Friday, October 4, 2019, 5:00 pm
Welcome Address
Friday, October 4, 2019, 5:15 pm, followed by Q & A session
Buried Seeds – The Life Journey of Vikas Khanna – Documentary Film
Director: Andrei Severny
Duration: 75 minutes
Language: English
Starring: Vikas Khanna
Synopsis:
A timeless story of human passion, willpower, and resolve in the face of adversity. Told through the eyes of Michelin Star chef Vikas Khanna, the documentary is an immigrant’s journey through overcoming disability, poverty and discrimination. Born with clubbed feet Vikas is ridiculed for his leg braces. He finds shelter in the kitchen and dreams of becoming a chef one day. With the guidance of his mother and grandmother Vikas learns to run and cook. He witnesses massacre and destruction of the Sikh’s Golden Temple. At the age of 29, Vikas comes to New York. He goes from living in a homeless shelter to opening a restaurant, becoming a Michelin star chef, and a TV star. He learns that life is a never-ending cycle where one has to die and be reborn.
About the Director:
Andrei Severny is a filmmaker, photographer and video artist based in New York. His works operate on multiple levels engaging both intuition and intellect. His stories often integrate scientific analysis and reveal unique vision of the future. On his quest to show the inner world Severny engages in both reality and abstraction. Severny’s narrative and documentary films explore art, human perception, senses, psychology and neuroscience. Severny was born in 1977 in Moscow, Russia into a family of astronomers.
Friday, October 4, 2019, 6:45 pm
Opening Night Reception and Entertainment
Friday, October 4, 2019, 7:45 pm,
Dhut – Short Film
Director: Manish Tiwari
Duration: 12 minutes
Language: Hindi (English subtitles)
Starring: Iqbal Khan and Shakti Anand
Synopsis:
A pretentious man returns to his native city of Bhopal to meet up with some of his old college buddies and proceeds to poke fun at some of them who are still struggling. By the end of the reunion, karma strikes back and takes its toll which changes Ravi’s life forever.
About the Director:
This is Manish’s directorial debut film. He left his flourishing career in the merchant navy and stepped into the world of cinema to pursue his life-long of becoming a writer-director. Manish loves writing and has written many TV serials, audio stories and ad-films.
Friday, October 4, 2019, 8 pm, followed by Q & A session
The Last Color – Feature Film
Director: Vikas Khanna
Duration: 91 minutes
Language: Hindi (English subtitles)
Starring: Neena Gupta, Rajeswar Khanna, Aslam Shekh
Synopsis:
The inspiration of the movie comes from the day when widows of Vrindavan and Banaras celebrated Holi for the first time, breaking a centuries old taboo. The film is a poignant story of love, friendship, commitment and victory of the human spirit seen through the eyes of a 9 year old flower seller and a 70 year old widow.
About the Director:
This film marks the directorial debut of award winning, Michelin Starred Chef Vikas Khanna, a restaurateur, food writer and humanitarian based in New York. Deutsche Welle named Khanna in the list of “10 most influential chefs in the world, who have changed our eating habits”. Khanna is the creator of The Holy Kitchens, documentary film series that explore food sharing traditions in different faiths.
Saturday, October 5, 2019, 5:00 pm
Welcome Address
Saturday, October 5, 2019, 5:10 pm,
Katran (The Uncalled) – Short Film
Director: Prem Singh
Duration: 15 minutes
Language: Hindi (English subtitles)
Starring: Eshika Dey and Piyush Mishra
Synopsis:
Katran is a story of an elderly couple, who decide to part ways after 36 years of their marriage but in the end realize that in some obscure corners of their house, still resides a little tug of love that brings them together.
About the Director:
Prem Singh is a Writer and Director based in Mumbai, India. After finishing his studies Animation & VFX, he started his career as an animator in 2010. He entered the film scene around seven years back as an Animator, VFX specialist and then Assistant Director.
Saturday, October 5, 2019, 5:25 pm, followed by Q & A session
Daughters of the Polo God – Documentary Film
Director: Roopa Barua
Duration: 34 minutes
Language: Meiteilon (English subtitles)
Synopsis:
A film about an endangered breed of ponies and empowering women in the sport of polo, a traditional male sport. A young polo sisterhood is developing in Manipur that ploughs on in spite of adversity and political turmoil. They are intensely connected to their sacred ponies and play in an international tournament every year.
About the Director:
Director Roopa Barua, a graduate in economics from Boston University, studied film production at the New York Film Academy and film criticism at the University of California, Berkley. Roopa was a banker with Morgan Stanley in Boston and San Francisco. She has a degree in Economics and Finance from Boston University. Roopa runs the Kahini Media production house out of Mumbai and seeks to create nuanced cinema that goes beyond geography and human boundaries.
Saturday, October 5, 2019, 6:00 pm
Closing Night Reception and Entertainment
Saturday, October 5, 2019, 7:00 pm,
Pataakha – Feature Film
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Duration: 134 minutes
Language: Hindi (English subtitles)
Starring: Sanya Malhotra, Radhika Madan, Sunil Grover
Synopsis:
Comedy-drama about two sisters from a small village in Rajasthan. The constant war between the siblings has haunted their lives, When they meet their soulmates, they feel relieved that they will finally be free of each other. But, as fate would have it, it seems that they can’t live with, or without each other.
About the Director:
Vishal Bhardwaj is an Indian Film Director, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, Vishal is the recipient of 7 National Film Awards in 4 categories.