Indian Film Festival Stuttgart: The nominees
Stuttgart celebrates the magic of Indian cinema: From 17 to 21 July, Europe's largest Indian film festival presents 65 current feature films, short films, documentaries and commercials from all regions of the world's largest film market. Enchanting, committed and authentic.
The audience can look forward to several world, international and German premieres. The festival, organised by the Filmbüro Baden-Württemberg and sponsored by the city of Stuttgart and the state of Baden-Württemberg, will once again focus on the competition for the coveted ‘German Star of India’ film prize (total value 7,500 euros). The feature film category shines with a varied mixture of tragic fates, unexpected lightness and amusing comedies.
The programme takes an unadulterated look at a country full of contradictions with further feature films, documentaries and short films.
The following feature films are nominated:
‘Narayaneente Moonnaanmakkal (Three sons of Nanayani)’ by Sharan Venugopal: The film festival starts with this drama on Wednesday, 17 July, 8 pm. Three brothers meet again after a long time at the deathbed of their terminally ill mother. Old family rifts reopen, arguments break out and a flirtation takes the situation to extremes.
‘Logout’ by Amit Golani: On the second day of the festival, 18 July 2024, 10 a.m., India's top star Babil Khan will take to the screen at School Day from 10 a.m. The brand-new influencer thriller ‘Logout’ is a world premiere and focuses on this year's School Day. Babil Khan plays 26-year-old influencer Pratyush from Delhi, who is adored by almost 10 million followers and is in agony after losing his mobile phone. (Repeat: 19 July, 8 pm).
Director Rajni Basumatary cast and crew for her feature film ‘Gorai Phakhri - Wild Swans’ (European premiere, 18 July, 6 pm) with women. The story is set in the foothills of Bodoland on the IndiaBhutan border and explores the lives of women in a patriarchal society recovering from decades of armed conflict between the state and separatist groups.
‘Bhera - The Deaf’ by Shrikant Prabhakar, a world premiere (21 July, 2 pm), is set in a remote village in Lower Konkan and Mumbai during the Covid era. Anibai, who lives alone on the outskirts of the village, is eagerly waiting for her son Suresh, who is stuck in Mumbai during the pandemic. Anibai is suffering from appendicitis and the deaf-mute village boy Vishnu is her only connection to the rest of the world.
In ‘Athoi’, Kiran Rao gives Shakespeare's ‘Othello’ an Indian makeover and revives the theatre classic with contemporary dialogue and a fast-paced Quentin Tarantino narrative style to create a 160- minute screen spectacle (20 July, 9 pm)
With his feature film debut ‘Mithya’ (German premiere, 20 July, 5 pm), director Sumanth Bhat fulfilled a long-cherished wish. ‘Mithya’ tells the poignant story of an eleven-year-old boy who has to come to terms with the wounds of losing his parents.
Jayant Digambar Somalkar's feature film debut ‘Sthal - A Match’, a European premiere (20 July, 6.30 pm), was made with non-professional actors from the director's village and is about a young woman's struggle against patriarchal traditions that deprive women of their freedom of choice and arranged marriages as the only option for self-improvement.
These documentaries are nominated: ‘Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen’ by Suman Gosh, ‘Chaawal (Rice)’ by Tamjeed Elahi Khan, ‘Never say die’ by Diya Gambhir, ‘Langur – The Man Monkey’ by Haider Khan and ‘13TWR’ by Prashant More
These short films are nominated: ‘Kshan’ by Sakshi Singh (Co-operation with Pocket films), ‘Thanks Mom’ by Manik Talwar (Co-operation with Pocket films), ‘Kav Kav’ by Dr. Swanand Wagh (Cooperation with Pocket films), ‘Thursday Special’ by Varun Tandon, ‘Sultan’ by Avinash Kisanrao Kambikar, ‘Papa Ko Pani Se Dar Lagta Hai (My Father Is Afraid of Water)’ by Prateek Rajendra Srivastava, ‘Opposite Poles’ by Vignesh Paramasivam, ‘Umbara’ by Pranay Ramesh Kotangale, ‘Pankhol’ by Parag Pradip Sawant, ‘Buigavne (Scarecrow)’ by Akhil Lotlikar, ‘Blackhole’ by Pradyumna Patil.
The following prizes will also be awarded: an advertising film prize (500 euros), the Director's Vision Award, which honours directors who demonstrate exceptional social or political commitment with their film contribution, and the Audience Award, which is endowed with 1000 euros.
More: www.indisches-filmfestival.de
Basic info: The 21st Indian Film Festival Stuttgart will take place from 17 to 21 July 2024 in the Stuttgart city centre cinemas (Cinema and EM, Bolz-/Königstraße). Organiser is the Filmbüro BadenWürttemberg e.V.. A cinema ticket costs 9 euros.
The state capital Stuttgart generously supports the film festival. Stuttgart and the Indian metropolis of Mumbai have been twinned since 1968. The state of Baden-Württemberg also supports the festival. Baden-Württemberg and the Indian state of Maharashtra have been twinned since 2015. Karlsruhe and Pune are also twinned.
For two decades, the Indian Film Festival Stuttgart has been a highlight of the cultural summer programme in Baden-Württemberg. The entire programme of the 21st Indian Film Festival Stuttgart at www.indisches-filmfestival.de