Sengupta’s Bengali feature to premiere at Venice festival
A FILM by an award-winning Indian has been selected to be shown at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.
Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s third Bengali film, Once upon
time in Calcutta, will be screened in the Orizzonti (Horizons) section of the film festival, to be held from September 1 to 11. It is the only film from India to have its world premiere at the event.
Sengupta’s debut film Labour of Love won the FEDEORA award for the best debut at the festival’s Venice Days section in 2014, while his second film, Jonaki, premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam
2018. Labour of Love also won India’s National Film Award for the best first film.
“Venice is a dream festival for any filmmaker and we are extremely grateful and excited to be back with a Bengali film about the city, especially on the 100th birth centenary of Satyajit Ray,” Sengupta stated.
“The film highlights the aspirations and struggles of people gasping for breath in an ever-expanding metropolis. For the viewer, I have tried to create a real glimpse into the murky waters of Calcutta, with colourful characters, all trying very hard to find a corner of their own without drowning,” he said.
Inspired by true events, the film is the director’s homage to Kolkata and follows the life of a bereaved mother trying to find a new identity, love and independence, but who soon realises she is not the only scavenger in a city brimming with hunger.
Sengupta called the film a “culmination of personal feelings and emotions for the city and its people”, especially as it tries to catch up to the rapidly changing world.
“Leveraging real characters and actual events, the film is my effort to chip away the various layers of the previously communist city to reveal a human condition that is tragic and yet full of hope and joy.
Along with veterans such as Sreelekha Mitra and Bratya Basu, the film features Satrajit Sarkar, Arindam Ghosh, Reetika Nondine Shimu and Anirban Chakrabarti along with young debutant Shayak Roy. A cast of non-professional actors, including Sengupta’s father, Tridib Sengupta, also feature in significant roles.
The film is shot by Palm d’Or winner, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s cinematographer, Gokhan Tiryaki, and music is composed by Dutch composer, Minco Eggersman.