The River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival starts in 2001 with the promotion in Italy and in Europe of the other face of Bollywood, the independent Indian cinema; its sixth edition will be held (www.rivertoriver.it) from December 8th   to the 14th, 2006 in Florence. Within the years, the Festival grew widening its collaborations, as in this case with Visionaria, another film festival in Tuscany, where we are glad we can participate.The shorts from River to River last edition will be screened in two programs. Florence Indian Film Festival: 80 minutes 8 short stories, the one very different from the other. From the hilarious Viva Liberty! by Dishad Husain, the macabre 6ft. in 7 min. by Rafael Del Toro, the subtle Cataract by Sainath Choudhury and the curious In Whose Name? by Nandini Sikand; and again the sad Late di Anandhan, the amusing and actual Modern Day Arranged Marriage by Rehana Mirza, the absurd With 500 rupees to Heaven by Thomas Jorg and the light but meaningful Les Banystes by Rose Kowalski. The young art directors adopt more and more frequently the narrative language of the short films, where they can experiment shapes more innovative in the filming and in the themes they discuss. For this matter in India and above all in Mumbai are spreading, a number of cineclubs exclusively dedicated to the short films, where the authors, presenting their works to the audience do meet to speak about cinema. Such phenomenon is extended also in cinema schools where the student more and more often experiment this medium. The quality level of the Indian short films is higher and higher, till reaching peaks as it happened not so long ago with A Very Very Silent Film by Manish Jha (5 minutes, no dialogues, steadycam), already screened at the River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival, won the prize of the Jury as best short at the Cannes Film Festival.

 

Selavggia Velo

Director River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival