Buddhadev Dasgupta, one of the most influential and acclaimed figures of Indian cinema, passed away in Kolkata on Thursday from an ongoing renal ailment; he was 77. The Bengali filmmaker was a master manipulator of time and place, his best work filled with stirring beauty, complex characterisations and often dreamlike realities.
Dasgupta’s cinema is steeped in lyricism, filled with visual landscapes that flirt with magical realism, even surrealism at times; he often cited the Spanish master Luis Buñuel as a key influence. His other great creative output was as a poet, and his films often employed elements of fantasy and non-linear narratives synonymous with an expansive creative vision.
Beginning his career in academia, teaching economics in Calcutta, Dasgupta turned to documentary making in the early 1970s (Dholer Raja Khirode Natta, 1973; Fishermen of Sundarban, 1974; Saratchandra, 1975). His first foray into fictional storytelling was Dooratwa (1978), followed by Neem Annapurna (1980), both in his native Bengali tongue. He earned early festival favour with his 1982 feature, Grihajuddha, which scored a Golden Lion nomination at the Venice Film Festival.
Working with equal ease in his nation’s dual languages, Dasgupta took his distinctive cinematic voice to the world; among his most revered films were Bagh Bahadur (1989), Tahader Katha (1992; pictured, above), Uttara (2000), Mondo Meyer Upakhyan (2002), Swapner Din (2004; pictured, below), Kalpurush (2005), Quartet 1 (2012) and Tope (2016). His final film, The Flight (Urojahaj), starring Parno Mittra and Chandan Roy Sanyal, was released in 2020 to to some of the best reviews of his career.
His career was lauded with 12 Indian film sector awards, including four Golden Lotus trophies, and he was twice nominated for the prestigious Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival (Phera, 1988; Charachar, 1994). In 2007, he was bestowed the Golden Athena Award at the Athens International Film Festival; a year later, the Spain International Film Festival announced he would receive their Lifetime Achievement honour.
Dasgupta solidified the standing of Indian cinema on the international stage following the death of Satyajit Ray in 1992, though he never sought comparison to the great Indian auteur. Peers and contemporaries that he held in particular regard included the late Govindan Aravindan and fellow Bengali directors Ritwick Ghatak and Mrinal Sen.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief at Dasgupta’s passing via Twitter, writing, “Anguished by the demise of Shri Buddhadeb Dasgupta. His diverse works struck a chord with all sections of society. He was also an eminent thinker and poet.” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spoke for many when she tweeted, “Through his works, he infused lyricism into the language of cinema. His death comes as a great loss for the film fraternity.”
He is survived by his wife, filmmaker Sohini Dasgupta, and two daughters.
Australian director Justin Kurzel will vie against some of international cinema’s biggest names when his film Nitram screens in Competition at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
Chronicling the events leading up to the Port Arthur shooting massacre in 1996, Nitram will be the first Australian film since Sleeping Beauty in 2011 to figure in the prestigious competitive strand in over a decade. Shot under quarantine conditions in late 2020 with American actor Caleb Landry-Jones in the lead role (who goes unnamed in the film), Kurzel’s latest fielded howls of protest when it was broken the story of Australia’s worst mass killer was being produced.
Kurzel (Snowtown, 2011; True History of The Kelly gang, 2019) will be amongst such filmmakers as Wes Anderson (The French Dispatch), Leox Carax (Annette, the Festival’s Opening Night choice), Paul Verhoeven (Benedetta; pictured, right), Sean Penn (Flag Day), Sean Baker (Red Rocket), Asghar Farhadi (A Hero), and Palme d’Or winners Jacques Audiard (Les Olympiades) and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Memoria)
In announcing the 2021 line-up artistic director Thierry Fremaux noted the record 24 films in competition and an unprecedented number of female directors, among them Hungarian helmer Ildikó Enyedi (The Story of My Wife), French director Julia Ducournau (Titane) and festival favourite Mia Hansen-Løve (Bergman Island).
While Closing Night honours remain a mystery and potential Hollywood blockbusters premiering on The Croisette unnamed, the full roster announced is:
COMPETITION: Annette, Leos Carax Tre Piani, Nanni Moretti Everything Went Fine, François Ozon A Hero, Asghar Farhadi Titane, Julia Ducournau The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson Red Rocket, Sean Baker Petrov’s Flu, Kirill Serebrennikov France, Bruno Dumont Nitram, Justin Kurzel Memoria, Apichatpong Weerasethakul Lingui, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Paris 13th District, Jacques Audiard The Restless, Joachim Lafosse La Fracture, Catherine Corsini Casablanca Beats, Nabil Ayouch The Worst Person In The World, Joachim Trier Compartment No.6, Juho Kuosmanen Ahed’s Knee, Nadav Lapid Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi Bergman Island, Mia Hansen-Løve Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven The Story Of My Wife, Ildikó Enyedi Flag Day, Sean Penn
OUT OF COMPETITION: Aline, The Voice Of Love, Valérie Lemercier Stillwater, Tom Mccarthy The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes Emergency Declaration, Han Jae-Rim De Son Vivant, Emmanuelle Bercot Bac Nord, Cédric Jimenez
CANNES PREMIERE: Hold Me Tight, Mathieu Amalric Cow, Andrea Arnold Love Songs For Tough Guys, Samuel Benchetrit Deception, Arnaud Desplechin Jane Par Charlotte, Charlotte Gainsbourg In Front Of Your Face, Hong Sang-Soo Mothering Sunday, Eva Husson Evolution, Kornél Mundruczo Val, Ting Poo, Leo Scott JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass, Oliver Stone
SPECIAL SCREENINGS H6, Yé Yé Black Notebooks, Shlomi Elkabetz Mariner Of The Mountains, Karim Aïnouz Jane Par Charlotte, Charlotte Gainsbourg Babi Yar, Context, Sergei Loznitsa The Year Of The Everlasting Storm, Jafar Panahi, Anthony Chen, Malik Vitthal, Laura Poitras, Dominga Sotomayor, David Lowery, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
UN CERTAIN REGARD The Innocents, Eskil Vogt After Yang, Kogonada Lamb, Valdimar Jóhannsson Noche De Fuego, Tatiana Huezo Bonne Mère, Hafsia Herzi Blue Bayou, Justin Chon Moneyboys, C.B Yi Freda, Gessica Généus Un Monde, Laura Wandel Commitment Hasan, Hasan Semih Kaplanoglu House Arrest, Alexey German Jr. Let There Be Morning, Eran Kolirin Unclenching The Fists, Kira Kovalenko Women Do Cry, Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova Rehana Maryam Noor, Abdullah Mohammad Saad Great Freedom, Sebastian Meise La Civil, Teodora Ana Mihai Gaey Wa’r, Na Jiazuo
The South African Film Festival (SAFF) will present a unique and engaging collection of nine documentaries, five features and two short films when it returns in 2021. Unfolding from May 12-24, the festival will adopt a virtual program roster ahead of special event closing night screenings in Sydney and Melbourne.
“This year’s line-up presents an exciting mix of daring narratives, striking cinematography and deep explorations into South African culture and community,” said Festival Director Claire Jankelson. “South Africa produces some of the richest cinematic stories the world over. Much like the country itself, the films that come are at once challenging, bold, beautiful and heartwarming.” Thematically, the films selected for the 2021 SAFF reflect the nation’s diverse population, rich tradition of struggle for democracy and equality, and complex political and economic reality.
Films will premiere across Australia via the festival website, as well as extending its audience into New Zealand. The theatrical experience will not be lost entirely, with the festival presenting a special Closing Night session of the acclaimed feature, Barakat (pictured, right), a glimpse into the heart of the Muslim community of Cape Town, seen through the prism of one family’s complex modern life. Closing Night sessions of director Amy Jephta moving film will be held at Sydney’s Event Cinemas Bondi Junction and Castle Hill and the Classic Cinema in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick.
Leading the program highlights is Rene van Rooyen’s Toorbos, based on a novel by celebrated Afrikaans author Dalene Matthee. A moving romantic odyssey set against the stunning surrounds of the iconic Knysna forest region, South Africa’s official Oscar submission chronicles a woman blossoming against the destruction of her environment.
Other feature films on offer include Sunu Gonera’s Riding with Sugar, an action-packed film about a young refugee's quest for BMX glory and the pursuit of identity, safety, happiness and love; Meg Rickard’s Tess is a raw, confronting and emotionally charged adaption of Tracey Farren’s novel ‘Whiplash,’ and follows a 20-year-old prostitute and addict in Cape Town whose life is turned upside-down by an unexpected pregnancy; and, Tebogo Malope’s For Love and Broken Bones, an unexpectedly tender gangster flick featuring a jazz musician debt collector who falls in love with his latest assignment, a wedding planner.
Reflecting a nation still reconciling with its apartheid past, four documentaries reflect upon South Africa’s modern history and the impact it will have on the future of the country. The factual film line-up includes Dugald MacDonald’s Blindside (pictured, above), an examination of how the 1974 boycott-breaking tour by the British rugby team became a powerful tool in helping to dismantle apartheid; District Six Rising from the Dust, director Weaam Williams’ personal account of her return to the ancestral community in Cape Town from which her family and thousands of others were forcibly removed during apartheid; and, Anthony Fabian’s upbeat Good Hope, a positive look at what the post–apartheid ‘Born Free’ generation are doing to create a brighter future.
Other documentaries in the festival include Jozi Gold, co-directors Fredrik Gertten and Sylvia Vollenhoven’s exposé of the dark heart of the nation’s mining sector; Diana Neille and Richard Poplak’s Influence, a revealing look at the immoral and weaponised influence wielded by disgraced British PR firm, Bell Pottinger; a 10th anniversary retrospective release of Mama Africa, Mika Kaurismäki’s moving account of the life of artist and activist Miriam Makeba, whose legendary singing became a passionate message of black liberation; and, Richard Wicksteed’s SanDance!, a stunning study in the culture of dance in southern Africa’s oldest tribe, the San.
Two powerful shorts feature in the 2021 line-up. Toby Wosskow’s Sides of a Horn uses a hybrid of dramatic and documentary styles to look at rhino poaching through two fictional antagonists, a ranger and a poacher, while Sibusiso Khuzwayo’s Letter Reader (pictured, right) follows a twelve-year-old boy’s ascent to the exalted position of his village’s letter reader.
All proceeds go to supporting Education Without Borders programs that assist young South Africans in some of the country’s most disadvantaged communities. The funds generated by this year’s Festival will support vulnerable groups in South Africa, of particular importance this year given the impact of COVID-19.
The 2021 South African Film Festival program and ticketing details are available at www.saff.org.au
If there is one overriding film festival mantra in the wake of COVID-19, it sounds something like, “We’d rather have a live event, but we’ll do our damned best with what we’ve been dealt.” The latest case-in-point - the online program of the 2021 Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF), which blasts out to Belgian genre fans from April 6.
The 39th staging of the iconic event made the call to go 100% virtual as the pandemic peaked several months ago, a time when social gatherings were being cancelled all across the globe. In a statement via the BIFFF Board, Festival Director Guy Delmote said, “An online version of the festival fundamentally goes against its DNA. What makes the BIFFF so unique is its audience and the unique atmosphere that reigns supreme during thirteen festival days.”
However, the release of the 2021 roster of films indicates that BIFFF has not compromised its renowned curation skills in any way. A whopping 48 movies and 63 shorts will beam into the homes of Festival pass holders, delivering the next best thing to a live event. “It [may] seem strange that the BIFFF contents itself with an online edition without any physical component,” says Delmote, “but that would be ignoring the countless hours that the team put in preparing [the festival], a team that lives and breathes for the festival, a team that gives everything for the enjoyment of its audience. It would be a shame to cast that aside out of principle.”
The anxiety-inducing Italian/Belgian co-production The Shift carries the official stamp of ‘Opening Night Film’. Alessandro Tonda’s white-knuckle bomb-in-an-ambulance thriller, starring Clotilde Hesme (pictured, above) as the panic-stricken paramedic and a chilling Adam Amara as her explosive-encased passenger, will have its International Premiere via BIFFF Online. Closing out the festival will be the pitch black tragi-comedy Riders of Justice, the latest from man-of-the-moment Mads Mikkelsen, who reteams for the fifth time with director Anders Thomas Jensen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas (their last, 2015’s festival hit Men & Chicken).
The five films vying for the Golden Raven award in the International Competition sector are Cody Calahan’s hilariously bloody ‘serial killer therapy group’ lark, Vicious Fun; Ivan Kavanagh’s psychological horror pic Son (pictured, top), featuring a terrific Andi Matichak as a mother fleeing her cult past; the Russian ocean-trench monster movie Superdeep, from Arseny Sukhin; an unhinged Jasmin Savoy Brown as the triggered homicidal muso in Alex Noyer’s nightmarish Sound of Violence; and, South Korean horror auteur Kwang-bin Kim’s Poltergeist-like haunted house chiller, The Closet.
Other features that carry ‘must-watch’ status from the line-up include the World Premiere of Nick Kaldunski’s surrealist after-dark odyssey Hotel Poseidon, the first film from the groundbreaking and transgressive theatre company, Abattoir Fermé; Jeffrey De Vore’s autobiographical doco De Dick Maas Methode, a peek inside the larger-than-life world of the director of cult classics The Lift (1983), Flodder (1986; pictured, right) and Amsterdamned (1988); and, two films in the mix for the Silver Méliès Best European Fantastic Film award - Stefano Lodovichi’s The Guest Room and Péter Bergendy’s Hungarian horror opus, Post Mortem.
The global short-film community is typically well-represented at the BIFFF. An impressive 33 shorts will unfurl under the Eat My Shorts Parts I-IV, amongst them Joséphine Darcy Hopkins’ pandemic metaphor, Nuage; Marco Bentancor’s existential river-monster thriller, The Water Will Regret You; David Mikalson’s overprotective gymnast coach narrative, Stuck; and two films from the distant land of Oz - Antony Webb’s desert planet survival story, Carmentis, and Andrew Jaksch’s 60s-set/Twilight Zone-like Today, a work certain to spark controversy given its forthright depiction of domestic violence within a genre setting.
Elsewhere in the program, home-viewing audiences can binge on such fantastical short visions as French director Alice Barsby’s tidal terror thriller, Aquaticans (pictured, right); the marriage-in-a-time-of-the-undead drama, The Last Marriage, from Swedish co-directors Gustav Egerstedt and Johan Tappert; and, homegrown talent Jessica Raes stop-motion animation fable Triskelion, a Celtic clan story steeped in female empowerment.
Also running online, from April 7-10, will be the 5th Brussels Genre Film Market (BIM), featuring a schedule of theatrical screenings, industry meetings and networking events. An initiative of event organisers Peymey Diffusion in conjunction with the support of the City of Brussels and the Brussels Capital Region, the BIM market aims are to stimulate encounters between producers and buyers, facilitate financing through presentations of national and international support mechanisms and promote Belgian professionals, studio’s and post-production firms.
The 40th BRUSSELS INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL is a geo-blocked virtual event, available only to residents of Belgium. International press can apply for accreditation at kahina@biff.net. The 5th BRUSSELS GENRE FILM MARKET is open to all industry professionals; accreditation applications can be submitted here.
A 4K restoration of director Jean-Luc Godard’s masterpiece, Breathless (À bout de souffle; 1960) is just one of the many cinematic gems to shine as part of the 32nd Alliance Française French Film Festival, one of the largest celebrations of French cinema in the world. The 2021 edition of the festival will beguile and engage theatrical audiences nationally from March 2 until mid-April at 25 locations, all of which will be adhering to stringent Covid protocols to guarantee Festival patrons a safe cinema experience.
Godard’s iconic film, acknowledged as one of the earliest and most potent examples of French New Wave cinema, emerged as the epitome of 60s cinematic cool, inspiring a generation of moviemakers. Based on a story by Francois Truffaut and photographed by New Wave legend Raoul Coutard, the film stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg (pictured, above) as narcissistic young lovers on the run from authorities following a violent and impulsive crime.
Courtesy of StudioCanal Australia, the Festival will launch with the World Premiere of Eiffel, a sumptuous, romantic, costume drama which explores the passionate love affair between celebrated engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built France’s iconic Eiffel Tower, and Adrienne, a mysterious woman from his past. Portraying these ardent lovers will be French superstar Romain Duris (pictured, right), and the magnetic Emma Mackey.
Presented by the Alliance Française in association with the Embassy of France in Australia and key sponsor Peugeot Australia, this year’s line-up of 37 features has something to delight the most discerning French cinephile. The star-laden program brings Australian audiences the latest works from such favourites as Lambert Wilson (in Gabriel Le Bomin’s De Gaulle); Isabelle Huppert (in Jean-Paul Salomé’s The Godmother); Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (in Summer of ‘85, the latest from acclaimed director François Ozon); Omar Sy (in Anne Fontaine’s Night Shift); and, Adèle Exarchopoulos (in Mandibles, from cult filmmaker Quentin Dupieux).
Closing Night honours have gone to #Iamhere (jesuislà) an endearing culture-clash comedy from director Éric Lartigau (The Bélier Family), starring Alain Chabat as an eminent French chef who travels to the other side of the world after he falls in love via Instagram.
Other highlights of this year’s line-up include:
ALINE (Dir: Valérie Lemercier) Cast: Valérie Lemercier, Sylvain Marcel & Martine Fontaine. Inspired by singing sensation Céline Dion, Aline is the story of a teenager from Quebec whose powerful voice propels her onto the world stage to become the darling of millions.
APPEARANCES (Dir: Marc Fitoussi) Cast: Benjamin Biolay, Karin Viard, Lucas Englander & Laetitia Dosch. The new film from writer/director Marc Fitoussi, Appearances is a sexy, Chabrol-esque marital thriller, set against a luxe Vienna backdrop (pictured, right).
BLACK BOX (Dir: Yann Gozlan) Cast: Pierre Niney, Lou de Laâge & André Dussollier. Uncovering secrets carries a devastating toll in this thrilling story about one man’s determination to get to the bottom of what caused a horrifying plane crash.
CALAMITY, A CHILDHOOD OF MARTHA JANE CANNARY (Dir: Rémi Chayét) Voice Cast: Salomé Boulven, Alexandra Lamy & Alexis Tomassian. Before she was frontierswoman ‘Calamity Jane’, she was a high-spirited 12-year-old girl named Martha, fiercely loyal to her family with a defiant streak. Winner of the Feature Film ‘Cristal’ at the 2020 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
DELETE HISTORY (Effacer l'historique; Dirs: Gustave Kervern & Benoît Delépine) Cast: Blanche Gardin, Corinne Masiero, Denis Podalydès & Vincent Lacoste & Benoît Poelvoorde. If the complexities of the online world leave you feeling lost, confused or furious, then this laugh-out-loud film is for you. Directed by renegade duo Gustave Kervern and Benoît Delépine; won the 70th Silver Bear Berlinale prize at Berlin International Film Festival.
GAGARINE (Dirs: Fanny Liatard & Jérémy Trouilh) Cast: Lyna Khoudri, Alséni Bathily & Finnegan Oldfield. When the housing project that he calls home is condemned for demolition, 16-year-old aspiring astronaut Youri knows there is no way it can go down without a fight. Premiering at Cannes in 2020, Gagarine is a powerful story of class, race, imagination and wonder.
LOVE AFFAIR(S) (Les choses qu'on dit, les choses qu'on fait; Dir: Emmanuel Mouret) Cast: Camélia Jordana, Niels Schneider & Emilie Dequenne. When two strangers are left alone in the French countryside, they fill their time by regaling each other with stories of love gained and lost. Referred to as a “more serious Love Actually”; an entertaining and surprising exploration of the complexities of modern love.
MISS (Dir: Ruben Alves) Cast: Alexandre Wetter, Pascale Arbillot & Thibault de Montalembert. Androgynous model Wetter plays a young boy who dreams of conquering the Miss France pageant. Miss is an inspiring, though-provoking film that tears apart our preconceptions of gender.
POLY (Dir: Nicolas Vanier) Cast: François Cluzet, Julie Gayet & Patrick Timsit. Travel back to the breathtaking Cévennes region of the 1960s to meet Poly the Shetland pony, an inspiration for generations of children ever since she jumped from the pages of Cécile Aubry’s much-loved novel (pictured, right).
SKIES OF LEBANON (Dir: Chloé Mazlo) Cast: Alba Rohrwacher, Wajdi Mouawad & Isabelle Zighondi.A poetic blending of the personal and political, this Cannes selection combines live action with animation to create a vivid picture of Lebanon and a heart-breaking story of love during wartime; inspired by the family history of filmmaker Chloé Mazlo.
SMALL COUNTRY: AN AFRICAN CHILDHOOD (Dir: Éric Barbier) Cast: Jean-Paul Rouve, Isabelle Kabano & Djibril Vancoppenolle. This powerful true story recounts the life of a young boy growing up in Burundi during the 1990s, experiencing the tidal wave of violence and unrest from neighbouring Rwanda.
Screening at Palace Cinemas nationwide, the 32nd Alliance Française French Film Festival begins in Sydney (March 2-31), before seasons in Melbourne (March 3-31), Canberra (March 4-31), Perth (March 10-April 7), Hobart (March 11-20), Brisbane (March 17-April 13), Adelaide (March 23-April 20), Byron Bay (March 24-April 14) and at the Riverside Theatres in Parramatta (April 8-11).
Saturday, June 12, 2021 at 8:12PM 
Beginning his career in academia, teaching economics in Calcutta, Dasgupta turned to documentary making in the early 1970s (Dholer Raja Khirode Natta, 1973; Fishermen of Sundarban, 1974; Saratchandra, 1975). His first foray into fictional storytelling was Dooratwa (1978), followed by Neem Annapurna (1980), both in his native Bengali tongue. He earned early festival favour with his 1982 feature, Grihajuddha, which scored a Golden Lion nomination at the Venice Film Festival. 
Dasgupta solidified the standing of Indian cinema on the international stage following the death of Satyajit Ray in 1992, though he never sought comparison to the great Indian auteur. Peers and contemporaries that he held in particular regard included the late Govindan Aravindan and fellow Bengali directors Ritwick Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. 
