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A dreamscape where the decaying remnants of the huge mansions of the past are filled with vegetation that communicates in its own language is where “Jonaki” is set for the most part. The dreams and memories of an eighty-year-old woman are shown to us as she sees them.

“Jonaki” is screening at Indian Film Festival Los Angeles

“Jonaki” (Lolita Chatterjee) is in her deathbed and the memory of her whole life, which starts from her love affair with a Christian boy (Jim Sarbh), is being shown to the viewers. In her memories, everyone looks at their most memorable forms to her. She is in her eighty-year form while everyone else looks much younger when the memory is from her teenage years. Her doomed love and the arranged marriage where she was not happy that follows it, cover the basic story but the film has a lot more to tell.

The...

17th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles announces 2019 lineup including opening night tribute to iconic Indian actress Tabu.

Widely recognized as the premiere global showcase for groundbreaking Indian cinema, Iffla will take place April 11-14 at Regal L.A. Live: A Barco Innovation Center in Los Angeles. This is the festival’s third year in the state-of-the-art, world-class cinema in the heart of the city’s vibrant and developing downtown district. Opening and Closing Gala presentations will take place at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills with dinner receptions to follow hosted by Indian restaurant Spice Affair.

The festival will open with a tribute and moderated discussion with legendary Indian actress Tabu, paired with a screening of her latest film Andhadhun directed by Iffla alum Sriram Raghavan.Known to her millions of fans worldwide for her intense, masterful performances, Tabu is regarded as one of the most...

National Award winning actress Tabu will be honoured at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles in April. Announcing the lineup of films and the other activities of the festival, Christina Marouda, Iffla Executive Director, said in a statement: "We have been discussing honouring Tabu for a long time, and this year felt like the right time. Her work and personality embody everything that Iffla is about -- being fearless, versatile, independent in spirit, unwilling to compromise, brilliant in the range of her performances, and simply beautiful."

"With half of the festival's 2019 lineup directed by female filmmakers, this couldn't be a stronger celebration of women in Indian cinema," he said.

While Tabu's recently released film Andhadhun will be the opening film of the festival, other female filmmakers' work will also be showcased on the occassion. With several feature, shots and documentaries -- films will be shown in nine languages.

'Taking...

Exclusive/Film Bazaar: Labour of Love writer-director Aditya Vikram Sengupta will begin shooting his new Bengali-language feature film Jonaki in December.

Sengupta says Jonaki, which literally translates as ‘firefly,’ is “an abstract film based on the story of my grandmother who was in a coma for four days. I wondered what she was thinking.”

Veteran actress Lolita Chatterjee plays the 80-year-old lead. “It’s a very brave step for her in a very difficult film,” said Sengupta..

Sengupta added, “A festival run and an online release might be the most viable options. A theatrical release plan is unlikely to work for this subject and treatment.”

Sengupta’s debut feature Labour of Love (Asha Jaoar Majhe), about a young married couple in Kolkata, won the Fedeora award for best debut film in Venice Days 2014 and a National Film Award in India.

Samir Sarkar of Mumbai-based Magic Hour Films is producing and financing. He said, “I...