Bangladesh’71
UK, 40 min
This documentary film is made by the volunteers of Rainbow Film Society. It is about the liberation struggle of Bangladesh in 1971. Usingrare and original footage from 1971, this film tells the tale of the journey for independence of Bangladesh . Most of the new generations of British Bangladeshis are unaware about these facts. There are some controversies also. This film will present a clear and real picture of it. The footage used in this film is collected from various sources. It can be considered as very important historic document also. The film is narrated in English to make sure it is accessible to everybody.
Nadia Ali, a by born new generation British Bangladeshi, narrated the film while Sharmin Haque, a second generation British Bangladeshi assisted with script writing.
White Nights
Iran, 107 min
Directed by : Farzad Motamen
Cast : Mehdi Ahmadi, Haniyeh Tavassoli, Mohsen Shah-Ebrahimi, Hilda Hashem-Pour.
A young university professor, who leads a quiet and reclusive life and fills his life with reading and teaching literature, meet a young girl who has altered the course of her life for the sake of a man she loves. She has promised to meet her beloved at a certain spot on four consecutive nights exactly one year after their last meeting. The young professor's encounter with the young and passionate girl during four nights brings about significant changes in both of their lives and beliefs. Now concepts like love, literature and expectation have a new meaning for them.
TOKEN
Iran, 90 min
Director : Fereydoun Hasanpour
Cast : Saeed Hanarvar, Reza Attaran, Fatemeh Sadeghi, Marziyeh Bordbar.
Ali has been living in an orphanage in Tehran since he was a baby. After he accidentally finds his parents’ profile in the archives, he travels to northern Iran looking for them. Divorced many years before, both father and mother have re-married and are unable now to take care of Ali, so he must leave with his uncle. Everyone is urging him to go back to the orphanage, with the necessary facilities for a comfortable life. But Ali needs to stay to be close to his parents, and he starts then to prove his abilities to everyone.
Everybody is Asleep
Iran, 17 min
Director : Zohreh Zamani
Documentary film.
The First Stone
Iran, 90 min
Writer & Director : Ebrahim Forouzesh
Cast : Mohsen Tanabandeh, Andishe Fouladvand, Masoud Choobin, Alireza Mohammad-Taemeh.
Beleaguered by insomnia and nightmares, ragamuffin peasant Hassan Ali (Mohsen Tanabandeh) goes against local tradition by purchasing an ostentatious headstone for his grave. Tone shifts from fatalism to farce as Hassan's vanity spawns a community-wide fad. Gradual introduction of levity is a welcome relief from the film's initially downbeat tone, but Forouzesh never neglects moral concerns, and his direction has a classicism that hints at his status as one of Iran's cinematic elder statesmen. Tanabandeh grates, then endears, as the self-pitying depressive; supporting amateur perfs, including kiddie thesps, are fun to watch. Some tech credits, particularly the post-synch sound, are rough, but other elements shine through, and the nonsource music by Mohammad Mohammadali is insistent but has genuine charm.
VERTIGO
Iran, 90 min
Director : Tony Zarindast
Cast : M.T.Zarindast, Elham Hamidi, Kambiz Dirbaz, Tahamy, Farah Hooshmand.
Sasan Sarkesh is an Iranian-American.
He is a Film maker, but he has a split personality. and has lost his identiy. Evil part of him, kills his partner and eszapes to iran to his native country. He has been away for almost 35 years.
Now he is on the edge of insanity and on the verge of committing suicide. Upon his arrival he meets a mysterious cab driver named llyas who will take him on a long journey to his hometown. We do know if this llyas is a metaphor for Sasan's Conscience or an angel from heaven. An important twist in the story will reveal the character of llyas who disappears and reappears towards the end again. This is the cosmic, spiritual element that tries to answer the burning question, who are we?
This journey will takes Sasan on a long, dark voyage to his childhood, circa 1944 when Azerbaijan was occupied by the Russian Red Army, the state that Sasan was born.
Maati-O-Manush ( The soil & people)
India, 104 min
Director : Sisir Sahana
Cast : Tapas Paul, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Rimjhim Gupta, Tuhin Mukherjee
Mati O Manush is a film about the deeply ingrained beliefs in people living in backwaters of rural Bengal even today. Witch hunting is still not unheard of in such areas in West Bengal.
A pitiful story of how blind faith can create havoc on society and individual psyche. The story revolves around Jhonu, a dumb village girl determined to live without any feelings of fear and constraint.
Nijhum Aronnay (In The Silent Forest)
Bangladesh, 115 min
Director : Mushfiqur Rahman Gulzar
Cast : Illias Kanchan, Champa, Badhon, Shajal, Abul Hayat
The year of 1971. The Great Liberation War for Bangladesh begins. Rakib, a young man along with his wife & daughter, living in the town at that time get back to their home village. Rakib joins liberation force to fight against the invaders.
The war is at it’s terminal stage; all on a sudden the news of Rakib’s death comes to his family. Very shortly Rakib’s wife Mili being compelled by her family gets married again. Time passes ……. but to the surprise of all Rakib comes back to village with serious injury. He gets shocked to know that his wife lives with her second husband.
Rakib without creating any problem goes away to a remote place and gets a job there. On a certain occasion, he happens to see his child, but he controls his fatherly emotion and flees away from there unnoticed. Rakib simply doesn’t want to disturb his child’s life as he knows that not much time for him is left before death…….
Abujh Bou (The Innocent Wife)
Bangladesh, 142 min
Director : Nargis Akter
Story : Rabindranath Tagore
Cast : Priyanka, Bobita, Ferdaus, Shakil Khan, Nipun, Mukti
Abujh Bou is about another girl in rural Bengal, this one a little older. She's what we would call a "tomboy." The life of an adult woman in this society -- a housewife -- wouldn't seem to be much in her taste. She is active, vivacious, lively, brazen, playful. She is known as "Pagli" ("crazy") by the disapproving villagers. But it is these very qualities that attract the attention of Amulya, a young college graduate who has returned home to his widowed mother to be nagged by her to settle down and take a wife -- a traditional, shy, modest, and, in Amulya's view, boring wife. Despite the serious subject of these two stories, they are actually quite funny. The second story is even hilarious, with a couple of near-slapstick sequences. (In the scene in which Amulya breaks the news to his mother as to which girl he really likes, pay close attention to what's happening in the background.)
Dub Shatar ( In Too Deep )
Bangladesh, 90 min
Director : Nurul Alam Atique
Cast : Joya Ahsan, Sahriar Shuvo, Shrabastee Tinny, Shadhin Khoshru.
A face among many, a face that you pass by everyday on the street, a face that could be you, your sister, your brother, or anyone else’s. Every face tells a story, they live a life, seemingly mundane, full of drudgery and monotony. Yet, even among these moments of dull drudgery, there are moments of pure poetry, excitement and enlightenment. The story of “In Too Deep” is just like that. Renu, once a tomboy, full of life and expectations, has entered the paradigm of “reality”. She has been the eyes of her elder brother, born blind into this world. She gave color in his world, as her world turns grey. She has been taking on the world. Her dream and her reality are like two distant planets. Her escape becomes her passion, taken on, as a form of obsession, for the distant and aloof world of a recluse man. Her interaction with him bears a strange fruit. And she tries to find her answers around her, from her childhood to her dreams and beyond. Will the changing tides all around her bear her answer?
Chalo Dilli
India, 120 min, PG
Director : Shashant Shah
Cast : Lara Dutta, Vinay Pathak, Akshay Kumar, Yana Gupta.
Lara Dutta misses her flight to Delhi and needs to get there any way possible. She meets Vinay Pathak and they rediscover the colours of India in their journey to Delhi. They go by road and train and the audience gets a chance to see both the large urban conglomerations and the small rural areas that make up India.
Anjaana Anjaani
India, 150 min, 12A
Directed by Siddharth Anand
Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Zayed Khan
Anjaana Anjaani (Anjana Anjani) movie is a romantic comedy, where Priyanka is playing a character based in San Francisco, while Ranbir is essaying the role of a New York City boy. They meet in NYC and travel across cities.
Both are trying to find luck in their life after several failed attempts to be successful in their careers and in love. Fed up, they both decide to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. However, both land up on the same bridge at the same time. Ranbir stops Priyanka from jumping and tells her to travel with him to Vegas to make it big.
Khela Ghor : Doll House
Bangladesh
Direction: Morshedul Islam
Cast: Riaz, Shohana Saba etc.
The story sets in the backdrop of the liberation war in 1971. But it's not about the war but it's more to do with the grown intimacy between two young souls brought together by the calamity. As one pointed out , 'it's a sweet romantic movie..'. But it's also not just romantic ; it's the narration of the whole story using.
Before Marriage
UK , 45 min
Director : Mostafa Kamal
Cast : Anisur Rahman Milon, Moutusi, Ferdous Khan
A doctor opposes his daughter’s marriage on health grounds. The boy has high blood cholesterol levels and his parent is suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure. Doctor declares that he may reconsider his decision only if the boy's whole family converts their life style into a healthy one through regular exercise and diet control. The film is a comedy with a serious message on health.
Agni-O-Joler Kotha (A Tale of 'Fire' and 'Water')
UK , 45 min
Director : Mostafa Kamal
Cast : Anisur Rahman Milon, Moutusi, Sadi, Mahfuza Talukdar, S M Ahmed
“Agni” and "Anol" are two Bangla words for fire, while “jol” and "Ira" mean water. It is a love story between a young man named Anol and a girl called Ira. The film was shot entirely in the UK with local casting including two main casting from Bangladesh.
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