Shadows Formless / The Fiction
Shadows Formless
ASHISH AVIKUNTHAK (appearing in person)
India, 2007, 82 minutes, Color, 35mm. In Bengali with English subtitles
After a woman is abandoned by her husband, she dreams of a love that will rescue her from her loneliness. When she is living with her sister-in-law in Calcutta, a stranger comes into her life, and we wonder if he is, as he says, a former lover; or whether he is the embodiment of her dreams. After he stays with them for some time, he gets ready to leave, but she tries to convince him that her desire brought him there. Nirakar Chhaya is based on a Malayalam novella, Pandavpuram, by the distinguished novelist Setumadhavan from Kerala.
Director Ashish Avikunthak has been making experimental films since the mid-90s. They have been shown in film festivals, museums and film archives around the world—including at a retrospective of his own works at Goethe Institute, Calcutta; Les Inattendus, Lyon; and Yale University. Avikunthak has a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Stanford University and currently teaches at Yale University. Shadows Formless is his first feature-length film. His short film Antaral (End Note) is also being shown at this festival.
Featuring: Mandira Banerjee, Deepak Haldar, Sweta Tiwari
The Fiction
SPANDAN BANERJEE (appearing in person)
India, 2008, 45 minutes, Black & White, Beta SP PAL. In English and Bengali with English subtitles
A chance meeting on a summer morning in Delhi bring Niloy Sen and Kabir together. Soon a short journey together across Delhi becomes a pattern to which both comfortably succumb. The film walks with the two characters for five days and then tries to share Niloy's insecurities as familiar patterns fade.
The Fiction is a tale of the fictions of friendship and intimacy that the characters spin amongst themselves as they go about their various roles in life. This black and white film is shot digitally on location in New Delhi with two actors.
First Screening: Osian’s Festival Of Asian & Arab Cinema, India, 2008. Official Selection: MIAAC Film Festival, New York, 2008 and RIVER TO RIVER Film Festival, Florence, 2008
Director Spandan Banerjee has been making short films since 2003 under his independent banner Overdose. They have been shown at film festivals in Spain, Finland, Canada, England, and the Netherlands. The Fiction is his first narrative film. He is now working on his first feature-length film.
Featuring: Sabysachi Chakravarty, Sanjay Rajoura, Sumit Roy, Radhika Chakravarty, Rituparna Sen
