Sharmila Tagore in Suman Ghosh’s Berlin EFM Indian Title ‘Puratawn,’ First Look Unveiled (Exclusive)
Prolific filmmaker Suman Ghosh has unveiled the first look for his new film “Puratawn” (“Ancient”), starring veteran Indian actor Sharmila Tagore.
Tagore takes on the role of a matriarch grappling with the challenges of aging. As her 80th birthday is celebrated by her daughter and son-in-law at the ancestral house, the unfolding events over the next week become the focal point of the narrative, delving into the complexities that shape their collective journey.
Rituparna Sengupta’s Bhavna Aaj O Kal (“Datta”) is producing the film, which is seeking a sales agent at the Berlin Film Festival’s European Film Market.
Ghosh is a festival veteran with 2011’s “Nobel Thief,” 2012’s “Uncle Shyamal Turns off the Lights,” 2015’s “Peace Haven,” 2016’s “Mi Amor,” 2019’s “Aadhaar” and 2023’s “Scavenger of Dreams” all premiering at Busan and 2024 documentary “Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen” at Rotterdam. He scored a major commercial hit with “Kabuliwala,...
Tagore takes on the role of a matriarch grappling with the challenges of aging. As her 80th birthday is celebrated by her daughter and son-in-law at the ancestral house, the unfolding events over the next week become the focal point of the narrative, delving into the complexities that shape their collective journey.
Rituparna Sengupta’s Bhavna Aaj O Kal (“Datta”) is producing the film, which is seeking a sales agent at the Berlin Film Festival’s European Film Market.
Ghosh is a festival veteran with 2011’s “Nobel Thief,” 2012’s “Uncle Shyamal Turns off the Lights,” 2015’s “Peace Haven,” 2016’s “Mi Amor,” 2019’s “Aadhaar” and 2023’s “Scavenger of Dreams” all premiering at Busan and 2024 documentary “Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen” at Rotterdam. He scored a major commercial hit with “Kabuliwala,...
- 2/14/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival winners are in, with films like “In the Summers,” “Didi,” and “Daughters” dominating across the categories. “In the Summers” filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza, whose film centers on a fractured family in New Mexico, also won the Directing prize in U.S. Dramatic.
On Friday, January 26, the winners of juried prizes were shared out of the competition sections, including the U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, and the Next lineup.
The 2024 Sundance jury consisted of 16 filmmakers and artists across all sections, with the U.S. Dramatic Competition jury made up of “Winter’s Bone” director/co-writer Debra Granik, “Shortcomings” screenwriter Adrian Tomine, and “Master of None” producer Lena Waithe.
“Navalny” producer Shane Boris, “The Disappearance of Shere Hite” director Nicole Newnham, and “The Sentence” director Rudy Valdez serve on the U.S. Documentary Competition jury, with “The Babadook” director Jennifer Kent,...
On Friday, January 26, the winners of juried prizes were shared out of the competition sections, including the U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, and the Next lineup.
The 2024 Sundance jury consisted of 16 filmmakers and artists across all sections, with the U.S. Dramatic Competition jury made up of “Winter’s Bone” director/co-writer Debra Granik, “Shortcomings” screenwriter Adrian Tomine, and “Master of None” producer Lena Waithe.
“Navalny” producer Shane Boris, “The Disappearance of Shere Hite” director Nicole Newnham, and “The Sentence” director Rudy Valdez serve on the U.S. Documentary Competition jury, with “The Babadook” director Jennifer Kent,...
- 1/26/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The 40th edition of Sundance Film Festival kicks off today, and notably, queer and Himalaya-themed films take over the Asian/Asian diaspora slate of the mountain festival. In previous years, Sundance has been a frontier for Asian diaspora films. Last year alone saw a full slate of Asian diaspora films, with “Past Lives” (Celine Song), “Shortcomings” (Randall Park), “The Persian Version” (Maryam Keshavarz), and more, among others – there are considerably less Asian American films in the primary competition. This year, in the US Dramatic Competition, only one film, “Didi (弟弟)” by Sean Wang stands out amid the crowd.
Films about the Himalayas have taken center-stage in the World Cinema Competitions, however, with three titles this year: “Girls will be Girls” (Shuchi Talati), “Agent of Happiness” (Arun Bhattarai), and “Nocturnes” (Anirban Dutta). Queer Asian diaspora cinema is front and center this year as well, with “Layla” (Amrou Al-Khadi) and “Desire Lines...
Films about the Himalayas have taken center-stage in the World Cinema Competitions, however, with three titles this year: “Girls will be Girls” (Shuchi Talati), “Agent of Happiness” (Arun Bhattarai), and “Nocturnes” (Anirban Dutta). Queer Asian diaspora cinema is front and center this year as well, with “Layla” (Amrou Al-Khadi) and “Desire Lines...
- 1/20/2024
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
For four decades, Sundance has maintained a reputation as one of the most important film festivals in America for independent filmmakers from around the globe. To commemorate its 40th anniversary in 2024 and the enormity (and reciprocity) of that cultural footprint, festival leadership set a series of restoration screenings to highlight many of the most memorable films programmed throughout its history.
“When you look at the way the independent film movement has evolved and changed over the years, from the maturation of an industry and the opportunities that artists have found, to the way that an audience has been built around the work, you see a festival that has evolved alongside it,” says John Nein, senior programmer and director of strategic initiatives.
This year’s festival takes place Jan. 18-28, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online nationwide from Jan. 25-28. The...
“When you look at the way the independent film movement has evolved and changed over the years, from the maturation of an industry and the opportunities that artists have found, to the way that an audience has been built around the work, you see a festival that has evolved alongside it,” says John Nein, senior programmer and director of strategic initiatives.
This year’s festival takes place Jan. 18-28, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online nationwide from Jan. 25-28. The...
- 1/16/2024
- by Nick Clement
- Variety Film + TV
January is one of the biggest months of the year for independent film, with hundreds of film critics descending upon the Sundance Film Festival to discover the works of up-and-coming directors. But for those of us who can’t make the trek to Park City, Utah, there are plenty of independent movies to enjoy from the comfort of our homes.
This month, there’s a particularly big selection of independent classics to choose from on streaming, particularly if you’re subscribed to the Criterion Channel. In celebration of the approaching festival, Criterion is hosting a massive selection of past Sundance favorites, including the 1968 experimental documentary “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One.” Other favorites in the selection include “Blood Simple,” “Stranger Than Paradise,” “The Times of Harvey Milk,” “Desert Hearts,” “Working Girls,” “Paris Is Burning,” “Mississippi Masala,” “Slacker,” “Hoop Dreams,” and “The Doom Generation.” Other major indie favorites on the streamer this January include...
This month, there’s a particularly big selection of independent classics to choose from on streaming, particularly if you’re subscribed to the Criterion Channel. In celebration of the approaching festival, Criterion is hosting a massive selection of past Sundance favorites, including the 1968 experimental documentary “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One.” Other favorites in the selection include “Blood Simple,” “Stranger Than Paradise,” “The Times of Harvey Milk,” “Desert Hearts,” “Working Girls,” “Paris Is Burning,” “Mississippi Masala,” “Slacker,” “Hoop Dreams,” and “The Doom Generation.” Other major indie favorites on the streamer this January include...
- 1/6/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
The Sundance Film Festival will once again feature a physical space focused on South Asian filmmaking.
Returning for its second year, the 1497 South Asian Lodge will feature a tribute to The Lunchbox, the beloved Irrfan Khan starrer that screened at Sundance exactly a decade ago. Its writer-director, Ritesh Batra, will be in attendance to discuss the making of the film and its legacy. Other highlight programming of the lodge, which will run Jan. 20 and 21, includes a fireside chat with Mira Nair (whose breakthrough classic Mississippi Masala is getting a restoration screening at the festival this year) and panels on decolonization through film as well as the media’s influence on Islamophobia.
Speakers on the latter panel, presented by M Film Lab, include Pillars Foundation co-founder and president Kashif Shaikh, music executive Hiba Irshad, former Sundance Institute outreach and inclusion director and Muslim Futures creator Karim Ahmad and Doris Duke Foundation exec Zeyba Rahman.
Returning for its second year, the 1497 South Asian Lodge will feature a tribute to The Lunchbox, the beloved Irrfan Khan starrer that screened at Sundance exactly a decade ago. Its writer-director, Ritesh Batra, will be in attendance to discuss the making of the film and its legacy. Other highlight programming of the lodge, which will run Jan. 20 and 21, includes a fireside chat with Mira Nair (whose breakthrough classic Mississippi Masala is getting a restoration screening at the festival this year) and panels on decolonization through film as well as the media’s influence on Islamophobia.
Speakers on the latter panel, presented by M Film Lab, include Pillars Foundation co-founder and president Kashif Shaikh, music executive Hiba Irshad, former Sundance Institute outreach and inclusion director and Muslim Futures creator Karim Ahmad and Doris Duke Foundation exec Zeyba Rahman.
- 1/5/2024
- by Rebecca Sun
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival jury has officially been unveiled, with 16 filmmakers and artists on the juries across sections.
Multi-hyphenate producer Lena Waithe, actor Danny Pudi, and directors Debra Granik, Nicole Newnham, Jennifer Kent, Christina Oh, and Charlotte Regan are just a sampling of filmmakers who have had projects at prior Sundance festivals. All of this year’s jury members are Sundance alums to mark the festival’s 40th anniversary.
The 2024 Festival will take place January 18 through 28 in-person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah along with a selection of films available online across the country from January 25 through 28. Many of the jurors will participate in 2024 festival programming, including announcing the awards on January 26. Awards across five categories will be honored at an intimate award ceremony held at The Ray Theatre in Park City; the short film jury winners will be announced at the Shorts Awards & Party presented by Argo...
Multi-hyphenate producer Lena Waithe, actor Danny Pudi, and directors Debra Granik, Nicole Newnham, Jennifer Kent, Christina Oh, and Charlotte Regan are just a sampling of filmmakers who have had projects at prior Sundance festivals. All of this year’s jury members are Sundance alums to mark the festival’s 40th anniversary.
The 2024 Festival will take place January 18 through 28 in-person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah along with a selection of films available online across the country from January 25 through 28. Many of the jurors will participate in 2024 festival programming, including announcing the awards on January 26. Awards across five categories will be honored at an intimate award ceremony held at The Ray Theatre in Park City; the short film jury winners will be announced at the Shorts Awards & Party presented by Argo...
- 1/3/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Sundance is celebrating its 40th Anniversary next month and the festival has revealed more programming to highlight its cinematic legacy. Topping the list of events are new 4K restorations of “Napoleon Dynamite,” “Go Fish,” “Three Seasons,” and an extended version of “Dig!,” with over 30 minutes of new footage, retitled “Dig!Xx.” Additionally, there will be screenings of “The Babadook,” and “Pariah” as well as restorations of “Mississippi Masala” and “The Times of Harvey Milk.”
Read More: Sundance 2024: New works from Steven Sodergh, Debra Granik, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and more
Alumni always have a home to return to in Park City and 2024 will be no exception.
Continue reading ‘Napoleon Dynamite,’ ‘The Babadook,’ ‘Go Fish’ & More Return To Celebrate Sundance’s 40th Anniversary at The Playlist.
Read More: Sundance 2024: New works from Steven Sodergh, Debra Granik, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and more
Alumni always have a home to return to in Park City and 2024 will be no exception.
Continue reading ‘Napoleon Dynamite,’ ‘The Babadook,’ ‘Go Fish’ & More Return To Celebrate Sundance’s 40th Anniversary at The Playlist.
- 12/12/2023
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
The 40th Edition of the Sundance Film Festival announced their 53 Short Films for the 2024 lineup in addition to a 20th anniversary 4K restored version of Napoleon Dynamite, as well as other Sundance fave re-releases.
There’s a 30th anniversary of Go Fish, 25th anniversary of Three Seasons and the 20th anniversary of Dig! (with 30 minutes of additional footage), titled Dig! Xx.
There’s also restorations of The Babadook and Pariah, and restorations of Mississippi Masala and The Times of Harvey Milk.
In addition, there’s several Sundance alum panels including Power of Story: Four Decades of Taking Chances about the legacy of independent storytelling featuring Miguel Arteta, Richard Linklater, Dawn Porter, and Christine Vachon; a screening of seminal short films from Sundance’s history hosted by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass; and a workshop for emerging creators with Carlos López Estrada and others.
The shorts for 2024 were curated from 12,098 submissions,...
There’s a 30th anniversary of Go Fish, 25th anniversary of Three Seasons and the 20th anniversary of Dig! (with 30 minutes of additional footage), titled Dig! Xx.
There’s also restorations of The Babadook and Pariah, and restorations of Mississippi Masala and The Times of Harvey Milk.
In addition, there’s several Sundance alum panels including Power of Story: Four Decades of Taking Chances about the legacy of independent storytelling featuring Miguel Arteta, Richard Linklater, Dawn Porter, and Christine Vachon; a screening of seminal short films from Sundance’s history hosted by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass; and a workshop for emerging creators with Carlos López Estrada and others.
The shorts for 2024 were curated from 12,098 submissions,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Anniversary screenings include Park City hits Napoleon Dynamite, Mississippi Masala, The Babadook.
Sundance Film Festival has unveiled the 53 shorts as well as the eight films celebrating the festival’s 40th edition – a list which includes Park City hits Napoleon Dynamite, Mississippi Masala, and The Babadook.
The 40th edition celebration screenings and events are set for the second half of the festival from January 23-26, 2024, with a slate of retrospective programming that will bring alumni artists together for conversations and gatherings.
Sundance Film festival runs January 18-28, 2024, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles...
Sundance Film Festival has unveiled the 53 shorts as well as the eight films celebrating the festival’s 40th edition – a list which includes Park City hits Napoleon Dynamite, Mississippi Masala, and The Babadook.
The 40th edition celebration screenings and events are set for the second half of the festival from January 23-26, 2024, with a slate of retrospective programming that will bring alumni artists together for conversations and gatherings.
Sundance Film festival runs January 18-28, 2024, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles...
- 12/12/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The 2024 Sundance lineup is coming into fuller view, including celebrations for its 40th edition and its shorts program. The festival will take place January 18 through 28 in-person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online nationwide from January 25 through 28 via digital platforms.
The festival will introduce new short films for 2024 across eight curated programs, including a festival retrospective hosted by Mark and Jay Duplass. This year’s programming for new titles features 53 short films selected from 12,098 submissions, the highest number on record. Of these submissions, 5,323 were from the U.S., and 6,799 were international. The selected shorts represent 22 countries.
In addition to the shorts programming, the special 40th edition celebration screenings and events kick off on January 23, bringing Sundance alumni together for conversations and gatherings while revisiting iconic films like new 4K restorations of “Napoleon Dynamite” for its 20th anniversary, the 25th anniversary of “Three Seasons,...
The festival will introduce new short films for 2024 across eight curated programs, including a festival retrospective hosted by Mark and Jay Duplass. This year’s programming for new titles features 53 short films selected from 12,098 submissions, the highest number on record. Of these submissions, 5,323 were from the U.S., and 6,799 were international. The selected shorts represent 22 countries.
In addition to the shorts programming, the special 40th edition celebration screenings and events kick off on January 23, bringing Sundance alumni together for conversations and gatherings while revisiting iconic films like new 4K restorations of “Napoleon Dynamite” for its 20th anniversary, the 25th anniversary of “Three Seasons,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mira Nair (“Salaam Bombay!”) has come on board to executive produce “Our Land, Our Freedom,” from directors Meena Nanji and Zippy Kimundu, ahead of the film’s world premiere at IDFA, which takes places in Amsterdam Nov. 8 – 19. The documentary feature will screen as part of the festival’s Frontlight strand.
“Our Land, Our Freedom” follows Wanjugu Kimathi, daughter of the legendary leader of the Kenyan Land and Freedom Army, or Mau Mau Rebellion, Dedan Kimathi. When the resistance figure was hanged by the British authorities in 1957 for possession of firearms, his body was dumped at an unknown location. Now, Wanjugu follows in her mother’s footsteps to look for her father’s remains.
Over the course of the film, Wanjugu’s search becomes an investigation into British colonial atrocities including concentration camps and land theft that left hundreds of thousands of Kenyans destitute. Along the way she meets Mau Mau veterans,...
“Our Land, Our Freedom” follows Wanjugu Kimathi, daughter of the legendary leader of the Kenyan Land and Freedom Army, or Mau Mau Rebellion, Dedan Kimathi. When the resistance figure was hanged by the British authorities in 1957 for possession of firearms, his body was dumped at an unknown location. Now, Wanjugu follows in her mother’s footsteps to look for her father’s remains.
Over the course of the film, Wanjugu’s search becomes an investigation into British colonial atrocities including concentration camps and land theft that left hundreds of thousands of Kenyans destitute. Along the way she meets Mau Mau veterans,...
- 11/9/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
South Asia Competition jury also includes David Michod, Isabel Sandoval and Marianne Khoury.
Acclaimed India-born filmmaker Mira Nair is to preside over the main South Asia Competition of the upcoming Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival (October 27-November 5).
She will be joined by Australian writer/director David Michod, Filipina filmmaker and actress Isabel Sandoval and Egyptian producer and director Marianne Khoury, who was named artistic director of the El Gouna Film Festival in June.
Jio Mami revealed its full lineup yesterday, confirming that it had dropped its international and India Gold competitive sections in favour of a South Asia Competition, to...
Acclaimed India-born filmmaker Mira Nair is to preside over the main South Asia Competition of the upcoming Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival (October 27-November 5).
She will be joined by Australian writer/director David Michod, Filipina filmmaker and actress Isabel Sandoval and Egyptian producer and director Marianne Khoury, who was named artistic director of the El Gouna Film Festival in June.
Jio Mami revealed its full lineup yesterday, confirming that it had dropped its international and India Gold competitive sections in favour of a South Asia Competition, to...
- 10/10/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
“Mississippi Masala” director Mira Nair says she was nervous to ask Denzel Washington to be more vulnerable in his scenes with Sarita Choudhury in the swooningly romantic 1991 drama.
“I fell in love during the making of this film during the writing of the screenplay of this film,” Nair recalled at a Women in Film screening Thursday night at Vidiots. “I experienced what I call the stupor of love. I was really weak-kneed,” she said in a post-screening Q&a. “And that was what I wanted from Denzel and Sarita. Sarita got it, but Denzel… no one talks to him like that,” she said with a smile.
She had hired because of his turn in 1988’s “For Queen and Country,” and said he was nailing every other aspect of the role. “He’s a consummate actor. He is just extraordinary. But when it came to the love stuff, I was wanting more.
“I fell in love during the making of this film during the writing of the screenplay of this film,” Nair recalled at a Women in Film screening Thursday night at Vidiots. “I experienced what I call the stupor of love. I was really weak-kneed,” she said in a post-screening Q&a. “And that was what I wanted from Denzel and Sarita. Sarita got it, but Denzel… no one talks to him like that,” she said with a smile.
She had hired because of his turn in 1988’s “For Queen and Country,” and said he was nailing every other aspect of the role. “He’s a consummate actor. He is just extraordinary. But when it came to the love stuff, I was wanting more.
- 9/30/2023
- by Sharon Knolle
- The Wrap
1497 has selected three finalist for their Features Lab.
The Lab’s first year was held virtually, and the second year was hybrid, held virtually and in-person. For its third year, 1497 is conducting the Lab as an in-person, immersive, artistic retreat in Malibu, California, during which each Mentee will be paired with a pod of four Mentors from whom they will receive script feedback and career guidance. Mentees will also work with filmmaker and veteran script consultant Adrienne Weiss to further develop their scripts, with a particular emphasis on the emotional journey of their stories.
“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: we started the 1497 Features Lab to empower writers in the South Asian diaspora to tell whatever stories they want to tell, regardless of the societal, industry, or stereotypical expectations that so often confine writers in our community to certain genres and cultural storylines,” Ahmed, Khan,...
The Lab’s first year was held virtually, and the second year was hybrid, held virtually and in-person. For its third year, 1497 is conducting the Lab as an in-person, immersive, artistic retreat in Malibu, California, during which each Mentee will be paired with a pod of four Mentors from whom they will receive script feedback and career guidance. Mentees will also work with filmmaker and veteran script consultant Adrienne Weiss to further develop their scripts, with a particular emphasis on the emotional journey of their stories.
“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: we started the 1497 Features Lab to empower writers in the South Asian diaspora to tell whatever stories they want to tell, regardless of the societal, industry, or stereotypical expectations that so often confine writers in our community to certain genres and cultural storylines,” Ahmed, Khan,...
- 9/27/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
A raucous Indian wedding brass band draws the audience to their seats at St. Ann’s Warehouse, heralding the start of Monsoon Wedding. As you might expect, despite some last-minute detours and the spilling of unexpected secrets, all’s well that ends well in a swirl of marigold and crimson, exuberant dance, and the cathartic deluge promised by the title.
The stage musical is the new incarnation of Mira Nair’s 2001 movie of the same name. Nair, who also directs this eye-catching production, rose to fame in 1988 with Salaam Bombay!, an unflinching look at street kid life in Bombay. Since then, She’s enjoyed a distinguished filmmaking career with such works as Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, and Vanity Fair.
I recently spoke with Nair about the importance of bringing her most popular movie to the stage, its unique marriage of styles, and more.
It’s been more than two decades...
The stage musical is the new incarnation of Mira Nair’s 2001 movie of the same name. Nair, who also directs this eye-catching production, rose to fame in 1988 with Salaam Bombay!, an unflinching look at street kid life in Bombay. Since then, She’s enjoyed a distinguished filmmaking career with such works as Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, and Vanity Fair.
I recently spoke with Nair about the importance of bringing her most popular movie to the stage, its unique marriage of styles, and more.
It’s been more than two decades...
- 5/30/2023
- by Gerard Raymond
- Slant Magazine
The Criterion Channel’s July lineup is an across-the-board display of strengths, ranging as it does from very specific programming cues to actor retrospectives and hardly ignoring the strength of Criterion Editions. Surely much fun’s to be had with “In the Ring,” a decade-spanning, 16-film curation of boxing pictures—Raging Bull and Fat City, of course, with some you forget are boxing movies (Rocco and His Brothers) and others you’ve likely never seen at all (count me excited for King Vidor’s The Champ). “Noir in Color” brilliantly upends common conception of a drama (and gives you excuse to see Nicholas Ray’s Party Girl); Setsuko Hara films are gathered into a handy collection; and Blake Edwards gets six.
On the Criterion Editions front they’ve gone all out: the Before trilogy, Alex Cox’s Walker, Leave Her to Heaven, Shaft, Destry Rides Again, Raging Bull, Hedwig and the Angry Inch,...
On the Criterion Editions front they’ve gone all out: the Before trilogy, Alex Cox’s Walker, Leave Her to Heaven, Shaft, Destry Rides Again, Raging Bull, Hedwig and the Angry Inch,...
- 6/21/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
I look forward to the day there are many more Asian American TV creators and filmmakers who get the chance to tell multifaceted stories with bigger budgets. It’s great to see every ethnicity popping up in regular scenes in films and television just going through regular, everyday problems, and not just addressing problems related to being that ethnicity. I’m going to open this up a bit to include some of my favorite Asian characters from TV, as well as some of my favorite Asian directors and films:
TV creators and characters:
1. “Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi”: I have to plug my own show, obviously, because it’s so gratifying to be able to help tell these incredible stories.
2. Mindy Kaling, “Never Have I Ever”: I stayed up until 5 a.m. binge-watching the first season with my daughter — we just inhaled it. I love it so much.
TV creators and characters:
1. “Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi”: I have to plug my own show, obviously, because it’s so gratifying to be able to help tell these incredible stories.
2. Mindy Kaling, “Never Have I Ever”: I stayed up until 5 a.m. binge-watching the first season with my daughter — we just inhaled it. I love it so much.
- 5/24/2022
- by Padma Lakshmi
- Variety Film + TV
One of the greatest novels of the 21st century so far, Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Namesake" nearly defies adaptation. Spanning multiple decades, languages, and metropolises, Lahiri's novel follows the life of Gogol Ganguli, a first-generation Indian American, and his oft-contentious relationship with his ethnic identity. Luckily, the best filmmaker for the job stepped up to the plate and made an adaptation of "The Namesake" that radiates as much charm and melancholy as the novel does.
The director in question is Mira Nair, who at the time was best known for helming "Salaam Bombay!" (which was nominated for an Oscar), "Mississippi Masala," and "Monsoon...
The post How Harold And Kumar Helped Kal Penn Land The Namesake's Lead Role appeared first on /Film.
The director in question is Mira Nair, who at the time was best known for helming "Salaam Bombay!" (which was nominated for an Oscar), "Mississippi Masala," and "Monsoon...
The post How Harold And Kumar Helped Kal Penn Land The Namesake's Lead Role appeared first on /Film.
- 5/17/2022
- by Natalia Keogan
- Slash Film
Romantic dramas are a bit too few and far between in recent years (at least good ones); have we become too cynical in the 21st century, has the burden of existence mean we too seldom scoff at those stories who delve into those deepest longings of our hearts? But a romantic drama is never just about the romance; there are always external factors, be they social, political, or cultural, and the good ones know which parts to combine. And rarely has there been a romantic drama that so expertly combines the politics of the personal and the politics of the cultural, as Mira Nair's luminous 1991 film Mississippi Masala. A tale of cultures clashing over a Romeo and Juliet story in the American South, combined...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 5/16/2022
- Screen Anarchy
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings. On the subject of Metrograph’s “It Happens to Us,” we also encourage donations to local abortion funds, while the theater will be donating 50 of all proceeds from ticket sales towards Naral Pro-Choice America and additional U.S. reproductive rights orgs.
Metrograph
Emma Myers has curated “It Happens to Us,” a look at stories of abortion on film that begins with work by von Sternberg and William Wyler. With the release of Lux Æterna, Gaspar Noé has curated a series of witches onscreen, while if you’ve ever wanted to see Bulletproof Monk on 35mm we recommend “Hong Kong Goes International“; films by John Waters play in a series on Cookie Mueller.
Film at Lincoln Center
The Hong Sangsoo double-feature series continues.
Anthology Film Archives
Essential Cinema has two of Ozu’s best, There Was a Father and I Was Born,...
Metrograph
Emma Myers has curated “It Happens to Us,” a look at stories of abortion on film that begins with work by von Sternberg and William Wyler. With the release of Lux Æterna, Gaspar Noé has curated a series of witches onscreen, while if you’ve ever wanted to see Bulletproof Monk on 35mm we recommend “Hong Kong Goes International“; films by John Waters play in a series on Cookie Mueller.
Film at Lincoln Center
The Hong Sangsoo double-feature series continues.
Anthology Film Archives
Essential Cinema has two of Ozu’s best, There Was a Father and I Was Born,...
- 5/6/2022
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Anthology Film Archives
Robert Downey Sr’s best-known films—some of the funniest ever made—are showcased in a 35mm series, while Mekas and Méliès screen in Essential Cinema.
Museum of the Moving Image
Five films by Chantal Akerman play in the series “Your Loving Mother.”
Metrograph
“Metrograph Selects” offers Cassavetes and Rivette; while The Man in the Moon screens on Sunday. A new restoration of The Wobblies is also playing.
IFC Center
A Gaspar Noé retrospective is underway; the new restorations of Inland Empire and Mississippi Masala continue; Eraserhead, The Crow, and Re-Animator have late-night showings.
Roxy Cinema
Friday brings prints of Alphabet City and Wild Style, while In the Mood for Love and Love is Colder Than Death screen on 35mm this Saturday.
Film Forum
As the new Nights of Cabiria restoration continues, Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Diva plays on 35mm.
Anthology Film Archives
Robert Downey Sr’s best-known films—some of the funniest ever made—are showcased in a 35mm series, while Mekas and Méliès screen in Essential Cinema.
Museum of the Moving Image
Five films by Chantal Akerman play in the series “Your Loving Mother.”
Metrograph
“Metrograph Selects” offers Cassavetes and Rivette; while The Man in the Moon screens on Sunday. A new restoration of The Wobblies is also playing.
IFC Center
A Gaspar Noé retrospective is underway; the new restorations of Inland Empire and Mississippi Masala continue; Eraserhead, The Crow, and Re-Animator have late-night showings.
Roxy Cinema
Friday brings prints of Alphabet City and Wild Style, while In the Mood for Love and Love is Colder Than Death screen on 35mm this Saturday.
Film Forum
As the new Nights of Cabiria restoration continues, Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Diva plays on 35mm.
- 4/29/2022
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
After being lost in the tendrils of rights issues for many years, Mira Nair’s 1991 masterpiece Mississippi Masala is finally being brought back to audiences with a gorgeous new 4K restoration from Janus Films. Premiering the restoration at the 2021 New York Film Festival, there’s been a euphoria surrounding this re-release in a way that’s difficult to describe. Many resurrections of lost films each year develop a fervent passion from the film-loving community, but there’s something special about what’s happening with Mississippi Masala.
Maybe it has to do with how specifically beautiful the film is. Developed with her longtime creative partner, writer Sooni Taraporevala, it’s a story of love between Mina, a brown woman, and Demetrius (Denzel Washington), a Black man, in Greenwood, Mississippi. It’s also a story of pain, as Mina has ended up in Mississippi due to the exile of Ugandan Indians that...
Maybe it has to do with how specifically beautiful the film is. Developed with her longtime creative partner, writer Sooni Taraporevala, it’s a story of love between Mina, a brown woman, and Demetrius (Denzel Washington), a Black man, in Greenwood, Mississippi. It’s also a story of pain, as Mina has ended up in Mississippi due to the exile of Ugandan Indians that...
- 4/15/2022
- by Mitchell Beaupre
- The Film Stage
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Japan Society
Ghost in the Shell kicks off “Monthly Anime.”
Film at Lincoln Center
The thematically arranged Hong Sang-soo double features have their last weekend until May—highlights include Tale of Cinema on 35mm and a triple-feature on Sunday.
IFC Center
The new restoration of Inland Empire continues, while Mississippi Masala starts; Eraserhead, The Crow, Twilight, and Derek Jarman’s Sebastiane have late-night showings.
Roxy Cinema
A Nick Zedd program screens Friday; Death in Venice, Traveling Light, and prints of Unstoppable and Lady Terminator play on Saturday; Death in Venice and Unstoppable also play on Sunday, alongside a Yale Film Archive program.
Museum of Modern Art
As retrospectives of Larry Fessenden’s genre house Glass Eye Pix winds down, Buñuel’s Nazarin screens in a new restoration.
Metrograph
The Robert Siodmak retrospective winds down, while three Dracula movies play in...
Japan Society
Ghost in the Shell kicks off “Monthly Anime.”
Film at Lincoln Center
The thematically arranged Hong Sang-soo double features have their last weekend until May—highlights include Tale of Cinema on 35mm and a triple-feature on Sunday.
IFC Center
The new restoration of Inland Empire continues, while Mississippi Masala starts; Eraserhead, The Crow, Twilight, and Derek Jarman’s Sebastiane have late-night showings.
Roxy Cinema
A Nick Zedd program screens Friday; Death in Venice, Traveling Light, and prints of Unstoppable and Lady Terminator play on Saturday; Death in Venice and Unstoppable also play on Sunday, alongside a Yale Film Archive program.
Museum of Modern Art
As retrospectives of Larry Fessenden’s genre house Glass Eye Pix winds down, Buñuel’s Nazarin screens in a new restoration.
Metrograph
The Robert Siodmak retrospective winds down, while three Dracula movies play in...
- 4/14/2022
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Arriving in just in time to kick off the hot summer season, Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala is one of the major new restorations of the year, starring Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury in a blossoming romance as their characters face societal and cultural pressures. With the 4K restoration from The Criterion Collection supervised by both Nair and cinematographer Edward Lachman, it’ll get a theatrical release beginning next week at NYC’s IFC Center and the following week at LA’s NuArt Theater, followed by a national rollout and a disc release on May 24.
As the official synopsis reads, “The vibrant cultures of India, Uganda, and the American South are blended and simmered into a rich and fragrant fusion feast in Mira Nair’s luminous look at the complexities of love in the modern melting pot. Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda...
As the official synopsis reads, “The vibrant cultures of India, Uganda, and the American South are blended and simmered into a rich and fragrant fusion feast in Mira Nair’s luminous look at the complexities of love in the modern melting pot. Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda...
- 4/7/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
"We're just friends." "Did I say any different?" Janus Films has revealed an official trailer for Mississippi Masala, an early 90s romantic drama from filmmaker Mira Nair - her second film at the time. She later went on to make Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake, but before those she made this starring Denzel Washinton and Sarita Choudhury. The film first premiered in 1991, and opened in US theaters in early 1992. This 4K digital restoration was commissioned by the Criterion Collection and supervised by director Mira Nair and cinematographer Edward Lachman. The film is about an ethnic Indian family that's expelled from Idi Amin's Uganda in 1972 and now lives in Mississippi 17 years later. The dad sues Uganda to get his property back, while the grown daughter falls in love with a Black man - played by Denzel. It also stars Roshan Seth, Sharmila Tagore, Charles S. Dutton, Joe Seneca, & Ranjit Chowdhry.
- 4/7/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Arguably one of the more overlooked performances in the oeuvre of Denzel Washington, 1991s “Mississippi Masala,” also starring Sarita Choudhury, marks the second feature film of director Mira Nair. Setting a tender interracial love story against the backdrop of fragile race relations in rural Mississippi, the film, based on a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, caresses ideas of heritage, identity, and racial politics into its fold, pondering them with the gentle humanity with which the film is imbued.
Continue reading ‘Mississippi Masala’ 4K Restoration Trailer: Mira Nair’s Tender Romance Returns Starting April 15 [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Mississippi Masala’ 4K Restoration Trailer: Mira Nair’s Tender Romance Returns Starting April 15 [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
- 4/7/2022
- by Matthew McMillan
- The Playlist
A couple of Criterion’s May releases are all about encroaching fear, so we won’t make you think about the fact that when these arrive 2022 will be in sight of its halfway point. Anyway: their 4K library has expanded by the length of Double Indemnity, Billy Wilder’s noir par excellence arriving in a rather stacked edition. But for paranoia-fueled intrigue I’m much happier about Mr. Klein, Joseph Losey’s so-good-it’s-baffling wartime horror that makes Alain Delon more vulnerable than almost any star of his stature would dare.
Otherwise May is a very wide spread: Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala finally brings Denzel Washington into the collection; Wayne Wang’s San Francisco diaspora classic Chan is Missing; and Tampopo director Juzo Itami’s The Funeral round out May.
See artwork below and further details on all titles here:
The post Criterion's May Lineup Includes Joseph Losey, Double...
Otherwise May is a very wide spread: Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala finally brings Denzel Washington into the collection; Wayne Wang’s San Francisco diaspora classic Chan is Missing; and Tampopo director Juzo Itami’s The Funeral round out May.
See artwork below and further details on all titles here:
The post Criterion's May Lineup Includes Joseph Losey, Double...
- 2/15/2022
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Denzel Washington never saw a production of “Macbeth” in high school or college. So when he was offered the titular role in Shakespeare’s great tragedy, which he’d only read in the past two years, he wanted to make sure that he could wrap his head around how director Joel Coen would shoot the film with him and Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth. “Let’s talk about the black and white of it all,” Washington recalls saying to Coen in an early conversation.
Coen began to respond, “Well, you’re Black …” before Washington stopped him. “No, no, no,” he interrupted. “I’m talking about you shooting in black and white!”
Washington laughs as he retells the story on a recent November afternoon during a conversation with Variety about his career as one of the most enduring movie stars of modern times. “So that’s where my head was at,...
Coen began to respond, “Well, you’re Black …” before Washington stopped him. “No, no, no,” he interrupted. “I’m talking about you shooting in black and white!”
Washington laughs as he retells the story on a recent November afternoon during a conversation with Variety about his career as one of the most enduring movie stars of modern times. “So that’s where my head was at,...
- 1/6/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2021, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
By many metrics, 2021 was a terrible year. Whether it was the persistence of a global pandemic and the ineffectiveness of those in charge to properly manage it or the increasing inanity of Film Twitter discourse clogging one’s timeline every day, it often felt like there was nowhere to seek relief from this year’s woes. But there was salvation somewhere: inside the films themselves. Despite what some may lead you to believe, and despite the perhaps rather milquetoast quality of many of this year’s award candidates, 2021 was the best year for cinema we’ve seen in quite some time.
Whether you were able to head back to theaters at some point during the year or remained watching from the safety of your own home, there...
By many metrics, 2021 was a terrible year. Whether it was the persistence of a global pandemic and the ineffectiveness of those in charge to properly manage it or the increasing inanity of Film Twitter discourse clogging one’s timeline every day, it often felt like there was nowhere to seek relief from this year’s woes. But there was salvation somewhere: inside the films themselves. Despite what some may lead you to believe, and despite the perhaps rather milquetoast quality of many of this year’s award candidates, 2021 was the best year for cinema we’ve seen in quite some time.
Whether you were able to head back to theaters at some point during the year or remained watching from the safety of your own home, there...
- 1/6/2022
- by Mitchell Beaupre
- The Film Stage
Director Mira Nair doesn’t dwell on anniversaries of her work. But when Ava DuVernay called to invite her to 20th and 30th anniversary screenings of Nair’s “Monsoon Wedding” and “Mississippi Masala,” respectively, Nair couldn’t resist. The October 31 tribute, taking place at DuVernay’s Array Creative Campus in Los Angeles, honored both Nair’s films and the strides she made to open the door for other women of color in the directing world, including DuVernay herself.
Nair was especially excited to present a newly restored print of “Mississippi Masala.” She told IndieWire that the feature, about the relationship between a Black man (Denzel Washington) and an Indian woman (Sarita Choudhury), was “a radical film 30 years ago that continues to be as radical today.”
“It’s a very nice moment…[to see] both how far we’ve come but how little we’ve come,” Nair added. “It’s an epitome of something,...
Nair was especially excited to present a newly restored print of “Mississippi Masala.” She told IndieWire that the feature, about the relationship between a Black man (Denzel Washington) and an Indian woman (Sarita Choudhury), was “a radical film 30 years ago that continues to be as radical today.”
“It’s a very nice moment…[to see] both how far we’ve come but how little we’ve come,” Nair added. “It’s an epitome of something,...
- 11/1/2021
- by Kristen Lopez
- Indiewire
Array is opening up its Los Angeles campus on Oct. 31 to host filmmaker Mira Nair as part of a double feature screening event that will showcase her films Mississippi Masala and Monsoon Wedding. The latter film will screen first and be followed by a special conversation between Nair and Array founder Ava DuVernay.
The event comes during a year with milestone anniversaries for Nair’s pics. Mississippi Masala — starring Denzel Washington opposite Sarita Choudhury in the story of a couple that falls in love in the state where her family settles after being expelled from Uganda — celebrates a 30th anniversary with a ...
The event comes during a year with milestone anniversaries for Nair’s pics. Mississippi Masala — starring Denzel Washington opposite Sarita Choudhury in the story of a couple that falls in love in the state where her family settles after being expelled from Uganda — celebrates a 30th anniversary with a ...
- 10/22/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Array is opening up its Los Angeles campus on Oct. 31 to host filmmaker Mira Nair as part of a double feature screening event that will showcase her films Mississippi Masala and Monsoon Wedding. The latter film will screen first and be followed by a special conversation between Nair and Array founder Ava DuVernay.
The event comes during a year with milestone anniversaries for Nair’s pics. Mississippi Masala — starring Denzel Washington opposite Sarita Choudhury in the story of a couple that falls in love in the state where her family settles after being expelled from Uganda — celebrates a 30th anniversary with a ...
The event comes during a year with milestone anniversaries for Nair’s pics. Mississippi Masala — starring Denzel Washington opposite Sarita Choudhury in the story of a couple that falls in love in the state where her family settles after being expelled from Uganda — celebrates a 30th anniversary with a ...
- 10/22/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York Film Festival parent, Film at Lincoln Center (Flc), announced an expanded footprint for the 59th edition of the fest (Sept. 24 – Oct. 10), partnering with local arthouse theaters to bring selections to new audiences.
NYFF is working with with Anthology Film Archives (East Village), Bam, Jacob Burns Film Center, and Maysles Documentary Center (Harlem) to screen a selection of films throughout the festival — complete list below. “These screenings allow filmmakers to share their work with passionate filmgoers across New York, and provide flexibility for movie lovers citywide and beyond,” Flc said.
The festival will also present four outdoor screenings in its own backyard, Damrosch Park on the Lincoln Center campus.
NYFF in August announced its slate for a mostly in-person event, opening with Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, starring Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington. It closes with Parallel Mothers,...
NYFF is working with with Anthology Film Archives (East Village), Bam, Jacob Burns Film Center, and Maysles Documentary Center (Harlem) to screen a selection of films throughout the festival — complete list below. “These screenings allow filmmakers to share their work with passionate filmgoers across New York, and provide flexibility for movie lovers citywide and beyond,” Flc said.
The festival will also present four outdoor screenings in its own backyard, Damrosch Park on the Lincoln Center campus.
NYFF in August announced its slate for a mostly in-person event, opening with Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, starring Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington. It closes with Parallel Mothers,...
- 9/1/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Jack Hazan and David Mingay’s Rude Boy, starring Ray Gange with The Clash is a 59th New York Film Festival Revival highlight Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Film at Lincoln Center has announced the Revivals of the 59th New York Film Festival will include highlights Michael Powell’s Bluebeard’s Castle; Ed Lachman’s Songs For Drella; Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher; Christopher Petit’s Radio On; Sedat Pakay’s James Baldwin: From Another Place; Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala; Joan Micklin Silver’s Hester Street; Márta Mészáros’ Adoption, and Jack Hazan and David Mingay’s Rude Boy.
59th New York Film Festival Revivals
The other films in the program are John Carpenter’s Assault On Precinct 13; Sarah Maldoror’s Sambizanga; Melvin Van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song; Christine Choy’s Who Killed Vincent Chin?; Nina Menkes’ The Bloody Child; Govindan Aravindan’s Kummatty; Miklós Jancsó’s The Round-Up, and...
Film at Lincoln Center has announced the Revivals of the 59th New York Film Festival will include highlights Michael Powell’s Bluebeard’s Castle; Ed Lachman’s Songs For Drella; Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher; Christopher Petit’s Radio On; Sedat Pakay’s James Baldwin: From Another Place; Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala; Joan Micklin Silver’s Hester Street; Márta Mészáros’ Adoption, and Jack Hazan and David Mingay’s Rude Boy.
59th New York Film Festival Revivals
The other films in the program are John Carpenter’s Assault On Precinct 13; Sarah Maldoror’s Sambizanga; Melvin Van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song; Christine Choy’s Who Killed Vincent Chin?; Nina Menkes’ The Bloody Child; Govindan Aravindan’s Kummatty; Miklós Jancsó’s The Round-Up, and...
- 8/18/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Groundbreaking works by John Carpenter, Mira Nair, Melvin Van Peebles, Nina Menkes and Michael Powell will be featured in the Revivals lineup of the 59th New York Film Festival. These films, which range from historical dramas to pulpy crime thrillers, have been digitally remastered and restored.
Films being highlighted this year include a 4K restoration of Carpenter’s “Assault on Precinct 13,” Powell’s “Bluebird’s Ghost,” Menkes’s “The Bloody Child,” Nair’s “Mississippi Masala” and Van Peebles’s “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.”
“One of the biggest satisfactions of programming Revivals within this festival is looking back at cinematic treasures of the past and seeing their continuity and relevance with today’s cinema,” said Florence Almozini, Flc Senior Programmer at Large. “We think this selection is both a celebration and a thought-provoking adventure, and we hope audiences will enjoy exploring it, whether they are seeing these films for the first or 20th time.
Films being highlighted this year include a 4K restoration of Carpenter’s “Assault on Precinct 13,” Powell’s “Bluebird’s Ghost,” Menkes’s “The Bloody Child,” Nair’s “Mississippi Masala” and Van Peebles’s “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.”
“One of the biggest satisfactions of programming Revivals within this festival is looking back at cinematic treasures of the past and seeing their continuity and relevance with today’s cinema,” said Florence Almozini, Flc Senior Programmer at Large. “We think this selection is both a celebration and a thought-provoking adventure, and we hope audiences will enjoy exploring it, whether they are seeing these films for the first or 20th time.
- 8/17/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Documentarian Senain Kheshgi takes us through a few of her favorite documentaries.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
American Movie (1999)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary
The French Connection (1971) – Dennis Lehane’s trailer commentary, Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary
Grey Gardens (1975)
Salesman (1969)
Real Life (1979)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Seven Up! (1964)
Don’t Look Back (1967)
Primary (1960)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Reds (1981)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) – Dennis Cozzalio’s 2020 best-of list
High School (1968)
Hospital (1970)
Titicut Follies (1967)
Harlan County, USA (1976)
Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Mississippi Masala (1991)
India Cabaret (1985)
The 400 Blows (1959) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary
Bicycle Thieves (1949) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards column
Shoeshine (1946)
Citizen Kane (1941) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Day For Night (1973) – Neil Labute’s trailer commentary
Sherman’s March (1986)
Capturing The Friedmans (2003)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)
The Mole Agent (2020)
The Act of Killing (2012)
Other Notable Items
Walter Hill
Walton Goggins
The Majority
Mark Borchardt
Mike Schank
The...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
American Movie (1999)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary
The French Connection (1971) – Dennis Lehane’s trailer commentary, Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary
Grey Gardens (1975)
Salesman (1969)
Real Life (1979)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Seven Up! (1964)
Don’t Look Back (1967)
Primary (1960)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Reds (1981)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) – Dennis Cozzalio’s 2020 best-of list
High School (1968)
Hospital (1970)
Titicut Follies (1967)
Harlan County, USA (1976)
Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Mississippi Masala (1991)
India Cabaret (1985)
The 400 Blows (1959) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary
Bicycle Thieves (1949) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards column
Shoeshine (1946)
Citizen Kane (1941) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Day For Night (1973) – Neil Labute’s trailer commentary
Sherman’s March (1986)
Capturing The Friedmans (2003)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)
The Mole Agent (2020)
The Act of Killing (2012)
Other Notable Items
Walter Hill
Walton Goggins
The Majority
Mark Borchardt
Mike Schank
The...
- 7/27/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
EntertainmentThe representation of Indians in interracial relationships on screen largely remains stuck in ethnic stereotypes. Nikhita VenugopalYoutube/FacebookEighteen years ago, the popular romantic-comedy Bend It Like Beckham released, and with it came this loaded question from British-Indian teen Jess Bhamra to her older sister, Pinky: “Pinks, do you think mum and dad would still speak to me if I ever brought home a gora?” Jess (played by Parminder Nagra) is an 18-year-old living with her Sikh family in a suburb of London, surrounded by a lively Indian community, alongside a revolving cast of aunties, uncles, cousins and of course, would-be suitors. To the dismay of her sister Pinky, however, Jess is falling for Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyer), her white football coach. “Look Jess, you can marry anyone you want. It's fine at first when you're in love and all that. But do you really want to be the one that...
- 3/24/2021
- by Nikhita Venugopal
- The News Minute
A Suitable Boy, directed by the brilliant Mira Nair, is an epic tale of life and love set in vibrant 1950s India. The 6-hour miniseries, which is streaming exclusively on AcornTV, tells the story of a spirited university student who comes of age in North India in 1951, at the same time as the country is carving out its own identity as an independent nation and is about to go to the polls for its first democratic general election. The stories play out during this most tumultuous period and reflect the wider conflict between tradition and modernity at the time, as the series explores the country and its rich and varied culture at a crucial point in its history – through eye-popping, colorful scenes of ornate wedding and funeral ceremonies, religious festivals and rituals, passionate riots and political fights, and haunting musical performances. The film stars Tanya Maniktala in the lead role,...
- 12/8/2020
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
A fascination with Vice-President elect Kamala Harris could drive American audiences towards Mira Nair’s mini-series “A Suitable Boy,” the director says.
Based on Vikram Seth’s epic 1993 novel, the series follows the Mehra family and their associates as they go about the process of finding a husband for 19-year-old university student Lata Mehra (newcomer Tanya Maniktala), against the backdrop of the 1951 general elections in newly independent India.
The series aired on the BBC in July and began streaming in several territories on Netflix, excluding North America, in October. AMC Networks’ Acorn TV acquired the series for North America, as revealed by Variety.
“Certainly what we show in ‘A Suitable Boy,’ that extraordinary idealism of the fifties that created a free India and the first elections, is something that I have never seen in America about the sub-continent,” the Indian director tells Variety.
“It’s going to be a new chapter,...
Based on Vikram Seth’s epic 1993 novel, the series follows the Mehra family and their associates as they go about the process of finding a husband for 19-year-old university student Lata Mehra (newcomer Tanya Maniktala), against the backdrop of the 1951 general elections in newly independent India.
The series aired on the BBC in July and began streaming in several territories on Netflix, excluding North America, in October. AMC Networks’ Acorn TV acquired the series for North America, as revealed by Variety.
“Certainly what we show in ‘A Suitable Boy,’ that extraordinary idealism of the fifties that created a free India and the first elections, is something that I have never seen in America about the sub-continent,” the Indian director tells Variety.
“It’s going to be a new chapter,...
- 12/4/2020
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The thrilling new North American trailer has just debuted for the epic BBC period drama miniseries hit, A Suitable Boy, which will premiere exclusively in the U.S. and Canada starting December 7th on the streaming service Acorn TV.
Reminiscent of classic and acclaimed BBC and Masterpiece period dramas, A Suitable Boy is an epic tale of life and love set in vibrant 1950s India, telling the story of a spirited university student who comes of age in North India in 1951, at the same time as the country is carving out its own identity as an independent nation and is about to go to the polls for its first democratic general election. This sweeping drama features BBC’s first-ever all-Indian lead cast, including the subcontinent’s screen icon Tabu, Bollywood leading man Ishaan Khatter (Beyond the Clouds) and rising star Tanya Maniktala as lead character Lata Mehra.
Shot entirely in stunning locations in northern India,...
Reminiscent of classic and acclaimed BBC and Masterpiece period dramas, A Suitable Boy is an epic tale of life and love set in vibrant 1950s India, telling the story of a spirited university student who comes of age in North India in 1951, at the same time as the country is carving out its own identity as an independent nation and is about to go to the polls for its first democratic general election. This sweeping drama features BBC’s first-ever all-Indian lead cast, including the subcontinent’s screen icon Tabu, Bollywood leading man Ishaan Khatter (Beyond the Clouds) and rising star Tanya Maniktala as lead character Lata Mehra.
Shot entirely in stunning locations in northern India,...
- 11/24/2020
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
One of the BBC’s most ambitious and cinematic TV series ever makes its highly-anticipated Stateside debut on Acorn TV this December: A Suitable Boy, an epic tale of life and love set in vibrant 1950s India in the first screen adaptation of the classic, bestselling, 1,349-page novel of the same name by Vikram Seth. A Suitable Boy will premiere exclusively on Acorn TV in the U.S. and Canada with two episodes on Monday, December 7, 2020, and weekly episodes every Monday through January 4, 2021.
With a dynamic cast of India’s most well-known actors alongside rising stars, this six-part, six-hour drama tells the story of spirited university student Lata Mehra as she comes of age in North India at the same time as the country is carving out its own identity as an independent nation and is about to go to the polls for its first democratic general election.
A Suitable Boy is a vast,...
With a dynamic cast of India’s most well-known actors alongside rising stars, this six-part, six-hour drama tells the story of spirited university student Lata Mehra as she comes of age in North India at the same time as the country is carving out its own identity as an independent nation and is about to go to the polls for its first democratic general election.
A Suitable Boy is a vast,...
- 11/19/2020
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
At the launch of the Tribeca Chanel women filmmaker program, Through Her Lens, Mira Nair delivered a speech reflecting on her journey from India to Hollywood that began with her 1991 film Mississippi Masala.
In it, Sarita Choudhury plays a woman who moves from India to Mississippi, where she falls in love with Denzel Washington’s character. Nair revealed she is tracking down the negatives for rerelease as “an anthem for Kamala” Harris — the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father — as she bids to become vp.
“When Mississippi Masala [opened], there were lines around the block ...
In it, Sarita Choudhury plays a woman who moves from India to Mississippi, where she falls in love with Denzel Washington’s character. Nair revealed she is tracking down the negatives for rerelease as “an anthem for Kamala” Harris — the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father — as she bids to become vp.
“When Mississippi Masala [opened], there were lines around the block ...
- 10/26/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
At the launch of the Tribeca Chanel women filmmaker program, Through Her Lens, Mira Nair delivered a speech reflecting on her journey from India to Hollywood that began with her 1991 film Mississippi Masala.
In it, Sarita Choudhury plays a woman who moves from India to Mississippi, where she falls in love with Denzel Washington’s character. Nair revealed she is tracking down the negatives for rerelease as “an anthem for Kamala” Harris — the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father — as she bids to become vp.
“When Mississippi Masala [opened], there were lines around the block ...
In it, Sarita Choudhury plays a woman who moves from India to Mississippi, where she falls in love with Denzel Washington’s character. Nair revealed she is tracking down the negatives for rerelease as “an anthem for Kamala” Harris — the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father — as she bids to become vp.
“When Mississippi Masala [opened], there were lines around the block ...
- 10/26/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Evil Eye (Amazon Prime)
Starring Sarita Choudhury, Sunita Mani, Omar Maskati, Bernard White
Directed by Elan & Rajeev Dassani
There is very little reason why we should sit through this blindly fallacious fear fare. Yes, there is one good performance. And it’s always a pleasure to watch Sarita Cahoudhary ever since she made her memorable debut opposite, ahem, Denzel Washington in Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala. We don’t see her often enough. But if this is the kind of cinema we get to see her in then we might as well not see her.
The evil in Evil Eye is such a dispensable imposition that we are left looking at a plot that seems to have been written with the sole purpose of making super naturalism look cool. Regrettably the eerie twist at the end is anything but convincing, let alone credible.
The story works better as a mother-daughter...
Starring Sarita Choudhury, Sunita Mani, Omar Maskati, Bernard White
Directed by Elan & Rajeev Dassani
There is very little reason why we should sit through this blindly fallacious fear fare. Yes, there is one good performance. And it’s always a pleasure to watch Sarita Cahoudhary ever since she made her memorable debut opposite, ahem, Denzel Washington in Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala. We don’t see her often enough. But if this is the kind of cinema we get to see her in then we might as well not see her.
The evil in Evil Eye is such a dispensable imposition that we are left looking at a plot that seems to have been written with the sole purpose of making super naturalism look cool. Regrettably the eerie twist at the end is anything but convincing, let alone credible.
The story works better as a mother-daughter...
- 10/23/2020
- by Subhash K Jha
- Bollyspice
One of two things happen when Mira Nair tries making an Indian film in India. She crafts a story that is beautifully authentic and inspired by India that is (think Salaam Bombay! or Monsoon Wedding). Or, she tries recreating an India that was, in which case the outcome is beautifully plastic (think Kama Sutra).
Mira Nair's new web series talks of an India that was. The show diligently tries to belong to the former lot, but tends to gravitate to the second category.
Maybe it was the challenge of adapting Vikram Seth's book of the same name. A massive work of fiction comprising nearly six lakh words would seem difficult to capture in six episodes.
Or maybe, just as it was blatant in the case of Kama Sutra, Nair was out making an Indian film in India for the West.
The trouble with A Suitable Boy is despite so much story to tell,...
Mira Nair's new web series talks of an India that was. The show diligently tries to belong to the former lot, but tends to gravitate to the second category.
Maybe it was the challenge of adapting Vikram Seth's book of the same name. A massive work of fiction comprising nearly six lakh words would seem difficult to capture in six episodes.
Or maybe, just as it was blatant in the case of Kama Sutra, Nair was out making an Indian film in India for the West.
The trouble with A Suitable Boy is despite so much story to tell,...
- 10/23/2020
- by Glamsham Editorial
- GlamSham
Gratitude can be many things: a powerful emotion, a state of being, or, sometimes, a marketing concept used to peddle mindfulness to the masses. Filtered through the lens of veteran filmmaker Mira Nair though, it can be an act of resistance.
Speaking Tuesday afternoon during a virtual tea in front of nearly 100 participants to help kick-off day one of the Tribeca Enterprises and Chanel collaboration Through Her Lens, Nair delivered what felt like a mini-keynote address that covered everything from art to activism. She saved a special mention for her 1991 film Mississippi Masala, an interracial love story that she ...
Speaking Tuesday afternoon during a virtual tea in front of nearly 100 participants to help kick-off day one of the Tribeca Enterprises and Chanel collaboration Through Her Lens, Nair delivered what felt like a mini-keynote address that covered everything from art to activism. She saved a special mention for her 1991 film Mississippi Masala, an interracial love story that she ...
- 10/14/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Gratitude can be many things: a powerful emotion, a state of being, or, sometimes, a marketing concept used to peddle mindfulness to the masses. Filtered through the lens of veteran filmmaker Mira Nair though, it can be an act of resistance.
Speaking Tuesday afternoon during a virtual tea in front of nearly 100 participants to help kick-off day one of the Tribeca Enterprises and Chanel collaboration Through Her Lens, Nair delivered what felt like a mini-keynote address that covered everything from art to activism. She saved a special mention for her 1991 film Mississippi Masala, an interracial love story that she ...
Speaking Tuesday afternoon during a virtual tea in front of nearly 100 participants to help kick-off day one of the Tribeca Enterprises and Chanel collaboration Through Her Lens, Nair delivered what felt like a mini-keynote address that covered everything from art to activism. She saved a special mention for her 1991 film Mississippi Masala, an interracial love story that she ...
- 10/14/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
AFI Fest, taking place online from Oct. 15-22, is honoring Sofia Coppola, Kirby Dick, Rita Moreno and Mira Nair each with an evening of conversation celebrating their careers.
“Artists of this caliber are essential players in our global culture,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President & CEO. “To honor each of them – and all of them – at AFI Fest will prove a symphony of talent at a time the world needs it most.”
Coppola has her recent reteam with Bill Murray, On the Rocks, opening next weekend in theaters with a debut on AppleTV+ on Oct. 23. Her last Murray movie, Lost in Translation, scored her a Best Original Screenplay Oscar. The movie reps the first co-production between Apple and A24.
Two-time Oscar nominated and Emmy award winning investigative filmmaker Kirby Dick has the HBO Max movie with his co-collaborator Amy Ziering, On the Record, about the women who allegedly were sexually harassed by music mogul Russell Simmons.
“Artists of this caliber are essential players in our global culture,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President & CEO. “To honor each of them – and all of them – at AFI Fest will prove a symphony of talent at a time the world needs it most.”
Coppola has her recent reteam with Bill Murray, On the Rocks, opening next weekend in theaters with a debut on AppleTV+ on Oct. 23. Her last Murray movie, Lost in Translation, scored her a Best Original Screenplay Oscar. The movie reps the first co-production between Apple and A24.
Two-time Oscar nominated and Emmy award winning investigative filmmaker Kirby Dick has the HBO Max movie with his co-collaborator Amy Ziering, On the Record, about the women who allegedly were sexually harassed by music mogul Russell Simmons.
- 9/25/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
We've known that Blumhouse was developing content for Amazon, but now it's official. Amazon Prime Video has announced "Welcome to the Blumhouse," which will feature eight new genre films. It all kicks off with the first four films being released right in time for Halloween:
From the Press Release: "Culver City, CA – August 13, 2020 – Amazon Prime Video announced today “Welcome to the Blumhouse”, a program of eight unsettling, genre movies produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Television and Amazon Studios. Sharing the spine-tingling suspense that’s a Blumhouse signature, each film presents a distinctive vision and unique perspective on common themes centered around family and love as redemptive or destructive forces. This slate marks the first ever program of Amazon Original movies on Prime Video that are thematically connected. The films showcase exciting up-and-coming talent, alongside established actors in exceptional and shocking new roles. “Welcome to the Blumhouse” will launch in October,...
From the Press Release: "Culver City, CA – August 13, 2020 – Amazon Prime Video announced today “Welcome to the Blumhouse”, a program of eight unsettling, genre movies produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Television and Amazon Studios. Sharing the spine-tingling suspense that’s a Blumhouse signature, each film presents a distinctive vision and unique perspective on common themes centered around family and love as redemptive or destructive forces. This slate marks the first ever program of Amazon Original movies on Prime Video that are thematically connected. The films showcase exciting up-and-coming talent, alongside established actors in exceptional and shocking new roles. “Welcome to the Blumhouse” will launch in October,...
- 8/13/2020
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
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