Twelve films ran spanning a wide spectrum of genres including comedy, drama and even animation with the best chosen from a short-list of six on March 18th as the winner of the festival’s Best Film Award. While most of the action took place in venues across London there were also special satellite screenings which took place in Glasgow, Brighton and Leeds.

The festival opened with the UK première of Gf*Bf by Taiwanese director Ya-Che Yang followed by premières of  Headshot (Dir. Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Thailand), Poor Folk (dir. Midi Z, Burma), Patang (dir. Prashant Bhargava, India),   The Revolutionary (dirs. Irv Drasnin, Don Sellers, Lucy Ostrander, USA) and the Hong Kong Young Filmmakers Shorts Programme in conjunction with the Fresh Wave Film Festival which also included and international discussion via Google Hangouts. The première which eventually went on to win the PAFF Best Film Award though was 111 Girls by Iranian director Nahid Ghobadi.

Aside from premières the festival also featured a screening of Outrage Beyond, the latest work by Japanese director Takeshi Kitano as well as The Reluctant Fundamentalist (dir. Mira Nair, India), Material (dir. Craig Freimond, South Africa), animated feature The King of Pigs (Yeon Sang-ho) and the festival’s first ever late night screening with Tormented 3D by Japanese director Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge).

There were two films shown at the GFT in Glasgow. The first was Gf*Bf which tells the story of a love triangle between rebellious high school friends Aaron, Mabel and Liam. Aaron likes Mabel, Mabel likes Liam but Liam only has eyes for Aaron. The film spans just over a decade which begins in 1985 Taiwan, during a time of martial law, then through to 1990 and ending in 1997 showing how the relationships between the three friends has held up during a time of political unrest.

The second film was Patang which is set in the Indian city of Ahmedabad and gives viewers an insight into India’s largest kite festival. While the festival sets the backdrop of the film, the storyline revolves around a successful Delhi businessman bringing his daughter back to his home town and being forced to face up to the family troubles he left behind. Performances are provided by both professionals and non-actors but both are eclipsed by the bright and colourful cinematography as millions of kites take flight during the day and fireworks light up the sky at night.

The Pan-Asia Film Festival seems to have enjoyed a very successful run in 2013 and it will be interesting to see what they have in store next year.

Garry MacDonald

I then walked to the metro in my tux. (My skinny tux!) I can’t quite explain how many weird looks I got from people because I was wearing a tux on the metro. DC doesn’t seem to have the same tolerance for the bizarre as NYC.

As I got off the metro at L’Enfant Plaza, I realized I was turned around and had no clue exactly which direction I was aimed. Who knew the compass and map app in combo would be so useful? I walked over to the Mandarin Oriental where I was going to meet Peggy DeAnda for a drink before the Ball. It’s not often one gets to meet friends from Big Spring in DC. I then took my ticket and walked in.

Little did I know what to expect! It was amazing! They had a red carpet with an Indiaspora background. There were photographers and reporters. I was behind Congressman Ami Bera. I think there was a bit of a let down as I walked down the red carpet. The reporters weren’t sure who I was. I’m a bit curious what the photo of me on the red carpet looks like. (Especially since I could take up the whole frame since I wasn’t sharing my moment in the limelight with a date or anything – perhaps something to work on in the future?)

As I walked in, I spotted MR Rangaswami and went up to say hello. He introduced me to a few people as an opera conductor, which usually sparks some need for explanation as to how an Indian kid ended up in orchestra and opera. After feeling like I was talking about myself too much, I asked the gentleman what he did. He replied, “I’m actually a congressman.” (My inner monologue at that moment was “D’oh!”). So I had a nice conversation with Congressman Honda from Silicon Valley. I then turned around and was introduced to Dr. Ami Bera. Congressman Bera! That was pretty neat. He has a great sense of humor.

The night seemed to be one amazing person after the next. Many great Indiaspora friends. I could spend the next 2 pages naming them all, but I have come to really treasure the opportunity to spend time with them and hear their amazing stories. There are so many people doing some great work.

I then turned around and was introduced to Ambassador Nirupama Rao, the ambassador from India! When she heard I was an opera conductor she said, “my favorite opera is *****.” My jaw dropped! What were the odds that ***** was the very opera we were contemplating opening the Skylight season with? (I’m forced to edit because the season hasn’t been announced, and we really like suspense. We do create drama after all). So then I told her who we had directing, and she said, “***** is such an interesting choice! It sounds like I should come see this production.” Here is hoping Milwaukee hosts the Ambassador from India on September 20th. Madame Ambassador, you have an open invitation. (As an aside, it was very cool that she retweeted the picture of us from the ball! Then I saw on her twitter feeds that she had a picture with Zubin Mehta and a picture with me!!! Talk about feeling very cool for 30 seconds…. Now if only I was invited to conduct in Berlin and Vienna. Hint hint).

Later that night I ran into Maneet Chauhan from the Chopped series on the Food network. She asked me how the food was and I realized I hadn’t had time to eat. She smiled and walked me back to the kitchen, and we talked for about 30 minutes over some amazing Indian food. A quick plug – Maneet has a new cookbook coming out! you should all look forward to buying it! I asked her about Red Rooster in NYC. (Marcus Samuelsson’s restaurant). It looks like I might be going there with Maneet sometime this week. Talk about ridiculous! Going to an amazing chef’s restaurant with another amazing chef!

I honestly can’t say what the night was like. I was blown away by meeting so many incredible people. The credit has to go to MR Rangaswami. The work he put in to create an event like this is truly monumental. I think Indiaspora is going to blossom into an important place for the exchange of great ideas. I feel honored and humbled to be part of the family!

Émilien Néron and Sophie Nélisse star in Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar. Courtesy of Music Box Films.

With so many awards groups releasing their lists of nominees in all the major categories, Indie Outlook couldn’t help putting together its own. If Indie Outlook picked the nominees, they would look something like this. The one new category is Best Performer Under 18, which the Academy should add as soon as possible. “Beasts of the Southern Wild” star Quvenzhané Wallis is living proof of that, and yet this year was so rich in contenders, she didn’t make Indie Outlook’s top five.

BEST PICTURE

The Impossible

Lincoln

The Master

Moonrise Kingdom

The Wise Kids

BEST ACTOR

Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

John Hawkes, The Sessions

Denis Lavant, Holy Motors

Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

Tyler Ross, Nate & Margaret

BEST ACTRESS

Ann Dowd, Compliance

Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

Léa Seydoux, Farewell, My Queen

Kate Lyn Sheil, Green

Margarete Tiesel, Paradise: Love

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Michael Caine, The Dark Knight Rises

Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook

Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master

Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

Ewan McGregor, The Impossible

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister’s Sister

Sally Field, Lincoln

Grace Folsom, Things I Don’t Understand

Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables

Allison Torem, The Wise Kids

BEST PERFORMER UNDER 18

Thomas Doret, The Kid with a Bike

Elle Fanning, Ginger & Rosa

Tom Holland, The Impossible

Sophie Nélisse, Monsieur Lazhar

Émilien Néron, Monsieur Lazhar

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Nathan Adloff and Justin D.M. Palmer, Nate & Margaret

Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom

Stephen Cone, The Wise Kids

Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks

Sarah Polley, Take This Waltz

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Judd Apatow, This is 40

Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Terence Davies, The Deep Blue Sea

Philippe Falardeau, Monsieur Lazhar

Tony Kushner, Lincoln

BEST DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom

Prashant Bhargava, Patang

Stephen Cone, The Wise Kids

Philippe Falardeau, Monsieur Lazhar

Joe Swanberg, Marriage Material

BEST EDITING

William Goldberg and Dylan Tichenor, Zero Dark Thirty

Stéphane Lafleur, Monsieur Lazhar

Nelly Quettier, Holy Motors

Elena Ruiz, The Impossible

Andrew Weisblum, Moonrise Kingdom

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Roger Deakins, Skyfall

Shanker Raman, Patang

Mihai Malaimare Jr., The Master

Ben Richardson, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Robert D. Yeoman, Moonrise Kingdom

BEST SCORE

Alexandre Desplat, Moonrise Kingdom

Mikhail Fiksel, The Wise Kids

Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas

Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Nick Urata, Ruby Sparks

BEST SONG

“The Kids” from My Sucky Teen Romance

“Nate and Margaret” from Nate & Margaret

“Skyfall” from Skyfall

“This Gift” from The Odd Life of Timothy Green

“Who Were We?” from Holy Motors

BEST MAKEUP

Cloud Atlas

The Hobbit

Holy Motors

The Impossible

Lincoln

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Cloud Atlas

Farewell, My Queen

Holy Motors

Lincoln

Moonrise Kingdom

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Anna Karenina

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Cloud Atlas

Lincoln

Moonrise Kingdom

BEST SOUND MIXING

The Avengers

Compliance

The Dark Knight Rises

The Impossible

Skyfall

BEST SOUND EDITING

Chronicle

The Impossible

Life of Pi

The Master

Zero Dark Thirty

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Cloud Atlas

Flight

The Hobbit

The Impossible

Life of Pi

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Amour

Holy Motors

The Kid with a Bike

Monsieur Lazhar

A Simple Life

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

As Goes Janesville

How to Survive a Plague

The Invisible War

The Queen of Versailles

Erica Unger and Seth Unger star in Jack C. Newell’s Close Quarters. Courtesy of Nefarious Productions.

Spreading the wealth in the above categories has been so much fun, Indie Outlook couldn’t help adding a few honorable mentions—twenty to be exact. Get your Netflix queues ready, and enjoy…

Twenty Special Mentions

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

ParaNorman

BEST TV MOVIE

Game Change

BEST FOUND FOOTAGE MOVIE

Chronicle

BEST OSCAR-BAITING MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables

BEST SINISTER MONOLOGUE

Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained

BEST TIMELY MONOLOGUE

Joel Murray, God Bless America

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A “FREAKS AND GEEKS” ALUMNUS

Linda Cardellini, Return

BEST MOTION-CAPTURE PERFORMANCE

Andy Serkis, The Hobbit (who else?)

BEST NEAR-WORDLESS PERFORMANCE

Christopher Walken, Dark Horse

BEST TRIBUTE TO A GREAT ACTOR

Josh Brolin, Men in Black 3

BEST TRIBUTE TO CLASSICAL MUSIC

Liberal Arts

BEST PROLIFIC TODDLER

Jude Swanberg, Empire Builder/Be Good/Marriage Material/The Zone

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Martin Landau, Frankenweenie

BEST INDIE SET FOR RELEASE IN JANUARY

Tiger Tail in Blue

BEST INDIE ENSEMBLE

Close Quarters

BEST AUSSIE IMPORT

The Snowtown Murders

BEST ANTI-ROMANCE

Young Goethe in Love

BEST CAMEO

James D’Arcy, Hitchcock

BEST CROWD-PLEASING PUNCH

Hulk, The Avengers

BEST CATCHPHRASE

“Argo f–k yourself!”

…and one more honorable mention…

BEST SIXTH NOMINEE FOR BEST ACTOR

Liam Neeson, The Grey

Logan Lerman stars in Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” Courtesy of John Bramley/Summit Entertainment, LLC.

If Oscar season proves anything, it’s that there are more artists eligible for nominations than any critic’s group or awards ceremony could possibly encompass. As a proud member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, I’m always dazzled and intimidated by the onslaught of screeners that crowd my inbox around this time of year, competing for my consideration. Yet as the Koch Brothers proved during the recent election, no matter how much money you throw at a candidate, it will never assure their victory (unless that victory comes courtesy of the Hollywood Foreign Press).

In this special two-part feature, I’ve ranked the twenty films that I consider to be at the top of the heap in 2012. The following list features #20-#11 (with #10-#1 soon to be unveiled in an upcoming post). From the finest wide releases to the most priceless art house treasures, here are the cinematic crème de la crème…

20. This is 40

Capping off an extraordinary couple of years for Judd Apatow, in which he produced the mega-hit, “Bridesmaids,” and the brilliant HBO series, “Girls” (making stars out of Melissa McCarthy and Lena Dunham in the process), this sweetly profane ode to middle-age triumphs and tribulations is a welcome return to form packed with delightful vignettes. McCarthy and Dunham are merely two of the familiar faces in the star-studded ensemble, yet the picture is ultimately anchored by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann, both reprising their roles as the neurotic married couple from “Knocked Up.” Apatow’s real-life daughters are naturals on-camera–Maude exudes fiery teenage angst while Iris brings down the house with her deadpan quips. They’re the most talented pair of sisters since Sarah and Emma Bolger.

19. A Simple Life

Hong Kong New Wave icon Ann Hui crafts a delicate drama about an ailing maid, Ah Tao (veteran character actress Deanie Ip), and her beloved client, Roger Leung (Andy Lau), who decides to care for her. Like Michael Haneke’s equally observant (yet more emotionally grueling) Cannes prizewinner, “Amour,” this picture captures the frustrations brought about by a failing body while exploring the vital role of a devoted caregiver. After enduring a crippling stroke, Ah Tao declares that it’s time for her to retire and move into a nursing home. As Ah Tao and Roger suddenly find their roles reversed, Hui provokes vital questions about how society treats the elderly without resorting to self-conscious polemics. In its own quiet, deceptively simple way, this film creeps up and floors you.

18. Nate & Margaret

After making an indelible impression in Joe Swanberg’s galvanizing web series, “Young American Bodies,” Nathan Adloff steps behind the lens for his first feature directorial effort, and the results are nothing short of irresistible. Tyler Ross delivers one of the year’s finest performances as Nate, a gay film student whose best friend is a 52-year-old stand-up comedian, Margaret (Natalie West, the delightful character actress best known for her role as Crystal on “Roseanne”). A lesser film would’ve staged cheap gags based on the unlikely union of these two misfits, but Adloff has a deeper understanding of his characters. No one in the film’s poignant script (co-authored by Justin D.M. Palmer) is defined by their age, gender or orientation. Adloff finds universal truths in the specificity of his lovable Chicago eccentrics. Now that the film is officially streaming on Netflix, audiences all over America will be able to savor the distinctive charm of this indie gem.

17. Take This Waltz

Many critics were left unmoved by Sarah Polley’s follow-up to her brilliant 2006 Alzheimer’s drama, “Away from Her.” A lot of viewers detested the film’s decidedly unsympathetic heroine, unhappily married Margot (played by Michelle Williams, in a performance far more fascinating than her Oscar-nominated work in “My Week with Marilyn”), yet I’d argue that those disgruntled moviegoers have missed the point. The film is about a restless spirit unwilling to settle for stability. With a smitten hunk (Luke Kirby) materializing across the street, Margot starts to question her future with adoring hubby Lou (a very touching Seth Rogen). She can’t seem to bear that the “honeymoon phase” of her marriage has been a temporary one, and by seeking it with another man, she has set herself up for a world of heartache. Yet Williams and Polley deftly allow the audience to share in Margot’s mounting infatuation, particularly during a restaurant encounter that includes one of the most erotic monologues in recent memory.

16. The Invisible War

Kirby Dick’s shattering exposé on the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military is the sort of film one watches in appalled silence. The statistics and confessionals that it unearths are so horrifying that they could very well incite vital change in the Department of Defense’s maddeningly ineffectual Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. What continues to linger long after the end credit roll are the faces of the victims, such as Kori Cioca, a mother and wife straining to maintain her sanity while faced with debilitating injuries. Watching the husbands of these women burst into tears is enough to make one’s own eyes well up. But what makes the film so electrifying is its impassioned crusade to expose the military’s buried web of corruption, which is no less enraging and shameful than the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal.

15. Patang

A debut feature as visually spectacular and technically accomplished as Benh Zeitlin’s “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Prashant Bhargava’s acclaimed drama blends documentary realism with vivid cinematic poetry. Set in the Indian city of Ahmedabad, the film centers on a jubilant family reunion fraught with simmering tensions. Businessman Jayesh (Mukkund Shukla) strains to reconnect with his estranged family members, including his nephew, Chakku (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a brooding musician unwilling to forgive his uncle for the wounds left by a past tragedy. This all takes place during the January kite festival of Uttarayan, which unites the troubled town’s diverse population under an arresting canopy of color. Some critics have complained that the film’s plot is secondary to the visual poetry, but like Terrence Malick, Bhargava manages to say a great deal without resorting to perfunctory exposition (unlike the underwhelming last act of “Life of Pi”).

14. The Deep Blue Sea

2012 has been a particularly weak year for lead actress nominees (none of the fine ladies in my top five are featured in studio-bred Oscar bait). One worthy contender who has been sadly snubbed so far is Rachel Weisz, who delivers the performance of her career in Terence Davies’ gorgeously lensed melodrama. Like Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina,” the film stages a love triangle between a respectable gentleman (Simon Russell Beale), a conflicted woman (Weisz) and her handsome infatuation (Tom Hiddleston of “Avengers” fame). And like Wright, Davies and cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister stage masterful steadicam shots that encapsulate an entire time and place in a single take–namely the sequence where shivering Londoners cram into an Underground station to avoid a German raid. Yet whereas Wright’s intricate choreography and blatant symbolism end up snuffing out the dramatic impact of Tolstoy’s classic, Davies’ atmospheric, tenderly bittersweet approach enables the melodrama (adapted from Terence Rattigan’s play) to soar.

13. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

One of the great gifts of cinema is its ability to give viewers an intimate awareness of events unfolding several continents away. I was entirely unfamiliar with the controversial Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei prior to seeing Alison Klayman’s Oscar-caliber documentary. He is now one of my heroes. There is perhaps no greater champion of individuality and its inherent power than this celebrated muckraker. I was fortunate enough to be visiting my sister in Washington, D.C., when an extraordinary exhibit of Ai Weiwei’s work opened at the Hirshhorn Museum. One of the artworks on display never fails to choke me up. It contains the names of schoolchildren killed in the Sichuan earthquake, an alarming death toll that arguably could’ve been prevented. Their names are sprawled along the wall as the recorded voices of Chinese citizens recite them out loud. Since the government refused to investigate the schools’ faulty construction or even bother to release the names of the victims, Ai Weiwei collected them one by one. I love this guy.

12. Holy Motors

Is Leos Carax’s abstract curiosity about the existential crisis of actors, the mystery of reincarnation or the ever-shifting roles that we all perform during a single 24-hour period? Regardless of your interpretation, there’s no denying that Carax’s latest is a total blast. The wildly adventurous actor Denis Lavant is Monsieur Oscar, a very busy man who travels in a limo driven by his loyal chauffeur, Céline (Edith Scob). He has several “appointments” to attend to, and each one requires him to inhabit the skin of someone else–a dying man, a homicidal maniac, an angry father, a flower-chomping cave-dweller, etc. The movie observes this madness without making any attempt to coherently explain it, and that’s precisely why I love it. The film works you over like music, and what marvelous music there is–a knockout cover of R.L. Burnside’s “Let My Baby Ride” by Doctor L. and Kylie Minogue’s haunting performance of “Who Were We?”, an original number co-written by Carax. What a demented treat!

11. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Clearly, there was no one better to adapt Stephen Chbosky’s bestselling coming-of-age tale better than…well, Stephen Chbosky. I was frankly amazed by how deeply I was moved by the lead performance from Logan Lerman, an actor who has previously failed to impress me in role upon role. As the introverted titular “wallflower,” Charlie, Lerman hits his stride in a major way. He is absolutely electrifying in scenes where his body language and fumbling expressions convey Charlie’s deep discomfort in his own skin. Watching Lerman gradually crawl out of his shell after being welcomed into a cuddly clique of “misfit toys” is akin to watching a flower bloom. Same goes for Emma Watson, shedding her Hermione Granger robes to reveal a radiant, self-assured performer at the peak of her powers (her American accent, by the way, is flawless). Stealing every one of his scenes is the ever-magnetic Ezra Miller, liberated from his stereotypically sociopathic persona. His portrayal of the flamboyant gay, emotionally vulnerable Patrick is one of the year’s great supporting performances. What I especially love about Chbosky’s script is how it doesn’t let anyone off the hook–even Charlie himself. Listen to this dialogue, beautifully delivered by Watson: “You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love.” Just try watching the film’s final moments and not feel the urge to immediately download David Bowie and Brian Eno’s “Heroes.” Can’t be done.

Stay tuned for Part II, arriving soon on Indie Outlook…

Indie Outlook creator Matt Fagerholm.

On Friday, September 28th, Indie Outlook creator Matt Fagerholm visited The Morning Amp on Chicago’s Vocalo 89.5FM station for the first installment of a new monthly series highlighting independent cinema. Matt chatted with hosts Molly Adams and Brian Babylon about films including Stephen Cone’s “The Wise Kids,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” and the horror anthology “V/H/S.” Instead of the usual Friday podcast this week, Indie Outlook is proud to present last week’s full Vocalo episode, which is available at this link (Matt is scheduled to return for a second episode later this month).

Another bit of exciting news is the upcoming release of “Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi,” a new film by Prashant Bhargava, the brilliant director of “Patang.” In his latest work, Bhargava juxtaposes visually stunning footage of India’s Holi celebration with music inspired by Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” (the original score is composed by acclaimed pianist Vijay Iyer). Matt worked on the film as a creative consultant and is thrilled that the film is set for release in March 2013. Check out the trailer below…

RADHE RADHE: RITES OF HOLI from Khushi Films on Vimeo.

SFKTNP opens on Friday at the Big Cinemas Golf Glen 5 in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a runtime of 1 hr. 52 min. You can read my review here.

After earning an impressive $1,484,404 in its first five days in U.S. theaters, Ek Tha Tiger carries over for a second week at all of the above theaters and the Regal Gardens Stadium 1-6 in Skokie.

Another cool opportunity for Chicago area Hindi film fans this weekend is the chance to participate in a Q&A with the director of Patang, Prashant Bhargava. Mr. Bhargava is hosting several question and answer sessions following showings of Patang at Facets Cinematheque in Chicago.

Other Indian movies playing at the Golf Glen 5 this weekend include Julayi (Telugu), Mr. Marumakan (Malayalam), and Sudigadu (Telugu).

One recently released trailer of note is for the comedy OMG Oh My God, which opens September 28:

Hamid Shaikh stars in Prashant Bhargava’s Patang. Courtesy of Khushi Films.

Prashant Bhargava‘s “Patang,” (a.k.a. “The Kite”) was a film I greatly admired upon first glance. I had just finished defending Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” at every holiday gathering of my friends and extended family, and was eager to embrace the work of filmmakers who specialized in visual poetry. Yet despite the curiously divisive reactions it received from critics, Bhargava’s film is more accessible than anything made by Malick. It’s a potent yet understated family drama set during India’s iconic kite festival, which unites the divided people of Ahmedabad beneath an awe-inspiring canopy of colors.

I reviewed the film prior to its limited run at the AMC River East 21 and also had the pleasure of interviewing the director. When Bhargava later approached me and asked if I would be interested in conducting post-film Q&As during “Patang”‘s opening weekend at Facets, I was beyond thrilled. I’ll be hosting the 7pm screenings on Saturday, August 25th and Sunday, August 26th. If you are a Chicago cinephile, I highly recommend that you attend this event and come say hello. “Patang” is one of the year’s best films, and it’s best seen on the biggest screen possible.

A kite festival sounds like a serene setting for a film, but kite flying is a kind of contact sport in India. That knowledge adds depth to the festive backdrop of Patang (“The Kite”), a lovely film by debutant director Prashant Bhargava.

The action in Patang takes place over three days around Uttarayan, the annual kite festival in Ahmedabad. Jayesh (Mukkund Shukla) returns to his hometown after five years away to show the festival to his adult daughter, Priya (Sugandha Garg). Priya uses her video camera to record festival preparations, which include merchants strengthening kite string with a paste made from boiled rice before coating the string in ground glass. The glass-coated string allows competitors to slice the strings of opposing kites

Jayesh is financially well-off, so a lack of funds can’t explain the infrequency of his visits from his home in Delhi. The hostile reception he gets from his nephew, Chakku (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), offers a clue. Jayesh is received more warmly by his mother and his sister-in-law, Sudha (Seema Biswas), wife of his deceased older brother.

As Jayesh tries to recreate the kite-flying triumphs of his youth at a party for friends and family, it becomes apparent that he is a know-it-all. He scolds Priya for wearing a tank top and dancing in public, fearful that she’ll ruin his reputation. This drives her straight into the arms of a cute electronics store clerk, Bobby (Aakash Maheriya).

Jayesh has other plans aimed at improving the lives of his relatives, but he sets them in motion without asking for their consent. Sudha picks up on something about Jayesh: for a guy who seems to have all the answers, he doesn’t seem happy.

The story in Patang unfolds slowly and without a typical narrative structure. The film is presented in an almost documentary-style format, as though a camera crew dropped in for the three days of the festival and left immediately after. It’s enjoyably languid, but not slow.

The downside of shooting documentary-style is that it’s often impossible not to be aware of the camera. Shots are interrupted by passersby. The camera is sometimes set at an awkward distance from the actors. And the editing occasionally consists of rapid-fire cuts between closeups of the actors’ faces.

There were moments when I wanted to be able to ignore the technique and just watch what was happening. The best shots in the whole movie come from a stationary camera pointed at the sky, watching the kites as they soar.

The performances are universally sound, anchored by Seema Biswas as Sudha. After the death of her husband, Sudha becomes the head of the household, though she defers to her mother-in-law. Biswas portrays Sudha as a woman whose good-nature isn’t overwhelmed by her tremendous responsibilities or Jayesh’s attempts to control things from afar. She treats Priya with a warmth the girl doesn’t get from her father.

The most intriguing relationship is between Chakku and a street kid named Hamid (Hamid Shaikh). Chakku spends his days hanging with Hamid and several other boys of around ten, stealing from street vendors and shooting off fireworks. Perhaps Jayesh is right to suggest that it’s time for Chakku to grow up and get a real job.

Bhargava has a real knack for storytelling and atmosphere and gets great performances from his cast. I’m looking forward to his future films.

Links

• Patang Official Website
• Patang at IMDb

Prashant grew up in Chicago where his artistic eye drew him into the world of graffiti…apart from being arrested for stealing cans of spray paint(his dad was not pleased!) he was a good graffiti artist. He was also a good student and got into Cornell University where he studied computer science. He figured out a way to bring his art tino the computer studies and after graduation got a very good job working in television graphics.

But after years of doing work that didn’t make him feel anything, he decided to go back to school, this time at the Actor’s Studio, to learn theatrical directing. He was then ready to make movies!

He got his inspiration for Patang from childhood visits to India where he experienced kite festivals. He and his crew used hand held HD cameras, hired only three professional actors, and recruited local kids to be in the movie.

Prashant has been traveling the world with his film…he’s been to film festivals in Berlin, Tribeca and locally at Mill Valley and 3rd i.

You can see “Patang” opening in Bay Area theaters on June 29th.

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In Prashant Bhargava’s “Patang,” (“The Kite”) which screens Friday at 3rd i’s South Asian Film Festival, a fractured family is transformed by the sumptuous experience and energy of India’s largest kite festival in the old city of Ahmedabad. Director Prashant Bhargava will be in attendance. Photo: courtesy Prashant Bhargava

 3rd i’s 9th annual San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival (SFISAFF) begins this Wednesday, November 9, 2011, and runs through Sunday, November 13, 2011, presenting 10 new independent films from India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, USA, and the South Asian Diaspora.  SFISAFF is the oldest South Asian film festival in the US and the best outlet for South Asian film in the Bay Area.  The festival is organized by 3rd i, a non-profit, nationwide organization, based in San Francisco that is committed to promoting diverse images of South Asians through independent film.  This year’s programming features art-house classics, documentaries, experimental and Bollywood features, movies made by Bay Area filmmakers, with a special emphasis on Sri Lanka.  Several of these magnificent films have been huge hits on the festival circuit and have their Bay Area or U.S. premieres at SFISAFF.  

Focus on Sri Lankan Films:  Sri Lanka has recently seen a surge in independent filmmaking through French co-productions. The highlights in this year’s SFISAFF are Lester James Peries’ groundbreaking film Gamperaliya (1964) which ushered in a new cinematic language in Sri Lankan film and was shot entirely outside of a studio using just one lamp and hand held light for lighting.  Recently restored by UCLA Film Archives, Gamperaliya is an adaptation of Martin Wickramasinghe’s seminal 1944 novel of the same name.  The film explores class conflict through a simple and nuanced love story between a teacher and an aristocrat’s daughter, and has been compared to Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy (1955-59).   The trailer below has no subtitles but the film shown at the festival will have English subtitles.

On the contemporary end, SFISAFF screens Asoka Handagama’s controversial Letter of Fire (2005), a strident indictment of Sri Lanka’s judicial system, treated in Handagama’s unique firebrand style.  Banned in Sri Lanka, it is now making its US premiere at SFISAFF.  3rd i will host a Castro Reception on Saturday, November 11, 2011, following the screening of Letter of Fire, where audience members will have a chance for intimate conversation with Handagama, and with other festival guests.  Handagama will also address the audience on Saturday, before the screening of Gamperaliya, on historical and contemporary trends in Sri Lankan filmmaking.

Also part of the focus is Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s feature debut Flying Fish (Igillena Maluwo) (2011), which is reminiscent of the films of Vimukthi Jayasundara (The Forskaen Land, 2005, winner of the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2005) and points to a new aesthetic in Sri Lankan cinema.  SF-based Pakistani filmmaker Shireen Pasha’s What Time is It?, shot in the aftermath of the tsunami in 2004, will round out the Focus on Sri Lanka.

South Asian Americans shine at this year’s festival with a number of films by desi American filmmakers: NY-based Prashant Bhargava’s Patang (The Kite) (2010), which won raves from Roger Ebert and was a fest-favorite at Berlin, Tribeca and Chicago, is about a family dueling, spinning and ultimately coming together during the spectacular kite festival in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the state of Gujarat, in western India.  The personal and political meet in Midwest-based Siddharth Anand Kumar’s stunning debut feature Semshook (2010), which tells the story of Tenzin, a Tibetan artist born and brought up in India, and his attempt to return to his Tibetan homeland on a motorcycle.  Indie-favorite and LA-based Ajay Naidu’s directorial debut Ashes (2010)  is a soulful film about two brothers trying to hold on to each other through mental illness and hardcore crime.  Both Bhargava and Naidu will be attending the festival.

In “Play Like a Lion,” twenty-four year old American born Alam Khan travels to India on his first concert tour without his ailing father, legendary Indian classical maestro sarodist Ali Akbar Khan. Alam knows that soon he will have to play and live life without his father's guidance and support. When Alam feels the weight of living up to his family's North Indian Classical music tradition, he remembers his father's advice: "Don't worry, Play like a Lion." Photo: courtesy Mill Valley Film Festival

 Documentaries are an essential component for SFISAFF, as more awareness of South Asian stories spreads into the mainstream culture.  2011 brings three documentaries (with filmmakers in attendance) made by Bay Area filmmakers.  Bill Bowles and Kevin Meehan’s Big in Bollywood  (2011) charts the instant stardom that Hollywood actor Omi Vaidya achieved through his role in the Bollywood blockbuster 3 Idiots (2009).  Marin County filmmaker Dave Driver’s meditative documentary Way of Life (2011) follows the remarkable story of Michael Daube, a young man of modest means from small town America who finds a valuable David Hockney drawing in a dumpster, sells it at auction and builds a hospital in one of the most remote areas of India and Nepal and, then, goes on to found an international philanthropic organization that serves remote parts of the world.  Joshua Dylan Mellars’ celebratory doc on sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan, Play Like A Lion (2011), is a moving illustration of Khan’s description of music as “food for the soul,” seen through the eyes of his American-born son Alam Khan.  Director Joshua Dylan Mellars, Alam Khan, and Producer Mojib Aimaq will be in attendance at the festival.

Shorts Programming: 3rd i’s signature local shorts program The Family Circus showcases 80 minutes of the best desi shorts by Bay Area filmmakers, with the artists in attendance.  This year’s program, on Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 7:20 pm, will feature a live neo-benshi performance by local writer/performer Anuj Vaidya.  This program will be followed by a party celebrating the festival and filmmakers at Bollyhood Cafe (recently merged with Little Baobab) in the Mission district.

A second 70 minute program of four new shorts focused on attitudes about gender and sexuality across South Asia and its diaspora will screen on Sunday, November 13, 2011, at 2:30 pm.  The featured shorts are: Anusha Nandakumar’s The Boxing Ladies (2011) about three Muslim sisters in Bengal who defy tradition by becoming national boxing champions; Siraj ul haque’s Chandni (2009, Pakistan) about a hijra who finds solace in Sufism; Jordache Ellapen’s Cane/Cain (2011, South Africa) about a Indian South African and a Pakistani immigrant who connect over love and sugarcane; and Neelu Bhuman’s (US; Bay-Area filmmaker) uplifting Family in Frame (2011), where the filmmaker comes out to her family as bisexual, with varying reactions.

Other programs include: Anant Mahadevan’s inspirational Marathi feature I am Sindhutai Sapkal (Mee Sindhutai Sapkal) (2011), an official selection at last year’s London Film Festival.  The film follows Sindhutai Sapkal from her impoverished childhood in the 1950’s in rural Maharastra, India, where she is forced to drop out of school and marry at age 12 into an abusive and spirit-quelching existence in her in-laws’ home.  With pure grit, she somehow survives.  After relinquishing her own baby, she goes on to become a renowned “mother of orphans.”   The film will be followed by a panel discussion. 

The Closing Night film for this year’s San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival is Selvaraghavan’s Tamil gangster thriller “Pudhupettai” which follows the unlikely rise of Kokki Kumar (acclaimed Indian actor Vengatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja aka “Dhanush”) from petty criminal to powerful gang lord in the Pudhupettai slums of Chennai, India’s 6th largest city. Dhanush plays the role with the energy of a young Al Pacino. Photo: courtesy 3rd i.

Bollywood at the Castro:  SFISAFF has special Bollywood programing at every year.   Playing homage to camp meets and bad-boy cult films like Snatch (2000) and The Hangover (2009) is Abhinay Deo’s bawdy, sexy and explosive new comedy Delhi Belly (2011) about a dopey trio of mates who find themselves in a whole lot of trouble when they accidentally mix up a bag containing a stool sample with one full of smuggled diamonds.  Vipin Vijay (Enfant Terrible of Indian cinema) delivers a visual/aural spectacle as he narrates most of his film The Image Threads (2010) in a philosophical monologue.  This mysterious tale, artfully shot in exotic Kerkale, is about an IT-professor who communicates with a cyber-creature and his dead black-magician grandfather through the internet.  The Closing Night film this year is the high-octane Tamil thriller Pudhupettai (2006) (featured in 3rd i’s Cruel Cinema series), a box office smash, which is South India’s answer to Brazilian filmmakers Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund’s stunning City of God (2002)  or Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu’s brutal neorealist thriller Amores Perros (2000). 

For a full description of the festival programming and schedule, click here.  

Details:  SFISAFF opens at the Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., San Francisco on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 and continues there Thursday and Friday (November 10-11, 2011) and Sunday, November 13, 2011.  Films will screen at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., San Francisco, on Saturday, November 12, 2011.   Tickets: $10 to $11 per screening.  Multiple Pass options are available (Full Festival Pass; Castro Pass; Roxie Pass; Weekend Pass; Focus on Sri Lanka Pass; American Desi Pass, etc.) varying in cost from $32-$120.  Complete ticketing and program information (including special guests, dates, times and venues) at  http://www.thirdi.org/festival/.

The program begins on Friday night, October 7, with a gala presentation of Mausam. Director Pankaj Kapur will be in attendance, and the ticket price includes admission to an after-party following the movie. (I speak from experience that movie goers will likely need a drink after sitting through Mausam.)

Perhaps the real highlight of the event is the world premiere of Kshay (“Corrode”) the following night. This independent Hindi film follows a woman’s obsession with a statue of the goddess Lakshmi.

Members of Kshay‘s cast and crew will be on hand for all three of the film’s festival screenings, including director Karan Gour, a nominee in the New Directors competition. Gour will also participate in a free panel discussion on Monday titled “Beyond Bollywood,” highlighting India’s emerging independent film market.

If you plan on attending Saturday night’s premiere, arrive at least fifteen minutes early to enjoy a live performance of portions of the film’s score by a sextet of Chicago musicians.

Another festival entrant from India, Patang, has an interesting Chicago connection. Director Prashant Bhargava was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, but chose to film his first feature entirely in Ahmedabad. Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert wrote a blog post about the movie and his decades-long friendship with Bhargava’s father, Vijay.

The other feature-length movies from India showing at CIFF are Azhagarsamy’s Horse (Tamil), Dekh Indian Circus (Hindi), Gandu (Bengali) and Inshallah, Football (Urdu and Kashmiri). Click here for a full list of movies featured in the Spotlight South Asia program.

Sono giornate piene la domenica e il lunedi. Riesco a vedere poca roba, questa:

Ray Davies – Imaginary Man di Julien Temple

é un documentario firmato appunto da Julien Temple su, appunto, Ray Davies, la voce e frontman degli inglesissimi The Kinks.

Julien Temple lo riprende da oggi, ormai é un simpatico 67enne che viene riconosciuto solo raramente per strada, é un uomo che può permettersi di guardare il proprio passato senza che questo l’abbia perseguito. é un uomo di musica e canzoni, é un uomo immaginario.
Alla camera racconta di avere costantemente una colonna sonora che gli suona in testa, così come le parole che emergono in versi ogni tanto.
I suoi The Kinks non sono mai stati come Beatles o Pink Floyd, o Rolling Stones, però sono rimasti comunque indelebili nella storia della musica e richiamati periodicamente da altri che li hanno seguiti, dal cinema e dai maggiori cineasti del secolo.

Ray Davies – Imaginary Man

Julien Temple fa un buon lavoro, ma in modo molto classico, fondamentalmente é la voce stessa di Ray che racconta se stesso, in una lunga intervista, montata in parte con immagini di repertorio, in parte con scene preparate ad hoc dallo stesso Temple, é girato bene, ma resta incastonato in uno schema documentaristico molto classico da cui, visivamente, emerge raramente la visionarietà di Temple. Penso sia lecito dire che sia riuscito solo parzialmente.. capita.

Di questo documentario esiste un gemello, sul fratello Dave Davies, anch’esso nei The Kinks, ma vi dico già che non sono riuscito a vederlo e quindi non potrò rapportarlo.

Ed é già Lunedi.

Riesco ad arrivare al festival alle 19, giusto in tempo per vedere Patang di Prashant Bhargava, lo danno all’auditorium San Fedele.
Patang é la storia di una famiglia che si riunisce il giorno della festa degli aquiloni, e come avviene regolarmente in queste circostanze vengono al pettine i nodi irrisolti che legano i vari familiari, alle prese con i diversi stadi della vita, i primi amori ed i vecchi rancori. Patang é uno dei lungometraggi in concorso, già presentato al festival di Berlino.
Di questo film si possono salvare i colori e le buone intenzioni del regista, ed al massimo gli attori, sia i professionisti che i non professionisti. Tutto il resto no.
Il film é girato molto male, tra scelte registiche sbagliate e delle riprese/montaggi che non stanno in piedi, la noia e la confusione accompagnano tutto il film, le immagini non concedono un attimo di respiro, sono sempre affannate ed un senso di mal di mare inizia a pervadermi nella poltroncina che ho occupato al cinema.
A fine film il regista é a disposizione del pubblico, racconta un po’ la genesi del progetto, ed una marea di buone intenzioni che lo hanno accompagnato, senza però rendersi conto di non essere riuscito minimamente a farle passare attraverso lo schermo. Vorrei chiedergli qualcosa ma capisco che finirei per essere offensivo, quindi passo, fortunatamente altri al posto mio riescono a chiedere con maggiore tatto.. le risposte sarebbero anche invoglianti se non avessi appena visto a cosa si riferivano… amen… sarà per la prossima. visto che questo é un film in concorso azzardo un voto: 4-/10.

In serata riesco a vedere circa mezzora di Maratona corti d’animazione qualcosa di buono c’é, anzi, credo sia una delle parti migliori del festival. Purtroppo mi é difficile risalire ai titoli, ma ricordatevela, é selezionata molto bene.

e domani il Milano Film Festival continua…

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi presents the Golden Bear Award for the Best Film for his film 'Nader And Simin A Separation' during a news conference at the International Film Festival Berlinale in Berlin. - Photo by AP

BERLIN: Last weekend, the 61st Berlin International Film Festival ended with an award ceremony and a set of Bears for the Iranian film‚ ‘Jodaeiye Nader az Simin’ (‘Nader And Simin, A Separation’). The film won the Golden Bear for Best Film and two Silver ones for Best Female and Male Actor ensembles.

The film surely deserves the prize, but the decision to award it is very political as well. Famous Iranian director, Jafar Panahi was member of this year’s festival jury. Since he has been sentenced to six years in prison last December, the six-member jury decided to maintain Panahi’s jury membership and included a couple of his films into the Festival. In doing so, the Berlinale joined many international filmmakers in solidarity with Panahi. The promotion of this political message may have been of equal benefit for the festival itself, as it guaranteed additional media coverage. In this, there is a similarity to last year, when director Roman Polanski received a Bear for ‘The Ghost Writer’ while being under house arrest.

Three Indian feature films and a British documentary were the only representation of South Asia at the festival that showcased more than 400 films.

Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ starring Priyanka Chopra and a selection of male actors, premiered at the Festival, but unlike last year when Shahrukh Khan was mobbed by the Berliners, there were no Bollywood stars walking down the red carpet. After highly acclaimed films like ‘Maqbool’ and ‘Omkara’ by the same director, ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ was a real disappointment. The film wants to tell a long story, or rather seven versions of one story, but there is no tension holding the plot together. Other the charming item song ‘Darrrrrling’, the film became ‘borrrring’ much too soon, even though both Naseeruddin Shah and Irfan Khan acted very well.

Another film I was looking forward to was, ‘Patang’ by Prashant Bhargava, which portrays a family conflict during the Basant (kite festival) in Ahmedabad, India. The setting was the city’s roof top terraces, under a sky filled with colourful kites dancing in the air. Unfortunately, this was captured by a shaky handheld camera that for me, took away some of its magic. This is unfortunate, because the film relies more on its visual impressions than it does on its story line.

But there were two films that were really stood out! ‘The Bengali Detective – a documentary on a private detective in Kolkata – by British filmmaker Phil Cox demonstrated that real life inspired stories lead to better scripts. The filmmaker follows the detective and his employees as they try to solve three different cases while at the same time, auditioning for a reality television dance competition. Experiencing private hardships and espionage challenges, the protagonist remains a very positive and strong character throughout. In the Q&A session Cox highlighted that this is what he had been aiming towards and did not want to make another sad film highlighting poverty in India.

The other film surely has been one of the most controversial ones of the whole festival. Set in Kolkata as well – the controversially-titled film directed by Kaushik Mukherjee or Q., and produced with the support of the Asian Dub Foundation – it portrays an angry young man and his escape from boredom. He is searching for friendship, musical expression and the physical aspects of love. With a radical black and white aesthetic, a soundtrack that was an amalgam of punk and rap music, a hyper energetic narrative and a strong visualisation of drug usage – it offended quite a few people who left halfway during the film. But it also left a striking impact on the others who decided to sit through it. The film leaves behind the conventional society often portrayed via films, and instead it gives a voice and a body to the silent and poor. The film appears to be very authentic in its liberating attempt.

In fact, this film is surely too radical to be released in both Pakistani and Indian cinemas, as it contains several pornographic scenes. The director pointed out that he wanted to make a film about the frustration of young men and that this frustration, for many, is sexual in nature. This honest concern might be one of the reasons, why the film is so much more than just a provocative title.

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Bhargava spent several years in Ahmedabad in India researching and filming for Patang, a film that tells three stories revolving around the Indian kite festival, Makar Sankrati.  At his presentation, he showed an eight minute research footage clip, several clips of scenes from Patang, and the movie trailer.

Bhargava described his experience in India, filming for Patang in a city that was plagued by violence from religious conflicts between the Hindus and Muslims.  He said that tragedy was treated differently there because it was so common. He had to play whatever role he had to to be able to experience what the people of the city were going through and to film there.  Bhargava also emphasized the importance of observation in the process of observing, filming hundreds of hours of research footage and then translating that into the narrative.  As an example, he cited his observation of how dogs interacted in certain neighborhoods.  Dogs in protected neighborhoods were quiet at night, whereas dogs in turbulent neighborhoods were restless and loud at night.  He would not have caught this without careful observation.  One of his observation techniques was to have everyone in the crew sit in one place for four hours.  After awhile, he began to see different things and get the real behavior.  He had to stay unfocused and not impose any judgments in his observations because if had come in with set ideas, he would not have caught the realistic behavior of the people.  He wanted to preserve the natural environment of the set as much as possible and to have the people behave naturally, he needed to create a sense of trust and tell them everything about him.

Sangam

I watched Bhargava’s previous award-winning short film, Sangam, after attending his presentation.  Sangam was a great short film, with some subtle humor and especially touching those who understand what is like to miss the little things from home. Sangam is about two Indian men in New York, one recently emigrated from India and the other having lived in New York for most of his life. Their lives intersect when they meet on a subway and they are bound by their experiences at Sangam, the place of confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and Saraswati Rivers near Allahabad, India. Raj has come from India to seek the American dream whereas Vivek has what Raj sees as the dream, but doesn’t appreciate it. I thought the film had some interesting ideas. For about fifteen minutes (starting around 4:45),the film is either silent or has zero background music. It is a stark contrast from the bright scene and cheerful Indian music from the scene of Times Square right before. At 3:52, Raj is cruising through NYC, taking it all in. Then at this point the camera scans a few magazines on a magazine stand and pauses for a second. Interestingly, the magazines are Maxim and GQ and another magazine, all with women in somewhat suggestive poses on the cover. Then the camera pauses on the last magazine, which is a Rolling Stone magazine titled ‘American Icons’ with the red and white stripes of the flag as the cover. I wonder if Bhargava did this intentionally, perhaps making a comment on the sexuality that is so integrated into American society…