December Programme

METRO FILM SOCIETY in association with

CAC, Ernakulam & National Film Archive of India

Dear Andrei
Remembering Andrei Tarkovsky
Three Day Film Fest - 16 - 18 December 2011

CAC Auditorium
16 - 12 - 2011, 6.15 pm. - The Killers, SOLARIS

Solaris (1972)

The Solaris mission has established a base on a planet that appears to host some kind of intelligence, but the details are hazy and very secret. After the mysterious demise of one of the three scientists on the base, the main character is sent out to replace him. He finds the station run-down and the two remaining scientists cold and secretive. When he also encounters his wife who has been dead for seven years, he begins to appreciate the baffling nature of the alien intelligence

17 - 12 - 2011, 5.30 pm. - Steamroller and the violin, STALKER

Stalker (1979)

Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, an alien place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers. Over his wife's numerous objections, a man rises in the dead of night: he's a stalker, one of a handful who have the mental gifts (and who risk imprisonment) to lead people into the Zone to the Room, a place where one's secret hopes come true. That night, he takes two people into the Zone: a popular writer who is burned out, cynical, and questioning his genius; and a quiet scientist more concerned about his knapsack than the journey. In the deserted Zone, the approach to the Room must be indirect. As they draw near, the rules seem to change and the stalker faces a crisis.

Sangeetha Theatre
18 - 12 - 2011, 9.00 am - THE SACRIFICE

The Sacrifice (1986)

Alexander, a journalist and former actor and philosopher, tells his little son how worried he is about the lack of spirituality of modern mankind. In the night of his birthday, the third world war breaks out. In his despair Alexander turns himself in a prayer to God, offering him everything to have the war not happen at all

2011 SEPTEMBER PROGRAMME

2nd October 2011
Ernakulam SAVITHA THEATRE
9.30 pm.



Veettilekkulla Vazhi
The Way Home
India/2010/35mm/Colour/95’/Malayalam

Direction, Screenplay: Dr Biju
Cinematography: M J Radhakrishnan
Producer: B C Joshi
Cast: Prithviraj, Master Govindhan, Indrajith, Uday Chandra, Irshad, Kiran Raj, Azim



The film explores facets of the contemporary India under the specter of terrorism. The story develops through the experiences of a doctor working in a Prison Hospital. He is entrusted with the task of re-uniting a five year old child with his father by a woman who is a terrorist. The journey with the boy leads him to the unexpected paths of terrorism. The father is the head of a terrorist group. The unforeseen turn of events give the film a touch of the drama and mystery.

AUGUST PROGRAMME

INTERNATIONAL
DOCUMENTARY &
SHORT FILM
FESTIVAL

27, 28 August 2011
Renewal Centre, Kaloor,
Cochin

JULY PROGRAMME

BIOSCOPE
Colour/94mins/2008/Malayalam

Story, Script, Dialogue & Direction
K. M. Madhusudhanan

Produced by National Film Development Corporation Ltd., India

Cast - Walter Wagner, Murugan, Ramgopal Bajaj, Nedumbram Gopi, Bharathan Njarakkal, T.V. Gangadharan, Mekha Rajan, Kuttiyedathi Vilasini, Nilamboor Ayesha

The story… at the end, only rain
This is a story of history entering the paths of memories and dreams. The story of villagers, made mute by colonialism and slavery, entering the garden of a new vision through a new machine, bioscope.

Perhaps, the protagonist Diwakaran’s new journey starts with his acquisition of a bioscope. The Frenchman DuPont, who does bioscope shows on the coasts of Tamil Nadu, is the architect of his new journey. Diwakaran was stunned by early forms of cinema images. His relationship with DuPont and the bioscope start with his astonishment when he first saw moving images. It turns into a story of inseparable friendship.


K. M. Madhusudhanan

Madhusudhanan developed an early interest in art and cinema, and went to art school at the College of Fine Arts, Trivandrum, and subsequently, to the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda.
The brilliance of colour and composition in his films owes itself to his deep rooted visual culture. He has been honoured twice for his masterful use of the film medium by the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA), and he has received an international award for his short fiction film.

The sum of his works reflect a pre-occupation with art and cinema interwoven with memory and history in its cinematic and pictorial structure. Bioscope is his first feature film. It has been honoured with the NETPAC Jury Award for the Best Asian Film at the film festival Osian Cinefest Asian & Arab Cinema, 2008, New Delhi.

JUNE PROGRAMME

JAANAKI

India/2010/35mm
Colour/92’/Malayalam

Direction, Screenplay : M G Sasi
Producer : Prakash Bare
Cinematography : M J Radhakrishnan
Cast : Thampy Antony, Krishna



The vulnerability of twelve year old Janaki deprived of the protection of a home is also a representation of the rejection and humiliation faced by the woman. Janaki’s life improves when she finds a saviour in the Gandhian, Sekharan Master. She is happy in the warmth and company of the children in that house only to be back under the open sky when Sekharan Nair passes away. The inability of the middle class man to rise to the occasion and stem the hostility and aggression is a major strand in the film.

After the screening Meet
Director M G Sasi, Producer Prakash Bare
and Honouring Child Artist Krishna.


Filmmaker M G Sasi is also known as actor and director in Malayalam theatre, and television. Janaki is his second feature film. His debut feature film ‘Adayalangal’ (2007) was well received and won the Kerala State’s award in five categories including Best Feature Film and Best Director. The maiden film traveled to many festivals and was featured in the Indian Panorama. It also received the NETPAC Award at the International Film Festival of Kerala 2008. He has to his credit children’s short films including ‘Sneha Sammanam’ (2008), ‘Mahatma Angayodu’, ‘Oliche.. Kande...’ and ‘Kanavu Malayilekku’.