Festival selection, awards or citation already received and other comments... :
Film reviews:
<p>Working her way up from the sound and editing departments in several outings over 12 years, Indo-Canadian director Shreela Chakrabartty debuts with Rock Paper Dice Enter. It is written by another Indo-Canadian, Kash Gauni, who has adapted the screenplay from his own novel, Once Upon a Lama, and jointly produced the film with Shreela. There is one more Indian connection, a character played by Ojas Joshi, but that is where the Indianness ends. Canadian in feel, inspired by Hollywood in treatment, and international in the issues it addresses, the film has some deft insider punches, courtesy the manuscript by Gauni, a linguist who worked with the diamond industry in Hongkong before taking up IT based banking jobs in Canada. Apparently, that is where the Rock (diamond) in the title comes from. Paper (information) and Dice are objects used in the cat and mouse game the protagonist, named Roman and played by Gauni himself, plays with provincial government officials, in the fictitious city of Strathaven. And Enter (technology) can only mean the most used key on a computer keyboard that plays innumerable roles. Reasonably slick in visual pace and full of staccato dialogue, the film, unfortunately, does not have enough punches to maintain consistent pace. Consequently, at 82 minutes, it appears incomplete. There are several developments along the way that suggest we are about to see a huge political conspiracy or terrorist plot unfold, but that remains an expectation unfulfilled. Obviously, the makers are sold on the idea of a sequel (trilogy, to quote Shreela), but the first venture should have a logical end, and enough content to make you crave for more. A couple of scenes, like the ransom and rescue act and the secret of the dice, do prove that the Gauni-Shreela combine is capable of much more than it has delivered. Perhaps funding hampered their efforts. The producers asked for sponsors and crowd source funders (through the internet) and have even thanked them in the credits, but one wonders whether they got as much as they wanted. Kash Gauni, who has done TV commmercials in Canada, is passable as the computer hacker who is definitely more than just that. Alyson Dicey as his partner in crime has an ill-defined and too small a role to make an impression. Richard Lee either goes through the motions or overdoes his bit. Ojas Joshi fills the bill. Some of the actors playing the smaller roles of the Canadian government and police officers are more impressive. Overall, RPDE raises hopes that remain hopes. How one wishes the team had done more detailed Paperwork before they cast the Dice and pressed Enter. That would have increased their ability to Rock audiences. Rating: *1/2</p>
