IFFI 52, 037: Blood flows through the streets in Killing of the Eunuch Khan Iranian film Killing the Eunuch Khan (Koshtan-e Khajeh in Persian), by director Abest Abed, is in contention for the coveted ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal at the 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India, an award given to the IFFI film that best reflects Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of peace, tolerance and non-violence. It portrays a serial killer’s apparently insatiable quest to slaughter others, to...

Ripples, Review: Subtly, gently Ripples is a film about Muslim women of Xinjiang, who now live in Yiwu, and how they miss their homeland. While China is universally acknowledged as a military and economic super-power, prejudices and misconceptions about the country’s internal matters abound. One such contentious issue is the plight of the Uyghur (Uighur) Muslims, who form a large part of the population of its Xinjiang province, in the north-west, an autonomous region, like Tibet. It is...

Splendid Land, Review: Xinjiang is a many splendoured place The China-Greece co-production documentary, Splendid Land, directed by Eleni Vlassi and Jin Huaqing, presents the wonderful land of Xinjiang, China and its ancient customs, through a musician pursuing the Mukam music and the spectacular landscape.  Seldom has so much splendour been captured in such a short span. The film is only twenty minutes long, but it flows along seamlessly, and when it ends, you are left craving for more. ...

IFFI 51, 50: Ramin Rasouli’s The Dogs Didn't Sleep Last Night is based on four true stories “The Dogs Didn't Sleep Last Night tells the story of four different lives, driven by different emotions, each person having struggles which are different, yet intertwined. There are many stories around us, both good and bad. I found four stories, and put them together for this movie.”  Director Ramin Rasouli was speaking about his IFFI 51 Film, which he says is based on t...

Ice, Review: Life v/s ice, too much too late Melancholia guaranteed, but so is good cinema. Ice is a 15-minute Estonian film that has been shown at 28 film festivals so far (correction: 35; update provided by Anna Hints), and won four (five, she says)  prizes too. Harri is a lieutenant colonel in the Estonian army. Divorced, he only sees his ten-year-old son during the school holidays. Harri decides to make up for lost time and take him on a trip to an island where he went with his fath...

16th Third Eye Asian Film Festival: XI Sixteen years is a long time in the life of a film festival. It seems an even bigger achievement when you consider the upheavals that the Third Eye Asian Film Festival has undergone during its tenure. In fact, it is a miracle that it has continued, against all odds. Asian Film Foundation, headed by Kiran Shantaram, son of late V. Shantaram, remains the driving force, as does Sudhir Nandgaonkar, journalist and a bunch of teenage students pool in their res...

A scrolling band of carnelian clouds circling clockwise, a boy in an Afghani folk costume swirling within, a radiant beam at the center: The opening frames of Nora Twomey’s animated film The Breadwinner tell a tale of light and shadow, conjuring dream imagery of the pyche’s quest towards wholeness in the larger world. In case you haven’t guessed, we’re in the realm of universal truth, seen from toon-spun Afghanistan. The allegory quickly blossoms into...

Movie memories, by Siraj Syed—Fahrenheit 9/11(2004): Burning topics Fahrenheit 9/11 was released on DVD and VHS videotape on October 5, 2004, which is when I must have acquired my copy. Within a few days, the film broke records for the highest-selling documentary ever. About two million copies were sold/rented on the first day. A companion book too was released, The Official Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader, containing the complete screenplay, maker Michael Moore's sources, audience e-mails ...

MFF 17, by Jio-MAMI, Festival Diary, IV At film festivals, the experience of watching films is like no other. You have many choices, depending on the venue, and the option of walking out of one ‘bad’ film into another unknown entity, just next door, trying pot-luck. Advance booking, the norm at MFF, means that you might never ever succeed in getting a ticket, given that the number of delegates and media-persons always far outweighs the number of seats available, often by 3:1 or 4:...

Rock the Kasbah, Review: Afghan star, American war                                                                             In all probability, the plot of Rock the Kasbah was worked out backwards. Somebody saw an Afghan girl named Setara (meaning ‘star’) Hussainzada sing and dance on a loca...

Max, Review: Sane Max A Belgian Shepherd dog called Max, working as a bomb sniffer in Afghanistan with the Marines, returns from service, after his handler Kyle (Robbie Arnell) is killed during a manoeuvre. When told by Sergeant Reyes (Jay Hernandez) that the Marines might put him down on account of his crazed and violent behaviour, as a result of post-traumatic stress, the man’s devastated family adopts the dog. Over time, the dog ends up bonding with the late Marine’s troubled 1...

  'Our World' Photo exhibit brings awareness and enlightenment to viewers around the world.We appreciate the abundance and wealth in our world, united with the realities of war, poverty, abuse and disregard towards our fellow human.Ideally you will discover new actions that make a difference in the lives of our human family. May everyone enjoy the same privileges and quality of life experience in our life time. Designed by Bobbi Miller MoroWomen Without Borders US  Women Without Borders US ...