Neuigkeiten

In this throwback interview, Subhash K Jha revisits the film and re-shares his conversation with Rajkummar Rao about the drama Trapped, which released in 2017.

What would you do if you were trapped in a highrise for days without food, water, or company? Eat a bird, although you are vegetarian? Check. Drink your own urine to quench your thirst? Check. Talk to a rat, for company’s sake? Check.

The talented Rajkummar Rao, no stranger to internalized performances, immerses himself in Vikram Motwane’s Trapped with such arresting authenticity that after a while, we cease to watch the skill that underlines the outstanding performance.

All we see is the suffering of the trapped soul, his desperation to get out of that apartment where Shourya is locked away, far from civilization, though not even a road away from the bustle. Unlike other great survival dramas like Robert Zemeckis’ Castaway or Ang Lee...

Exclusive: And Just Like That… standout Sarita Choudhury is set to headline another potential series for HBO Max. Choudhury is starring and executive producing in The Colony, a one-hour drama written/executive produced by Sonejuhi Sinha and Charlotte Rabate. It is based on the 2018 feature Stray Dolls, written and produced by Sinha and Rabate and directed by Sinha. Nicholas Weinstock (Severance) is executive producing through his company Invention Studios.

The Colony is a suspenseful and darkly humorous twisted family drama, exposing the pressures and tropes facing an immigrant family and what happens when they are dragged into a world of crime. Loosely based on the world of Stray Dolls, it’s a story about an unlikely criminal coming into her own and the noble aspiration of success in America turning to perversion.

Choudhury stars in HBO Max’s Sex and the City sequel And Just Like That… alongside Stray Dolls‘ Cynthia Nixon.

Stray Dolls Samuel Goldwyn Films Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Sonejuhi Sinha Screenwriter: Sonejuhi Sinha, Charlotte Rabate Cast: Geetanjali Thapa, Olivia DeJonge, Cynthia Nixon, Robert Aramayo, Samrat Chakrabarti Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 4/8/20 Opens: April 27, 2020 Riz (Geetanjali Thapa) is an immigrant whom Trump would […]

The post Stray Dolls Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Directed by Sonejuhi Sinha, Stray Dolls centers on Riz (Geetanjali Thapa), an Indian immigrant who gets a job as a motel maid that is owned by Una (Cynthia Nixon), a woman who is as corrupt as they come. Una’s son Jimmy (Robert Aramayo) is a drug dealer and his girlfriend Dallas (Olivia DeJonge) will also [...]

The post Director Sonejuhi Sinha Elevates Film Noir Driven ‘Stray Dolls’ With A Personal Connection appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Staying home? Good. Looking for something new to watch while you do it? Even better! As the world shifts to accommodate a wide range of in-home viewing options for movie lovers, it’s not just platforms that are expanding, it’s the very type of films they host. There’s more than ever to sift through, and IndieWire is here to help you do just that.

This week’s new releases include Netflix Originals, fresh VOD offerings, and new studio releases now available in the comfort of your own home. Browse your options below. “The Lost Husband” (directed by Vicky Wight)

Distributor: Quiver Distribution

Where to Find It: Rent or buy on Redbox

There’s plenty of drama to be found in “The Lost Husband,” Vicky Wight...

Stuck at home and looking for something fresh? Just because theaters are closed due to the coronavirus doesn’t mean there aren’t new movies to be seen. Many distributors are getting creative and releasing their films directly to home platforms — including the first major studio release do so in “Trolls World Tour,” Still, it can be tough to find where they’re all hiding.

Variety presents a roundup of all the new releases, with excerpts from our reviews and links to where you can watch them.

Studio movies, straight to streaming:

Trolls World Tour

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Where to Find It: Lots of options on Universal’s website

“Trolls World Tour” … has the same delectably tactile and distinctive eye-candy look as “Trolls”; it’s set in a storybook kingdom that’s all sweetness and light and glitter and fuzz and bursting psychedelic pastels. And since a key element of...

This weekend’s slate of specialty streaming titles is a variety pack of a crime thriller, a documentary about mindfulness, an obsessive-compulsive dark comedy and…a movie titled Butt Boy.

Sonejuhi Sinha’s feature directorial debut Stray Dolls is set debut this weekend on a multitude of VOD platforms. The crime thriller, which bowed last year at the Tribeca Film Festival, follows Riz (Geetanjali Thapa), who has left her life of petty crime in India and is now working as a housekeeper at the Tides Plaza Motel managed by Una (Cynthia Nixon).

More from DeadlineRom-Com 'Almost Love' Makes Debut, IFC Serves Horror With 'The Other Lamb' - Specialty Streaming Preview'Resistance' Pivots To Digital Release, 'Tape' Sets Virtual Premiere, Kino Lorber And Music Box Films Launch Online Exhibitions - Specialty Streaming PreviewSearchlight, A24, Focus Features Alter Release Slate; 'Dosed', 'Human Capital' And More Shift Theatrical Plans - Specialty Box...

Sometimes a film contains a single scene that feels like its main reason for being. In Sonejuhi Sinha’s grimy-glamorous crime thriller feature debut “Stray Dolls,” it comes late on: Riz (Geetanjali Thapa), a newly arrived undocumented immigrant from India who is working as a maid in a dead-end motel, is in a phone booth at night talking to her mom back home. “Yes I’m fine,” she natters brightly in Nepali. “I’ve just been for a swim. There’s a pool. It’s shaped like a, like a…” she tries to remember the word, waving the gun in her blood-spattered hand around in a squiggle, “…kidney bean.” Needless to say, there is no pool, she is not fine and those are the very least of her lies.

As that image suggests, “Stray Dolls” is a genre picture with a twist, although the immigrant experience subtext is undernourished within...

“Stray Dolls” is an indie crime thriller set in a low-rent motel and populated by a collection of shady characters — a motel noir, if you like — that throws a touch of female empowerment into the usual story of double-crossing in the dark underbelly of the American dream.

If the film, which was set for a theatrical release until the coronavirus closings forced it into a VOD premiere that begins Friday, manages to stand out a bit from similar indie films, it’s because of the perspective of its director, Sonejuhi Sinha. The India-born director comes at this as an outsider and shows us this sloppy underworld through the eyes of a young Indian woman who arrives in the U.S. looking to make an honest living but not terribly bothered if she has to occasionally ignore the honest part.

As a female-driven take on noir, “Stray Dolls” doesn’t feel...

In Sonejuhi Sinha's taut and topical debut crime thriller Stray Dolls, a young Indian immigrant is pulled into a whirlwind of criminal activity by her persuasive roommate. The film, which was nominated for the Best Narrative Feature award at the Tribeca Film Festival, and landed Sinha on Indiewire's "25 Rising Female Directors to Know" list, will see a wide release from Samuel Goldwyn Films in April. Stray Dolls hosts a compelling cast in Geetanjali Thapa (Trapped) as the conflicted Riz, with Olivia DeJonge (Better Watch Out) playing Dallas. Cynthia Nixon, of Sex and the City fame, stars as Una, the owner of a seedy motel where Riz finds a job. Samuel Goldwyn Films plans to show at several theatres, while simultaneously debuting on most major...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Stray Dolls is the creation of Sonejuhi Sinha, an acclaimed new filmmaker who's debut crime film was nominated for Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Expanding on Sinha’s cinematic world she started in her short film “Love Comes Later,” Stray Dolls focuses on the character Riz and her relationship with her American roommate Dallas. Together, both characters find a bond through their criminal actions.

Stray Dolls will play in theatres and on Digital April 10, 2020 when Samuel Goldwyn Films releases it.

Stray Dolls definitely hosts a compelling cast. Geetanjali Thapa (Trapped) plays central characters Riz, with Olivia DeJonge (Better Watch Out) playing Dallas.

Cynthia Nixon (“Sex and the Cit...

Tagline: "“Pretty. Dangerous.” Stray Dolls is Sonejuhi Sinha's debut feature. A crime thriller, Stray Dolls expands on Sinha's "Love Comes Later," which was a short feature from 2015. Within this latest film, two women find solace in each other as they struggle to survive in a seedy drug underworld. Co-written by Charlotte Rabate, Stray Dolls stars: Geetanjali Thapa (Trapped), Olivia DeJonge (Better Watch Out) and Cynthia Nixon ("Sex and the City"). The film's official U.S. poster and trailer are available here, ahead of the film's April 10th release date. Stray Dolls has already had several film festival appearances and won a couple of awards. Recent appearances include: the Seattle International Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival. At Tribeca, this film won "Best Actress" (Geetanjali Thapa) in a U.S. narrative. A compelling story of struggle, Stray Dolls will debut through Samuel Goldwyn Films in just a few weeks.

"If we're doing this, we have to do it right." Samuel Goldwyn Films has debuted a trailer for a crime thriller titled Stray Dolls, the feature directorial debut of Indian-American filmmaker Sonejuhi Sinha. This first premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year (also called Love Comes Later) and it played at the Seattle, Montana, and San Diego Asian Film Festivals. Leaving India behind to break with a life of petty crime, Riz arrives stateside and gets a housekeeping job at a motel. There she meets Dallas, her new roommate. At first antagonistic, the girls soon realize their opposite personalities complement each other in this film where "one petty crime spirals into the next." Starring Geetanjali Thapa & Olivia DeJonge as Riz and Dallas, the "stray dolls", plus Cynthia Nixon, Robert Aramayo, Samrat Chakrabarti, Rosemary Howard. Maybe there's some good performances, but the rest of the film looks pretty rough. Not much to see in here.

“Stray Dolls,” a Tribeca Film Festival entry from up-and-coming director Sonejuhi Sinha, has sold North American distribution rights to Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Eyeing an early 2020 release, the film stars breakout Geetanjali Thapa, Olivia DeJonge (Netflix’s “The Society”), Robert Aramayo (young Eddard Stark on “Game of Thrones”) and Cynthia Nixon.

Thapa plays Riz, a former gang member starting over in America as a maid in a motel owned by Nixon’s Uno, who runs the joint with her drug-dealing son Jimmy (Aramayo). It’s not long before Riz is entwined again in a web of crime, attempting to escape with her roommate and fellow maid (DeJonge).

Filmmaker and Tribeca staple Paul Schrader said the film “throbs with original outsider buzz, like ‘Mean Streets’ or ‘Blood Simple.'” Sinha co-wrote the script with Charlotte Rabate. Both produced the film with Edward Parks.

Executive producers include Niraj Bhatia, Dan Burks, Stephanie Apt,...

Murtada, Jason and I have all been attending Tribeca screenings (more reviews to come) but as per usual the winners mostly somehow escaped us. But here they are.

U.S. Narrative Competition

The jury members were: Lucy Alibar, Jonathan Ames, Cory Hardrict, Dana Harris, and Jenny Lumet.

Wendell Pierce as a troubled Louisiana preacher in "Burning Cane"

Feature: Burning Cane, directed by Phillip Youmans. which the jury calls "searingly original". Director Phillip Youman is just 19 years old and started making this movie two years ago in high school (!!!!!!!!) and also makes history as the first black man to win Tribeca!

Actress: Haley Bennett in Swallow who the jury calls "sensitive and engaging" (Special mention: Geetanjali Thapa in Stray Dolls). Our review here.

Actor: – Wendell Pierce in Burning Cane...

Phillip Youmans’ “Burning Cane” took home the Founders Award for best narrative feature at the 18th annual Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday, with star Wendell Pierce earning Best Actor.

Youmans, a 19-year-old freshman at NYU, is the first African-American director to win the Founders Award and the youngest director to have a feature in Tribeca — he was just 17 when he wrote, directed and shot the film, about the fractious relationship between a mother and son in rural Louisiana.

Korean director Bora Kim’s “House of Hummingbird” won for best international narrative feature, and Ji-hu Park won best international actress.

In addition, Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin won for their documentary feature “Scheme Birds.”

Here’s the complete list of winners.

Also Read: 'Xy Chelsea' Film Review: Doc Tackles Chelsea Manning's Very In-Progress Story

U.S. Narrative Competition Categories:

The jurors for the 2019 U.S. Narrative Competition were Lucy Alibar,...

The 18th Annual Tribeca Film Festival announced the winning filmmakers, storytellers, and actors in its competition categories at this year’s awards ceremony, which took place this evening at the Stella Artois Theatre at Bmcc Tpac. The top honors went to “Burning Cane” for the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature, “House of Hummingbird” (Beol-sae) for Best International Narrative Feature, and “Scheme Birds” for Best Documentary Feature.

The winners were dominated by fresh faces, including “Burning Cane” director Phillip Youmans, who was just 17 when he made his film, making him the youngest director to have a feature play at Tribeca. Other first-time directors also won big, as both “House of Hummingbird” filmmaker Bora Kim and “Scheme Birds” filmmaking duo Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin all made feature directorial debuts with their Tribeca winners.

“I’m so proud to see our juries reward a group of winners that is...

Riz (Geetanjali Thapa) isn’t naïve. She may be fresh off the boat, but it’s not as if she’s never been on dry land before. She knew — at least to a certain extent — what life might have in store for her when she left her family behind and illegally emigrated from India to upstate New York. She knew that sneaking into America meant starting on the ground floor, and she knew that some of the unsavory people she met down there might try to pull her back into the same life of petty crime she fled home in order to escape.

So when Riz washes up at the Tides Plaza Motel in the beginning of Sonejuhi Sinha’s confident and arresting debut feature “Stray Dolls,” the furtive teenager arrives with her guard up and her chin high, ready for the challenges that come with an honest living. Less than 10 minutes later,...

In her first round of interviews since running for governor of New York last year, Cynthia Nixon wasn’t afraid to get political. Though she shot her new film before the campaign, the human trafficking drama “Stray Dolls” is the first acting project of Nixon’s to come out since she was defeated in the primary by incumbent Andrew Cuomo. In an in-person interview before the film’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere, Nixon was relieved to be able to speak freely.

“It’s nice to be asked about things that are just purely my opinion, you can’t get them wrong,” she said.

Leaning into that freedom, Nixon did not hold back when asked how she thought “Sex and the City,” the groundbreaking HBO comedy that made her a household name, might be different if it were made today.

“Well, I certainly think we would not have all been white,...

Tigers

Starring: Emraan Hashmi, Geetanjali Thapa,Satyadeep Mishra, Maryam d’Abo, Supriya Pathak, Vinod Nagpal

Directed by: Danis Tanovic

Rating: **(2 stars)

Funny, how idealism can never be defeated by compromise. In fiction or in real life, the Man Who Holds His Head High always emerges triumphant no matter what the odds.

Tigers, a long-delayed project featuring Emraan Hashmi as a Pakistani pharmaceutical agent who uncovers and exposes a lethal multinational baby food scam, should never have been released. It is an unfinished, annoyingly dissatisfying take on idealism and compromise with a finale that is so tame and sudden, so compromised we feel as scammed as a movie audience as the poor Pakistani mothers who fed the toxic baby food to their babies.

Don’t get me wrong. The film means well. Its makers’ hearts bleed for the poor impoverished exploited third world victims who fall prey to multinational avarice. Director...

Indian-French co-production comprises four short stories tackling different issues that have plagued India since independence.

India’s Drishyam Films is teaming with France’s Backup Media to co-produce an anthology film, Tryst With Destiny, directed by rising Indian filmmaker Prashant Nair.

Currently in production, the film will comprise four short stories that tackle different issues that have plagued India since independence. The title of the film is taken from a famous speech by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, to the country’s parliament on the eve of independence on August 14, 1947.

Cast on the film includes actors...

An adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s, Kabuliwala, Bioscopewala is filmed through a new lens. Everyone has an incomplete story! Bioscopewala is a hard-hitting journey of Minnie Basu in a fight to complete her story. What’s your story? Will she complete her story? How will it end?

Bioscopewala starring Danny Denzongpa, Geetanjali Thapa, Tisca Chopra and Adil Hussain is directed by Deb Medhekarand produced by Sunil Doshi.

Kabuliwala is a Bengali short story written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1892. The story is of a Pashtun merchant from Kabul, who comes to Calcutta (present day Kolkata), India each year for selling dry-fruits and while living in India he becomes friends with a five-year-old girl Mini from a middle-class aristocratic family as she reminds him of his daughter who lives in Kabul.

Bioscopewala extends the story from where Tagore’s Kabuliwala ends. In this extrapolation, Kabuliwala shows films to children in Kolkata on his bioscope.

Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz

Starring Zain Khan Durrani, Gitanjali Thapar

Directed by Onir

In his latest directorial venture the prolific and insightful director Onir probes wounds that never heal. The love that grows between two wounded people trapped in the numbing bustle of the metropolis—Kolkata this time, it was Delhi in Onir’s previous film Shab—is not uncharted territory in the cinema of emotional diaspora that Onir has constantly explored and Anurag Basu also examined with scrupulous integrity in Life In A Metro.

In Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz (Kba) the traditional tearfulness associated with the emotions of hurt, pain, betrayal,isolation and guilt—yes, all of these emotions are compressed into Onir’s latest—are alchemized into a warm-hearted frothy but never frivolous look at how craggily man-woman relationships pan out in the city.

There is a lot of ‘ping’ in the pain of mutually shared hurt between the pair...

Saregama’s Yoodlee films’ Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz directed by Onir has just released its trailer digitally. The film is a modern-day love story in the age of social media, of two characters – Rj Alfaaz, played by debutant actor Zain Khan Durrani and meme artist – Archana, played by Geetanjali Thapa. An interesting fact that canRead More

The post Aamir Khan’s classic melody Pehla Nasha to feature in Onir’s Kuch Bheege Alfaaz appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Emraan Hashmi, who was last seen in the film Hamari Adhuri Kahani alongside Vidya Balan is currently busy working on his next film Azhar. However, before commencing work on the film based on ex-Indian cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin, Hashmi made his international debut in Danis Tanovic's film Tigers.

Well though the film is yet to release in India, it has been doing the rounds of various film festivals, and was screened at the London Indian Film Festival earlier. Reacting to the positive response the film garnered from the viewers and his fans alike, Emraan Hashmi took to twitter to thank them. Emraan tweeted, "Thank u all for the support and the trend. Tigers has got a fantastic response at festivals.keep ull posted on exact india release date."

Tigers that revolves around Emraan's character Ayan who works at an Mnc but later discovers a conspiracy that may endanger his life also features Geetanjali Thapa,...

The festival returns this month for its sixth edition. Every year Liff aims to bring audiences some of the very best new Indian independent cinema, which includes features, documentaries and short films by both acclaimed and emerging filmmakers. This year’s line up promises to leave you entertained, informed, thought provoking and even in some cases leaving a screen shocked.

We now present the films that will be screened at this prestigious festival

Umrika | Opening Night | UK Premiere | cert 12A

Hindi with English subtitles | 98 min | India 2015 | Dir. Prashant Nair | with: Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Adil Hussain, Smita Tambe, Prateik Babbar.

This year’s Sundance Audience Award winner is an uplifting, rights of passage tale about two brothers from a small village who have dreams of making it big in Umrika (America). Udai (Pratiek Babbar) is the eldest and adored by his hard-working mum. He leaves their hamlet on a bullock...

Neil Armfield.s Holding the Man, Simon Stone.s The Daughter, Jeremy Sims. Last Cab to Darwin and Jen Peedom.s feature doc Sherpa will have their world premieres at the Sydney Film Festival.

The festival program unveiled today includes 33 world premieres (including 22 shorts) and 135 Australian premieres (with 18 shorts) among 251 titles from 68 countries.

Among the other premieres will be Daina Reid.s The Secret River, Ruby Entertainment's. ABC-tv miniseries starring Oliver Jackson Cohen and Sarah Snook, and three Oz docs, Marc Eberle.s The Cambodian Space Project — Not Easy Rock .n. Roll, Steve Thomas. Freedom Stories and Lisa Nicol.s Wide Open Sky.

Festival director Nashen Moodley boasted. this year.s event will be far larger than 2014's when 183 films from 47 countries were screened, including 15 world premieres. The expansion is possible in part due to the addition of two new screening venues in Newtown and Liverpool.

As previously announced, Brendan Cowell...

Danis Tanovic’s much-awaited festival-acclaimed film, Tigers starring Bollywood star Emraan Hashmi in his first international project, will release in theatres on March 6, 2015.

Produced by Prashita Chaudhary of Cinemorphic, co-produced by Guneet Monga of Sikhya Entertainment and co-starring National Award-winning actress Geetanjali, Tigers is a true story of the salesman who blew the whistle on the baby food scandal in Pakistan.

Tigers premiered at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival in September this year where it got a standing ovation and rave reviews. It was followed by the fantastic response at San Sebastian Film Festival.

Says Tanovic whose No Man’s Land had pipped Lagaan to the Best Foreign Film Oscar more than a decade ago, “I’m curious to see how Indians react to Tigers. I’m very happy with the response at the festivals. The theatrical release is the next frontier.”

Prashita adds, “I set out to make...

A still from “Tigers”

Danis Tanovic’s Tigers, starring Emraan Hashmi and Geetanjali Thapa, will release in Indian theatres on March 6, 2015.

Produced by Prashita Chaudhary of Cinemorphic and co-produced by Guneet Monga of Sikhya Entertainment, Tigers is a true story of the salesman who blew the whistle on the baby food scandal in Pakistan.

“I’m curious to see how Indians react to Tigers. I’m very happy with the response at the festivals. The theatrical release is the next frontier,” said Tanovic.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September this year followed by a screening at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

British journalist Ashanti Omkar of the BBC Asian Network and Indian cinema expert to BBC London and BBC West Midlands, and photographer Akin Aworan flew to the Zurich Film Festival, 10th anniversary, to get the lowdown on the India “New World View” section for Galatta cinema magazine in India and we have some highlights!

The fanfare for the India section began with a Bollywood flash mob, at SihlCity, a vibrant cinema and mall and a deliciously catered Indian party.

For the festival, the World View sections with a spotlight on India, the focus was on independent cinema, as opposed to the “woods” of Indian cinema, like Bollywood and Kollywood. These special selections were curated by Georg Bütler, the senior programmer of the festival. Despite not ever having been to India, Georg was able to find and astutely select 12 of the best films from the subcontinent.

The section showcased India’s Oscar entry,...

Geetu Mohandas' film Liar's Dice that released in January this year made headlines after the film was awarded the National Award for Best Cinematography. Adding an extra layer of icing was the lead actress Geetanjali Thapa's National Award for Best Actress. Now we hear that the Film Federation of India has selected Liar's Dice as India's official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign language film category. Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Geetanjali Thapa, Liar's Dice also features Murari Kumar, Mukesh Tiwari, and follows the story of a young mother and her 3-year-old daughter from a tribal community who embark on a journey in search of her missing husband. On this journey she meets an army deserter, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who accompanies them. Interestingly, the film beat 29 other films that were submitted to represent India at the Oscars 2015.

The Film Federation of India announced Tuesday that the Hindi-language film Liar's Dice is the country's Oscar entry in the foreign-language film category. Following its premiere at the Mumbai Film Festival last year, Dice competed at Sundance in the world cinema section. The film is directed by Geetu Mohandas, a well-known actress in south Indian Malayalam-language cinema, who also wrote the script. Dice stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui (The Lunchbox) and Geetanjali Thapa. Read more Oscars: South Korea Selects 'Fog Sea' The film follows a young woman (Thapa) from Himachal Pradesh state (in the Himalayan foothills) who embarks on

read more...

Geetu Mohandas’ Liar’s Dice will be India’s official entry to the Academy awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category, the Film Federation of India (Ffi) announced today. The film has been chosen out of 30 films that were submitted for consideration.

Liar’s Dice is Mohandas’ debut feature film as a director; she has worked as an actress in more than forty films.

The film, produced by Jar Pictures, played in competition at Sundance Film Festival and screened at Mumbai Film Festival and International Film Festival Rotterdam, among others. The film won two National awards this year – Best Actress for Geetanjali Thapa and Best Cinematography for Rajeev Ravi.

Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Geetanjali Thapa, the film follows a young woman in Himachal Pradesh who embarks on a journey with her daughter to find her missing husband. Along this journey, they find a free-spirited army deserter who helps them...

Oscar-winning Danis Tanovic’s new film Tigers, which features Bollywood star Emraan Hashmi in his first international project, had a glorious world premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival on Monday evening. The 9:45 pm show at Scotiabank Theatre on 8th Sep in Toronto was a sold out screening as the audience watched in rapt attention the true story of the salesman who blew the whistle on the baby food scandal in Pakistan. Besides Emraan and Danis, present at the screening was National Award-winning actress Geetanjali who plays Zainab, the wife of the salesman. Also in attendance were the film’s producers Prashita Chaudhary of Cinemorphic and Guneet Monga of Sikhya Entertainment plus Tigers’ co-producer and co-writer- Andy Paterson. But the highlight of the evening, apart from the movie itself which got a standing ovation, was the curtain call. After the usual introduction of the actors, Danis called on stage Syad Aamir Raza,...

The Chicago South Asian Film Festival, to be held between September 18th and 21st, will open with Geethu Mohandas’ Liar’s Dice. The film has Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Geetanjali Thapa in lead roles and was screened at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout will be the centerpiece film of the festival. Agneya Singh’s M Cream will be screened as the Friday night feature. Rajat Kapoor’s Ankhon Dekhi will close the Festival on Sunday evening.

Here is the complete lineup of the festival:

A Boy Called Boris (Director: Ashok Vish): World Premiere; Short Film; United States; Max Kolby, Brian Gildea, Jose Amor

Algorithms (Director: Ian McDonald): U.S. Premiere; Documentary; India

Ankhon Dekhi (Director: Rajat Kapoor): Chicago Premiere; Feature; India; Sanjay Mishra, Rajat Kapoor, Seema Pahwa

Are You Listening! – Shunte Ki Pao! (Director: Kamar Ahmad Simon): U.S. Premiere...

After a couple of years’ absence publicist/ producer, Richard Lormand is returning to Toronto with a satchel full of films. Check these out because when he chooses films, he chooses them well.

"Phoenix"

Christian Petzold

Disfigured Holocaust survivor Nina, now unrecognizable after facial reconstruction, returns to find out if her husband really loves her or actually betrayed her...

Starring "Barbara" leads Nina Hoss and Ronald Zehrfeld. Romance and reconstruction in post World War II Germany from the critically

acclaimed director of "Barbara" (Berlinale 2012 Best Director) and "Yella" (Berlinale 2007 Best Actress – Nina Hoss)

Present: Christian Petzold (director), Nina Hoss (actress), Florian Koerner von Gustorf (producer)

World Sales: The Match Factory

Fri 5 – 18:00 (Public 1 – Elgin/Visa Screening Room)

Sat 6 – 11:30 (Public 2 – Elgin/Visa Screening Room)

Sat 6 – 12:30 (Press/Industry 1 – Scotiabank 2)

Tue 9 - 14:00 (Press/Industry 2 - Scotiabank 14)

Fri 12 - 14:15 (Press/Industry 3 - Scotiabank 7

"Itsi Bitsi"

Ole Christian Madsen

In the soul-searching psychedelic 60s, a rebellious young man desperately tries to win a beautiful woman’s love by transforming from poet to writer, nomad to junkie and eventually rock star...

The new film by Ole Christian Madsen, acclaimed director of "Superclásico," "Flame and Citron" and "Prague."

Present: Ole Christian Madsen (director), Joachim Fjelstrup (actor), Marie Tourell Søderberg (actress), Lars Lars Bredo Rahbek (producer)

World Sales: The Match Factory

Sat 6 – 8:30 (Press/Industry 1 – Scotiabank 9)

Sat 6 – 17:15 (Public 1 – Scotiabank 4)

Sun 7 – 9:30 (Public 2 – Bloor Hot Docs Cinema)

Tue 9 - 17:30 (Press/Industry 2 - Scotiabank 7)

Fri 12 – 17:00 (Public 3 – Isabel Bader)

"1001 Grams"

Bent Hamer

Urbane urbanite Marie is a thirty-something scientist whose life is rigorously controlled. When she attends a seminar in Paris on the actual weight of a kilo, it is her own measurement of disappointment, grief and, not least, love, that ends up on the scale. As she explores her new possibilities, everything seems to unfurl magically, beautiful.

Featuring Ane Dahl Torp (Pioneer, Cold Lunch) in a charmingly offbeat comedy from Norwegian master Bent Hamer ("Kitchen Stories," "O'Horten"). A co-production: Norway (BulBul), France (Slot Machine), Germany (Pandora)

Present: Bent Hamer (director), Ane Dahl Torp (actress), Marianne Slot (producer)

World Sales: Les Films du Losangne

Fri 5 – 14:00 (Press/Industry 1 – Scotiabank 3)

Sun 7 – 19:15 (Public 1 – Tiff Bell Lightbox 1)

Tue 9 - 9:30 (Press/Industry 2 - Scotiabank 4)

Tue 9 – 14:45 (Public 2 – Scotiabank 2)

Sun 14 – 19:00 (Public 3 – Tiff Bell Lightbox 1)

"Tigers"

Danis Tanovic

Devastated when he discovers the effects of the infant formula he’s peddling, a young salesman takes on a multinational corporation, in this based-on-fact drama from Academy Award-winning director Danis Tanovic ("No Man's Land").

Featuring Bollywood star Emraan Hashmi ("Once Upon a Time in Mumbai"). A co-production: India (Cinemorphic Pvt Ltd & Sikhya Entertainment), France (Asap Films)

Present: Danis Tanovic (director), Emraan Hashmi (actor), Geetanjali (actress), Khalid Abdalla (actor), Prashita Chaudhary (producer), Guneet Monga (producer), Cédomir Kolar (producer), Andy Paterson (producer, co-writer), Achin Jain (executive producer)

World Sales: The Match Factory

Sun 7 – 14:00 (Press/Industry 1 – Scotiabank 10)

Mon 8 – 21:45 (Public 1 – Scotiabank 1)

Wed 10 - 21:15 (Press/Industry 2 - Scotiabank 7)

Wed 10 – 21:30 (Public 2 – Scotiabank 3)

Sat 13 – 17:00 (Public 3 – Tiff Bell Lightbox 1

"Natural Resistance"

Jonathan Nossiter

Four Italian winegrowers of a rapidly spreading European natural wine revolution have encountered fierce resistance. Not everyone believes in their struggle for an ecologically progressive, economically just and historically rich expression of Italian

agriculture…

10 years after "Mondovino" world acclaimed director Jonathan Nossiter offers a model of charmed and joyous ecological and cinematic resistance against the new world economic order.

Present: Jonathan Nossiter (director)

Sat 6 – 11:15 (Press/Industry 1 – Scotiabank 7),

Mon 8 – 19:00 (Public 1 – Tiff Bell Lightbox 3)

Tue 9 – 19:00 (Public 2 – Jackman Hall)

Thu 11 – 17:45 (Public 3 – Bloor Hot Docs Cinema)...

The inaugural edition of International Film Festival of Colombo, the first major international film festival to be held in Sri Lanka, will screen a special package of Indian films curated by DearCinema.

The festival, to be held from September 2-7, is being organized by the Directors’ Guild of Sri Lanka with the support of Okinawa International Movie Festival in Japan.

The package comprises of award-winning and festival-favourite Indian films like Kanu Behl’s Titli, Avinash Arun’s Killa, Anup Singh’s Qissa, Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, Geethu Mohandas’ Liar’s Dice, Kaushik Ganguly’s Apur Panchali, Jahnu Barua’s Ajeyo, Shilpa Ranade’s The World of Goopi and Bagha and Rajeev Ravi’s Annayum Rasoolam.

Kanu Behl, Avinash Arun, Nagraj Manjule, Geethu Mohandas, Kaushik Ganguly, Jahnu Barua, Shilpa Ranade and Rajeev Ravi will be in attendance at the festival. Actors Geetanjali Thapa (Liar’s Dice) and Rasika Dugal (Qissa) will...

Academy award-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanović’s Tigers will have a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Featuring Emraan Hashmi and Geetanjali Thapa, the film is a co-production between India, France and UK.

“Devastated when he discovers the effects of the cheap, locally-made drugs he peddles for a Pakistani pharmaceuticals firm, a young salesman challenges the system and the powers that be, in this based-on-fact drama,” states an official press release.

The film is an addition to the Contemporary World Cinema section of the festival which will also screen Shonali Bose’s Margarita, With a Straw.

Tamil film The Crow’s Egg (Kaakkaa Muttai) by M. Manikandan will also have its world premiere in the Discovery section of the festival. The film revolves around two carefree slum boys who are consumed by the desire to taste the new-fangled dish when a pizza parlour opens on their old playground.

Geetanjali Thapa in I.D.

Dark Frames, a collaborative of artists based in Mumbai and Florida, has acquired Kamal K.M.’s I.D.

The collaborative will represent the film for worldwide sales and distribution rights starting at Toronto International Film Festival this year.

Director Kamal K.M. said, “I.D. has traveled in many countries in Europe and North America through 19 major film festivals bagging nine international awards so far. There are many queries on the distribution of the film from viewers of many countries. I am sure Dark Frames will make I.D. reach the people.”

I.D. follows Charu, a young woman who sets out on a quest to discover the identity of a labourer who collapsed while painting her apartment, uncovering manifold stories of displacement in the streets of Mumbai.

The film had its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival and screened at several film festivals including Abu Dhabi, Rotterdam and Los Angeles.

Us and Mumbai-based collaborative Dark Frames has acquired world rights to Indian director Kamal K.M.’s debut feature I.D.

Starring Geetanjali Thapa (Monsoon Shootout), the film follows a young woman who sets out on a quest to discover the identity of a labourer who collapsed in her apartment. Producers on the film include Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty.

The film premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, played in competition at Abu Dhabi and has won awards including best film at the Deauville Asian Film Festival and a jury award for best actor (Thapa) at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

I.D. will also screen at the upcoming Zurich Film Festival in the New World View section.

“I.D. has travelled in many countries in Europe and North America through 19 major festivals, bagging nine international awards so far. There are many queries on the distribution of the film from viewers in many countries,” said Kamal.

Dark...

Us and Mumbai-based collaborative Dark Frames has acquired world rights to Indian director Kamal K.M.’s debut feature I.D.

Starring Geetanjali Thapa (Monsoon Shootout), the film follows a young woman who sets out on a quest to discover the identity of a labourer who collapsed in her apartment. Producers on the film include Kamal and Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty.

The film premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, played in competition at Abu Dhabi and has won awards including best film at the Deauville Asian Film Festival and a jury award for best actor (Thapa) at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

I.D. will also screen at the upcoming Zurich Film Festival in the New World View section.

“I.D. has travelled in many countries in Europe and North America through 19 major festivals, bagging nine international awards so far. There are many queries on the distribution of the film from viewers in many countries,” said Kamal.

Dark...

Starting in a remote village on the Indo-Tibetan border and finishing in downtown Delhi, Geethu Mohandas’ low budget Hindi film is essentially a game of road trip chess. Deception and evasion are key, but this sociopolitical tale underwhelms more than it thrills, despite an intense performance from Bollywood veteran Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

Kamala (Geetanjali Thapa) hasn’t heard a peep from her husband since he left to work on a construction site in Delhi five months earlier. As paranoia and worry begin to suffocate, she leaves her snowy surroundings in search of an answer. With no one to look after her Russian doll-like daughter Manya (Manya Gupta), the three-year-old bundle of joy joins her mother’s weary journey, bringing along her impeccably well-behaved baby goat.

The early stages of their passage unexpectedly introduce them to rucksack-sporting army deserter, Nawazuddin (Siddiqui): a mysterious presence who continually offers his assistance. Similarly to Kamala,...

Wift (Women in Film and Television) India Rising hosted an evening honoring women from the film industry who have contributed to the growth and development of films, TV and media industry. Wift India took the initiative of bringing this year’s women National Award winners together to felicitate them and support women whose films have been selected for Cannes Film Festival.

The women who were felicitated were Geetanjali Thapa, Shabnam Sukhdev, Anjali Patil, Amruta Subhash, Sumitra Bhave, Shweta Ghosh, Bela Shende, Aarti Shrivastava, Akanksha Sood Singh, Gauri Gadgil, Sanjana Rai, Charu Shree Roy, Alaka Sahani, Kavita Bahl and Padma Shri recipient Sooni Taraporewala who is also advisory board member with Wift India was also honoured.

Wift India is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to provide a dynamic platform to facilitate the exchange of ideas, accelerate the professional development and recognize the achievement of women in film, television and other screen based...

Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Geetanjali Thapa in Geetu Mohan Das’ “Liar’s Dice” which won the award for best film at the New York Indian Film Festival 2014

In a remote village, far away from Delhi, Kamala fails to hear back from her husband for five months. He is in the city for work, toiling on the constructions sites that have become the hallmark of the capital’s expansion. When his cell phone is quiet for some time and when the village elders ask for more patience, Kamala sets out to find her husband on her own. Taking her 5-year old daughter Manya and a lamb along for the long journey, she is a lone woman on a long trek in an unknown territory. She meets Nawazuddin (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), an army deserter. They are trapped together in the only available option of a trip to the city. He is a drifter and...

Liar’s Dice by Geethu Mohandas won the Best Film at the New York Indian Film Festival 2014. The films nominated were: Astu, Fandry, Goynar Baksho and Ugly.

Nagraj Manjule won the Best Director for Fandry. In this category, the nominations were Anurag Kashyap (Ugly), Aparna Sen (Goynar Baksho), Buddhadeb Dasgupta (Sniffer) and Gajendra Ahire (Postcard).

Naseeruddin Shah won the Best Actor for The Coffin Maker while the award for Best Actress went to Geetanjali Thapa for Liar’s Dice.

Nishtha Jain’s Gulabi Gang won the Best Documentary. The award for Best Short went to Blouse by Vijayeta Kumar.

The 14th New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff) was held from May 5-10, 2014.

The nominations for 14th New York Indian Film Festival Awards have been announced! The festival is widely recognized as the oldest, most prestigious Indian film festival in the United States, showcasing some of the greatest talents working in the diaspora. Nyiff boasts five days of premiere screenings of feature, documentary & short films, industry panels, special events, retrospectives, red carpet galas,and an award ceremony to round out the festival. Celebrating its 14th year, Nyiff will run May 5 to 10 at a variety of prestigious New York City venues, including the Skirball Center for Performing Arts, where the opening and closing films are set to take place. Nyiff is dedicated to showcasing, promoting and building an awareness of Independent, art house, alternate and diaspora films from/about/connected to the Indian subcontinent. Their mission is to encourage filmmakers to tell their stories, to educate North America about them and their talent and...

A Still from Liar’s Dice

The 14th New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff) announced nominations today in various categories of awards. The festival will be held from May 5 to 10 and will screen 23 narrative features and 11 documentaries.

In the Best Feature Film category; Astu, Fandry, Goynar Baksho, Liar’s Dice and Ugly will vie for the award while Anurag Kashyap, Aparna Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Gajendra Ahire and Nagraj Manjule will compete for the Best Director award.

Full List of nominations:

Best Short

Bar Stools Blouse The Corner Table Give Into the Night Nightlife

Best Documentary

An American in Madras Gulabi Gang Rangbhoomi The Auction House The Unseen Sequence

Best Screenplay

Apur Panchali As The River Flows Shesher Kobita Virgin Talkies Zinda Bhaag

Best Actor

Mohan Agashe, Astu Naseeruddin Shah, The Coffin Maker Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Liar’s Dice Rahul Bhat, Ugly Roshan Seth, Brahmin Bulls

Best Actress

Anjali Patil, With You,...

The National Film Award winners have been announced, with Bollywood biggies such as Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Ship of Theseus, Jolly Llb and Shahid picking up major awards. The National Film Awards honour films of all languages that are made in India and are considered to be the most prestigious of all awards that are given out in the country.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag bagged one of the big awards, which is the National Award for Best Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. It also won the Best Choreography award for the song ‘Hawan Karege (Maston Ka Jhund),’ whilst Jal won the Best Special Effects Award. Critically acclaimed film Ship of Theseus bagged the Best Feature Film Award, with Shahid winning the Best Direction and Best Actor Award for Rajkumar Rao (who shared the award with Malayalam actor Suraj Venjaramoodu).

Geetanjali Thapa won the Best Actress Award for Liar’s Dice, while Arshad Warsi...

The National Film Award winners have been announced, with Bollywood biggies such as Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Ship of Theseus, Jolly Llb and Shahid picking up major awards. The National Film Awards honour films of all languages that are made in India and are considered to be the most prestigious of all awards that are given out in the country.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag bagged one of the big awards, which is the National Award for Best Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. It also won the Best Choreography award for the song ‘Hawan Karege (Maston Ka Jhund),’ whilst Jal won the Best Special Effects Award. Critically acclaimed film Ship of Theseus bagged the Best Feature Film Award, with Shahid winning the Best Direction and Best Actor Award for Rajkumar Rao (who shared the award with Malayalam actor Suraj Venjaramoodu).

Geetanjali Thapa won the Best Actress Award for Liar’s Dice, while Arshad Warsi...

New Delhi, April 16: The winners of the prestigious 61st National Film Awards have been announced by the Directorate of Film Festivals and 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' and 'Ship of Theseus' have made it to the list.

'Ship Of Theseus' has won the 'Golden Lotus for Best Feature Film' and 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' has won the 'Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment' award.

'Shahid' director Hansal Mehta won the Best Director Award and the Best Actor award is shared between Rajkummar Rao and Malayalam actor Suraj Venjaramudu

Geetanjali Thapa won Best Actress for 'Liar's Dice' and Saurabh Shukla won Best Supporting.