an Indian film director, writer, screenwriter, music composer and playback singer.-Early life:Bhardwaj was born in Bijnor but raised in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh to Satya Bhardwaj, a homemaker, and Ram Bhardwaj, a popular poet and lyricist. His father was a government employee and...
, Matrubhoomi-A Nation Without Women by Manish Jha
Manish Jha
Manish Jha is an Indian film director and screenwriter, most known for his films, A Very Very Silent Film and Matrubhoomi-A Nation Without Women which won him critical acclaim.-Early life and education:...
, Chokher Bali
Chokher Bali
Chokher Bali , literally Sand of the Eye, equivalent to eyesore, is a Bengali novel written by Rabindranath Tagore in the early twentieth century.-Plot:...
by Rituparno Ghosh
Rituparno Ghosh
Rituparno Ghosh is a Bengali film director. He has won 8 National Film Awards in India and several awards at international film festivals abroad.- Early life and background :...
and the short film by Amit Kumar
Amit Kumar
Amit Kumar is an Indian film playback singer, actor, director, and music director. He is the son of famous singer and actor Kishore Kumar and Bengali singer and actress Ruma Guha Thakurta. Like his father he too loved singing since childhood and used to sing in Kolkata during Durga Pooja functions...
, "The Bypass".
Special events included the screening of India seen by Rossellini; Om Puri
Om Puri
Om Puri is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.-Early life:...
Night, a tribute to the Indian actor; and the preview of TFSA (Travelling Film South Asia) 2004.
The River to River. Manish Jha won the Digimovies Audience Award for his film Matrubhoomi - A Nation Without Women by Manish Jha. The special guests of the festival were the directors Roysten Abel and Manish Jha
Manish Jha
Manish Jha is an Indian film director and screenwriter, most known for his films, A Very Very Silent Film and Matrubhoomi-A Nation Without Women which won him critical acclaim.-Early life and education:...
, the journalist and director Meenakshi Shedde, and Uma da Cunha.
2004
The 2004 River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival closed with the screening of the outside programme Eyes on India, documentaries on India shot by Western directors, and the screening of the black comedy Shit Happens by Shashanka GhoshShashanka Ghosh
Shashanka Ghosh is an Indian filmmaker. As a director, he is known for small budget films with powerful performances and a strong story line. As a writer, he penned the story for Aisa Bhi Hota Hai and Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II. He is coming up with a comedy flick called Quick Gun Murugan. The...
, winner of the FIFF Digimovies Audience Award.
Among the 2004 screenings were Let the Wind Blow by Partho Sen Gupta, White Noise by Vinta Nanda, the short film Holly Bolly by Dishad Husain, and Goutam Ghose’s Impermanence. Ray, a documentary on Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
was screened before the Ray Trilogy.
Among the festival guests were filmmakers Goutam Ghose, Herbert Krill, Dishad Husain, Vinta Nanda and Partho Sen Gupta, actress Koel Purie
Koel Purie
Koel Purie Rinchet is an Indian film actress who made her debut with Rahul Bose's directorial venture Everybody Says I'm Fine! in 2001 and later featured in Road to Ladakh starring alongside Irrfan Khan...
and producer Mohanjit Singh.
2005
The 2005 festival was held from 9 to 15 December, closing with the screening of Notes for a Film on India (1967–68) by Pier Paolo PasoliniPier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...
and Calcutta (1969) by Louis Malle
Louis Malle
Louis Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. His films include Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , Atlantic City , and Au revoir, les enfants .- Early years in France :Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries,...
, a cinematographic portrait of the Indian city where devotees, beggars and streets swarming with people play the leading role. The festival also featured a retrospective devoted to producer and director Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant was an Indian-born film producer, best known for the results of his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director James Ivory as well as screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
.
The winners of the Florence Indian Film Festival Digichannel Audience Award in the 3 sections were: Sof Haolam Smola (Turn Left at the End of the World) by Avi Nesher
Avi Nesher
Avi Nesher is an Israeli film producer, film director, screenwriter and actor.- Biography :Avi Nesher was born and raised in Ramat Gan, Israel. The child of a Romanian-born diplomat, and a mother who came from Russia. In 1965, he moved with his family to the United States...
(best feature film), "6 ft. in 7 min." by Rafael Del Toro (best short film), and Between the Lines by Thomas Wartmann (best documentary).
2006
The sixth edition of the Festival took place from 8 to 14 December. Films screened at the Festival were: Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin MaraMaine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara
Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara , is an Indian film, directed by Jahnu Barua and produced by Anupam Kher...
(I did not kill Gandhi) by Assamese
Assamese people
The Assamese people are a well-defined subgroup of People of Assam. Though sometimes they are defined as the Assamese-speaking Indo-Aryans of the Brahmaputra valley,, this definition is not legally binding...
director Jahnu Barua
Jahnu Barua
Jahnu Barua is a multiple national and international award-winning Indian film director from Assam. He has directed a number of Assamese and Hindi films, and along with Bhabendra Nath Saikia was one of the pioneers of Assamese Art cinema...
, dealing with the universal subject of senile dementia in a quintessentially Indian setting, the death of Gandhi; the gangster-story Dubai Return by Aditya Bhattacharya
Aditya Bhattacharya
Aditya Bhattacharya is an Indian film director and screenwriter, most known for his feature film, Raakh starring Aamir Khan, and which garnered three National Film Awards.He is the son of film director Basu Bhattacharya.-Early life:...
; and Dombivli Fast by Nishikant Kamat
Nishikant Kamat
Nishikanth Kamat, मराठी - निशिकांत कामत is an Indian filmmaker. His debut film, Dombivali Fast earned him accolades in Marathi Cinema, as it went on to become the biggest Marathi film of the year...
. The surreal "The Cherry on Top and Flower Girl" premiered in the short films section and the documentaries Kalasam by Anna Pitscheider, Cricket Cup by Massimiliano Pacifico and Diego Liguori, and Waiting by Shabnam Ara and Atul Gupta were screened in the documentary section.
The Festival included a retrospective on Mira Nair
Mira Nair
Mira Nair is an Indian film director and producer based in New York. Her production company is Mirabai Films.She was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her debut feature film, Salaam Bombay! , won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned the nomination...
(Salaam Bombay and Monsoon Wedding
Monsoon Wedding
* Originally featured in the Hindi film Loafer * Originally featured in the Hindi film Biwi No.1 -Awards:The movie won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival...
).
A special screening of Notturno Indiano by Alain Corneau
Alain Corneau
Alain Corneau was a French film director and writer.Corneau was born in Meung-sur-Loire, Loiret. Originally a musician, he worked with Costa-Gavras as an assistant, which was also his first opportunity to work with the actor Yves Montand, with whom he would collaborate three times later in his...
took place on the last evening. From Antonio Tabucchi
Antonio Tabucchi
Antonio Tabucchi is an Italian writer and academic who teaches Portuguese language and literature at the University of Siena, Italy....
’s short story, Notturno Indiano tells the story of a nameless traveller who arrives in Mumbai in search of a friend.
The winners of the FIFF Digichannel Audience Award were also screened on the last day of the festival:
- feature films: Infinite Justice by Pakistani director Jamil DehlaviJamil DehlaviJamil Dehlavi is British film director/producer. He was born in Calcutta, India to an Indian father and French mother.-Filmography:* 1973 Guitarist* 1976 Towers of Silence* 1980 The Blood of Hussain* 1986 Born of Fire...
, a story inspired by the real murder of the American journalist Daniel PearlDaniel PearlDaniel Pearl was an American journalist who was kidnapped and killed by Al-Qaeda.At the time of his kidnapping, Pearl served as the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, and was based in Mumbai, India. He went to Pakistan as part of an investigation into the alleged links between...
; - short films: the ironic Dog by Daniel Lang, in which the director imagines he dies and is reincarnated as an Indian stray dog;
- documentaries: the 40-year-long filmed letters of I for India by Sandhya Suri.
2007
The 2007 Festival took place from 7 to 13 December as part of 50 Days of International Cinema in Florence at the historic cinema Gambrinus. A retrospective of Bimal RoyBimal Roy
Bimal Roy was one of the most acclaimed Indian film directors of all time. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films like Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta, Biraj Bahu, Madhumati, Sujata, and Bandini, making him an important director of Hindi cinema...
was given during the Festival, ending with the screening of Bandini. A portion of the 2007 ticket sales were donated to Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
to help the victims of Cyclone Sidr
Cyclone Sidr
Cyclone Sidr was the strongest named cyclone in the Bay of Bengal...
in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
The winners of the River to River Digichannel Audience Award were:
- feature film section: Maati Maay by Chitra Palekar
- short film section: Saving Mum and Dad by Kartik Singh
- documentary section: Sotto il cielo di Ahmedabad by Francesca Lignola and Stefano Rebechi.
2008
In 2008 the Festival showcased the works of Raj KapoorRaj Kapoor
Known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor Rāj Kapūr, 14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as The Show-Man, was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema. He was the winner of nine Filmfare Awards, while his films Awaara and Boot Polish were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the...
. The three winning films of the Advantage India 3 minute film competition were also screened.
During the final evening, the River to River Digichannel Audience Awards were announced:
- feature film section: Amal by Richie MehtaRichie MehtaRichie Mehta is a Canadian film director. His first feature film, Amal, was released in 2008, and has been nominated for Best Motion Picture and Best Director at the 29th Genie Awards....
- short film section: Funerailles by Subarna Thapa
- documentary section: Super 30 by Christopher MitchellChristopher MitchellChristopher Mitchell was a British actor most notable for his role in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum as Gunner Nigel 'Parky' Parkins....
- special mention: Ocean of Pearls by Sarab S. Neelam
2009
Guru DuttGuru Dutt
Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone , popularly known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is often credited with ushering in the golden era of Hindi cinema...
was highlighted at the 2007 Festival with workshops on the music in his films. Other workshops were taught on gender issues in India.
The winners of the River to River Digichannel Audience Awards were:
- feature film section: Heaven on EarthHeaven on Earth (film)Heaven on Earth a.k.a Videsh is a 2008 Canadian film directed and written by Deepa Mehta. Preity Zinta plays the leading role of Chand, a young Indian Punjabi woman who finds herself in an abusive arranged marriage with an Indo-Canadian man, played by theatre actor Vansh Bhardwaj...
by Deepa MehtaDeepa MehtaDeepa Mehta, LLD is a Genie Award-winning Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, most known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire , Earth , and Water , among which Earth was submitted by Indian government for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film... - short film section: TopiTopiThe Tsessebe , is one of five subspecies in the binomial class D. lunatus. The other subspecies include Korrigum , Tiang , Coastal Topi , and Topi . Tesessebe are found primarily in Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa...
by Arjun Rihan - documentary film section: Children of GodChildren of GodThe Family International , formed as as the Children of God and later named Family of Love and the Family, is a new religious movement, started in 1968 in Huntington Beach, California, United States. It began in the late 1960s, with many of its early converts drawn from the hippie movement...
by Yi Seung-jun.
2010
In 2010, the Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary at the Odeon theatre. Aparna SenAparna Sen
Aparna Sen is a critically acclaimed Bengali Indian filmmaker, script writer, and actress. She is the winner of three National Film Awards and eight international film festival awards.-Biography:...
's films Iti Mrinalini
Iti Mrinalini
Iti Mrinalini is a 2010 Indian drama film directed by acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Aparna Sen. The director collaborates with debutant screenwriter Ranjan Ghosh to pen the story and the screenplay, a first for her. The film has been produced by Shrikant Mohta and Mahendra Soni of Shree Venkatesh...
and The Japanese Wife
The Japanese Wife
The Japanese Wife is a 2010 Indian film directed by Bengali filmmaker Aparna Sen. It stars Rahul Bose, Raima Sen and Moushumi Chatterjee, and Japanese actress Chigusa Takaku in the title role...
were the opening and closing films of the Festival. Onir
Onir
Onir is an Indian film director, editor, writer and producer. He is best known for his film My Brother... Nikhil, one of the first mainstream Hindi films to deal with AIDS and same-sex relationships.-Life and career:...
's I Am
I Am (film)
I Am is a 2010 Indian anthology film by Onir. It consists of four short films: "Omar", "Afia", "Abhimanyu", and "Megha". Each film shares the common theme of fear and each is also based on real life stories. The film was financed by donations from more than 400 different people around the world,...
was screened as well as the more mainstream Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
films Ishqiya
Ishqiya
Ishqiya is a 2010 Indian film starring Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, and Salman Shahid in the lead roles. The film is directed by Abhishek Chaubey in his directorial debut and is produced by Raman Maroo and Vishal Bharadwaj. The film was released on 29 January 2010.Upon release, the...
, Raajneeti and Love Aaj Kal
Love Aaj Kal
Love Aaj Kal is a 2009 Bollywood film starring Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone in lead roles with Rahul Khanna, Rishi Kapoor and Giselli Monteiro in supporting roles. The film is directed by Imtiaz Ali and produced by Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan...
.