Winds From The East

IA gleans over the decade past: The confession from a maniac cinephile's journal: the enduring images, the random thoughts, the harangue and the eulogies. JUMPCUT: Films 2009- Maithili Rao JUMPCUT: The OO's- Anuj Malothra.

3 Idiots : Who is the idiot then? The cinema screens all over the country become the most potent of weapons for the middle class to battle The Man. But the battle is not one that involves any amount of introspection, only sloganeering. IA sees a trend emerging. Anuj Explores .

Indian Auteur Weekly Review Updates: Anuj writes on, Avatar... “I’ll tell you the story of Ramakrishna and his disciple. Ramakrishna was a Hindu wise man. And he had a disciple who had absolutely no faith in his teachings. So the disciple went off all by himself. Fifteen years later, he came back and said, “I have found the Way!” He told Ramakrishna, “Come, and I will show you.” Then he took Ramakrishna to a river. And the disciple went back and forth across the river, walking on water. “See?” he told Ramakrishna. “I can cross the river without getting wet! I have found the Way!” Then Ramakrishna said to him, “You’re a complete ass. With one rupee and a boat, I’ve been doing the same thing for years!” - Contempt(1963)/Jean-Luc Godard The history of cinema is linear. If an event occupies a certain point on the linear cinema history-time, it will never reiterate, repeat or recur; instead, like the history of time, being frozen at that point. Such recurrence is rendered impos...

Discussion on favorite cinematographers and their aesthetic and technique at Indian Auteur Forum . The discussion kicked off with the works of the legendary but largely forogtten cinematographer Subrata Mitra . Join in to discuss this and more at the forum: 'Subrata Mitra is perhaps the greatest ever Indian cinematographer who revolutionized prevailing aesthetics in Indian Cinema with innovations designed to make light more realistic and poetic. Mitra was born into a middle-class Bengali family in 1930. Even as a schoolchild he would cycle with classmates to the nearest cinema to watch British and Hollywood films. By the time he was in college, he had decided he would either become an architect or a cinematographer. Failing to find work as a camera assistant he reluctantly continued studying for his science degree. In 1950 the great Jean Renoir came to Calcutta to shoot 'The River'. Mitra tried to get a job on the film but was turned away. With the efforts of his father he ...

TABLE OF CONTENT : NOVEMBER 25th- December 25th Issue no:7 E-Magazine Archive (article available on the web from this issue) AUTEUR The Legend of Herr Zolka: Anuj Malhotra COVER STORY Paradise Lost : Kshitiz Anand Cinephilia in India : Nitesh Rohit Porgramming a film festival : Sachin Gandhi Seeing is Believing : Supriya Suri Cinephile, Adjectiv- Cinephilia in Romania : Anamaria Dobincuic Winds From The East : Sagorika Singha Multiplexes, Millions& Wood : Anuj Malhotra Interview Adrian Martin World Cinema The Space Race: Gautam Valluri Reviews Crossing The Bridge: Gautam Valluri Deep in the Valley: Anuj Malhotra Inglourious Bastards: Gautam Valluri Animal Town: Supriya Suri EDITORIAL: “The Cinephile is an orphan who chooses to be kidnapped by a rather special passer-by who launches him, but not just any old way, on his apprenticeship in the world” Serge Daney My father was one of the lucky few in his college years who had a bicycle, and he f...

Global Festival of Documentary Films emerges as the most prestigious South Asian Documentary Film Festival as it bags the most awarded and talked about films for participation in the Festival organized by International Film & Television Club of Marwah Studios, a Creative Enterprise. Eminent film makers like Megan Mylan, Teri McLuhan, A.S. Bedi, Kim Longinotto amongst a long list of internal names enter their films in the festival. Global Festival of Documentary Films is taking place from 20th to 22nd November, ’09 at Marwah Studios Complex, Film City, Noida, U.P.The awards in the Young Film Maker Category would be – 1st prize of Rs. 25,000/-, 2nd prize of Rs. 15,000/- and IIIrd prize of Rs.10, 000/- The highlights of the Festival are Smile Pinky by Mylan Megan, an Oscar winner this year, and Frontier Gandhi by Terry McLuhan, renowned film maker. These directors will be present to interact with the young film makers to share their experiences and observations. This would be a golden...

Please could you elaborate, for us, on your history and growth as a cinephile. I was a pure cinephile when I was in my teens and was watching as many movies I could. Usually in Japan it’s very hard to get into college so you have to study a lot. That’s why the high school forces you to quit sport- I was playing tennis since I was a kid- but the school forced me to quit and two years were spent in preparation of an entry into college. And I absolutely hated it, because it’s forbidden. A friend of mine encouraged me to come and watch films, and so I did. That one movie turned into a life long passion. But the movie that had a great impact on me was Samuel Fuller’s White Dog . I just had to spend time watching many Fuller films and it was cheap at around 600 Yen (around 6$). It is a reasonable cost for high school students. READ MORE RELATED READING DEEP IN THE VALLEY FILM REVIEW

THE INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS Friday, 24 th October 2009 saw the commencement of the 11 th Osian Cinefan, the prestigious film festival that centers itself in New Delhi. The festival will be noted for the first significant instance of a major festival’s embracement and acknowledgment of changes in our mainstream cinema that they can see and we cannot. Thus, the fortress of Delhi, after much resistance from its enclosed and exclusive art culture, has finally fallen to the all pervasive market phenomena of Mumbai. It is an invasion, thus, of the old sacred space whose preservation is as essential as the protection of a national monument – for like the latter, the former is a document of the existence of a minority like us – a document we are not willing to let go of just as yet .Read More --------- The ongoing work of Cinedarbaar was briefly mentioned in the leading daily Times of India. NEW AGE FILM CRITICS : Ruhi Basin Popular flicks screened at multiplexes and on television no...

OUR E-zine Our Forum Our Website The primary goal of Indian Auteur is to initiate a discussion among people who love cinema and everything else that is part of the medium. Discussion is an important reason for us taking different initiative across India. From our journal, Cinephile Meeting, Film Experiences and the Online Forum. The Forum is a place where one should engage in a discussion to understand and discover cinema. The Forum is a place to learn and interact. So please abide by the rules and guidelines to keep a healthy, passionate and engaging discussion among cinephile brewing across the world. pic- Yo La Tengo, cover album.

Online E-Mag. Download E-Mag Those who view the storm from afar. …see no difference between Here and there To join in and to become a part of it. This is the call of the times, Here and there - Kafi Azmi. Despair is the breeding ground for any form of revolution; it makes one do the unthinkable, film the unimaginable and write knowing that this may be one’s last sentence. Nicolas De Stael leaped into the void; MS Sathyu filmed Garam Hawa and Jack Kerouac fired with On the Road…and Indian Auteur is a child of one such despair. In a country that is in a state of transition; where the struggle to live each day is a task; that history or critical thinking cease to exist for most; hence, our relation with our very own roots is slowly and steadily disappearing. Film Archives are selling films as scraps, auteurs works are facing extinction and cinema in the nation begins with the birth of Bollywood in 80s Read More

................. The seeds of Indian Auteur were sown with the initiation of "The Delhi Manifesto" and nine months down the line we are working towards the same goals. So before we come online again. Our Manifesto . Relaunched ................... * Our cinema screen has become an ill-constructed, and conventional portal to a world we aspire of, rather than a mirror, which reflects us. * Our emotions are guided by leitmotifs placed deftly, and religious beliefs exploited. * Our spirit of inquiry has become dead and we have been reduced to mere receivers in the process. * Cinema and television has replaced interaction with imposition of thought. Its thought. An artificial, fake and ill-created thought, a manifestation of our needs to escape ourselves. * The medium has become a symbol of cheap entertainment, devoid of any examination of the form, and a victim of our collective need to create personalities, perfect alternate universes, and images of our aspi...

Six months or half an year ago, we launched Indian Auteur with a certain set of objectives in mind – the primary among them being the need to protect our notion of cinema – one of a personal, uncompromising, unflinching artist who wields the camera – instead of one whose film is a result of populism, rather than it being the other way around. The notion of an auteurist cinema. In these six months, we have been called confrontational, controversial, direct, and romantic. We have also been called cinephiles. The former is what we would call the collateral damage of the exercise we have undertaken. The latter is our reward. But the idea is in the penultimate stage of its life cycle. As we come out with the sixth, the half-yearly issue, we seek a restitution and a renewal of ourselves as an organization. Hence, in September , we will reveal ourselves in a completely new format. Therefore, with the promise of rewarding our loyalists, and provoking those who are not, we will take this exten...

Massive wave of jellyfish to attack Japan Japanese marine experts have given warning that the country's northern coastline... ... is under threat from a plague of jellyfish. --------------------------------------------- Images- Bright Future- Kiyoshi Kurosawa Headline- The Telegraph Report on Jelly Fish attack on Japan shores COMING SOON- THE ALL NEW INDIAN AUTEUR

--------------------------------------------------- Born on 8'th August 1908, in Banaras, Siddheshwari Devi had her initial training in Indian Classical music from Pandit Siyaji Maharaj. Later, she also trained under Pandit Bade Ram Dasji of Banaras. Siddheshwari shifted from Banaras to Delhi in 1965 and taught music in Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra for more than a decade till she passed away in 1977. Siddheshwari Devi's music represented Banaras Gharana style, which lays more emphasis on the intensity of feelings and expression of emotions through musical notes and voice modulations. A stalwart of thumri, Siddheshwari's music also included khayals, dhrupads, dadras, tappas, kajris, chaitis, horis and bhajans. In thumris she specialized in "Poorabang" thumri, which is also known as the "Bol-Banav-ki thumri". Reliance on ragas was a distinctive feature of Siddheshwaris thumris. She helped in raising thumri to a classical form. She earned the title of ...

On Bollywood - Indian film reviewers and trade analysts( who act as critics ) are head over heels with a new " Bollywood" film called Kaminey . So, inspite of the tight scheduled of our cinephile team, who are working on the special issue of Indian Auteur and the new version of the website- that is launching next month. Our team mate Debojit Ghatak managed to jot down few words on the film part of the so called " Indian New Wave" :- Among other headlines from the world of modern fashion, the hand-held is now in vogue. The shaky, apprehensive, hesitant hand-held, that lends a sense of unrelenting urgency to a scene. That replaces the compulsion of aesthetic with the luxury of post-production. That eliminates the need for a dolly track, or a cut, to manage disconcerting proximity with the actor’s skin. That replaces meticulous blocking with a single continuous action (shot in infinite takes). That subjugates the possibility of space, and restricts the...

Originally Dad planned to stay in Taiwan for only three or four years before going back, so he bought bamboo furniture because it was cheap and he could throw it away when he left. Later mom wanted to buy a sewing machine. It took so long to persuade him. Dad had tuberculosis... so he kept his bowl and chopsticks away from us. He kept a distance from us avoiding us when he coughed because he was afraid that we might be infected. A Time to Live and a Time to Die- Hou Hsiao Hsien ------------------------------------------------ COMING SOON- The All New Indian Auteur.