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“Monsoon Shootout” by Amit Kumar will have a midnight screening at Cannes 2013

There was a time in Indian cinema, the era of the masters like Satyajit Ray, Bimal Roy and Mrinal Sen, when it was not unusual to have several Indian films in competition at the Cannes film festival. Take for instance the year 1956 when Ray’s Pather Panchali and Shantaram Athavale’s Shevgyachya Shenga competed in the feature film category. Or the year 1954 when Bimal Roy’s Do Beegha Zameen and Kishore Sahu’s Mayurpankh were in competition along with two short films by Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani. [Read India’s tryst with Cannes]

The last Indian film that got selected in competition was Shaji Karun’s Swaham way back in 1994. Since then, we haven’t managed to catch the fancy of Cannes selectors [Read Why Indian films don't make it to Cannes]. However, this year seems to be a little different. With four films and one project making it to various sections, this certainly...

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Miss Lovely by Ashim Ahluwalia in Un Certain Regard

Peddlers by Vasan Bala in 51st Cannes Critics Week

Gangs of Wasseypur Part 1 & 2 in Directors’ Fortnight

Kalpana by Uday Shankar in Cannes Classics

Project ‘The Untold Tale’ by Shivajee Chandrabhushan in L’Atelier

Are Cannes Critics Week and Directors’ Fortnight official selections?

No. They are parallel sections of the Cannes Film Festival.

Then what is official selection?

Cannes Film Festival official selection comprises of Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, Special Screenings, Midnight Screenings, Cannes Classics and the Cinéfondation.

The most important of the official selection are the Competition and Un Certain Regard. Films that are representative of “arthouse cinema with a wide audience appeal” are presented in Competition, and Un Certain Regard...

Vikramaditya Motwane’s “Udaan”, the film that made it to Un Certain Regard at Cannes International Film festival after seven years has been the talk of the town lately. With Udaan, Indian cinema’s seven year long jinxed relationship with the premier film festival has come to an end. Murali Nair’s Arimpara was the last film to have made it to Un Certain Regard, the section that carries the second most prestigious award, in the year 2003. Prior to that, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas was presented as a special screening out of competition at the festival in 2002.

Come to think of it, India and Cannes have had a cordial relationship right from the start. 1946, the year one of the oldest film festivals began at Cannes, Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar was screened as a Feature film in competition. Neecha Nagar was a pioneering effort in realistic Indian cinema and...