Engendered’s I-View 2010 Film Festival
A golden moon was out as several New Yorkers congregated on a Manhattan rooftop to check out the upcoming I-View Film festival 2010 offerings, in an open house party. There was indeed something surreal about watching Hindi cinema projected on a wall, while being surrounded by glittering skyscrapers and waters views of New York and a crazy summer breeze that made the wind chimes create a continuous, tinkling orchestra.
Yet once the sneak peek at upcoming attractions of this film festival organized by Engendered started, you forgot everything, even the delicious rum cocktails. You got lost in the turbulence being projected on the screen, in complicated lives and loves.
Also shown at the rooftop gathering was Vandana Sood’s Taxi Takes film, ‘Women and Islam’ – on a woman taxi driver in Mumbai who casts aside the burkha to drive city streets. The filmmaker discussed the making of her unusual series where taxi drivers and passengers become a part of the action, part of the retelling of the city’s story.
Later this month the I-View Film festival will be bringing in some strong and controversial films which see the world through the prism of gender, sexuality and human rights. I-View is scheduled to screen over 25 features and documentaries from September 18-26 at the Tribeca Film Center, Asia Society, and Big Cinemas in New York.
As Myna Mukherjee, Director of Engendered, explains it, the films range from art-house to mainstream Bollywood and include everything from classics to avant-garde. “Cinema, like all great art, can still turn us inside out and make us see the world with fresh eyes,” she says.
I-View Menu
Some of the must-see films include ‘I AM’, by award-winning director Onir, and which is partially supported by the United Nations Development Program. Other biggies include the New York premiere of the critically-acclaimed Sundance documentary, ‘Bhutto’, the North American premiere of Berlin Film Festival favorite, ‘Just Another Love Story’, and Dibankar Banerjee’s ‘Love Sex Aur Dhoka’ (LSD). The closing night selection is the world premiere of National Award winning director Vinay Shukla’s ‘Mirch’ starring Raima Sen, Konkona Sen and Boman Irani.
I-View Film – A Sneak Peek
Indeed, a powerful band of cinema warriors is coming to town – imagine directors like Vishal Bhardwaj, Aparna Sen, Onir, Mira Nair and Rituparno Ghosh in the flesh along with wonderful actors like Rahul Bose, Rituparna Sengupta, Konkona Sen, Raima Sen, and Juhi Chawla. Even that well-loved cult favorite – Zeenat Aman – whom fans have not seen for quite a while!
Other names to watch out for – vocalist Monica Dogra who is the leading lady for ‘Dhobighat’, Aamir Khan’s new film at the Toronto Film Festival. Fans can also listen in on a special conversation with noted filmmaker Aparna Sen, and another with Vishal Bharadwaj. Isn’t New York amazing?
Mukherjee seems to have planned an all-out assault on sexuality issues, with vibrant fashion events with designers like Bina and Malini Ramani, Rohit Bal, Manish Malhotra and Nomi Ansari which put a special gender and sexual spin on style, making us re-assess the way we see the world around us.
For more information on panels and special events, click HERE. I-View is the third Human Rights film festival exploring gender, sexuality, culture and religion through South Asian Cinema
(Engendered is the trans-national arts and human rights organization focused on exploring gender and sexuality in the South Asian Diaspora. No matter what your sexual orientation, you are never alone. Questions? Visit www.engendered.org.)
