River to River 2013 and the woman in India
Countdown to the Indian Film Festival in its 2013 edition. New: in 2014 it will also land in Milan, reconfirming in Rome with the "best of". Among the special events, on Monday 25 November, on the occasion of the International Day against Violence against Women, the festival will propose a focus on the theme of women in India, through a selection of all-female films. But not only. The explosion of colors and dances for the celebration of the Holi festival - one of the most ancient festivals in Hindu mythology - in the documentary "Dancing Colors" by Fabian Oswald, the story of the first 'stunt woman' of Indian cinema in “Fearless: the Hunterwaly Story "by Riyad Vinci Wadia are just some of the various themes that will be addressed during the 13th edition of the River to River Florence Indian Film Festival, the only Italian festival entirely dedicated to contemporary Indian cinema. The Festival will take place in Florence (Cinema Odeon, Piazza Strozzi 1) from November 22nd to 28th, with over 40 films, including world, European and national premieres, four special events, a retrospective, meetings with actors and directors and an art exhibition Contemporary.
The thirteenth edition is divided into three sections : feature films, documentaries and short films, all unpublished in Italy. The public will decide for each category the winner of the "River to River Bitebay Audience Award" that will automatically enter the "collection" of films of the Tuscany Regional Media Library.
The international day against violence against women and Shabana Azmi
Among the special events, on Monday 25 November, on the occasion of the International Day against Violence against Women, the festival will propose a focus on the theme of women in India, through a selection of all-female films. The European preview of "Lessons in forgetting" (India, 2012) by director Unni Vijayan, inspired by the eponymous book by Anita Nair, and winner of the "60th National Film Award" of Indian cinema as "Best film in English" will be presented (2012), a film on the new generations of young Indian women who struggle to defend their rights and their emancipation ; to follow the documentary "Fearless: the Hunterwaly Story" (1993), the story of the Australian actress Mary Evans who from the 30s acted in numerous Indian films, becoming the first woman to hold stunt roles under the name of 'Fearless Nadia - Nadia the daredevil '. The event will be screened for the first time in Italy for the 20th anniversary of the documentary. Do not miss the Bollywood cinema and animation cinema thanks to the artistic partnership with the Anifest - Mumbai animation film festival - present with 5 European preview short animated films. In addition, 4 shorts from as many students from the Film and TV Institute of India and the Whistling Woods International, the two most important film schools in the country, will be screened.
Moreover, this year the River to River dedicates a retrospective to a personality of Indian cinema, who will meet the audience of the Odeon Cinema on Saturday 23 November. For the current year it will be the turn of Shabana Azmi, award-winning actress and great activist, a woman who is always in the forefront on the national and international scene, who, on the subject of the current edition, said: "India lives more different eras at the same time and contains all the contradictions that derive from being a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multi-denominational society: on the one hand, we had a female prime minister, a woman president and many women in positions of power in the business world, but on the other hand we remain a patriarchal society, in which the preference for the male child leads to female feticide, which is still practiced today. We must have zero tolerance for this violence and for any other kind of abuse against women, the progress of a country must be measured not only on the basis of GDP, but on the basis of the human development index, whose most important meter is the level of legitimacy of its women. "
And from Florence he lands in Rome and also in Milan!
The Festival confirms this year the Roman dates, a selection of the "best of" and the winning films of the 2013 edition will be screened in the capital, from Friday 29 November to Sunday 1 December, at the Nuovo Cinema Aquila and for the first time the River to River will arrive, next February, at the Spazio Oberdan in Milan, Viale Vittorio Veneto, 2.
The River to River, conceived and organized by Selvaggia Velo, director of the event, with the Patronage of the Embassy of India in Italy and the contribution of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, continues its journey of recognition in the territories of Indian cinema, to tell the thousand faces of a distant and often little-known country in Italy and Europe, through films by well-known directors and young emerging talents. The festival is part of the 50 Days of International Cinema and is realized with the contribution of the Tuscany Region and Fondazione Sistema Toscana Mediateca, Ente Cassa di Risparmio of Florence and OAC Observatory for Contemporary Arts, the National Office of Indian Tourism in Milan and in collaboration with the NFAI - National Film Archive of India, Istituto Luce and Palazzo Tornabuoni, and thanks to the support of the multi-brand store LUISAVIAROMA. The thirteenth edition inaugurates a new collaboration with the company Salvatore Ferragamo, always attentive to the dialogue with the world of art, culture and cinema that is entering for the first time in the list of sponsors of the event. The festival avails itself of the support of the following sponsors: Coco-Mat, Instyle, Klopman, Hotel Roma, Pensione Canada, Obika Mozzarella Bar and Vini Mazzei.
