1st Feb 2009 screening; The Cranes Are Flying

The Cranes Are Flying

A Film by Mikhail Kalatozov

Country : Russia

Year : 1957

Runtime : 95 min

Russian with English sub titiles

1st Feb 2009; 5.45 pm

Ashwin Hospital Auditorium

http://konangalfilmsociety.blogspot.com/

Winner of the Palm d'Or at the 1958 Cannes film festival, Mikheil Kalatozishvili's The Cranes Are Flying is visual poetry, stunningly photographed with extreme close-ups, tracking crowd scenes, and gorgeous long shots in every sequence.

Boris (Alexei Batalov), a young factory worker, and his fiancée Veronica (Tatyana Samojlova) are blissfully in love. Every evening, they rendezvous at the riverbank to spend a few precious hours together before he starts the night shift. Then, as the sun comes up and his shift ends, they meet again, walking through the streets of a still-slumbering Moscow. This idyllic routine is violently interrupted on June 22, 1941, when Germany launches a surprise invasion on Russia. Having secretly volunteered to serve his country, Boris receives orders to report for duty the day before Veronica's birthday. Denied a proper goodbye by circumstances and bad timing, the two lovers must face different, but equally harrowing aspects of the war — his on the frontline, hers on the home front.

There is much to admire: the vital performances, notably that of the dark-eyed Tatyana Samojlova as the left-behind Veronika; Sergei Urusevsky's beautifully composed b/w camerawork; the urgent crowd scenes and dynamic mise-en-scène. 

Thanks to Mr. Kalatozov's direction and the excellent performance Tatyana Samoilova gives as the girl, one absorbs a tremendous feeling of sympathy from this film—a feeling that has no awareness of geographical or political bounds. She is simply a fine, fecund-looking young woman torn from her lover by war. And he, played by Alexei Batalov, is a pleasant and credible young man moved by romantic impulses and shattered by fates outside himself.

Vasily Merkuryev as the soldier's father, Alexander Shvorin as the pianist and Alla Bogdanova as the grandmother make solid characters, too.

Mikhail Kalatozov 

(1903-1973)

Georgian-Russian film-director Mikhail Konstantinovich Kalatozov (true surname Kalatozishvili) was born on December 28, 1903 in Tbilisi (earlier named Tiflis). As a youth he worked as a driver and projectionist, and later as a film-cutter, cameraman and scriptwriter at the Tbilisi filmstudio; took part as scripter and cameraman in creation of Geroy nashego vremeni (The Hero of Our Time, 1925) (dir. Ivane Perestiani), and Giuli (1927) (dir. Nikoloz Shengelaya)

In 1928 together with N.Gogoberidze he directed Ikh tsarstvo (Their Empire) using news-reel materials. In 1930 Kalatozov made his debut in film-directing on his own with Sol Svanetii (The Salt of Svanetia) that became famous all over the world.

He finishing a post-graduate course at the Academy of Art Studies in Leningrad (1937) From 1943 Kalatozov worked at Mosfilm studio and represented Soviet cinema in Hollywood, in 1945-1946 he was at the head of Central directorate on feature film production, and in 1946-1948 he held the post of Deputy Minister of Cinematography of the USSR. 

Among his most famous and most important films are his four final features: Letyat zhuravli (The Cranes Are Flying, 1957); Neotpravlennoye pismo (The Unsent Letter, 1959); Ya Kuba (I Am Cuba, 1964); and 'Krasnaya palatka' (The Red Tent, 1971). These are marked by very long, complex takes filled with startling, often surreal images and among the most virtuosic camerawork of that or any other era.

Mikhail Kalatozov died in Moscow on March 29, 1973.

SCREENING ON 25th JAN 2009

SCREENING OF A WELL ACCLAIMED DOCUMENTARY
INDIA UNTOUCHED
– Stories of a People Apart
Directed by : K. STALIN

110 minutes/Hindi, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Telugu, English, Punjabi, Malayalam and Gujarati with English sub-titles/2007Produced by DRISHTI Media, Arts & Human Rights. Presented by Navsarjan
On 25.01.2009 at 5.45 p.m.

At ASHWIN HOSPTIAL AUDITORIUM

"INDIA UNTOUCHED" will make it impossible for anyone in India to deny that Untouchability is still practiced today. Director Stalin K. and his team spent four years traveling the length and breadth of India to bear witness to the continued exclusion and segregation of those considered as 'Untouchables'. The film introduces leading Benares scholars who interpret Hindu scriptures to mean that Dalits 'have no right' to education, and Rajput farmers who proudly proclaim that the police must seek their permission before pursuing cases of atrocities on Dalits. The film captures many 'firsts-on-film,' such as Dalits being forced to dismount from their cycles and remove their shoes when in the upper caste part of the village. It exposes the continuation of caste practices and Untouchability in Sikhism, Christianity and Islam, amongst the Communists in Kerala and within some of India's most revered academic and professional institutions. In an age where the media projects only one image of a 'rising' or 'poised' India, this film reminds us how far the country is from being an equal society. Traveling through eight states and four religions, this film is perhaps the deepest exploration of caste oppression ever undertaken on film.

Stalin K is a human rights activist and award-winning documentary filmmaker. He is the Co-Founder of DRISHTI- Media, Arts and Human Rights, Convener of the Community Radio Forum-India, and the India Director of Video Volunteers. He is a renowned public speaker and has lectured or taught at over 20 institutions ranging from the National Institute of Design and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in India, to New York University and Stanford and Berkeley in the US. INDIA UNTOUCHED is Stalin's second film on the issue of caste—his earlier film Lesser Humans, on manual scavenging, won the Silver Conch at the Mumbai International Film Festival and the Excellence Award at Earth Vision Film Festival, Tokyo, and helped to bring international attention to the issue of caste.

18th Jan 2009 ;Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows

Elevator to the Gallows

A Film by 

LOUIS MALLE

1958 France

With English sub titles

18th Jan 2009 

5.45 pm

Ashwin Hospital Auditorium

IMDB link        REVIEWS

Images from 11th Jan Kovai Film Festival

KOVAI FEST 

FILM FESTIVAL

11th Jan 2009

G D Naidu Auditorium

Remembering 

Samikkannu Vincent

Pioneer of Tamil silent cinema , our own  Samikkannu Vincent

Painting and Image  : S.Ilangovan

Screening of 'Malaikallan' - film made in 1954 in Coimbatore

Honouring Samikannu Vincent's family

Our heartfelt thanks to documentary maker Senthamizhan for providing us with his documentary film 'PESAMOZHI' 

Address by film historian Theodore Baskaran

Memento from Konangal - a wildlife pohotograph of tiger by nature  photographer   k.Jayaram -presented to Theodore Baskaran by Jayaram

Award for short film to TNAU students 

Our thanks to Theodore  Baskaran for making this day a memorable one.

Portrait by K.Jayaram

11th Jan 2009 ; Coimbatore Festival - Film Fest

கோயம்புத்தூர் விழாவின்

திரைப்பட விழா

11 ஜனவரி 2009

காலை 9 மணி முதல் மாலை 6 மணி வரை

காலை 9 மணி - 10 மணி

குறும்பட போட்டியில் தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட 3 குறும்படங்கள் திரையிடல்.

10 மணி :

முழுவதும் கோவையில் தயாரிக்கப்பட்ட பட்சி ராஜா ஸ்டுடியோவின்

மலைக்கள்ளன் 

இயக்கம் : எஸ்.எம்.  ஸ்ரீராமுலு நாயிடு

வருடம் : 1954

ஓடும் நேரம் : 2 மணி 54 நிமிடங்கள்

மதிய உணவு பார்வையாளர் அனைவருக்கும் ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது.

மதியம் 2 மணிக்கு மேல் :

பேசாமொழி

தமிழ் சினிமாவின் ஆரம்ப காலம் பற்றிய ஆவணப்படம்

பேசாமொழி ஆவணப்படம் பற்றி http://bsubra.wordpress.com/ இணையதள பதிவை கீழே காணலாம் :

தமிழின் 30 ஆண்டு சினிமா சரித்திரமே காணாமல் போயிருக்கிறது என்கிறது “பேசாமொழி’ ஆவணப்படம்.இரண்டாண்டு கடும் முயற்சிக்குப் பிறகு இந்த ஆவணப்படம் வெளிவந்திருக்கிறது. தயாரித்தவர் ம.செந்தமிழன். இந்த ஆவணப் படம் குறித்து அவர் கருத்துகள் இவை.

1897-ல் தென்னிந்தியாவிலேயே முதன் முறையாகச் சென்னை விக்டோரியா ஹாலில் சினிமா திரையிடப்பட்டது. அதற்கு 6-7 மாதங்களுக்கு முன்புதான் மும்பையில் இந்தியாவின் முதல் திரையிடல் நடைபெற்றது. 

1905- ஆம் ஆண்டு இந்தியாவிலேயே முதன் முறையாகப் படங்களைத் திரையிட ஆரம்பித்தவர் சாமிக்கண்ணு வின்சென்ட். ரயில்வே பொறியாளரான அவர், படத் தயாரிப்புக்கு முன்பே “லைஃப் ஆஃப் ஜீஸஸ் கிரைஸ்ட்’ என்ற படத்தை வெளியிட்டார். 

தொடர்ந்து லூமி சகோதரர்கள் தயாரித்த “ரயிலின் வருகை’ (ரயில் ஒன்று நிலையத்தில் வந்து நிற்பதுதான் மொத்த படமே. ஆரம்பத்தில் அதைப் பார்த்த மக்கள் ரயில் தம் மீது மோதிவிடும் என்று அலறி அடித்துக் கொண்டு ஓடினராம்.) உள்ளிட்ட துண்டுப் படங்களைத் தமிழகம் முழுதும் சுற்றித் திரையிட்டுக் காட்டியிருக்கிறார். இவர் தயாரித்த படங்களும் சேர்த்து, மொத்தம் 136 திரைப்படங்கள் இங்குத் தயாரிக்கப்பட்டதாகக் குறிப்புகள் காணப்படுகின்றன.

சாமிக்கண்ணு வின்சென்ட் போல நிறைய பேர் இருந்திருக்கிறார்கள். குறிப்பாக மருதமுத்து மூப்பனார். அவர் இங்கிலாந்து சென்று இளவரசரின் திருமணத்தைப் படம் பிடித்து வந்து இங்குத் திரையிட்டுக் காட்டியிருக்கிறார். 1916-ல் “கீசகவதம்’ என்ற படத்தை நடராஜ முதலியார் உருவாக்கியிருக்கிறார். 

இவர்கள் எடுத்தப் படங்களோ, அல்லது இவர்களைப் பற்றிய விவரங்களோகூட யாருக்கும் தெரியவில்லை. திரைத்துறை சம்பந்தமாகப் படிப்பவர்களுக்குக்கூட இவர்களைப் பற்றி பாடம் நடத்தப்படுவதில்லை. நேராக கிரிபித், ஹிச்காக், பெலனி என்றுதான் பாடம் நடத்துகிறார்கள். மருதமுத்து மூப்பனாரின் புகைப்படம்கூட காணக் கிடைக்காததுதான் வேதனை.

பேசும் படம் வந்த பின்புதான் அது அந்த மொழியின் திரைப்படம் என்ற கருத்து நிலவுகிறது. மற்ற மொழிகளில் அப்படியில்லை. அமெரிக்கன் ஃபிலிம் இன்ஸ்ட்டிட்யூட்டில் பேசா மொழி படத்திலிருந்தே அவர்களின் திரைப்பட வரலாற்றைப் பார்க்கிறார்கள். மற்றெல்லா மொழிகளிலும் அப்படித்தான். அவர்களின் மக்கள் தயாரித்த அவர்களின் மக்கள் நடித்த அவர்கள் பகுதியில் எடுக்கப்பட்ட எல்லாப் படங்களும் அவர்களின் மொழிப்படம்தான். இங்கே ஆந்திரத்திலும் கேரளத்திலும்கூட அவர்களின் பேசா மொழிப் படங்களின் ஆவணங்கள் காணக் கிடைக்கின்றன. இங்கே விஸ்காம் படிக்கும் மாணவர்களுக்குக்கூட பேசும் படங்கள் வந்தபின்புதான் தமிழ் சினிமாவின் சரித்திரம் தொடங்கியதாகப் பாடம் நடத்துகிறார்கள். பேசாமொழிப் படங்கள் நம் படங்கள் இல்லை என்ற இந்தப் போக்கும் அவற்றை இழக்க ஒரு காரணமாகிவிட்டது. இந்த ஆவணப் படத்தில் பாமரன் சொல்லுவது போல, தமிழர்களுக்கு வரலாறு இருக்கிறது. ஆனால் வரலாற்று பதிவுகளைப் பாதுகாக்கும் பழக்கம்தான் இல்லை.

நன்றி : http://bsubra.wordpress.com/2007/11/18/tamil-cinema-history-pesamozhi-documentary-on-movies/

 தியடோர் பாஸ்கரன்

சிறப்புரை

தியடோர் பாஸ்கரன் சினிமா வரலாற்றாளர், சினிமா பற்றி தமிழிலும் ஆங்கிலத்திலும் பல நூல்களை எழுதியிருப்பவர். இயற்கை, சுற்றுச் சூழல் ஆர்வலர். இது பற்றியும் புத்தகங்களும் , பதிரிகைகளில் கட்டுரைகளும்  தமிழிலும் ஆங்கிலத்திலும் தொடர்ந்து எழுதி வருபவர். தாராபுரத்தில் பிறந்த பாஸ்கரன் , இந்திய தபால் துறையில் பணியாற்றி ஓய்வுபெற்றவர். தற்போது பங்களுரில் வசிக்கிறார்.

சினிமாபற்றிய இவரது தமிழ் புத்தகங்கள்: 1. சித்திரம் பேசுதடி (காலச்சுவடு பதிப்பகம் ) 2. எம் தமிழர் செய்த படம் (உயிர்மெய் பதிப்பகம்) , 3. தமிழ் சினிமாவின் முகங்கள் (கண்மணி பதிப்பகம்). 4. மீதி வெள்ளித்திரையில் (அச்சில்) 

S.Theodore Baskaran’s  book The Message Bearers (Cre-A, 1981) is a standard reference on early South Indian cinema and theatre. His other book The Eye of the Serpent: An Introduction to Tamil Cinema (East West, 1996) won the Golden Lotus award from the President of India.  His next book  History Through the Lense (Orient Blackswan) on South Indian cinema  is due in two months. He has written on cinema in journals such as Seagull Theatre Quarterly, EPW, Journal of the International Institute ( Univ. Of Michigan) and Deep Focus. He was a member of the National Jury for film awards in 2003. He was Hughes Visiting Scholar in the University of Michigan in 2001. He writes both in Tamil and in English.

4th Jan 2008; Screening of SPARTACUS

Spartacus

A film by Stanley Kubrik

Year : 1960

English with English subtitles

Run time :196 minutes

4th Jan 2009 ; 5.45 pm

Ashwin Hospital Auditorium

http://konangalfilmsociety.blogspot.com

Call 94430 39630

The film tells the story of the Roman slave Spartacus (Kirk Douglas), who toils for the Roman Empire while dreaming, the narrator assures us, "of the death of slavery - which would not come until 2,000 years later." He is sentenced to death after biting a Roman guard, but spared by Peter Ustinov, as Batiatus, a broker of gladiators. Spartacus is trained in the arts of combat at Batiatus' gladiatorial academy, where one day two powerful men and their wives arrive from Rome. The spoiled women ask to be entertained by the sight of two fights to the death, and Spartacus is matched with a skilled black gladiator (Woody Strode), who spares him and is killed.

The notion of being forced to fight for the entertainment of spoiled women enrages Spartacus, who leads a slave revolt that eventually spreads over half of Italy. Leading his men into battle against weak and badly led Roman legions, Spartacus stands on the brink of victory before his troops are finally caught between two armies and outnumbered.

All of this takes place against a backdrop of Roman decadence, and we become familiar with the backstage power plays of the senate, where Crassus (Laurence Olivier) hopes to become a dictator at the expense of the more permissive and gentler old man Gracchus (Charles Laughton). There are also sexual intrigues; Gracchus is a womanizer, and Crassus a bisexual who is attracted to a handsome young slave (Tony Curtis) but is also driven by the desire to win the love of the slave woman Varinia (Jean Simmons), who is the wife of Spartacus.

The movie was inspired by a best seller by Howard Fast, and adapted to the screen by the blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo. Kirk Douglas, who produced the film, effectively broke the blacklist by giving Trumbo screen credit instead of making him hide behind a pseudonym. The direction is by the 31-year-old Stanley Kubrick, who realizes the ideas of Douglas, Fast and Trumbo .

 The movie is about revolution, and clearly reflects the decadence of the parasitical upper classes and the superior moral fiber of the slaves

Stanley Kubrik

July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999

Stanley Kubrick was an influential and acclaimed American master of cinema and producer considered among the greatest of the 20th Century. He directed a number of highly acclaimed and sometimes controversial films. Kubrick was noted for the scrupulous care with which he chose his subjects, his slow method of working, the variety of genres in his movies and his reclusive personality about his films and personal life.

Stanley Kubrick was born on July 26, 1928 in the Bronx, New York City. By age 13 he had developed passions for jazz drumming, chess, and photography. At 17 years of age he landed a job at Look magazine as a photographer. Worked there for several years, traveling all over America. He enrolled as a non-matriculating student at Columbia University and attended the Museum of Modern Art film showings as often as they changed the program.

In 1951 at 23 years of age, Kubrick used his savings to finance his first film, a 13 minute documentary . After short films like Flying Padre and The Seafarers , in 1953 he raised $13,000 from his relatives to finance his first feature length film Fear & Desire and in 1955 he raised $40,000 from friends and relatives and shot his second feature Killer’s Kiss. After that with the release of Killing & Paths Of Glory, Kubrick never looked back. 

Till the day he died . Kubrick was involved in his films and gave the world nothing but masterpieces - Spartacus (1960) , Lolita (1962) ,Dr. Strangelove (1964), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) , A Clockwork Orange (1971) , Barry Lyndon (1975) , The Shining (1980) , Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999) .

28th Dec 2008 ; The journey of Riding Solo To The Top Of The World

The journey of Riding Solo To The Top Of The World.

A documentary by Gaurav Jani

94 minutes

28th Dec 2008 ; 5.45 pm

Ashwin Hospital Auditorium

Call : 94430 39630

http://konangalfilmsociety.blogspot.com/

This is  a documentary  film about filmmaker Gaurav Jani's solo motorcycle journey from Mumbai to one of the remotest places in the world, the Changthang Plateau in Ladakh, bordering China. The film is even more extraordinary for the fact that Jani was a one-man  crew who loaded his 200 kg motorcycle with over 100 kgs of equipment/supplies and set off on a journey to one of the world's most difficult terrains.

“I wanted to make a documentary series about the romance of travel in India: Five bikers on a two-year ride without a proper film unit or a plan. Without a pre-planned screenpl ay and film unit, the documentary was to capture the real experience of travel. “Let’s just go there and take it from there”, like a lot of us who travel footloose without a plan. The film was to capture the little moments that stay with us for a lifetime; the places, the people, the highs and lows of travel. 

   With minimum luggage, I started off from Vivek Sharma's house in Delhi. The maximum amount of space was occupied by the camera box and  camera accessories. The heaviest bag had the bike spares and tools.  Once on the road, each time I had to take a shot, I had to untie the camera bag and tripod, remove the camera, tie the camera bag back onto the bike, set the frame, wear the helmet, ride away from the camera, come back to unpack the camera bag on the bike and pack the camera and tripod back onto the bike. Sounds like a lot of work but any film-maker would go to any length to get a good shot. 

There are two shots in the film where I have not operated the camera. One shot is in the trailer where the camera pans while I am riding. That shot was taken by  a cameraman of the Zee News channel.

 Zee News was doing a feature on paragliding near Rohthang pass at Manali and they too were using the same Panasonic camera. I actually wanted to inquire from the cameraman on what all precautions I should take while taking shots in sub-zero temperatures. Second shot was taken by a Royal Beast (a Royal Enfield club from Delhi) member whom I had met en route. 

I wanted the Zee News shot in the film as it was the only shot where the camera moves while I am riding, But quite a few people after seeing the shot thought that my claim of filming my own journey was bogus, so in the DVD cut, we have replaced that shot with me riding past the milestone of Rohthang pass. 

Filming my own journey on the high altitude region was tough physically, but mentally  it was satisfying. Any first-time director would be nervous on the sets, crew and cast waiting for his directions. But for Riding solo... there was no one to judge me or look at me for further instructions. I was filming without any plan or schedule and most importantly, I had complete freedom. A perfect scenario for a first time director . “

-    filmmaker Gaurav Jani

Gaurav Jani

Gaurav, also known as Jani, Bhatku (wanderer) or GJ, directs films for Dirt Track Productions. Riding Solo To The Top Of The World is his debut film. Gaurav is a travel freak and a biker. He likes to collect antiques, but doesn’t have the money for it! He is also the founder member of 60kph, Motorcycle Travel Club India. Gaurav functions as a one-man film unit to capture the true essence of travel and it’s highs and lows. He neither believes in planning nor research, preferring instead to trust his instincts and firm resolve. Sometimes things work out the way he wants and sometimes they bomb, but he doesn’t change. He likes to keep things simple and basic, letting his heart rule over his head.

Phone : +91 9833013039

Email : gaurav[at]dirttrackproductions[dot]com

Source : http://www.dirttrackproductions.com/