“Making something out of nothing” is what filmmaker Mira Nair called the Filmmaking workshop that she was doing in the spring of 1999 in Cape Town South Africa. The bulk of the students were from the black and “colored” townships way outside the city and traveled more than an hour each day for their two-week initiation to cinema. It was the dawn of the post apartheid years and they were pregnant with compelling and amazing stories that they wanted to bring into the world either through narratives or documentaries. For decades, generations before them had their voices stifled, and they were fighting to finally become the narrators of their own history and had chosen filmmaking as their weapon. And I was there to film that process. “Show, don’t tell, make films that are accessible to you, be inspired by what’s immediate, cut your cloth”. Mira kept hammering at them.
- 1/2/2015
- by Guetty Felin
- Hope for Film
What: Screening of Mira Nair’s documentary “India Cabaret” and reading of excerpts from ‘Helen: The life and times of an H-Bomb’ by the author, Jerry Pinto
When: Saturday 17th August
Organizers: The fd Zone, Films Division, Mumbai
Program:
This week fd Zone screening begins with a Films Division Newsreel followed by the reading of excerpts from ‘Helen: The life and times of an H-Bomb’ by the author, Jerry Pinto. This will be followed by a screening of Mira Nair’s iconic documentary film ‘India Cabaret’.
The phenomenon that is Helen enthralls the author, Jerry Pinto. He is unable to meet her in person as he writes his book, instead he encounters the persona in cinema. This is the vamp who is able to upset and challenge the moral and patriarchal construct in hindi cinema. The failure of the vamp in every narrative ensures that morality is eventually restored but...
When: Saturday 17th August
Organizers: The fd Zone, Films Division, Mumbai
Program:
This week fd Zone screening begins with a Films Division Newsreel followed by the reading of excerpts from ‘Helen: The life and times of an H-Bomb’ by the author, Jerry Pinto. This will be followed by a screening of Mira Nair’s iconic documentary film ‘India Cabaret’.
The phenomenon that is Helen enthralls the author, Jerry Pinto. He is unable to meet her in person as he writes his book, instead he encounters the persona in cinema. This is the vamp who is able to upset and challenge the moral and patriarchal construct in hindi cinema. The failure of the vamp in every narrative ensures that morality is eventually restored but...
- 8/13/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
“I don’t understand why India looks up to the Oscars… Audience is my Oscar.” – Mira Nair, quoted in The Telegraph, Kolkata, December 1, 2012
Satyajit Ray
On April 23, 1992, a man died. A tall man once blessed with broad shoulders, a headful of dark, well-set hair, and sharply chiseled features; a man who touched several art forms, enriching whatever he touched. Satyajit Ray had served the cause of art and aesthetics as few modern Indians had before him, and none after. When he died, India mourned and the Bengali people immediately realized that they had lost their last Renaissance man.
Recalling that fateful day, novelist Amitav Ghosh has written: “The day of Satyajit Ray’s death was like none that Kolkata had ever seen before. When the news began to spread, a pall of silence descended on the city. Next morning hundreds of thousands of people filed past his body, braving the intense heat.
Satyajit Ray
On April 23, 1992, a man died. A tall man once blessed with broad shoulders, a headful of dark, well-set hair, and sharply chiseled features; a man who touched several art forms, enriching whatever he touched. Satyajit Ray had served the cause of art and aesthetics as few modern Indians had before him, and none after. When he died, India mourned and the Bengali people immediately realized that they had lost their last Renaissance man.
Recalling that fateful day, novelist Amitav Ghosh has written: “The day of Satyajit Ray’s death was like none that Kolkata had ever seen before. When the news began to spread, a pall of silence descended on the city. Next morning hundreds of thousands of people filed past his body, braving the intense heat.
- 1/8/2013
- by Vidyarthy Chatterjee
- DearCinema.com
My experience with Mira Nair is limited at best. I did not enjoy Vanity Fair and The Namesake bored me beyond measure, but that's where my time watching her films ended prior to Criterion's latest Blu-ray release of Monsoon Wedding, a spectacular dramedy surrounding a Punjabi wedding, which instantly reminded me of Jonathan Demme's 2008 effort Rachel Getting Married, but at least this one was fun to watch.
Monsoon Wedding was released in 2001 and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film by the Golden Globes, but if I'm not mistaken it wasn't her first knockout film, which I presume to be 1988's Salaam Bombay!, a film I now hope to see. One thing I have always noticed about Nair is her excellent use of color, Vanity Fair particularly stands out in this regard, but I have always been so bored by her work. To the contrary, Monsoon Wedding is a lively,...
Monsoon Wedding was released in 2001 and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film by the Golden Globes, but if I'm not mistaken it wasn't her first knockout film, which I presume to be 1988's Salaam Bombay!, a film I now hope to see. One thing I have always noticed about Nair is her excellent use of color, Vanity Fair particularly stands out in this regard, but I have always been so bored by her work. To the contrary, Monsoon Wedding is a lively,...
- 10/20/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.