Digibooster sells 14 Punjabi films to leading Digital Platform                             

Digibooster, the new content market for the media and entertainment industry and part of the Booster Network, has just announced that it helped sell digital platform rights of 14 Punjabi feature film titles. The list is appended below.

The Booster Network is currently focused on two businesses:

Idyabooster (www.idyabooster.com ) a platform to curate and invest in cutting edge content and

Digibooster (www.digibooster.co).

Nandini Mansinghka, who has already had a long career in investment banking and worked for organisations like The Times of India and J.P. Morgan, is part of the core team at Boosters, which operates out of Mumbai. She said that the market is opening up for all kinds of digital rights’ monetisation. “Buyers are looking for Music Videos for non-exclusive airline rights, Telugu films airline and broadcast rights, digital rights for Tamil and Telugu content, documentaries, short films and Hindi, Punjabi and Tamil films broadcast rights.”

Project Name  Project Type    Language        Genre

Punjab Bolda  Feature Film    Punjabi            Drama

Rabb Toh Sohna Ishq Feature Film    Punjabi            Action

Pata Nahi Rabb Kehdeyan Rangan Ch Raazi            Feature Film    Punjabi            Drama

Munde Patiale De       Feature Film    Punjabi            Comedy

Mere Yaar Kaminey    Feature Film    Punjabi            Comedy

You n Me        Feature Film    Punjabi            Romance

Yaar Annmulle            Feature Film    Punjabi            Romance

Sadi Gali Aaya Karo   Feature Film    Punjabi            Comedy

Kabaddi Once Again  Feature Film    Punjabi            Drama

Pure Punjabi    Feature Film    Punjabi            Drama

Titto MBA      Feature Film    Punjabi            Romance

Wake Up Singh           Feature Film    Punjabi            Drama

Tera Mera Vaada        Feature Film    Punjabi            Romance

Destination of Love    Feature Film    Punjabi            Drama

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent

Sometimes a press release is so good it’s just fine art, or more specifically it’s the holidays and we’re lazy, plus this is great writing from our friends in show business. That said, we’d only put a slightly different headline on it, for the diehard hipsters. Which is “The Dude, AKA Jeff Bridges Now in HIGHWATER, Wins American Riviera Award From Santa Barbara,” whereas our more respectable writing colleagues began something like this:

JEFF BRIDGES TO RECEIVE AMERICAN RIVIERA AWARD AT THE 32nd ANNUAL SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Santa Barbara, CA (December 21, 2016)– The Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced today that Jeff Bridges will be honored with the 2017 American Riviera Award at the 32nd edition of the Fest, which runs from February 1 to February 11, 2017. Bridges will be fêted with a Tribute celebrating his illustrious career, culminating with his captivating performance in David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water, a CBS Films/Lionsgate release. The film opened in August to critical acclaim. The Tribute will take place Thursday, February 9, 2017 at the historic Arlington Theatre.

[French-language poster for Cannes.]

For his role in Hell or High Water, Bridges has received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor, as well as the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor. Bridges’ renowned career includes celebrated roles in films such as The Big Lebowski, Fearless, The Contender, The Mirror Has Two Faces, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Door in the Floor, True Grit, Starman, The Morning After, Jagged Edge, The Last Picture Show, Against All Odds, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Fisher King, Seabiscuit, and Crazy Heart (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor). “Jeff Bridges shows us in Hell or High Water that an already great artist can continue his growth.  I may go as far as saying that this is his best performance," stated SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. “It’s truly special to be able to celebrate Jeff – for he’s not only a dear friend of SBIFF – but he is a timeless legend in our industry."

A modern-day set crime western, Hell or High Water tells the riveting story of a divorced father and his ex-con older brother who resort to a desperate scheme in order to save their family's ranch in West Texas.  The film, directed by David Mackenzie, with an original screenplay by Taylor Sheridan, also stars Chris Pine and Ben Foster. 

[Golden Boy - Six-time Oscar nominee has nothing to prove since 2010 Cracy Heart Oscar win, with Pine.]

The American Riviera Award was established to recognize actors who have made a significant contribution to American Cinema. Bridges will join a prestigious group of past recipients, including last year’s honorees Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, and Mark Ruffalo (2016), Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke (2015), Robert Redford (2014), Quentin Tarantino (2013) and Martin Scorsese (2012), Annette Bening (2011), Sandra Bullock (2010), Mickey Rourke (2009), Tommy Lee Jones (2008), Forrest Whitaker (2007), Philip Seymour Hoffman (2006), Kevin Bacon (2005) and Diane Lane (2004). The 32nd annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place from Wednesday, February 1st through Saturday, February 11th. For more information, and to purchase tickets, festival passes and packages, please visit www.sbiff.org. 

BEST JEFF BRIDGES BIO EVER, PS…

One of Hollywood’s most successful actors and a six-time Academy Award® nominee, JEFF BRIDGES’ (Marcus) performance in “Crazy Heart”—as Bad Blake, the down-on-his-luck, alcoholic country music singer at the center of the drama—deservedly garnered the iconic performer his first Oscar® for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.

The performance also earned him the Golden Globe, SAG Award and the IFP/Spirit Award for Lead Actor. The film follows Blake, who, through his experiences with a female reporter (Maggie Gyllenhaal), is able to get his career back on track while playing mentor to a hotshot contemporary country star and simultaneously struggling in his shadow. The movie, directed by Scott Cooper, is based on the debut novel by Thomas Cobb and also stars Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell. Bridges’ moving and multi-layered performance is one of many in a career that spans decades.

He earned his first Oscar® nod in 1971 for Best Supporting Actor in Peter Bogdanovich’s “The Last Picture Show,” co-starring Cybill Shepherd. Three years later, he received his second Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in Michael Cimino’s “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.”

By 1984 he landed top kudos with a Best Actor nomination for “Starman”; that performance also earned him a Golden Globe nomination. In 2001, he was honored with another Golden Globe nomination and his fourth Oscar® nomination for his role in “The Contender,” Rod Lurie’s political thriller, co-starring Gary Oldman and Joan Allen, in which Bridges played the President of the United States.

In December 2010 his reunion with the Coen Brothers in the critically acclaimed western “True Grit” landed him his sixth Oscar® nomination. The film focuses on fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) whose father has been shot in cold blood by the coward Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she is determined to bring him to justice. Enlisting the help of a trigger-happy, drunken U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Bridges), she sets out with him — over his objections — to hunt down Chaney. The same month he was seen in the highly anticipated 3D action-adventure “TRON: Legacy.” Bridges reprised his role of video-game developer Kevin Flynn from the classic 1982 film “TRON.”

With state-of-the-art technology, “TRON: Legacy” featured Bridges as the first actor in cinematic history to play opposite a younger version of himself. He will next be seen in the first animated feature film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s iconic masterpiece “The Little Prince” as the Aviator for director Mark Osborne. He was last seen in the action adventure fantasy film “Seventh Son,” reuniting with Julianne Moore and directed by Sergey Bodrov.

In August 2014, Bridges starred in “The Giver” opposite Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Alexander Skarsgard, Katie Holmes, Odeya Rush and Cameron Monaghan. Based on the bestselling young adult novel by Lois Lowry, the film – which he also produced – was a passion project of his for more than 2 decades and was directed by Phillip Noyce.

Prior to “Crazy Heart,” Bridges was seen in the war comedy “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” playing Bill Django, a free-spirited military intelligence officer, who is the leader of a secret group of warriors in the army. The Peter Straughan screenplay (based on the Jon Ronson book and directed by Grant Heslov) is based on a true story about a reporter in Iraq, who meets a former member of the US Army’s First Earth Battalion, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions. He stars opposite George Clooney (also a producer), Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey.

Additionally, he starred in “A Dog Year” for HBO Films/ Picturehouse, based on the memoir by Jon Katz and directed by George LaVoo (who also wrote the screenplay) and garnered an Emmy nomination; as well as opposite Robert Downey, Jr. in the Paramount Pictures/Marvel Studios blockbuster “Iron Man,” playing the character of Obadiah Stane. He starred opposite Shia LaBeouf as Geek, a cantankerous and washed-up surfer penguin, in the Academy Award®-nominated “Surf’s Up,” from Sony Pictures Animation.

Prior to this, he was in his second film for director Terry Gilliam, entitled “Tideland,” where he played Noah, a drug addicted, has-been, rock guitarist. The actor’s multi-faceted career has cut a wide swathe across all genres. He has starred in numerous box office hits, including Gary Ross’ “Seabiscuit,” Terry Gilliam’s offbeat comedic drama “The Fisher King” (co-starring Robin Williams), the multi-award-nominated “The Fabulous Baker Boys” (co-starring his brother Beau Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer), “The Jagged Edge” (opposite Glenn Close), Francis Ford Coppola’s “Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” “Blown Away” (co-starring his late father Lloyd Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones), Peter Weir’s “Fearless” (with Isabella Rossellini and Rosie Perez), and Martin Bell’s “American Heart” (with Edward Furlong, produced by Bridges’ company, AsIs Productions).

That film earned Bridges an IFP/Spirit Award in 1993 for Best Actor. In the summer of 2004, he appeared opposite Kim Basinger in the critically acclaimed “The Door in the Floor” for director Todd Williams and Focus Features, which earned him an IFP/Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor. He played a major featured role in “The Muse” (an Albert Brooks comedy starring Brooks, Sharon Stone and Andie MacDowell); appeared in the suspense thriller “Arlington Road” (co-starring Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack, directed by Mark Pellington); and starred in “Simpatico,” the screen version of Sam Shepard’s play (with Nick Nolte, Sharon Stone and Albert Finney). In 1998, he starred in the Coen brothers’ cult comedy “The Big Lebowski.” Before that, he starred in Ridley Scott’s “White Squall,” Walter Hill’s “Wild Bill,” John Huston’s “Fat City” and Barbara Streisand’s romantic comedy “The Mirror Has Two Faces.”

[Let's not forget the heart-smashing Eastwood starrer Bridges was in in 1974.]

Some of Bridges’ other acting credits include “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People,” “K-PAX,” “Masked and Anonymous,” “Stay Hungry,” “Fat City,” “Bad Company,” “Against All Odds,” “Cutter’s Way,” “The Vanishing,” “Texasville,” “The Morning After,” “Nadine,” “Rancho Deluxe,” “See You in the Morning,” “Eight Million Ways to Die,” “TRON,” “The Last American Hero” and “Heart of the West.”

In 1983, Bridges founded the End Hunger Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to feeding children around the world. He produced the End Hunger televent, a three-hour live television broadcast focusing on world hunger. The televent featured Gregory Peck, Jack Lemmon, Burt Lancaster, Bob Newhart, Kenny Loggins and other leading film, television and music stars in an innovative production to educate and inspire action. 

He is currently the national spokesman for the Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry campaign that is fighting to end childhood hunger in America.

Through his company, AsIs Productions, he produced “Hidden in America,” which starred his brother Beau. That television movie, produced for Showtime, received a Golden Globe nomination in 1996 for Best TV/Cable Film and garnered a Screen Actors Guild nod for Best Actor for Beau Bridges.

The film was also nominated for two Emmy Awards. One of Bridges’ true passions is photography. While on the set of his movies, he takes behind-the-scenes pictures of the actors, crew and locations. After completion of each motion picture, he edits the images into a book and gives copies to everyone involved. Bridges’ photographs have been featured in several magazines, including Premiere and Aperture, as well as in other publications worldwide. He has also had gallery exhibitions of his work in New York (at the George Eastman House), Los Angeles, London and the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego.

In 2013, Bridges was the recipient of an Infinity Award, presented by the International Center of Photography, NY. The books, which have become valued by collectors, were never intended for public sale, but in the fall of 2003, powerHouse Books released Pictures: Photographs by Jeff Bridges, a hardcover book containing a compilation of his photographs taken on numerous film locations over the years, to much critical acclaim. Proceeds from the book are donated to the Motion Picture & Television Fund, a nonprofit organization that offers charitable care and support to film-industry workers.

In February 2015 Bridges released a spoken word/ambient album titled “Sleeping Tapes.” The collaboration was co-produced with musician Keefus Ciancia who also supplied the music. The album was released by web hosting service Squarespace as part of its Super Bowl advertising campaign, with all proceeds from the album sales going to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign.

In August 2011 Bridges released his self-titled major label debut album for Blue Note Records. Multiple-Grammy Award-wining songwriter, musician and producer T Bone Burnett produced the album. It is an organic extension and culmination of his personal, professional and music friendship with Burnett, whom he has known for more than 30 years.

The critically acclaimed album was a follow up to his first solo effort “Be Here Soon,” on Ramp Records, the Santa Barbara, CA label he co-founded with Michael McDonald and producer/singer/songwriter Chris Pelonis. The CD features guest appearances by vocalist/keyboardist Michael McDonald, Grammy-nominated Amy Holland and country-rock legend David Crosby.

In 2014 he released his first live album “Jeff Bridges & The Abiders Live” and has been touring off and on when he is not working.

Bridges and his wife Susan divide their time between their home in Santa Barbara, California, and their ranch in Montana.

WHY YOU SHOULD DRIVE/FLY OUT THERE TO ATTEND...

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema.

Over the past 30 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 90,000 attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and symposiums, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film.

SBIFF continues its commitment to education and the community through free programs like its 10-10-10 Student Filmmaking and Screenwriting Competitions, Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies, National Film Studies Program, AppleBox Family Films, 3rd Weekend and educational seminars. This past June, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. 

The theatre is SBIFF’s new home and is the catalyst for program expansion and marks the first time that Santa Barbara has had a 24/7 community center to expand their mission of educational outreach.

[See HELL OR HIGH WATER via Redbox rentals, VOD and coming soon via streamers. And make sure to catch everything Jeff Bridges has ever been in, including TRON, original and remake, STARMAN, also 1974’s heart-smashing THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT.]

SBIFF 2017, including the American Riviera Award for Jeff Bridges at the 32nd edition of the Fest, runs from February 1 to February 11, 2017 in Santa Barbara, Calif. See SBIFF.org for tickets, galas, show times.

# # #

Until January 8, 2017 New York’s Park Avenue Armory is showcasing Julian Rosefeldt’s MANIFESTO, an extraordinary film installation which first premiered in December 2015 at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image with funding from Australian and German media and art agencies.  Rosefeldt wrote, directed, and produced Manifesto is a massive under taking, as its credits indicate, mirroring a large body of research and extensive film making.  Rosefeldt covers 19 art movements as reflected in the excerpts from 50 manifestos which are recited by Cate Blanchett in 13 scenes set in contemporary society. These art movements encompass virtually all important trends of last century such as situationism, fluxus, Dadaism, and conceptual art as well as surrealism, abstract expressionism, pop art and Dogma 95. They range from the early 19^th century dada to contemporary film making.

In the cavernous drill hall of the Armory, 13 large screens simultaneously projected superbly filmed critical interpretations of society and the arts.  On each screen a different individual provides the statement in a voice over monologue or direct address to the audience. Speakers range from Puppeteer, Conservative Mother, Teacher, Newsreader, and Funeral Speaker to the Homeless Man. All are played in an amazing acting performance by Cate Blanchett. Among the other characters embraced by her are a Tattooed Punk, a Choreographer, Broker, Scientist, Worker in a Garbage Plant, and a CEO at a party. Except for the Homeless Person all characters are female and Cate Blanchett succeeds in representing them in a most convincing way, drawing from her vast repertoire of professional experience. Though the texts were drawn from Manifestos written decades ago they retain their plausibility and persuasion as articulated by Blanchett. In these 13 scenes based on manifestos written by male artists she is the dominant figure.

In the Funeral Speaker scene a presentation skillfully deconstructs with Dadaist texts our notions of logic, reasoning, tradition and history. We follow a bleak funeral procession and service. The funeral allocution is a powerful recitation of manifestos based on Tristan Tzara Dada Manifesto 1918, Manifesto of Monsieur Aa the Antiphilosopher 1920; Frances Picabia, Dada Cannibalistic Manifesto, 1920; Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, The Pleasure of Dada, 1920, To the Public, 1920; Paul Eluard, Five Ways to Dada Shortage or two Words of Explanation; Louis Aragon, Dada Manifesto, 1920; Richard Huelsenbeck, and First Dada Manifesto, 1918.  

The sources for the statements are manifestos from the last century written in concise, abstract, and challenging prose discussing changes in society and frequently the arts and the role of the artist.  Julien Rosefeldt, known for his films challenging conventional conceptions, acquired some years ago a book which featured manifestos written in the 20^thcentury. After editing by Rosefeldt they provided the sole source material used for the texts of the 13 Manifesto scenes. It is stunning how valid and persuasive these manifestos and some of their predictions still are today though they were written decades ago. The prologue of the installation, Burning Fuse, opens with a line from the 1848 Communist Manifesto of the Communists Party, dated 1848, “All that is solid melts into air” and continues with statements from two Dadaists. The voice-over commentary is presented against the background of a slowly burning fuse which does not lead to a visible explosion as if it is still burning today. In most cases the artists wrote the manifestos early in their career; considering their art works as agents of change and critically debunked whatever had been created by prior generations of artists. Negation of the societies they lived in and of the world immuring them the artists believed in their power to challenge and transform.  Thus, in Conceptual Art the idea behind a work of art is more important than the final product, Constructivism moved the focus of art to the industrial worlds, Dadaism understood the world as being nonsensical, Futurism celebrated the dynamism of the industrial future, Situationism suspended traditional art and culture concepts, and Surrealism placed the root of creativity in our sub consciousness. As stated on the backs and covers of the informative exhibition brochure: All of Man is False, Nothing is Original, All  Current Art is Fake, Originality is Nonexistant, the Present is Art,  and Logic is Always Wrong.

The content of the manifestos reflect the reaction of artists to the rapid socio-politic transformations and ruptures western societies experienced during the last century; the rise of science, technologies and the declining plausibility of traditional accounts of meaning. Though there is no single dominant interpretation in the Manifesto installation, some trends are frequently articulated in the scenes. To mention a few “The   call to destroy our past history… we must disband the inherited literature and music…  we should support violence and praise the iron cage of information… need to welcoming gigantic industrial housing and living structures… there is a need to fight tradition… affirming the validity of the present… we must free ourselves from the past and future which ‘are prostitutes enslaving us’ capitalism is stripped naked… the end of the bourgeois culture as generated by capitalism…  artists need to become revolutionaries… we have to purge the world of dead art, that is intellectual professional and commercial culture”.  Put differently, the artist must reject traditional conceptions and create for other artists and the audience a state of cognitive dissonance, an imbalance that must be filled with new meaning to bridge it. The response will generate new ways of seeing. When Lars von Trier urged filmmakers in 1995 in his Dogma 95 manifesto to abandon rules of filmmaking and restrict productions to the bare essentials he had the same objective in mind.

The texts from the manifestos are presented over an imagery that reinforces the verbal statement. Given the size of the Armory Drill Hall and the distance between the screens, the audio remains accessible, though once or twice during the playback all voices by Blanchett are synchronized for about a minute. For the viewer, the show with its 13 manifesto scenes lasting about eleven minutes each is certainly a challenge. Sophisticated imagery is accessible yet the frequently abstract verbal text with its broad socio political content requires a reflexive mind. Some of the issues propagated are difficult to comprehend if one is just pursuing the customary gallery walk through. These viewers could certainly benefit from the Art as Change Manifesto Education Program which was organized at the Armory by Julian Rosefeldt. Following his dictum “Today I think of the manifesto as a rite of passage, not only for young artists but also for young people”, a large number New York public school students participated in the armory show, and related art education programs. They were encouraged to write their own manifestos, to reject norms and to learn through their writing that art is a lens that can be used as a tool for change.  In short, Rosefeldt offers a tool that meets our need to think outside the box.

The Manifesto installation ranks superbly on all accounts. It is characterized by high production value with outstanding cinematography, soundtracks and overall installation design. Cate Blanchett delivers a tour de force performance which merits a significant award. A special kudo goes to Julien Rosefeldt for the original concept of the installation and its great execution. Manifesto is an experience not to be missed.

Claus Mueller

filmexchange@gmail.com

Siraj Syed reviews ‘The Cinema of Nasir Hussain’, by Akshay Manwani

...and serialises his own recollections of the Indian writer-director, who was a rare blend of pithy penmanship and shimmering showmanship.

Nasir Hussain (1931-2002) wrote and co-wrote a string of hits for Filmistan Studios, developed the persona of Shammi Kapoor as the Rebel Star, provided the platform to composer Rahul Dev Burman for his first big banner hit, sustained his faith in lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri’s ability to create narrative lyrical continuity on demand, gave slapstick comedian Rajindernath his best roles, teamed-up with writer duo Salim-Javed to create his (only) multi-starrer block-buster, paved the ground for the remarkable careers of his son Mansoor Khan, and nephew, Aamir Khan, even tried his hand at neo-realistic semi-melodrama, albeit with disastrous results.

And yet, what did most film-writers think of him then, as many still do?

“The writer who had only one story to tell; the wordsmith who could not think beyond lost and found sagas; the maker who’s films always had masquerading characters and revenge plots running through; the pen-pusher who loved mountains and balloons; the director who believed in over the top comedy; the film-maker to whom cinema was all about song and dance,” and so on.

He is never spoken of in the same breath as Shakti Samanta, Pramod Chakravarti, Subodh Mukerji, Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra, all of who used the same or similar tropes, and as often and as unrealistically, if not more so. They were all contemporaries of, or just that bit junior to, Hussain, a bunch of highly successful directors, and some of their films were mini classics. But whatever happened to the man who made Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Jab Pyar Kiseese Hota Hai, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Caravan, Teesri Manzil, Yaadon Ki Baarat and Hum Kiseese Kum Naheen? “He was slave to a formula, a maker with no originality; a maker whose films clicked largely due to the songs, locales and the charisma of the lead actors.” Really?

I saw Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Hussain’s debut as director, as a five year-old, and worked with Hussain on a few occasions, during 1972-80. We had several conversations in his office, and he even directed me in a few scenes (YKB, HKKN). During this period, cine-goers saw the best of his best, and also the beginning of his irreversible decline. I would be inclined to view any biography of Hussain as a process of discoveries, or negations, or both, like “Wow! I didn’t know that!” or, “No! That’s not true.” But guess what? This is not a biography, as biographies go.

Akshay Manwani graduated from St. Xavier’s College in 2000. He never met Hussain, who died in 2002. I assume he never met Majrooh or R.D. Burman either. So what is he doing here, writing about the cinema of Nasir Hussain? In the author’s words, “This book is not a biography that looks at Hussain’s personal life in great detail. Instead, it focusses essentially on Hussain’s cinematic craft.” No doubt about it, Akshay. However, such works are always in danger of becoming scholarly critiques or doctorate theses, often postulating, collecting quotes from several sources to further already set-out agendas.

Music Masti Modernity: The Cinema of Nasir Hussain (Harper Collins, paperback, price; Rs. 599 in India, launched at the Mumbai Film Festival a few weeks ago, where I was given a review copy) does fall prey to the trap of eulogistic appraisal, backed by endorsements and validations, but balances it somewhat with a look at Hussain’s failures too. It would be unrealistic to expect an author of what is meant to be a tribute, to be blunt and unforgiving. In fact, Manwani has tapped a cross-section of sources, ranging from the extended Hussain family (Mansoor, Nuzhat, Aamir, Tariq) to other directors (Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar), script-writers (Javed Akhtar), authors, bloggers, analysts and a large chunk of archival anecdotes.

Most of the material that emanates from these origins is worthy; some, as a professional hazard, is repetitive and generalised. Indeed, many of these similar strokes might have been avoided with crisper editing. At 402 pages, Music Masti Modernity: The Cinema of Nasir Hussain, is a just a wee bit too long, like almost all of Hussain’s films, beginning with Yaadon Ki Baaraat. You don’t mind that, so long as the pace is racy, as in the 70s work, but it does get a bit tedious when it comes to the 80s: Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai, Manzil Manzil and Zabardast. If Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar are lengthy, blame it on the director-son, not on the writer-father.

From Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet (published 2013), a socialist/communist to the core with a philosophy akin to the theme of Nasir Hussain’s biggest flop, Baharon Ke Sapne, to Nasir Hussain, the man identified with masala and formula concoctions to the film-making recipé, is quite a leap for Akshay Manwani, who took up journalistic writing in 2009. On the other hand, a film is a film, as a sport is a sport. Interestingly, Manwani is as keen about NBA as he is about cricket.

On his present subject, Manwani told a Mumbai daily, “Husain’s films reflect a certain Anglophone club culture that was omni-present in the hill-stations of India--be it Mussoorie, Darjeeling, Ooty--through the early-to-mid 20th century. His films, like Dil Deke Dekho, Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai and Teesri Manzil, all show the club space inhabited by a certain Indian elite class that do not have problems with such Western spaces or Western culture. His music for such club spaces in these films is all rock-n-roll and heavily influenced by what is happening in the West, but what is ultimately being consumed by a certain strata of the Indian elite in these hill stations, in the 1950s and 1960s.”

Occasionally, the transliteration and translation of Urdu (a graduate in Urdu Literature, Economics and English from Lucknow University, and a resident of Bhopal, Nasir wrote in native Urdu) goes awry, but never so much as to put you off. There is a detailed filmography appended, as is a selected bibliography and handy index. Pictures, mostly in black and white, though few, are priceless. And there are surprises galore for lay film buff, like the fact that Nasir Hussain wrote the story of Anarkali, the screen version of Imtiaz Ali Taj’s 1922 play that was released by Filmistan a full seven years before its magnum opus big brother, Mughal-e-Azam, and that Zabardast was the name of a multi-starrer he had started, with Dilip Kumar in the central role, his most ambitious project and the only film that he had to shelve. (I attended the muhurt--launch ceremony)

Rating: ***

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What I remember as the first image of a Nasir Hussain film featured Shammi Kapoor and Ameeta in Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957), is not on a hill-station, but on a Filmistan Studios set. It was the Rex cinema in Mumbai, and the film is among the earliest two I can remember, the other being Do Ankhen Barah Haath (at Royal Opera House). Obviously, it was also my introduction to Shammi Kapoor and O.P. Nayyar (music director). Little did I know that, 30 years later, I would be speaking these lines in Hum Kiseese Kum Naheen, lines that Manwani quotes (thrice?) in the book, as symbolic of the song-dance competition-exhibtion cinema of Nasir Hussain, without identifying the actor who mouths them.

The scan below is from the lines I penned in my own hand-writing. I was there when the fabulous numbers of YKB and HKKN were shot, and played a part, both off-screen and on screen, in their filming. And since I am not planning my own book, let me give key-in a first-person companion reader to Akshay Manwani’s book, based on my interactions with Nasir Saahab, Aamir Khan, Mansoor Khan, Zeenat Aman, Rishi Kapoor, Amjad Khan, Tariq, and several others, about the golden age of Nasir Hussain Khan.

iNDYREELS.COM website down for house cleaning, renewal of domain and network upgrades. iNDYREELS will be back online Friday. Any questions please email us at info@indyreels.com

Regards,

Staff of iNDYREELS.COM

iNDYREELS.COM website down for house cleaning, renewal of domain and network upgrades. iNDYREELS will be back online Friday. Any questions please email us at info@indyreels.com

Regards,

Staff of iNDYREELS.COM

Films - whether documentaries or fiction movies - are among the best means of informing people and drawing more public attention to the topic. Our festival will not only present internationally renowned and award-winning films but also lesser known works by filmmakers from Myanmar, from South East Asia and neighboring Asian countries.

Until the 15^th of February 2017 we will accept your entries dealing with the worldwide environmental phenomenon of changing climate conditions: its reasons and initiatives as to ho to oppose this global crisis.

We are focusing on short films of not more than 50 minutes an not more than four years old (2013).

There will be two categories of awards allotted by an international jury:

• one for the best films from Myanmar

• one for the best films from South East Asia and neighboring countries

In both categories there will be two prizes: USD 1.000,- and USD 2.000,-

Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created, with ALIEN: COVENANT, a new chapter in his groundbreaking ALIEN franchise. The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.

In Theaters - May 19, 2017

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, Benjamin Rigby
 

Directed by: Ridley Scott

The Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards aka The Moas have announced all the nominees for the upcoming awards. You can check all the splendid nominations out below *

Well now it's all in the hands of the international judging panel and it's going to make for an exciting night on Feb 18th.

It's been truly great to see so much new blood come out with independent films in the past couple of years. Our industry needs all the new blood it can get and the fact that some are making films away from the traditional teat is very encouraging.

Have a great break everyone.
See you in 2017.

- AT&T

* Not to take the edge off any of the nominations but I feel that it should be acknowledged that if I'd actually submitted The Greasy Strangler, it would have easily knocked the grease off every film below, even with its hands down its pants. So yeah count yourselves lucky.. especially you Taika!

RIALTO CHANNEL FILM AWARDS NOMINEES
FEATURES

Rialto Channel Best Film
Free in Deed
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Mahana
Slow West
The Rehearsal

NZOnAir Best Television Feature
Abandoned
Bombshell
How to Murder Your Wife
Jean
Venus and Mars

Park Road Post Best Self Funded Film
Broken Hallelujah
Chronesthesia
Stars in Her Eyes
Sunday
The Great Maiden's Blush
Three Wise Cousins

Fish Best Director
Jake Mahaffy (Free in Deed)
Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Lee Tamahori (Mahana)
John Maclean (Slow West)
Alison Maclean (The Rehearsal)

flicks.co.nz Best Screenplay
Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
John Collee (Mahana)
John Maclean (Slow West)
Andrea Bosshard (The Great Maiden's Blush)
Alison Maclean and Emily Perkins (The Rehearsal)

Best Actress
Rachel House (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Caren Pistorius (Slow West)
Miriama McDowell (The Great Maiden's Blush)
Kerry Fox (The Rehearsal)
Laurence Leboeuf (Turbo Kid)

Best Actor
Milo Cawthorne (Deathgasm)
Julian Dennison (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Temuera Morrison (Mahana)
Michael Fassbender (Slow West)
James Rolleston (The Rehearsal)

Manukau Urban Maori Authority Best Supporting Actress
Onyeka Arapai (Born To Dance)
Nova Waretini-Hewison (Chronesthesia)
Rima Te Wiata (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Nancy Brunning (Mahana)
Ella Edward (The Rehearsal)

Te Whānau O Waipareira Best Supporting Actor
Jordan Vaahakolo (Born To Dance)
Ben Mitchell (Broken Hallelujah)
Sam Neill (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Kieran Charnock (The Rehearsal)
Edwin Wright (Turbo Kid)

Image Zone Best Cinematography
Simon Raby (Deathgasm)
Lachlan Milne (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Ginny Loane (Mahana)
Robbie Ryan (Slow West)
Waka Attewell, Alun Bollinger (The Great Maiden's Blush)

Letterboxd Best Production Design
Shayne Radford (Born To Dance)
Neville Stevenson (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Mark Robins (Mahana)
Kim Sinclair (Slow West)
Kirsty Cameron (The Rehearsal)

Mandy VFX Best Editor
Luke Haigh, Tom Eagles, Yana Gorskaya (Hunt for the Wilderpoeple)
Michael Horton with Jonothan Woodford-Robinson (Mahana)
Roland Gallois, Jon Gregory (Slow West)
Jonothan Woodford-Robinson (The Rehearsal)
Luke Haigh (Turbo Kid)

Bigpop Studios Best Score
Lukasz Pawel Buda, Samuel Scott, Conrad Wedde (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper and Tama Waipara (Mahana)
Jed Kurzel (Slow West)
Connan Mockasin (The Rehearsal)
Le Matos (Turbo Kid)

Bigpop Studios Best Sound Design
Phil Burton (Chronesthesia)
Gareth Van Niekerk, Amy Barber, Chris Sinclair (Deathgasm)
Dick Reade (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Dick Reade, Fred Enholmer, Tim Chaproniere (The Rehearsal)
Dick Reade (Turbo Kid)

Images and Sound Best Visual Effects
Simeon Duncombe (Chronesthesia)
Jason Lei Howden, Sarah Howden, Johnathan Guest, Blur + Sharpen, Halcyon Digital, Park Road Post, Electricity (Deathgasm)
Weta Digital (Hunt for the Wilderpoeple)
Peter McCully, Dan Packer (Mahana)
Curious, Alchemy 24 (Turbo Kid)

Best Costume Design
Kylie Cooke (Born To Dance)
Kristen Seth (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Liz McGregor (Mahana)
Kirsty Cameron (Slow West)
Kirsty Cameron and Charlotte Rust (The Rehearsal)

MAC Best Makeup Design
Vanessa Hurley, Roger Murray, Andrew Beattie (Deathgasm)
Dannelle Satherley (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Susie Glass (Mahana)
Dannelle Satherley (The Rehearsal)

DOCUMENTARY

New Zealand Film Commission Best Documentary
25 April
A Flickering Truth
Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses
Chasing Great
Poi E: The Story Of Our Song
The Ground We Won
Tickled

Best Documentary Director
Leanne Pooley (25 April)
Pietra Brettkelly (A Flickering Truth)
David Stubbs (Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses)
Michelle Walshe & Justin Pemberton (Chasing Great)
Tearepa Kahi (Poi E: The Story Of Our Song)
Christopher Pryor (The Ground We Won)
David Farrier & Dylan Reeve (Tickled)

PLS Best Documentary Cinematography
Jacob Bryant (A Flickering Truth)
Mathew Knight (Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses)
Jacob Bryant (Chasing Great)
Adam Luxton & Summer Agnew (On an Unkown Beach)
Christopher Pryor (The Ground We Won)
Dominic Fryer (Tickled)

Lotech Media Best Documentary Editor
Tim Woodhouse (25 April)
Bradley Warden (Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses)
Prisca Bouchet (Ever the Land)
Terarepa Kahi and Francis Glenday (POI E: The Story of our Song)
Simon Coldrick (Tickled)

SHORT FILM

Best Short Film
Feeder
Linda's List
Madam Black
Shout at the Ground
WAIT

Halcyon Digital Best Self Funded Short Film
Accidents, Blunders and Calamities
Every Moment
Food For Thought
Not Like Her
Tide

Actors Agents Association of New Zealand Best Short Film Actress
Jacqueline Joe (Cradle)
Bree Peters (Every Moment)
Angela Bloomfield (Linda's List)
Kate Elliott (Not Like Her)
Katlyn Wong (WAIT)

Actors Agents Association of New Zealand Best Best Short Film Actor
Josh McKenzie (Bound)
Matthew Sunderland (Cradle)
Aaron McGregor (Every Moment)
Cohen Holloway (Feeder)
Jethro Skinner (Madam Black)

The Rialto Channel Film Awards are sponsored by:
Rialto Channel, NZ Film Commission, National Urban Maori Authority, NZ On Air, Imagezone, Images & Sound, Park Road Post, Fish, BigPop Studios, Professional Lighting Services, Letterboxd, Mandy VFX, Mac, Dominion Law, Lotech.media, Halcyon Digital, AAANZ, Vendetta Films

iNDYREELS Website back online! Will be going through major upgrades in the next few weeks getting ready for our March Premier Launch! 

Siraj Syed reviews Incarnate: This Entity is an Omen for the Exorcist

In cinema, as in most other industries, if you don’t innovate, you are dead. Innovation is an essential part of the survival kit, and if new genres are proving elusive, makers must, nevertheless, try to reformat the template. So, if you can’t re-incarnate, at least ‘incarnate’. A good example of eschewing supernatural tropes and plying atypical ropes instead is Incarnate. That it stumbles occasionally, and even trips on these very ropes, is unfortunate, and surprising, the effort itself being off-beat and laudable.

An unconventional, wheel-chair bound exorcist who can tap into the subconscious of the possessed and engage the demon in a battle of manipulated dreams meets his match when he confronts the case of an 11-year-old boy possessed by a demon from his (the exorcist’s) past. The demon preys on the disturbed boy’s weak mind, and forces him to indulge in violent acts.

Initially unwilling to take on the case because it is referred to him by the Vatican (he believes that his job is above any religion), he reconsiders when he learns that the Demon is Maggie, the woman who killed his wife and son, in an attempt to eliminate him, and has been elusive since then. Maggie is very powerful, and any confrontation could result in the death of the boy, or of himself or both. To eliminate the continuing threat, the exorcist puts his life at stake.

Incarnate took two years after its launch to land at cinemas in Belgium, another year to arrive at screens in the USA, and finds release in India four weeks later, on New Year’s Eve 2016-17. Hardly the kind of fare one would want to savour on a holiday weekend, the last of the year, one would demur. On second thought, Blumhouse specialises in low-budget horror stuff, and usually makes big ripples at the box-office while sending sharp shivers down audiences’ spines. Screen-writer Ronnie Christensen (Passengers, Dark Tide, Latitude) starts with familiar ingredients, and ends up with a dish that is not quite the Chef’s special, neither is it on the menu.

A paralysedeExorcist who first tries to conceal his gift and then turns it in to state-of-the-art diagnostic treatment, with a spunky babe and a tattooed dude as assistants, is not your conventional hero. Sending out realistic images through a drugged, near-deadened, brain, to counter the misleading reality conjured by the entity, is a departure from the norm, to be sure. And cleansing most of his patients by appearing in their para-normal consciousness, in his fully fitsy and fully fisty alter ego, is not the modus operandi we are accustomed to.

Where Christensen flounders is the completely digressive, though thankfully brief,  sub-plot, about the Vatican, the juvenile attack on the exorcist and his family by Maggie (in flashback), the predictable twist involving the exorcist’s teacher, the flimsy method of relocating the demon from one body to another, and the delineation of the boy’s father, including his pointless end. Christensen rises to the occasion when he seduces you into believing that it has all ended well, when ...no spoilers, okay? Moreover, if you have checked the film is 86 minutes long, you would already know that the 60 minute and 70 minute into the narrative point climaxes are all ploys and decoys.

Directed by Brad Peyton (Canadian; Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, San Andreas), Incarnate is kept at a healthy 86 minutes and has been passed by the Indian Central Board of Film Certification without any excision, but restricting admission to persons above 18 years of age A for Adults only). He does seem to get carried away by the grit that radiates from Eckhart’s grim-face, and allows him a free rein as a punch-machine. There is many a nod to trend-setters like Omen, Exorcist and Entity, yet there is no getting away from the fact that those are hard acts to follow.

After the villain in a Batman film and the President of America, Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, Rabbit Hole, London Has Fallen), the visual reconstruction of Paul Newman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charlton Heston, John Travolta, Sean Bean, Thomas Jane and more, has proven once again that he loves challenges and that being square-jaw does not come in the way emoting. Most critics, for their part, have not been kind to him this time, and he will have to ‘take it on the chin’ that the proverb is made of.                  

Supporting cast includes Carice van Houten (Dutch: The Fifth Estate, Race, Brimstone),   David Mazouz (young Bruce Wayne from Gotham), Catalina Sandino Moreno (Love in the Time of Cholera, Che, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse), Mark Henry, George Anthony Anisimow, Karolina Wydra and Emjay Anthony. Music by Andrew Lockington is up to the mark.

With para-normal activity becoming normal, with horrific becoming terrific, with demons becoming de-rigueur, with possession becoming a profession, with entities becoming propensities---anything that is even remotely refreshing is welcome. No, not into the real spaces of your cranium, at least as a cinematic foray into grey areas and dream zones of your sub-conscious.

Rating: ***

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUVwbhc0j18

P.S.: For reasons she did not elaborate, Aparna Kamerkar, the Executive Assistant who oversees Public Relations at the local distributor, Pictureworks, said to me at the press screening that she was keenly looking forward to my review of Incarnate. Such a statement could either denote endorsement of my earlier reviews, or suggest closer scrutiny of this one. I hope it is the former. Either way, it is encouraging enough that she reads my reviews!

Pictureworks was launched by Avinaash Jumani, in May 2010, with the acquisition of Luc Vinciguerra’s Santa Apprentice and Dermot Mulroney’s Love, Wedding, Marriage. Notable releases include Whiplash, Paddington and Eye in the Sky. It operates from Mumbai. Though there are several companies abroad (Shanghai, Hongkong, Kuala Lumpur, Dublin, and more) with similar names, including one located at Ang Mo Kio, Singapore, where I lived for eight years, Jumani’s Pictureworks™ is registered in India.

As a part of this festival occurs every month, there are more chances to hang the golden laurel on your favourite movies! 
In the end of the year the winner movie are inviting to our annual live screening event on 11 January 2018. The live screening location for 2018 will be "Canada Water Culture Center Theatre" in London!! 
In the annual event the director will be the protagonists! 
We show their movies and we announce the winners of the annual contest. 
Will be a amazing event and a good opportunity to take pictures and interviews with our trophy in your hands. 
There will be a photographer to take picture of the director and cast. each winner will be interviewed and the interview will be shared with our Youtube Channel and social.

4^th Noida International Film Festival-2017

Entries Open: Feature Films, Shorts films, Animation, Documentaries & Music Videos.

Submission deadline: 20 Jan 2017

To submit entry visit: http://miniboxoffice.com/noidainternationalfilmfestival

For Participation Email: NIFF@miniboxoffice.com

Siraj Syed reviews Assassin’s Creed: As a sin’s breed

Where do we begin? In 2016 (technically, in most places), when the game has notched up more than 100 million copies in sales, and the film franchise has leapt from centimetre screens to metric rectangles? Or, in 2007, when, in less than four weeks, Assassin’s Creed recorded more than two-and-a-half million units in worldwide sales?

How about going back a little farther, to 1986, when the five Guillemot brothers created Ubisoft Entertainment S.A, an educational software and video game publishing and distribution company? How’s 1492 for a backwards leap of faith, in the time of Chris(topher) Columbus? Yes, the same guy who’s credited with discovering America? Sounds good, but you still have an option to push back into 1091.

Gamers are already game. Non-gamers will start by wondering how assassins can be heroes, and their creed be one of honour and faith? But let’s stick to the film, and begin with a violent a man named Lynch, Callum Lynch, to be precise, the symbolic of his antecedents, not profession.

Convicted of killing a pimp, criminal Callum Lynch is rescued from his own execution by Abstergo (Latin for I clean/cleanse/wipe-off) Industries, the modern-day incarnation of the Templar Order, and learns that they are searching for the Apple of Eden, which seeded the first sin. Ostensibly, the objective is to rid mankind of sin, but in reality, they plan to subjugate the human race, by eliminating religious and all other forms of dissent, and of free will.

Scientist Dr. Sophia Rikkin, who is heading the project, reveals that Callum has been chosen since he is a descendant of Aguilar de Nerha, a member of a secret order of assassins that, for centuries, have opposed the Templar Order, and conscripts him to the Animus Project, operating from an ancient, gigantic building in Madrid, in which Callum is connected to a machine that allows him to revive Aguilar's memories, so Abstergo can the current whereabouts of the Apple of Eden.

In Spain, 1492, Aguilar and his partner Maria are deployed to rescue Prince Ahmed de Granada, who has been kidnapped by the leader of the Templars, Tomas de Torquemada, to coerce Prince Ahmed's father, Sultan Muhammad XII, to surrender the Apple of Eden, which is currently in his possession. Aguilar and Maria intercept the chariot transporting Ahmed, but are then ambushed and captured by Torquemada's enforcer, the hulk, Ojeda, just as Callum is pulled out of the Animus by Sophia.

In captivity, Callum befriends other descendants of assassins, led by Moussa, and begins experiencing hallucinations of both Aguilar and his own father, Joseph Lynch, who ‘murdered’ Callum's mother, while in assassin attire. Callum and Sophia build a rapport over their sessions, in which Sophia reveals herself as the daughter of Abstergo's CEO, Alan Rikkin, and confides with Callum that her mother was likewise murdered by an assassin. Back in the Animus, Aguilar and Maria are scheduled for execution, but Aguilar manages to free himself, and Maria, leading to a roof-top chase, in which they perform a Leap of Faith, and manage to escape.

That chase and its culmination in a Leap of Faith mark highest points in the screenplay by Michael Lesslie (Harrovian Oxford graduate; was 23 when the game was launched; wrote Macbeth and other plays), Adam Cooper & Bill Collage (Exodus: Gods and Kings, The General, The Transporter Refueled), which is based on Assassin's Creed, by Ubisoft. Cutting edge sci-fi transports Callum where eagles dare, and long, expansive tracking shots details battle-after-battle between the Templars’ royal warriors, their expansionist priest and their armed-to-the-teeth crusaders, versus the ‘heathen’ Sultan Mohammed’s out-gunned troops, propped-up by the blast from the future, Callum as Aguilar.

Most of the dialogue is devoid of inspiration and serves a purely utilitarian purpose. Memorable phrases can be counted on your finger-tips. And the ultimate manifestation of commitment to a cause, embodied in the phrase, “Leap of faith”, is so literally transposed against a real life leap of 38m/125ft, performed by Fassbender’s stunt-double, Damien Walters, that it comes across as a poor pun. After a well-crafted prologue, the unpeeling of various layers of Abstergo and the paper cut-out figures of Rikkin and Sofia are far less credible, even when they get into confrontation mode.

Recurring ding-dong pendulum (it’s actually a crane from which Callum is suspended) swings between the ‘real’ simulated in mid-air battles, in the present, and the host of hordes and horses that shower weapons and gallop non-stop, in 1492, are such an obvious time-buying tactic that it stares you in the face. Plot points are unimaginative and too predictable to hold interest. Various phases in the transformation of Callum ought to have panned out as a cat and mouse game. Instead, his mental make-up and motivation, both key to the plot, are both fuzzy and nebulous.

Justin Kurzel (Australian; Snowtown, The Turning, Macbeth-team of lead pair and director repeated) appears to believe that the game loyalists would not care for detailing in the narrative, so long as there is minute detailing in the sets, the technology and the grand canvas. What’s wrong with giving them both? Spectacle is plentiful, the action is barrelful.

There is so much running, horse-carts dashing across, flying, leaping across roof-tops, and even a helicopter to round it off that all fist-fights and small arm combats fail to hold your attention. When they are not Ben Hur, they are any old cowboy caper, when they are not 300, they are the recent Middle East war chronicles. Perhaps the characters of the two Rikkins, their right-hand man, the priest, several inmates of Abstergo’s Guantanamo Bay-like facility, and the Templar Excellency (Queen?) were thinly conceived—as director, Kurzel would still be responsible for making them three dimensional.  

Michael Fassbender (going on 40; 300, Inglourious Basterds, X-Men) gets to be human in just two or three scenes, where he is given dialogue that is in keeping with his violent robotic persona. That’s not hero stuff, for sure. Marion Cotillard as Sophia Rikkin (The Dark Knight Rises, The Immigrant, Macbeth) is crisp Brit and glistening eyes. But you cannot decide whether there is humanity in her, or only Animus. What’s more, it seems she cannot decide either. Jeremy Irons (67; Reversal of Fortunes, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Batman v/s Superman: Dawn of Justice) is over-confident and chooses under-acting as a tool, in a film that is over-the-(roof)top. (The character previously appeared in the first Assassin's Creed game).

Brendan Gleeson (Into the Storm, Calvary, The Guard, Harry Potter, Safe House) is cast as Joseph Lynch, Callum Lynch's father. Brian Gleeson portrays Young Joseph Lynch. Brendan has a highly expressive face and large build, which make it easy for any producer to give him strong-silent type parts. Charlotte Rampling (70; The Damned, Night Porter, Swimming Pool) is wasted as the Excellency, with merely two scenes of glib talking to be part of.

Michael K. Williams (12 Years a Slave, Robocop, Ghostbusters) as Moussa and Baptiste. (Baptiste previously appeared in Assassin's Creed: Liberation) is another incomplete character and even the truth he reveals about himself sounds phoney. Ariane Labed, 32, of Greek-French lineage, portrays Maria, an assassin in 15th century Spain, working with Aguilar, matching Aguilar jump for jump, bravado for bravado. Matias Varela appears as both Emir, and his ancestor, Yusuf. Michelle Lin portrays Lin, a descendant of an assassin, and another test subject at Abstergo, while James Sobol Kelly appears as Father Raymond, a priest. Denis Ménochet appears as McGowen, the head of Abstergo security, looking the part but stereo-typed to a fault.

Justin’s brother Danyel Kurzel, singer-songwriter-guitarist and film composer, a founding member of the Mess Hall (from 2001), a blues rock duo, scores the music. There’s a lot of it, in disparate styles, but wholly in tune.

Unfolding at a frenetic pace, Assassin’s Creed is about Templars’ Greed and going back in time to fight battles from within the bodies of historical figures—they did not do it, we did it for them. Is that a creed or plain greed?

Rating: ***

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4haJD6W136c

A question that has plagues the Indian patriotic and historic psyche for over 150years: How did the Koh-i-Noor diamond end up in the Queen of England’s treasury? Assassin’s Creed has already picked-up the dazzling light from this stone and turned it into a Game. It is called Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India. Set in Amritsar, 1841, during the British rule of India, its player is Master Templar Arbaaz Mir, who comes to steal Koh-i-Noor. On the way, he gets romantically entangled in diamond of the human kind, the Maharaja’s niece, Princess Pyara Kaur. (Yes, Pyara is an odd name for a woman). 

2016 good year for Sony Pictures Networks India

As 2016 fades out, Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) reveals that it has been a good year for the company. In 2007, the company had changed its name from Sony Entertainment Television (SET) to Multi Screen Media (MSM). Many viewers in India still remember the old name, which was the identity when the Sony group entered India, in 1995, not too long after the Indian skies had opened up to non-state, satellite television broadcasters.

According to N P Singh, CEO, Multi Screen Media (MSM; formerly COO), said that the strategic intent behind rebranding Multi Screen Media (MSM) into Sony Pictures Network (SPN) was to align with the parent company, and thereby accrue the benefit of global synergies. "The new logo is our way of creating a picture from a pixel; a campaign from an idea, and a revolution in progressive television entertainment. Going forward, Sony Pictures Networks will steer its helm on three levers, namely, general entertainment, sports and digital. With a comprehensive bouquet of varied channels, we are equipped today to serve India's population both, in the urban and rural areas, as well across geographies," says Singh.

India was a state monopoly when it came to radio and television, but that changed in the 90s, and, since then, Akashwani (All India Radio) and Doordarshan, the respective arms of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, have progressively lost ground to private and multi-national players. All government channels are free-t-air, while private channels cost between Rs. 5 and Rs. 100/month (current exchange rate is Rs. 68=$1), and up to 1,000 channels are available.

Singh added, "At MSM, we've served television audiences worldwide for the last 20 years, during which time, we pioneered new formats, new shows and actually set the trends for television entertainment. We changed the dynamics of how cricket and cinema were viewed on Indian television and contoured a variety of genres in TV entertainment. So, while Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who Wants to be a Millionaire, anchored by Amitabh Bachchan) and Dus Ka Dum (The Power of Ten/Selman Khan) created new waves in television gaming, Boogie Woogie (Naved Jaffri and Ravi Behl) and Indian Idol (Indian version of the singing competition, American Idol) brought the commoner's talent on the telly. We were also the first ones to embrace the cultural fabric of India by providing SAB (Sri Adhikari Brothers’ channel, bought over)- an out-and-out family humour channel." (Watch video; link below)

Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd. owns and operates a television network in India. SPN comprises of Sony Entertainment Television (SET), one of India's leading Hindi general entertainment television channels; MAX, India's premium Hindi movies and special events channel; MAX 2, a second Hindi movie channel showcasing great Indian Cinema; SAB, a family comedy entertainment channel; PIX, the English movie channel; AXN, the leader among English Entertainment Channels; AATH, the Bangla (Bengali) movie channel, MIX a refreshing Hindi music channel; SIX, India’s Premier Sports Entertainment Channel; KIX, a youth-centric sports channel focusing on high adrenaline, fast-paced content and LIV--the Digital Entertainment Channel. Recent additions include co-branded networks Sony ESPN and Sony BBC Earth.

SPN’s flagship movie channel, Sony Max, has been the leader since the last 26 consecutive weeks. In May 2016, Sony expanded its movie cluster with its first free-to-air (FTA) channel Sony Wah. With this, the channel count in Sony's Hindi movie bouquet has reached four, including Sony Max, Sony Max2 and Sony Max HD. During the Indian Premier League cricket tournament season, each year, Sony Max registered highest ratings in the prime time (late evening) segment, hence the property is special for the group. Cricket is the most popular team sport in India. Sony Wah (an approximation of Wow/Good), according to the company, has been the leader for 23 out of 35 weeks in Financial Year 2016-17. Wah has notched only 25 weeks of airing. Sony Wah is, uncharacteristically, free to air. Overall, the company claims that it has grown by 30% over the last year, which is much better than the industry average.

Andy Kaplan, president, Worldwide Networks, Sony Pictures Television (SPT), says, "Our channels in India represent an important part of Sony Pictures Television's global portfolio and we are proud to be part of the fabric of the diverse Indian culture. As we celebrate bringing the best entertainment to viewers in India for 20 years, it's only fitting that these networks be branded as part of our Sony family. Like the Sony brand, which stands for innovation, creativity and delight, SPN brings the same qualities to our viewers."

MSM Motion Pictures is the company’s venture in film production. Sony Pictures Networks Distribution India Pvt. Ltd. (SPN Distribution India) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd. Along with ‘home’ channels SET, SAB, PAL, MAX, MAX 2, WAH, MIX, PIX, SIX, Sony ESPN, AXN, Animax, Aath (Eight), SET HD, MAX HD, SIX HD, PIX HD, AXN HD and Sony ESPN HD. It also distributes the well-known TV Today Network channels--India Today, Aaj Tak and Tez.

Some notable Sony films in Hindi

AZHAR, 2016

PIKU, 2015

YOUNGISTAAN, 2014

DAAR @ THE MALL, 2013

BAJATEY RAHO, 2013

Key Personnel

Mr. N. P. Singh, Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Jayesh D. Parekh, Co-Founder

Mr. Andy Kaplan, President of Worldwide Networks

Ms. Humsa Dhir, Head of PR & Corporate Communications and Senior Vice-President

Mr. Anup Vishwanathan, Head of Marketing and Senior Vice President

Mr. Neeraj Vyas, Sony Max (movie channel cluster) Senior Executive Vice-President and Business Head

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N.P. Singh video: https://youtu.be/Hjx1KbTZM2Y

Deadline for submissions is fast approaching.  We have a line up of Festival Screenings, Panels & Workshops, and Award Ceremonies planned for February 18-19, 2017.  Check our website www.cosmicfilmfest.com for more information. 

Celebrating its 10^th anniversary The Other Israel Film Festival was held from December 1-8 at the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan (JCC) showcasing nine feature and three short films attracting an audience of about 4000 individuals in mostly sold out screenings.  Viewers were drawn from the membership of the JCC but a large proportion were habitués who had attended past editions of the festival. As its title indicates the festival has a unique profile focusing on minority groups living in Israel with a special emphasis on Palestinians as well as the issues Israel is facing with the objective of fostering a better understanding. As noted by Ravzit Turjeman, the director of the festival “As in past years, we will continue to encourage cinematic expression and creativity that truly celebrates the humanity and daily lives of Arab citizens and other minority groups who are most often overlooked by the mainstream culture.”  This positioning offers a platform for opinions encouraging reflection and change discouraged by the conservative Israeli ministry of culture.  The 2016 festival program included numerous films premiering in the United States and award winning titles with some funding often secured from Israeli agencies.

Without taking sides, The Other Israel Festival with its documentary and dramatic film program places an emphasis on diversity and reflects positions which are relevant for the understanding of the 1.7 million Arabs of Palestinian descent, about 20% of Israel’s population, and the 300,000 foreign workers that have settled in Israel. The JCC screens premieres and previews of topical films throughout the year and also presents other fests such as The ReelAbilities Film Festival and Israel Film Center Festivals showcasing issue oriented productions from around the world which encourage the audience to engage in  change. The Center has the largest collection of films from Israel in the United States and  established The Carole Zabar Center for Film this year, named for the founder and principal sponsor of The Other Israel Film Festival.  This new center will serve to coordinate and enhance the numerous film programs of the Jewish Community Center and plans to develop into a global information platform for films on and about Israel as well as other productions on Jewish issues. Though there are more than 60 Jewish or Jewish themed film festivals in the United States and other film festivals electing to have such films as a side bar, there is no other festival which provides this service. In her words, productions from the Other Israel Film Festival and the other film programs of the Jewish Community Center have an essential function. As Carole Zabar suggests, ”These films and artistic expressions are paving the way to co-existence and to a new, more inclusive culture in the Middle East,”

Junction 48, Udi Aloni, 2016

Aloni’s multinational feature has to date received several awards from the Tribeca, Berlinale and Israel film festivals, a success deriving from its unique mixture of hip-hop music, story and the professional performance of the Cast. Kareem is played by Tamer Nafar who is the principal singer in the Palestinian rap group SAM.  The death of his father prompts Kareem to withdraw into the hip hop scene with songs written by his girlfriend Manar spelling out the oppression Palestinians experience in Israel and the occupied areas.  In a nightclub in Lod where Arabs and Jews live Kareem performs and gets into a violent confrontation with members of the audience who object strongly to the Manar’s lyrics depicting of the fate of the Palestinian Arabs. Kareem and Manar decide to continue using their music as a political instrument. The demolition of a friend’s house to get space for the construction of a museum of tolerance provides an appropriate backdrop to the story. What also creates a dissonant note is the slaying of another friend by an apparent member of an Arab gang. Manar’s male relatives are adamantly opposed to Manar’s involvement with Kareem and her public performance. A concert with both of them is advertised on posters.  She decides to leave her home and join Kareem. According to the director this film was well received by Palestinians as the first Arab film and had a mixed crew, with half Palestinian and half Israelis; an integration unheard of in Israel’s film making industry. The story of the film is based on real events and breaks the stereotypical presentation of Arab women as depicted in Israeli films.

Personal Affairs, Maha Haj, 2016

The director presents a multi-generational portrait of a Palestinian family with comedic and absurd overtones. An elderly married couple lives in Nazaret. The wife Nabeelah takes care of their home and is bored with her husband Saleh who spends most of his time working on a computer. Their life is routinized and shows little personal communication. They have three grown up children, a son, Hisham living in Sweden, another son, Tarek, living in Ramallah and a daughter, Samar. Tarek enjoys life as a perpetual bachelor. Their daughter Samar is pregnant and married to George a car mechanic. George has been unexpectedly cast for a role in an American movie. Samar and George take care of Samar’s live in grandmother who seems to have dementia. During a security check Tarek refuses to identify his female companion Maysa as his girlfriend, triggering a heated argument between them. Though the Palestinian conflict provides background material for the narration, the family conflicts and individual interactions reflect universal themes that apply to many societies.

A.K.A. Nadia, Tova Ascher, 2015

Having a secret affair with Nimer, an activist working for the PLO, Nadiam a young Arab woman decides to leave her family in Israel to join him in London when Nimer is assigned to work there. After some time Nimer is arrested unbeknownst to Nadiam and seemingly disappears. Working in a cleaning shop Nadia plans to return to Israrel. Not being able to use her passport she saves enough money to buy a forged Israeli passport made out to a person named Maya. Assuming the identity of Maya as her own, she succeeds in her returning to Israel and becomes a successful choreographer, gets married to a senior employee working for the Ministry of Justice, Yoav, and has children. Except for occasional  secret meetings with her mother Maya leads a normal life for 20 years when a delegation from an agency considering funding for Maya’s company visits her. One of the members of the delegation turns out to be Nimer who had been granted a pardon after many years in prison.  Nadia born and raised as an Arab woman and Maya who lived as an Israeli successfully for 20 years, she has no escape from her two conflicting identities. Yoav decides that he must report her and she is forced to leave Israel. We see her in the film’s last images in a small London apartment with her daughter visiting her. The feature is well paced drama with convincing performances and mirrors the problems of identity maintenance in a society which forces individuals to assume divergent roles. The rapidly changing socio-political landscape makes it very difficult if not impossible to sustain a solid identity.

Harmonia, Ori Sivan, 2016

The festival was opened by Harmonia, a compelling multi-generational drama firmly embedded in the classical musical scene. The story is derived from Genesis. Set in contemporary Israel the drama involves the harpist Sad Sarah, who is married to Abraham, the conductor of the Jerusalem Philharmonic.  Sarah grows close to Hagar a young Palestinian horn player, who just joined the  orchestra. Because Sad and Abraham have not been able conceive a child Hagar offers to be their surrogate and bears them a son, Ben. Hagar eventually leaves the orchestra to be with her father, a writer.  Ben turns out to have an extraordinary musical talent but refuses to submit to the authority of his parents. He has a fractured relationship with his mother Sarah, apparently sensing that reality differs from the appearance he is living in. Years later Sarah and Abraham are able to conceive and they have a second son, Isaac. Isaac is not able to live up to the musical expectations of his father and fails to perform in a public concert much to Abraham’s dismay. Hagar had returned to the orchestra and when Isaac disappears after his failed performance she finds him in a night club playing the violin in a band directed by his half-brother Ben. His shyness has disappeared and he feels at ease with the band and the audience. Staying in tune with Ben, Isaac offers a great rendition. Harmonia provides  a joyful dramatic and emotional experience, has flawless dialog and score as well as persuasive acting and an expertly filmed adaptation of a biblical story. In short it is a delightful film not to be missed.

Claus Mueller  

filmexchange@gmail.com