News & Gossip: FESTIVAL DI CANNES 2013

18 aprile 2013

FESTIVAL DI CANNES 2013

La 66esima edizione del Festival di Cannes si svolgerà dal 15 al 26 maggio 2013. In occasione del centenario del cinema indiano, l'India è il Paese ospite con la seguente motivazione: 'The Festival de Cannes is delighted to celebrate one of the most important countries in the world of cinema, a country with a prestigious history and tradition, one whose current day and creative impulses are a perennial example of vitality'. Vidya Balan è membro della giuria della selezione principale. Nandita Das è membro della giuria nella sezione Cinéfondation et des courts métrages. Quanto ad Aishwarya Rai, per il dodicesimo anno consecutivo calcherà il tappeto rosso alla manifestazione.

Amitabh Bachchan - Cannes 2013: cerimonia di inaugurazione

Segnalo di seguito i titoli indiani in cartellone:

* Monsoon shootout, fuori concorso nella sezione Séances de minuit, di Amit Kumar, con Nawazuddin Siddiqui (vi propongo il cortometraggio The bypass di Amit Kumar, con Irrfan Khan e Nawazuddin Siddiqui: prima e seconda parte);

* Bombay Talkies, fuori concorso, evento Séance de gala en l'honneur de l'Inde. Film ad episodi diretto da Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee e Zoya Akhtar. Con Rani Mukherjee, Randeep Hooda, Nawazuddin Siddiqui. La pellicola è un tributo al centenario del cinema indiano;

* Charulata (1964, bengali) di Satyajit Ray, sezione Cannes Classics, in versione restaurata;

* Ugly, nell'ambito della Quinzaine des réalisateurs, di Anurag Kashyap;

* The lunchbox, nell'ambito della Semaine de la critique, di Ritesh Batra, con Irrfan Khan e Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

Il film di apertura è Il grande Gatsby di Baz Luhrmann. Nel cast Amitabh Bachchan.

Anurag Kashyap ha coprodotto la pellicola di animazione The congress, di Ari Folman, ispirata al romanzo Il congresso di futurologia dello scrittore polacco Stanislaw Lem (autore del magnifico Solaris). The congress è in programma alla Quinzaine des réalisateurs.

Vidya Balan - Cannes, 2013

Aggiornamento del 16 maggio 2013: ieri Amitabh Bachchan ha presenziato alla cerimonia di inaugurazione della manifestazione, e, insieme a Leonardo DiCaprio, ha ufficialmente proclamato l'apertura del festival. Bachchan ha pronunciato un breve discorso in hindi. Big B ha scritto nel suo profilo Twitter: 'The honour and respect meted out by Cannes, incredible. Announcing suddenly for Leonardo DiCaprio and myself to open the Festival ! On stage with Leonardo to officially declare Cannes Festival open, and tribute to 100 years of cinema in India - a time in history !! Acknowledging Cannes in recognising 100 years of Indian Cinema, it was absolutely imperative for me to address, in my Mother tongue ! Director of Cannes delighted to hear the 'music of the Hindi language' spoken, it brought in the universality of the occasion !'. Fra l'altro, pare che la mitica voce di Amitabh sia campionata in un brano della colonna sonora de Il grande Gatsby. Si tratta di 100$ bill di Jay-Z.

Aggiornamento del 27 maggio 2013: The lunchbox ha vinto il Grand Rail d'or (premio del pubblico). Il 20 maggio 2013 Anurag Kashyap è stato insignito del titolo di Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, prestigiosa onorificenza francese.

Vedi anche:

- Amitabh Bachchan ne Il grande Gatsby di Baz Luhrmann

- Aishwarya Rai al Festival di Cannes 2013, 27 maggio 2013

- The lunchbox in Italia: locandina e trailer, 9 novembre 2013

Sonam Kapoor - Cannes, 2013 (abito Dolce & Gabbana)

RASSEGNA STAMPA/VIDEO (aggiornata al 29 maggio 2013)

- Video Euronews: sequenze tratte dal red carpet della proiezione de Il grande Gatsby a Cannes; una breve intervista concessa da Amitabh Bachchan, in occasione della conferenza stampa organizzata per la promozione del film, qualche ora prima dell'inaugurazione del festival; una breve intervista concessa da Sonam Kapoor. Nel commento si legge: 'Festival di Cannes, tappeto rosso per il film d'apertura Il Grande Gatsby e a posare a fianco del cast è Amitabh Bachchan, una delle star più amate di Bollywood che quest'anno sulla croisette celebra anche il centenario del cinema indiano. "Il solo fatto che Cannes voglia dedicargli un tributo e metterlo al centro dell'attenzione mondiale è già una cosa grossa, ma avermi chiesto di partecipare addirittura all'apertura con Leonardo (DiCaprio ndr) è stata una esperienza incredibile." A tenere alte le celebrazioni per questo anniversario è un'attrice che viene da una intera famiglia di attori e registi, Sonam Kapoor: "Rappresento la terza generazione, la mia famiglia è in questo settore da 60 anni. Per me è fantastico perché sono nel cinema solo da 5 anni dunque essere un piccolo puntino in questi cento anni è un'emozione incredibile." Bombay Talkies è l'anteprima mondiale che apre il tributo all'industria indiana alla sessantaseiesima edizione del Festival di Cannes. Bachchan, tra i protagonisti, rilancia un futuro brillante: "Penso che il cinema indiano stia cambiando, per il meglio. Sta emergendo un gruppo di nuovi registi e giovani artisti di talento eccezionale che provengono da regioni e da piccole città sconosciute, e fanno bellissimi film." Bombay Talkies, presentato fuori competizione, è un'antologia di 4 brevi storie firmate da 4 tra i maggiori registi indiani che mettono al centro delle loro opere i rapporti di famiglia, l'amore, l'eroismo e ovviamente molte danze e canzoni'.

- Video Euronews: presentazione della giuria della selezione ufficiale

- Video Storm Shadow Crew: red carpet per Il grande Gatsby

- Video Fashion TV: Amitabh Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Freida Pinto e Mallika Sherawat

- Video Fashion TV: Sonam Kapoor

I quattro registi di Bombay Talkies - Cannes, 2013

- Cannes collective 2013: The Indian indie, Lena Saha, Hindustan Times, 18 maggio 2013. Intervista concessa da Amit Kumar, Ritesh Batra e dalla produttrice Guneet Monga. Di seguito un estratto:

'The Indian indie gets a boost at Cannes 2013 (...) with the selection of Ritesh Batra's Dabba (The Lunchbox) in International Critics' Week and Amit Kumar's Monsoon Shootout in Midnight Screenings. Both films share the Anurag Kashyap connection, with his producing partner Guneet Monga on board. (...)

Guneet Monga

(...) Amit Kumar's debut feature film Monsoon Shootout, which had been in the making for almost a decade due to unforeseen production delays, seemed to have acquired new life once Monga got involved three years ago. "It was extremely satisfying for me to turn around a film (...) that had taken nine years of a person's life," Monga says. "It has translated very well on camera." (...) It is natural to ask, her criteria for selecting projects. "Fully based on script and the director's previous work," comes her reply. "Also, it depends on my rapport with the director and my instinct." That Monga is instinctive is seconded by Kumar, who says that once she decides to do a film, "she just jumps in". Monga is of course "over the moon" that two of her co-productions have made it to Cannes this year. "I am elated with the strong acceptance of our films," she says. "It was never easy to find the money to make them. So it is reassuring to know that we are doing the right thing." Monga believes in collaborations - domestic and international. "It feels stronger to have international partners than producing a film alone," she says, and explains why: "(...) Work was divided and we got the best for the film. Also, international producers can take care of distribution in their territories and it translates into a worldwide audience for the film," she adds. (...) The intrepid producer has fixed her gaze on non-diaspora markets such as Italy, Switzerland, Benelux (...) and France. "We sold our films at high prices there because they have an appetite for different kinds of films," (...) she says. "They have machinery for releasing foreign films." Monga says these are changing times for Indian cinema as a new breed of filmmakers is rising, whose projects are high on content and originality. How would they sustain themselves alongside the mostly plot-less Rs 100-crore club films? "Yes, the star system is at its peak," she says. "But once stars start choosing content-driven films, things will change," she says. (...) Do Guneet and Kashyap ever disagree on projects? "All the time. (...) Nevertheless, we took his feedback constructively." (...)

Ritesh Batra

It's not every day that someone chucks a cushy, high-paying job as a consultant after studying at top universities abroad to pursue his passion, filmmaking. It is still rarer for someone to go to film school, drop out midway as it is not his "stuff" and yet have his debut feature film selected to Cannes. Ritesh Batra has done all that and more. He is the director of the Hindi film Dabba (The Lunchbox) that will be screened at Cannes on May 19 and stars Indian cinema's two most talked-about actors at the moment - Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. "The Cannes selection was totally unexpected, especially since the selection process is incredibly strict," Batra says. "But I am excited that my film will be screened in front of a global audience. I am going there to enjoy. (...) It's a fun film, a story about love and friendship, with a fantastical element to it: was that wrong delivery only a mistake or a miracle waiting to happen? That's the question I leave the audience with," says the filmmaker. "The film is also an attempt to explore the many disparate worlds existing within Mumbai," shares Batra. "While the city is running at a frenetic pace, there are some, who are left behind. For these old-worldly characters to connect, I figured that notes exchanged through a lunchbox would be the only suitable device. Also, the exchange of letters is an established cinematic tradition." Dabba was born out of Batra's research for a documentary on the dabbawalas [fattorini che consegnano il cibo] he was planning in 2007. "The documentary didn't get made, but the individual stories of the dabbawalas - the little details of their profession, the people they delivered to - stayed with me," he says. "In fact, Irrfan's character is an amalgamation of several real-life older Catholic men in Bandra." How did he manage the casting coup: Irrfan and Nawazuddin in one film? "I had written the script with them in mind," the director says. "They read it and said yes. From then on, they made the script their own. They were very invested in the movie and methodical in their approach to their roles. We worked as a team." Batra says his movie is a co-production by choice. "I was clear in my mind that I wanted my film to travel," he explains. "I was looking at various stakeholders. At Cinemart in International Film Festival of Rotterdam, I met my French producer; at Berlinale Talent Project Market, I got my German producer." (...)

Amit Kumar

(...) The film deals with a rookie cop's dilemma as he is about to shoot a gangster, with three scenarios exploring the impact of his decision on other people's lives. While newcomer Vijay Varma plays the rookie cop, Nawazuddin Siddiqui takes on the role of the gangster. "I always had this image of a man with a gun in the rain, grappling with his morality," Kumar says of the film's genesis. "While studying at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), I had watched a short film An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge. It starts with a man being hanged and the entire film is an expansion of that one second between someone releasing the lever and him dying. That's how I was inspired to use the expansion of time in my film." (...) On the future of independent films in India, Kumar believes that the situation will change as there are now more producers and directors, who are willing to take risks. "Probably a new system will emerge - I don't know what - but one where the market will fulfill the demand for these kinds of films," he says. "Producers here don't lack sensibilities; unfortunately they may not be in a position of power to make such different films," Kumar explains. "But that too is changing".'

Irrfan Khan - Cannes, 2013

- My work is an extension of the person I am, Tarik Khaldi, 20 maggio 2013. Intervista concessa da Vidya Balan e pubblicata nel sito del festival:

'If Vidya Balan was a movie character, who would she be?

There are many characters I have seen and I have felt like “I am this person". I think I felt that with Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets.

You often play roles of brave and strong women. Are you like this in your real life?

My work is an extension of the person I am and of my beliefs. I’ve been brought up with the belief I am bigger than the biggest challenge. That’s probably why I’ve chosen the kind of roles I have. I always need a certain sense of vindication and victory at the end of it all.

When talking about Bollywood, we imagine love stories in which actors are dancing with colored costumes. Is Bollywood only that?

That’s a stereotype and I don’t blame anyone for having this kind of stereotype because for a long time, Indian cinema was synonymous with color, extravagance and the song and dance ritual. That's also because our cinema was largely escapist, offering flights of fantasy from the mundane realities. Today films are more about real people, real stories and therefore real people overcoming extraordinary circumstances and emerging heroic. And yet our films remain dramatic films because we are an emotional people. Everything is a little exaggerated.

We have seen it in Cannes with Udaan and Miss Lovely over the past years. Is Indian cinema changing?

Undoubtedly, Indian cinema is changing. Udaan is a great example of the kind of new age cinema in India. There is a great variety in Indian cinema today. In terms of story, storytelling, treatment etc. The most heartening fact however is that there is an audience for every kind of film.

You have won many prizes in Asia. Would you like to play in other countries?

I’d love to, maybe in Iranian, Italian or French films. It would of course require a lot of effort to learn the language but I enjoy learning new languages. And the world is becoming a smaller place. There are a lot of exchanges in cinema too so you never know'.

- I find myself very conventional, and very good-looking, Jyothi Prabhakar, The Times of India, 29 maggio 2013. Intervista concessa da Irrfan Khan:

'“It’s been a good year. (...) I like being part of interesting films, films which are experimental, issue-based. And of course, films which have a fine support system. It gives me a high - those intense acting schedules, like I emerge a new person after every such film I do. I would have learnt something new, understood things, and even myself, a little better. So, each film gives me a high. The awards help with the motivation and inspiration, of course, but it is always acting first,” says Irrfan.

So, what did he do at Cannes? “This was the 100 years of Indian cinema year there, and so, there was a lot of India there. (...) Cannes is a great place to celebrate cinema, per se. It is a fantastic setting, the weather, the food, the parties... it is one hell of a mela [festival]. But when you are there with your film, you really cannot watch many other films, because you are doing the PR for your film. And our film got fantastic reviews - standing ovation and all. I knew it was an audience-pleasing film, in the sense that it will leave something for everyone to ponder over, but the kind of response we got - I wasn’t expecting that. When we screened it for the common audience, people were crying. And in the three-four days that I was there, I heard people talking about us in the same wavelength in which they were talking about other good movies. That made me happy. Otherwise, Cannes is work - you go to market your work, and the best results are if you can sell your film,” says Irrfan.

Irrfan believes that it’s time Bollywood took creativity seriously. And as for him, apart from choosing his projects carefully, so that his body of work “reflects a thought out process”, Irrfan says he is also “very choosy about the director I work with.” “A director is a very important person for me. For me, I have to feel a bond with the director. As an actor, when you are bringing your inner world to the fore - laying it open - to be controlled by someone else, it’s like you are baring yourself to an unknown entity. So, you need to trust the person who is going to control that, and for that, you need to have an emotional bonding with that person,” he says.

For him, he shares, every film he has done (...) has been an exercise in bonding, “with people, images, imageries, places...” Being called a fine actor, winning a National Award, (...) he has a say now, or has it always been that way? Straight-faced, he says, “See, I always used to have a say, but was not taken seriously. Now, I am taken seriously.” ‘Now’ also seems to be a state of being for Irrfan, as he says, “Most of me is in the ‘now’ of my life. I seldom go back, or fast forward. I believe that in life, there are many things that happen automatically if you let the larger design work for you. I believe there is a design in this world for each and every individual. If you don’t interrupt that design too much, if you don’t step in every now and then to modify or change that design, and if you let that design take over you, it makes things happen automatically for you. This is what I have learnt - maybe I will change my views, or maybe, I will be proved wrong. But till such time that I am proved wrong, or till I have another experience, I would like to believe that I have come so far because it was all designed for me - I have done the hard work bit, no doubt, but without a pre-ordained design, I believe even hard work wouldn’t have gotten me so far. Work hard, stick to your karm, let destiny take over”.'