AUGUST PROGRAMME

NIRMMALYAM
1973/Malayalam/India/134 Mins

Direction, Screenplay – M T Vasudevan Nair

Producer – Novel Films

Cinematography – K Ramachandra Babu

Editing – Ravi

Music – K Raghavan

Cast: P J Antony, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Ravi Menon, Sukumaran, Sumitra, Sankarady, Devidasan, M S Namboothiri

The bond between an aged oracle, Velichapad, and the temple where he serves, is profound. The priest of the temple gives up his job for another, and the young man who replaces him is the least interested in the non-worldly. He seduces the oracle’s teenage daughter. Caught stealing the sacred sword, the oracle’s son is forced to leave the village. When smallpox breaks out, the villagers set up a big festival in the temple to appease the Goddess – much to Velichapad’s delight. But on the festival day, he discovers that the young priest has seduced his daughter and that his wife has been selling herself to keep the wolf from the door. The film ends with the oracle performing the final ceremony dancing before the Goddess, and spitting at it for letting him down. Lead actor P J Antony creates, with great conviction, a larger –than-life character, anachronistic in a changing world.

JULY PROGRAMME

ONE DAY IN MEXICO
One Day Film Festival

In Association with
Kerala Chalachitra Academy,
Mexican Embassy
C-Hed, Corporation of Cochin

Nazarin
Director - Luis Bunuel

In this film Bunuel has the master cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa. Nazarin, a priest who lives by his beliefs, tries to live a very Christian life, but as always there are people that do not accept this. He wanders through many places preaching his Christianity but finding, most of the time, people that do not accept him. But besides the splendid story, it is always interesting to try to interpret the enigmatic messages that Bunuel sends us throughout the picture in scenes that make you shiver.

Tristana
Director - Luis Bunuel

Tristana is a young Spanish woman left to the care of Don Lope, the protective but impoverished aristocrat. Don sells his possessions to avoid manual labor and champions the causes of the dispossessed and downtrodden of society. He takes advantage of the vulnerable Tristana, who leaves him when she falls in love with Horacio. Unable to commit to him, she returns to Don Lope when she falls ill. He asks for her hand in marriage, and she accepts after losing her leg to cancer. She chooses to remain in a passionless union rather than be subject to the harsh realities of a society that refuses to change to the needs of women

Santo and Blue Demon in Atlantis
Director – Julian Soler

The film has a lot of fun with a comic book-like plot that has an ex-Nazi scientist headquartered on Atlantis planning on taking over the world. During the course of the movie the Blue Demon is brainwashed and he and el Santo throw down, just like the heroes in a Marvel comic book, before teaming up to beat the bad guys

Silent Light
Director – Carlos Reygadas

Silent Light revolves around a Mennonite family, whose stability is at stake when the head of the family Johan falls into an adulterous relationship with a Marianne. Supported by his friend Zacarias, Johan believes Marianne to be his soul mate. Will the pious family man be able to ignore this belief and remain with his loved one, or will his passion for Marianne overpower his desire to abide by the laws of God?

Cumbia Connection
Director – Rene U Villarreal

Downtown high rises hem in a pedestrian zone, where La Cori 17, window shops with a concentration bordering on obsession. Her tempestuous dark beauty draws stares of passers-by, their interests heightened by her two-toned hair, tattoos, body piercing and broad swaths of makeup. Sharing her taut sensual sexuality is her lover, El Guiripi slightly older. For it is the young slum dwellers of Monterrey – Mexico’s industrial capital and third largest metropolitan area that have developed a distinctive “Colombiano” style that all is their own.

JUNE PROGRAMME

A BRAND NEW LIFE
South Korea, France/2010/92 mins.

Directed by : Ounie Lecomte
Written by : Ounie Lecomte
Music by : Jim Sert
Cinematography by : Hyun Seok Kim
Editing by : Kim Hyung Joo

Cast : Kim Saeron, Park Doyeon, Ko A Sung,
Park Myung-shin, Oh Man-suk

Synopsis: 1975, It is the start of summer, somewhere in a small town in South Korea. Jinhee, 9, sets off on a journey. She doesn’t know where she is going. But she has to follow. She has to obey. In Seoul, her father entrusts her to a convent of Catholic nuns that houses an orphanage for girls in the hope that she will be adopted. Jinhee resists. She cannot believe that the father whom she loves so much has abandoned her. She tries to make him come back. She attempts to run away. In vain, she finally accepts her fate, forced to hope and wait for her possible adoption.

Jinhee gets used to life in the orphanage. Sookhee, a girl three years her senior, leads her off in her carefree games and tricks. Then there’s Yeshin, 17, the oldest of the girls there, handicapped by a deformed hip. Fate has brought them together, but for how long and what does it have in store for them? Not everyone will be lucky enough to find a family. Deep down Jinhee doesn’t want to leave and holds onto the hope of seeing her father again.

Festivals: Cannes Film Festival (2009), Toronto International Film Festival (2009), Pusan Film Festival (2009), Tokyo Film Festival (2009), Palm Springs International Film Festival (2009), Berlin International Film Festival (2009), International Film Festival of India, Goa (2009)

MARCH PROGRAMME 2010

ANGSHUMANER CHHOBI
Director: Atanu Ghosh
Story: Atanu Ghosh
Cinematography: Sandip Sen
Music: Rocket Mandal
Cast: Soumitra Chatterjee, Indrani Haldar,
Indraneil Sengupta, Sabyasachi Charaborty,
Tota Roychoudhury, Ananya Chatterjee.



Synopsis: Angshuman comes back from Italy after eight years, having studied cinema there, all ready to make his first film. He picks an unusual script on which he is not prepared to compromise. The story is about a 72-year-old painter who is suffering from dementia. The painter has an illiterate ayah who looks after him. Angshuman chooses an old actor Pradyut Mukherjee, a matinee idol at one time who has cut himself from the mainstream as much as he has cut himself away from films. Anghsuman persuades the actor to portray the character of the old painter. For the role of the ayah, the new director chooses Madhura, an actress who won the National Award for her debut film but lost her way somewhere in the maze of commercial cinema and then receded into the background. When Angshuman approaches her, she is reduced to a reclusive jatra artist. Anghsumaner Chhobi is a film within a film, touching upon human emotions and desires.


Director’s Biography: Atanu Ghosh is a critically acclaimed Bengali film director and screenwriter. After completing post-graduation in journalism, Atanu Ghosh started his career in 1996 as scriptwriter and director of documentary films, the first series being Pioneers of Indian Science for Doordarshan. He then branched out to fictional serials and telefilms. Atanu Ghosh received Doordarshan National Award for Best Children’s telefilm ‘Aar ek Bampi’ in 2002. Another telefilm, ‘Akashchhoan’ was selected for 10th International Kolkata Film Fetival, 2004. He has also written a play for National School of Drama, New Delhi entitled ‘Ruh-ba-Ruh’ directed by Koushik Sen. Till date, he has directed 23 telefilms. Atanu Ghosh has also worked as scriptwriter and editor for many eminent directors. Also, he has directed over 30 documentaries and corporate films.

February 2010 Programme

പത്താം നിലയിലെ തീവണ്ടി
Train in the Tenth Floor
Malayalam/2009/102 mins

Cast: Innocent, Vijayaraghavan, Jayasoorya, Meera Nandhan, Anoop Menon, etc.

Credits: Direction: Joshy Mathew/Producer:Jose Thomas/Screeplay:Dennis Joseph
Cinematography: Vinod Illampilly/Editing: Beena Paul

സ്കീസോഫ്രീനിയയെ വ്യത്യസ്തമായ രീതിയില്‍ കാണാന്‍ ശ്രമിക്കുകയാണ് ഈ ചിത്രം. ജോലിക്കിടെ മദ്യപിച്ചതിനെ തുടര്‍ന്ന് പിരിച്ചുവിടപ്പെട്ട റെയില്‍‌വേ ഗാങ്മാന്‍ ശങ്കരന് തൊഴില്‍ ചട്ടങ്ങള്‍ ലംഘിച്ചതിന് സ്വന്തമായ കാരണം ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു. ട്രെയിനിന്റെ ശബ്ദം അയാള്‍ക്ക് സഹിക്കാന്‍ കഴിയില്ലായിരുന്നു. അതില്‍ നിന്നുള്ള രക്ഷയായിരുന്നു മദ്യം. ഇപ്പോള്‍ സ്കീസോഫ്രീനിയ ബാധിതനായി മനോരോഗാശുപത്രിയില്‍ എല്ലാവരാലും അവഗണിക്കപ്പെട്ട് കിടക്കുകയാണയാള്‍. മകന്‍ രാമുവിന് അയാള്‍ നിരന്തരം കത്തുകളയക്കും. പതിനഞ്ച് വര്‍ഷം കത്തെഴുതിയിട്ടും മറുപടിയൊന്നും ലഭിച്ചിരുന്നില്ല. ശങ്കരന്റെ അവസാനത്തെ കത്ത് എഞ്ചിനീയറായ രാമുവിനെത്തേടിയെത്തുന്നതോടെ അയാളും അച്ഛനെപ്പോലെ ട്രെയിനിന്റെ അസഹ്യമായ ഇരമ്പം കേള്‍ക്കാന്‍ തുടങ്ങുന്നു.

January 2010 Programme

RAMANAM - Night Sky
Malayalam/2009/116 mins.
Based on Story "Smaraka Silakal" by Punathil Kunjabdulla
Screenplay & Direction: M P Sukumaran Nair
Photography: K G Jayan
Cast: Jagathy, Indrans, Margi Sathi, so on...

Synopsis

It was the crack of dawn. Yet darkness had not lifted and the crescent of the moon was still visible in the sky.

Eramullan, the Muadh-din at the mosque owned by the Thangal family woke up and as usual filled the water tank with water. He then purified himself by applying water from the tank on his feet and face. Eramullan then walked to the tomb of senior Thangal. He struck a matchstick to light an incense stick and in that instant streak of light, he saw a woman lying on the tomb of late Thangal.

He rushed to the Arakal family home to tell the Thangal about the incident. Together, they found that the woman had been kicked out from her home and had nowhere to go. The woman, Neeli is from Hindu community and is pregnant. Thangal gave Neeli shelter in his Hindu employee, Bapukanaran’s house. Thangal’s wife Atta Beevi is also pregnant.

Atta Beevi gave birth to a baby girl, Pookunji. Almost at the same time, Neeli gave birth to a son. But Neeli died at child birth. Since there was no Hindu woman to breast feed the child, Thangal adopted him and converted him to Islam. The boy is named Kunjali. But, sensing his wife’s hostility to the child, Thangal left Kunjali in the care of Pathu, a servant girl at Arakal family.

Days went by. Pookunji Beevi and Kunjali were admitted to school.

Nampiyar, Thangal’s friend and the temple festival organizer reminds Thangal about his request to teach Pookunji dance even when she was in the womb. Thangal repeats the request and Pookunji begins to learn Nangyarkooth. Pookunji completes her study of the traditional dance-drama Nangyarkooth and gives her debut performance at the time of the temple festival.

Pookunji and Kunjali passes the eligibility course for higher education. Pookunji joins for a Bachelor course while Kunjali decides to pursue a course in medicine at a medical college.

One morning in his attempt to give pray-call, Eramullan finds that he cannot raise his voice. Medical investigations confirmed cancer. Thangal admits him in the medical college were Kunjali studies and requests Kunjali to take care of him. Eramullan’s illness worsens and he dies. At the same time a mosque is destroyed and Hindu-Muslim riots break out in different parts of the country. Thangal gets totally upset.

The newly constituted temple festival committee protests against Pookunji’s Nangyarkooth performance on the temple premises. But despite the tense atmosphere, Pookunji performs Nangyarkooth on the festival grounds.

Unfortunately, some miscreants sets fire to the stage. Thangal is totally devastated by the incident and is seen dead in front of his house.

The dawn broke. And the crescent of the moon still stood visible in the sky.