Latest news with #TheFilmFoundation
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina Dies: Algerian Cannes Palme D'Or Winner Was 91
Algerian director Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, whose 1975 drama Chronicles of the Years of Fire remains Africa's only Cannes Palme d'Or to this day, has died at the age of 91. Lakhdar-Hamina's family said the producer and director died at his home in the Algerian capital of Algers on May 23. More from Deadline Richard Linklater's 'Nouvelle Vague' Draws Raft Of International Buyers For Goodfellas - Cannes Sony Pictures Classics Takes North America & Multiple Territories For Cannes Caméra D'Or Winner 'The President's Cake' Doc Talk In Cannes: Deadline Podcast Hosts American Pavilion Panel On Challenged State Of Documentary Industry In quirk of fate, the Cannes Film Festival screened Chronicles of the Years of Fire in its Cannes Classics program that day, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the film's Palme d'Or, in the presence of the director's son Malek Lakhdar-Hamina. Set between the late 1930s and 1954, the movie retells the Algerian War of Independence through the eyes of a peasant farmer, exploring the roots of the movement and depicting the harshness of French colonial rule. In an era in which the film world had yet to start embracing diversity, Lakhdar-Hamina was one of the few African and Arab directors to put in a regular appearance in Cannes from the 1960s to the 1980s. He competed for the Palme d'Or four times, with his other contenders including The Winds of the Aures, which won the best first film prize in 1967 (now known as the Caméra d'Or), as well as Sandstorm (1982) and Last Image (1986). After a 30-year break, he returned to the director's seat with Twilight of Shadows, which was Algeria's submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 88th Academy Awards in 2016. Lakhdar-Hamina was born on February 26, 1934, in M'sila in the Aurès region in northeastern Algeria into a farming family. His filmography was shaped by his experiences in the Algerian resistance during the War of Independence from 1954 to 1962, as well as the death of his father at the hands of the French army. Lakhdar-Hamina joined the Algerian resistance in Tunis in 1958, where he did an internship with Tunisian news, which led to him shooting his first short films. From there, he went on to study at the Prague film and TV school FAMU. Aside from his own filmmaking, Lakhdar Hamina ran Algeria's news service, the l'Office des Actualités Algériennes (OAA) from shortly after the revolution to 1974, and was also head of the Algerian National Office for Commerce and the Film Industry between 1981 and 1984. The 4K restoration of Chronicles of the Years of Fire was undertaken by The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna at L'Image Retrouvée (Paris) and L'Immagine Ritrovata (Bologna) laboratories. It was funded by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation as part of the African Film Heritage Project, an initiative created by The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project, the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI) and UNESCO – in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna – to help locate, restore, and disseminate African cinema. French distributor Les Acacias Distribution will theatrically re-release the film in cinemas in France on August 6. Best of Deadline 'Hacks' Season 4 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? Everything We Know About 'Hacks' Season 4 So Far 'The Last Of Us': Differences Between HBO Series & Video Game Across Seasons 1 And 2
News18
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Wes Anderson Says The Memory Scene In Asteroid City Is ‘Stolen' From Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri
Last Updated: Aranyer Din Ratri features Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Samit Bhanja, Rabi Ghosh, Pahari Sanyal, Sharmila Tagore Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal and Aparna Sen in keyr oles. Aranyer Din Ratri features Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Samit Bhanja, Rabi Ghosh, Pahari Sanyal, Sharmila Tagore, Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal and Aparna Sen in key roles American filmmaker Wes Anderson is making headlines after completing a six-year restoration of Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest), which will now be featured at Cannes Classics. Here's a fun fact – a scene from Anderson's 2023 film Asteroid City was 'stolen" from Aranyer Din Ratri. The memorable memory game sequence in Asteroid City is directly inspired by Ray's 1970 classic. In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Wes Anderson was asked if he recreated the memory game scene from Aranyer Din Ratri for Asteroid City. To this, the filmmaker said, 'Yes, well, stole it… First of all, the concept of the scene is very odd because it's a game. But we learn about these characters so much while they play these games and they're saying these names. And then the way it's photographed, I mean, the cast is obviously special cast, but the way it's photographed is very striking. And the moment when we choose to start going from face to face, there's more emotion in this scene than you would think there's any reason to be." According to a Variety report, the restoration of Aranyer Din Ratri began in 2019. As a member of Martin Scorsese's The Film Foundation board, Wes Anderson helped start the project to bring this classic back. Inspired by Satyajit Ray's work, a team from The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project, Film Heritage Foundation, Janus Films and The Criterion Collection came together to make it happen. The entire restoration was funded by the Golden Globe Foundation. Aranyer Din Ratri features Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Samit Bhanja, Rabi Ghosh, Pahari Sanyal, Sharmila Tagore, Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal and Aparna Sen in key roles. This Bengali-language adventure drama is based on the novel of the same name by Sunil Gangopadhyay. First Published:
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Watching Aranyer Din Ratri in 480p while the world applauds in 4K
As the Business Head for The Times of India, I lead strategic initiatives and drive growth for one of the nation's most influential media organisations. My journalist friends believe I've crossed over to the proverbial dark side. Living on the edges of a dynamic newsroom, I dabble infrequently into these times that we live and believe in the spectatorial axiom – 'distance provides perspective'. LESS ... MORE A slightly squinting, wholly mesmerised viewer of great cinema, regardless of resolution. It happened the way it always does. A news alert buzzes in: Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri has received a standing ovation at Cannes, now reborn in shimmering 4K, courtesy Wes Anderson and The Film Foundation. Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal are all elegance and nostalgia on the red carpet. And me? I'm slouched on my couch, watching a pixelated version on YouTube—complete with floating watermarks and the occasional audio dropout. Also read: Cannes 2025 screening: 'Aranyer Din Ratri' receives standing ovation (Picture: Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal at Cannes Film Festival 2025) Call it poetic irony, or just very subcontinental. But here's the twist. Even in that battered, barely-holding-it-together version, the film still gripped me by the collar. The forest still breathed. The silences still echoed. The infamous memory game scene still sliced through class, gender and entitlement with the precision of a scalpel. And Duli's smile? Still unknowable. Still unforgettable. Yes, it stings a little to know that somewhere in the south of France, people were gasping at every restored shadow and rediscovered frame of Soumendu Roy's cinematography. That the grain of the forest floor, the tremble in Sharmila's voice, the murmur of Ray's score—all made pristine again—were finding new audiences. And yes, the restoration is reportedly a masterpiece itself: cleaned, cared for, curated. (Picture courtesy: Facebook) But you know what? The truth about Ray's genius is this—it doesn't need 4K to function. His films operate at another bandwidth entirely. They get under your skin. His camera doesn't just watch; it listens. Not just to words, but to pauses, glances, guilt, desire. That emotional fidelity—that unspoken weight—remains intact, even in 480p. Also read: Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal dazzle on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival 2025 screening of Satyajit Ray's film 'Aranyer Din Ratri' At the cusp of two Rays Aranyer Din Ratri is also where Ray pivots. It marks the start of his 1970s phase—where his gaze sharpens, his tone darkens, and his themes veer from the lyrical to the political. The 1960s gave us the quiet dissection of the Bengali middle class in films like Mahanagar, Nayak, Kapurush. But the '70s? That was when Ray pulled out the gloves and dropped the poetry. What followed was the Kolkata Trilogy—Pratidwandi, Seemabaddha, Jana Aranya—where disillusioned young men wandered through moral quicksand, economic dead-ends, and the city's cold bureaucratic heart. Aranyer Din Ratri stands at that crossroads. It's as if Ray packed four men off into the woods, watched them fall apart, and came back convinced: things are going to get worse. Think of it as the cinematic equivalent of taking a long weekend before diving into a decade of existential dread. Watching Aranyer Din Ratri in less-than-ideal conditions is like reading Charulata in a tattered paperback. You're not missing the point—you're just closer to the ink. Perhaps this is the truest test of a classic: that it still moves you despite the medium. It doesn't need Dolby or restoration credits to provoke introspection. The film still asks the same uncomfortable questions. Who are we when the city recedes and the forest begins? When we stop performing, who remains? What breaks first—the mask or the man? So yes, I'll be first in line when the restored version hits our shores. But till then, I'm strangely grateful for that grainy YouTube copy. It reminded me that Ray's cinema wasn't just crafted for projection rooms and film festivals—it was built to last. Built to haunt. Even through static. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Hans India
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hans India
Saba shares ‘more moments' of mother Sharmila Tagore, Simi Garewal from Cannes
Saba Ali Khan shared more moments with her mother, the legendary Sharmila Tagore, and iconic actress Simi Garewal after the screening of their 1970 classic film 'Aranyer Din Ratri,' by Satyajit Ray. Saba, the eldest daughter of Sharmila, took to Instagram to share a heartwarming series of moments from the evening. The post featured elegant snapshots of the trio together, a charming video of Sharmila Tagore receiving a standing ovation from the audience, posing with Wes Anderson, and a candid photo of the veteran actress addressing the gathering. For the caption, Saba wrote: 'A little more ....of moments Standing ovation. A beautiful celebration of life. Team that made it all possible. Congratulations!' A 4K restored version of the Bengali-language movie 'Aranyer Din Ratri', titled 'Days and Nights in the Forest' in English, was showcased at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival under the Classics section. The classic is presented and restored by The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project at L'Immagine Ritrovata in collaboration with the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), Janus Films, and the Criterion Collection. The funding was provided by the Golden Globe Foundation, according to media reports. The premiere of the film was presented by renowned Hollywood filmmaker Wes Anderson, a long-time admirer of Ray. 'Aranyer Din Ratri' is based on the novel of the same name by Sunil Gangopadhyay. It employs the literary technique of the carnivalesque. The film was nominated for the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 20th Berlin International Film FestivaL. A sequel Abar Aranye directed by Goutam Ghose was released in 2003. The film follows four friends venture out to the forests of Palmau to escape the mundane city life. Their expedition into the forest turns into a journey of self-discovery.
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Sharmila Tagore: The film is 55 years old, yet it feels like we shot it only the other day, in a forest, in May
Aranyer Din Ratri screening at Cannes A lmost 56 years ago, Satyajit Ray took the cast of Aranyer Din Ratri into the forest of Betla (now in Jharkhand) to shoot the film. Over half a century later, the film's lead actress Sharmila Tagore , along with filmmaker Wes Anderson , presented the restored version of the film at the Cannes Classics section. Anderson, attending the screening as a self-proclaimed Ray fan, introduced the film to a packed theatre. HOW WILDLY VERSATILE, ENDLESSLY HORRIFIC AND ACCOMPLISHED RAY WAS: WES ANDERSON 'I'm going to speak as a fan of this movie,' Anderson said, as he spoke about his hero before the screening. 'Some years ago, I had an idea or sort of a wish – I thought that I'd like to score one of my own movies to Satyajit Ray's music. The pieces that I loved from the magnificent soundtracks that he composed himself in his early career – starting with Teen Kahaniyaan . He also wrote music for a couple of other films like Shakespearewallah . In that process of investigating all this, I learned more and more about what I already knew – how wildly, versatile, adventurous and endlessly horrific and accomplished he was as a movie writer, director, publisher, novelist, short story writer, calligrapher, graphic designer, musician, as an artist. Also how modest, fragile and complicated some of the financing of his projects was. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Why Didn't Anyone Tell You About This Power Saver? elecTrick - Save upto 80% on Power Bill Pre-Order Undo Though, he always managed to get it done.' 'The process of resurrection (of the film) was methodical and deliberate,' he added, crediting the persistence of Martin Scorsese and the team at The Film Foundation, along with Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and the Film Heritage Foundation, and crucial support from the Golden Globe Foundation. 'With all their persistence over a decade, it finally happened that the film is here. So, we join Satyajit Ray back in the 1970s. I may say – if he would have cast the movie in America, he might have cast John Cassavetes.' He singled out performances by the late Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore, and said, 'The great Soumitra Chatterjee plays Asheem – intellectual, quite lost, certainly arrogant, awful and a bit oblivious to the damage that they do. But he is searching. The great Sharmila Tagore, who is here with us tonight, plays Aparna who knows much and chooses to reveal a little and who reserves her perceptive intelligence in the story. Also, the exquisite Simi Garewal who plays a character exceedingly unlike herself. ' 'Days and Nights in the Forest is a special gem among his many treasures' Ray's cinema, Anderson said, was unmistakably personal. 'Ray's films are like personal projects of a maestro – really a kind of empresario. Along with a famous movie director, I had the impression of him as a famous professor – brilliantly knowledgeable.' Speaking about Ray's literary contributions Anderson said, 'There must have been many disciples – his greatness was always obvious. Days and Nights in the Forest is a special gem among his many treasures. I first saw it 25 years ago and it very strangely translated from a very scratchy (film copy) from a Bollywood shop in New Jersey.' The film was unavailable for audience, particularly in the US. 'It had disappeared for some complicated reasons,' Anderson said. I have come only to watch the restored version of Aranyer Din Ratri: Sharmila Tagore Tagore recalled her memories of the shoot, and said, 'I have come only to watch the restored version of Aranyer Din Ratri . The film is now 55 years old, and I feel like it was only the other day when we shot the film in the middle of the forest in this month of May. It was very hot, and we didn't have any amenities. We had no AC, we stayed in make-shift houses, and it was so hot that we would only shoot from 5.30am to 9am and again from 3pm to 6pm. The rest of the time was just adda – it's a Bengali word which is like bonding and making friends. All of us became excellent friends.' She continued, 'Manik da , as we called him (Ray), operated the camera himself in this film (the cinematographer of the film was Soumendu Roy). The memory game sequence, especially, was such a complicated operation – while the camera was on the trolley, he was panning from one face to the other and it was totally flawless because we were really poor and we could not shoot more than a couple of shots because we didn't have the film or the money (to buy film). He was just terrific, and all those people became very, very close friends on the set.' Tagore added, 'Simi and I are the only survivors, everybody else has passed on, so I'll see my old friends on the screen and relive those moments.' I had a friendship with Mr. Ray that continued till the end. I have a pile of his letters, which are so precious to me fade, as do memories. But Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, and our own Shivi have ensured that classics will not be forgotten. You have not only restored Ray's masterpiece, but you've made it immortal –Simi Garewal Check out our list of the latest Hindi , English , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , and Kannada movies . Don't miss our picks for the best Hindi movies , best Tamil movies, and best Telugu films .
