Films from Bollywood and far beyond
South Asian film festival opens Thursday with red-carpet fanfare, cocktails at Surrey city hall
If you love films and want to enjoy a taste of Bollywood glitz and glamour, the Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival (VISAFF) is your destination this weekend.
VISAFF opens on Nov. 22 at Surrey city hall with all the hype of a red-carpet fanfare — cocktails, inspired conversations and a screening of the award-winning film Mehsampur.
The film tells the story of a desperate filmmaker who drives a neurotic actress and an aging musician to a village of trauma.
The closing feature film, Manto, a biopic on the fearless and controversial Indian/ Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto, promises to sizzle the audience with the fierceness of Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s (of Lunchbox fame) performance in the titular role.
The film, written and directed by actress Nandita Das, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.
VISAFF runs from Nov. 22-25 and will screen 45 films from six countries (including Canadian productions), workshops and expert panels at various venues in Vancouver and Surrey.
VISAFF was founded in 2008 with the aim of curating revolutionary, compelling and thought-provoking films by Canadian and Bollywood filmmakers that remain unrepresented by mainstream cinema.
This year, the festival has introduced two new segments — a youth component showcasing young local talent and OS5, an expert panel of five outstanding speakers from the film and TV industry, VISAFF producer Mannu Sandhu told Postmedia News.
“We wanted to expand the festival and do something to promote young filmmakers, and also support the industry,” Sandhu said. THIS YEAR’S HIGHLIGHTS
■ Mehsampur: A desperate filmmaker drives a neurotic actress and an aging musician to a village of trauma in this ‘mocumentary’, based on the life and death of Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila.
■ Half Widow: Amid the backdrop of the Kashmiri conflict, a young woman must come to grips with the disappearance of her husband.
■ Maun: Set during a religious ceremony that is happening in a busy neighbourhood of Delhi, this is the story of a couple who finds out hours before the ceremony that their young daughter has been sexually molested by the same neighbour, who is holding the ceremony. Shocked, they’re unable to decide on a course of action. Their dilemma brings out the ugliness of the society they live in.
■ Motorcycle Girl: An adventure drama based on the real life of motorcyclist Zenith Irfan, who, upon following her father’s lifelong dream, became the first woman to ride a motorcycle across Pakistan.
■ Baas Ek Pyali Chai: Tea is something everyone loves to have and that can also bring people together. This is a story of a man who waited years for the chance to once again experience a special cup.
■ Awfully Pretty: Two nervous young lawyers meet on a first date. A few beers and many laughs later, the bill arrives with two fortune cookies. Their chemistry is crackling, but what did their fortune say? ■ The FOB and I: Two Indian cousins (one raised in India, one raised in America) move in together. For better or worse. ■ Forbidden Tikka Masala:
A coming-of-old-age story that follows a religious vegetarian who finds a new lease on life after mistakenly eating chicken at her retirement party.
■ Pagg: When a hate crime clouds the Fourth of July, a Sikh-American grapples with his fears as he tries to celebrate the holiday with his wife and infant son. As tensions rise through various racially charged encounters, he takes a tragic decision that changes his identity forever.
■ Manto: With Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rasika Dugal, Divya Dutta and Javed Akhtar, the film is a biographical account of writer Saadat Hasan Manto’s life. Directed by Nandita Das, the film follows the most tumultuous four years in the life of Manto, and that of the two countries he inhabits — India and Pakistan.