When: 2 Screenings to catch shorts: April 10, 7:00pm + April 12, 7:00pm

The Deets on the Film:

Quick Plot: Films so good we had to split them into 2 programs. These are 2013′s most engaging new voices, a collection of films ranging from experimental narratives to coming of age stories to fascinating docu-shorts- truly the best of the year.

Quick Fact #1:   AND AFTER  THAT (TATPASCHAT), is a dark Indian short about a sudden change in behavior throughout an entire reform school, will be an IFFLA World Premiere.

Quick Fact #2: Truly something for everyone, Shorts #1 has such diverse range as RAGS TO PADS, a short documentary about one man’s vision to change a village by producing disposable sanitary napkins, and the film HOMECOMING about intrigue and scandal linked to getting permission to go to an 8th grade dance.

Quick Fact #3: THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS a look at the beauties of Bollywood cinema in a queer light, is Fawzia Mirza’s directorial debut.

Quick Fact #4:  DOSA HUNT features every desi indie darling of today- from the minds behind Stereogum, Vampire Weekend, Das Racist and more- on their search for the perfect Indian snack.

Who should go:  True movie buffs, Hipsters and indie music lovers, fans of Dosa and delicious Indian fare, anyone thirsting for a look at Bollywood through a queer lens, lovers of upbeat documentaries about progress and women’s health, fans of experimental narratives, kids that never got to go to the dance, basically anyone.

Purchase  at Brown Paper Tickets- be sure to select your showtime from the drop down menu.

Tickets are $14

Annie Hollenbeck is new to IFFLA’s programming team this year. A festival professional, she has previously worked with LAFF, AFI FEST, and OUTFEST. Here she speaks about her favorite film of 2013.

EEGA will be screened at IFFLA on Thursday, April 11 at 6:45 pm.

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There is no simple formula for how to work on film festival programming team.  Screening hundreds of submissions, you make time in the mornings, during your lunch break, after work, the weekends – any waking moment where you can find an hour or two to sit down and dedicate your time to a film.  And dedicate your time you must.  Rather than watching a movie, you’re screening a film, looking for something remarkable that stands up and makes you take notice.  A great film and a film you are passionate about programming often just has that “it factor”:  there’s something inexplicably loveable or charming or devastating or disturbing or any sort of adjective other than ordinary.  For me, that film was Eecha.

Over the past several months, I watched dozens of films, some of them certainly better than others.  When I put Eecha into my DVD player on what I can only imagine was just another night of film-watching, I was instantaneously hooked.  Maybe it was the music, or the beautiful actors, or the bright colors, CGI and visual effects.  Maybe it was the resilience of a young man, reincarnated into a fly after being murdered by an evil womanizer, who must fight to avenge his killer and win back his love, despite all odds.  Whatever it may be, Eecha is a ride, and all of us are invited along for it.

Eecha is directed by S.S. Rajamouli, an Indian film director, screenwriter, and action choreographer who is widely regarded as one of the best commercial film directors of India.

The films’ stars, Nani and Sudeep, are loveable and charming, and Rajamouli’s ability to translate Sudeep’s charm into a flitting, goofy, dancing little housefly shows not only a strong appreciation and mutual trust with his actor, but also a great vision for storytelling.  Visually stunning and sometimes campy, Eecha is a movie to be enjoyed and adored.  Bring your family; bring your friends; even bring that cynical cinephile who never seems to like anything fun and dare him not to smile. 

KABHI KABHIE playing 4/14 @ noon. Tickets: http://bit.ly/108MKZa

Tom Schnabel is a former music director of KCRW and current world music director of the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Here he reminisces on his relationship to Hindi film.

Want to get your own Bolly Fix? Join us for a Yash Chopra Tribute edition of Bollywood By Night, featuring CHANDNI, SILSILA, and KABHI KABHIE.

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Purchase tickets:
KHABI KHABIE- 4/14 @ noon
SILSILA- 4/11 @ 9:15pm
CHANDNI -4/12 @ 9:15pm

“How I Discovered Bollywood”

My first experience with Bollywood music came with a couple of cd’s back in the 1980s called Golden Voices from the Silver Screen, on a cool UK label called Globe Style. Vol 2 featured songs from the TV series Movie Mahal; the first volume featured classics from Lata Mangeshkar, her kid sister Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi, and others. I was aware of the two sisters who held the Guiness World Record for most recordings. Lata was #1, Asha at #2.

I remember leaving KCRW once back in the late 80s and pulling into a Chevron Station in Santa Monica to fill up, with a cassette of Lata playing. An attendant came over and said,
“you know our divine Lata?”. Yes I said smiling proudly.

Later came Bappi Lahiri’s “I am a disco dancer”. Another hit, “Pump Up the Bhangra” came shortly after Technotronic’s “Pump Up the Volume”.

I watched Satyajit Ray’s epic Apu Trilogy with the great soundtrack music from Ravi Shankar. I’d known about Hindustani classical Indian music all the way back into the 1960s, when Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan came onto the American scene. I remember a great Ali Akbar Khan lp on the World Pacific label called Sound of the Sarod. It featured a rhapsodic piece called “Chandranadan”. Hearing it engraved it into my memory forever.

When I taught World Music at UCLA Extension in the 1990s, I invited two people on Indian night. The first was a guy named Jac Zinder, who ran a wildly eclectic pop-up nightclub that featured Bollywood videos, music, as well as fluff from Herb Alpert and other light fare. Jac showed some of the wilder clips from classic Bollywood films such as Gumnaam, which my class loved. When Jac was done, a very flustered and annoyed Harihar Rao–who founded LA’s great presenting organization The Music Circle with Ravi Shankar in 1966–admonished the class, telling students “I hope this isn’t all you learn about Indian culture!!!” He was clearly rattled.

I was delighted to see Lagaan come to mainstream cinemas here. Four hours never went by so fast. I was also the host of the big Bollywood Show at the Hollywood Bowl a few years ago; it was an unbelievable night, 18,000 people cheering. A.R. Rahman’s big entrée into Hollywood. A later show featuring orchestral versions of his soundtrack followed, but it lacked the spectacle and energy of that first show. I felt the second show was to show that Rahman can write orchetral soundtrack music for any film….not just Bollywood.

I wish Bollywood movies appeared at more mainstream theaters…..in LA you have to go to Artesia or in the past to Laemmle Fallbrook Theater, which has now closed and become another AMC venue. Channel 18 on Saturday mornings 11-12 noon; there are also Indian channels on Dish Network.

It may be that for non-Indians, following Bollywood is just something for those who know. It is fun and the films are produced in the most fantastic manner….you get it all: soap opera, musicals, dancing, spectacle, beautiful clothing. What’s not to like? I love it, and hope Bollywood finds a bigger audience. 

When: April 14, 1pm 

The Deets on the Film:

Director: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur
Star: P.K Nair N
Quick Plot: An exploration of the life and work of the founder of the National Film Archive of India. S

Quick Fact #1: Regarded the ‘guardian of Indian Cinema’, P.K. Nair built a cinema archive film by film, in an environment where film preservation was viewed as unimportant.  Out of over 1700 Indian films from the silent era, Nair was able to save 9. 

Quick Fact #2: The documentary took shape after director Dungarpur visited Nair and was dismayed to find the Archive in a poor state- rusting cans lying in the grass, thick cobwebs hanging from the shelves in vaults and Nair’s old office turned into a junkyard. Determined that this man’s legacy should not be forgotten, Dungarpur made almost a dozen pleas to convince the authorities to let him film Nair and the Archive. 

Quick Fact #3: The film features interviews with filmmakers and personalities who have been directly influence by Nair-  Mrinal Sen, Naseeruddin Shah, Jaya Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, Yash Chopra, and many more. 

Quick Fact #4: When Nair retired in 1991, he had amassed a collection of over 12,000 films- 8,000 of which were Indian.  

Quick Fact #5: Shot on 35mm film, the documentary took over two years to make, and utilized over 11 cinematographers. The film is filled with  beautifully preserved scenes from early and rare Indian movies  pulled straight from the Archive. 

Who Should Go?: Film students, die hard cinephiles, anyone with a love of film history+ storytelling, collectors and completists. 

Purchase  at Brown Paper Tickets

Tickets are $14

When

The Deets on the Film:

Director: Jeff Roy

Stars:  Maya Jafer

Quick Plot: A young woman’s personal journey to find peace and her true self, through gender reassignment.

Quick Fact #1:   The film was shot in two parts, with part 2 being funded via Kickstarter. Over one hundred backers helped the film surpass its $5,000 goal to finish the film.

Quick Fact #2: Maya was raised as Mohammed, a devout young Muslim man from an Orthodox family who devoted his life to Islamic principles and practices. Through her transition, Maya also redefines and reevaluates her spiritual convictions.

Quick Fact #3: The film follows its subjects through three countries: Maya’s native home of South India, her adopted one in Southern California, and Thailland where she receives her surgery.

Quick Fact #4: A professional violinist, Director Jeff Roy holds a background in music, having previously studied ethnomusicology. His next project, part of mtvU/Fulbright Fellowship, follows the musicians and dancers of India’s LGBT community.

Quick Fact #5: While specifically the story of a transgender Muslim Indian woman, the scope of the film is much more. Touching on the evolving struggles in Indian and Islamic societies regarding their LGBT populations, the film focuses on just what it means to be different and the impact of gender, religion, and tradition on our lives.

Who should go: Fans of modern rites of passage, being true to yourself, lush travelogues, LGBT narratives, new Muslim stories you haven’t heard before, and anyone interested in the socio-political relationship between queer life and tradition

Purchase  at Brown Paper Tickets

Tickets are $14

The Deets on the Film:

Director: Hansal Mehta
Stars:  Raj Kumar Yadav, Prabhleen Sandhu, Baljinder Kaur, Vipin Sharma, Mohb Zeeshan Ayyup
Quick Plot: Based on true events surrounding the life of  defense lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, who was murdered in 2010 at the age of 32 for his defense of a Muslim man accused of terrorism in Mumbai.

Quick Fact #1:   The film is produced by Anurag Kashyap, IFFLA’s homegrown talent. Coming to the festival  in 2005 with BLACK FRIDAY, IFFLA found a home for the controversial film, and it went on to win the Grand Jury prize for best feature and put Kashyap on the map.

Quick Fact #2: Mehta decided to make the film when he heard the posthumous reputation being cast on the film’s subject. “He was not alive to tell his side of the story…I decided to stand up for him.”

Quick Fact #3: Much of the film’s dialogue is improvised.

Quick Fact #4: The film premiered as a part of Toronto’s City to City:Mumbai program, where it was regarded as: “Mehta has transformed his camera into witness…SHAHID is as much a testament to a remarkable life cut tragically short as it is a cathartic journey through a city filled it seems with equal measure grave injustice and great idealism.”

Quick Fact #5: The titular character embarks on an amazing path to non-violence; reluctantly joining a military training camp in Kashmir at a young age, he rejects that path and goes on to defend those wrongly accused of terrorism, even with his own life at stake. At times both uplifting and brutal, it paints a realistic portrait of judicial corruption, and our own prejudices.

Who should go: Anyone interested in human rights and civil liberties, our evolving relationship with how we handle terror accusations, fans of Kashyap productions, legal dramas, and the triumph of good over distrust, paranoia, and prejudice.

Purchase  at Brown Paper Tickets

Tickets are $14

The Deets on the Film:

Director: Sushrut Jain
Stars: Sudhir, Akshaya and Prithvi

Quick Plot: Exploring India’s national obsession with cricket, this doc follows three-die hard fans of the sport in the lead up to the 2011 World Cup.

Quick Fact #1:  The film boasts some inspiring characters. 18-year old Akshaya won’t let anything stop her from playing- be it gender norms, schoolwork, or even a broken ankle.

Quick Fact #2: Batting since age 3, 12 year-old prodigy Prithvi is currently the best youth batsman in India, having broken all kinds of  records, consistently scoring  hundreds in inter-school competitions. He also captains an under-16 team with kids a few years older than him.

Quick Fact #3:  Homeless and jobless Sudhir meanwhile, doesn’t let his poverty interfere with his love of the game- he bikes around the country to watch his favorite teams play.

Quick Fact #4: The director, Sushrut Jain, was born and raised in Mumbai, but came to the United States to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Economics at Ohio Wesleyan University.  After working in San Francisco as an economist, Jain was drawn to storytelling and ended up at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles studying Film Production.

Quick Fact #5: The film’s Kickstarter campaign was presented by BIG BANG THEORY’s Kunal Nayyar. He appeared in their fundraising appeal video and regarded the project as the best portrayal of the impact of cricket he’s yet to see.

Who should go: Cricket devotees and newbies alike, documentary fans, and lovers of women in sports, anyone looking for a heartwarming story about where dreams and passion can take you.

Tickets available March 22

Closing Night- What’s the Deal?: Just like Opening Night, but with a Grad Night feel- awards are awarded, and the festival comes to an end so everyone parties like it counts!

The Deets on the Film:

Director: Deepa Mehta
Stars:  Seema Biswas, Rahul Bose, Shabana Azmi, Satya Bhabha, Shriya Saran, Anupam Kher

Quick Plot: A lush historical fiction told through magical realism, a pair of children are born within moments of India’s independence, and grow up in a fractured nation with special psyching powers joining them.  Based on Salman Rushdie’s renowned novel.

Quick Fact #1: Regarded as the “Booker of Bookers” Rushdie’s 600-page epic novel won the Booker Prize in 1981, then went on to win the Best of Booker in 1993 and 2008.

Quick Fact #2: The story features a lot of magic. All children born at the stroke of midnight on the eve of independence share a special telepathic connection that unites them.

Quick Fact #3:  The film was shot in Sri Lanka to prevent protests from fundamentalists on either side were the film shot in Pakistan or India.

Quick Fact #4: A mainstay of Indian arthouse and parallel cinema, Seema Biswas is an alum several times over, appearing in COOKING WITH STELLA, Mehta’s WATER, and last year’s PATANG.

Quick Fact #5: Lead actor Bhabha is an Indian-American who has also appeared in SCOTT PILGRIM VERSUS THE WORLD as well as the latest season of The New Girl. He was chosen for the role of Saleem Sinai after numerous conflicts with high-profile Bollywood actors.

Who should go: Anyone who wants to get their gala on! Remember, galas are the only IFFLA events where your ticket price gets you into the film and a rocking after party. With Closing Night, you get access to the award ceremony too.

Purchase  at Brown Paper Tickets

Tickets are $75

Stay tuned for more info on our regular, non-gala offerings!

Still from CLAP CLAP

Tanuj Chopra is an independent filmmaker who came to IFFLA in 2010 with his short film CLAP CLAP,  a microcinema noir set in the streets of Chinatown. IFFLA also screened his short BUTTERFLY (2003) as well as co-sponsored his feature PUNCHING AT THE SUN (2006). From coffee to Assistant Camera to the politics of wearing hats, he dishes out tips on everything a young filmmaker should know regarding set life.  Follow @ChopsFilms on Twitter

 

-Stay away from those styrofoam bowls full of pretzels and trail mix at craft service – lotta fingers rummage through those things.

- When waiting for a shot to go up, ask a grip for an apple box to sit on. If you’re cool, the grip will bring you a box for every camera setup. It will become your reminder to sit down and shut up until you’re needed.

- Don’t go into hair and makeup when there are more than 2 actors getting ready. Someone will track you down if there’s a big question. Send the AD in for time checks, send a PA in to scope the scene but stay away. I know this requires elaboration but trust me here.

- Stop and get your own cup of real coffee before coming to set. Don’t get bogged down by that AM coffee at craft services. Chances are it’s watered down and tastes like poo. Don’t drink janky shit . It will ruin your mood.

- Bring your crew real coffee on the difficult mornings. Everyone likes the gourmet stuff. Get it for them on the hard turnarounds or when morale is low. Your production will feel a shot in the arm. This means you need to start your day about 34 minutes earlier and you have to pay for it. And carry it all which sucks.

- Don’t worry about the curious routines actors do to get where they need to be. Encourage their methods. If they wanna try something say yes. They are marvelous to observe.

- If you need to discuss an issue with a collaborator, speak quietly and directly to them. Don’t make a spectacle. However, close range talking means you need consistent access to gum. Buy bulk packs before a shoot and stash them everywhere. Keep one in your pocket, one in  your car, one in your AD’s pocket. Populate your primary environments with packs. Inevitably, you’ll need to say something critical to someone right in their grill and you won’t find your gum anywhere. Your set-breath will be screaming. In that case, be mindful what direction the wind blows from your mouth.

- Men of color: if you wear a hat with character, white folks will tell you they like it. I don’t totally understand why this happens or why it’s useful information. My theory: it may be a way to make friends. Please test and report back.

- Let your AD do as much work as possible. Let them yell so you don’t have to.

- Beware of ADs who think the way to save time is hurrying between takes.

- A smart AD understands flow and momentum. They will know when to push and when to stay quiet.

- Good ADs are perceptive. Good ADs get people moving while simultaneously de-escalating tension. Antonio Grana was one of the best at this. It’s an innate ability.

Clap Clap Trailer from tanujchopra on Vimeo.

- Show love to the lowest, grimiest grip on set. Chances are that person will do something very distasteful because somebody above them is incompetent. In many ways, that person is more important than you.

-Hire women.

- Hire men of color.

- An 85mm lens is very pretty. Use it wisely.

- You will know your story better than your DP – tracking your story is the best way to help her. Camera tech jibber jabber is not helpful to her.

- Stay hydrated. Duh.

- You’re only as good as your 1st AC. The best ones are anal retentive. Fight for a good one. Wanting your film in focus is not bourgeois.

- Your producer is in a dark corner eating garbage and boldface lying to someone in order to maintain your production’s fragile existence. It’s an exhausting way of life. Be cool with them. Smile. You both eat poo sandwiches for a living.

- It’s better to get creative folks to execute through the power of suggestion. However, there are times when you have to tell someone exactly what you want very clearly, in no uncertain terms. It’s good if you can do both. You must be able to do the latter.

- Care about the details that make your piece technically better. Sometimes that’s about money. More often than not it’s about caring. There are less and less people out there who care.

- Don’t be lame.

- Be comfortable working a stand. You might have to pick up a stand for whatever reason. Don’t get caught out there lookin like a mark who doesn’t know how to hold it or which way to twist a knob. That swag get no respect in the street.

- Bounce boards are not comfortable things to sleep on. The production van is not a place you should sleep.

- When actors rehearse on a hot set, quiet your crew. Respect what your actor is about to do.

- Lights do funny things. Even the most icy, confident, born to-do-it actors can lose their confidence when those hot kinos are up. The tension is multiplied by a live camera and a bunch of monkeys standing around, gaping at the take. Always protect your actors. If you think something is shaky, take five, bring some noise back on set, talk about something else, smile, stay loose, tell your 2nd AD to do the humpty dance. Change the energy. Don’t leave people out to dry.

- If you feel like you’re not getting it, you’re probably not.

- If you know you got it, there’s still a chance you didn’t.

- Feeling compelled to do nothing is the best direction. It means something’s working.

- Understand the power and limitations of editing. Direct with the edit in mind – edit in your head. Pick up missed moments in different angles. It will limber up your mind. It will help you move through your shot list quicker.

- Don’t be a rigid a-hole. Don’t be a visual fascist.

- Actors are tough. They can take it. But you don’t need to say everything. They’re already thinking it.

- All these stories where directors take off their clothes to help actors feel “comfortable” for a sex scene are played out. Logic and narrative reasoning lend more support to a good actor than your exposed nutsack.

- The best work isn’t coming from a place of comfort. The best filmmaking emerges out of chaotic and broken scenarios. Real-time invention breathes life into your design.

- Too many producers overlook the financial value of hiring quality ACs, ADs and DITs. Sometimes their goal is to blindly cut or fill positions as quickly and cost effectively as possible. They just want to move on with a productive feeling. This tends to happen when producers don’t fully understand what the positions do and how they ultimately save a budget. They’re looking at the numbers but miss the hidden costs of a bootleg crew with no 2nd’s. These producers will lose money on set and the back end.

- A day will come when personalities clash on set and you’ll need to rally your troops to save the production. Have an inspirational speech about the collective power of a team ready to go in your back pocket. It’s your job to squash beef and keep your squad engaged.

- 12 takes is too many. Don’t be a moron and keep pushing. Change something. Add a prop. Change a set-up. Change your thinking. Nothing is more insane than repeating a take the same way 300 times to get a small piece of dialogue the over-specific way you see it in your head. That’s your fault.

- Go home. Go to sleep.

Opening Night- What’s the Deal?: A star-studded red carpet precedes the film which is then followed by a gala reception full of food, fun, and drinks.
An Epic in Two Parts: GANGS OF WASSEYPUR is a contemporary classic split into 2 parts. Opening Night will screen Part I, while Part II will be screened the following day.

A ticket to Part II is included in the purchase of all Opening Night tickets.

The Deets on the Film:

Director: Anurag Kashyap
Stars:  Manoj Bajpai, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Piyush Mishra, Richa Chadda, Reemma Sen, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Quick Plot: A mafia blood feud spanning generations lays the foundation for this left-of-Bollywood film that pays plenty of tribute to the conventions of mainstream Hindi cinema while simultaneously defying them.

Anurag's Birthday with QT

Quick Fact #1:  It wooed Cannes and the international film community at large. The Hollywood Reporter and numerous press  outlets went on to cover its screening as part of the Director’s Fortnight program. Post-Cannes, Anurag went on to be a jury member at Sundance 2013.

Quick Fact #2: Quentin Tarantino is a big fan of Kashyap and his work- he even threw the filmmaker a birthday party in Venice.

Quick Fact #3: Kashyap is IFFLA’s homegrown talent. Coming to the festival  in 2005 with BLACK FRIDAY, IFFLA found a home for the controversial film, and it went on to win the Grand Jury prize for best feature and put Kashyap on the map.

Quick Fact #4: Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is an IFFLA alum several times over. He appeared in Anurag’s original festival hit BLACK FRIDAY, as well as a whopping three selections last year- PATANG, CHITTAGONG, and WATCH INDIAN CIRCUS.

Quick Fact #5: It’s a love letter of sorts to Hindi cinema and Bollywood. From the insider references to tongue-in-cheek music  to the fast camera work and pacing, there are plenty of elements for Indian cinema buffs to share and enjoy.

Who should go: Anyone who wants to get their gala on! Remember, galas are the only IFFLA events where your ticket price gets you into the film and a rocking after party. Special about this gala: purchasing a ticket gets you into Part II the next day for free.

Purchase  at Brown Paper Tickets

Tickets are $100 (includes film screenings of Parts I + II and Opening Night reception).

And don’t forget to let your friends know and share on Facebook!

Stay tuned for more info on our regular, non-gala offerings!