Wednesday, March 22, 2017

IFFLA 2017

15th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
APRIL 5-9, 2017 - Regal LA Live in Downtown LA





Wednesday, April 5 at 7:30 pm - Opening Night Gala

LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA - 116 min




Director Alankrita Shrivastava won the Spirit of Asia award at the Tokyo International Film Festival with this ambitious narrative set in Bhopal. Rehana is the titular burkha wearer who sings at open mics in defiance of her father’s warnings; Shirin is a superstar saleswoman, but must keep this triumph a secret from her faithless husband; Leela is trying to juggle a Muslim lover, a Hindu fiancé and her dream career as a bridal consultant; and Auntie Usha secretly reads racy novels and lusts after her swimming instructor. Two of the women are Hindu, two are Muslim, but all their stories come together when they attempt to challenge the sexual and social norms of Indian patriarchy.

Thursday, April 6 at 7:00 pm

MACHINES - 71 min



In the bowels of a textile mill in Surat, Gujarat, machines churn out reams of fabric, powered not only by electricity but the toil of human labor. In his debut feature, Rahul Jain gains almost unlimited access to the dehumanizing world of textile production that recalls another era but is happening today. We meet some of the mill’s many workers who are keenly aware of their exploitation, working gruelling daily shifts for minimal wages that barely cover their own basic living expenses, to say nothing of supporting their distant families. Still the work continues, never ending.

Thursday, April 6 at 7:15 pm

AN INDIAN ACCENT: AN EVENING WITH ZAKIR HUSSAIN AND ZANE DALAL

IFFLA is honored to welcome legendary tabla maestro Zakir Hussain to the festival, joined by Zane Dalal, the Associate Music Director of the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI). The two distinguished gentlemen will present a screening of the documentary AN INDIAN ACCENT, directed by Sumantra Ghosal, which chronicles their collaboration within the SOI on Hussain’s composition Peshkar, a brilliant orchestra concerto lead by Hussain on his signature instrument, the tabla.

Thursday, April 6 at 9:00 pm

ONCE AGAIN - 121 min

Dileep gives a staggering performance as an earnest family man who can’t catch a break. But when a stroke of good luck reveals a hidden side to his personality, it’s the people who love him who have to face the consequences.Veteran Malayalam filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan made a welcome return to the festival circuit at the Toronto International Film Festival last year with his new gripping drama ONCE AGAIN.

Friday, April 7 at 7:00 pm

TRAPPED - 101 min



Shaurya is in urgent need of a new apartment.  He’s just made an impulsive marriage proposal, the clock is ticking and the tiny flat he shares with half a dozen layabouts is not suitable for his hopeful bride-to-be. When he’s offered an affordable place in an otherwise abandoned Mumbai high-rise, he jumps at the chance, never mind the spotty access to running water and electricity.  But on his first morning, he manages to lock himself inside due to a faulty door and misplaced keys.  With the power out, the faucets running dry and no one around to hear Saurya’s screams for help, what at first seems like a minor setback quickly escalates into a desperate fight for survival.

Friday, April 7 at 7:15 pm

SHORTS PROGRAM 1

Friday, April 7 at 9:15 pm

THE CINEMA TRAVELLERS - 96 min



For decades, traveling tent cinemas have been bringing films to rural audiences across India. However with the explosion of digital technology and individual screens of all kinds, these communal social events are near extinction. In Maharashtra, two exhibitors, one relatively new to the business and the other a veteran, worry what will become of their occupation. Meanwhile, Prakash, a repairman of the projectors that generations of filmgoers have relied on, is close to realizing his dream invention of a reliable, self-oiling film projector, but who will want it?

Friday, April 7 at 9:35 pm

CHRONICLES OF HARI - 105 min



Set in the lush coastal regions of Karnataka, first-time director Ananya Kasaravalli’s CHRONICLES OF HARI delves into the unique, ornate world of traditional Yakshagana theater and finds within it a sensitive, compassionate portrayal of a man troubled by questions of tradition and identity. In this story co-written with Ananya’s father, parallel cinema pioneer Girish Kasaravalli, Hari, a renowned actor who performs the female roles in his all-male acting troupe, finds himself holding on to certain female-associated traits once his lavish costumes and makeup are removed. He prefers to wear a sari, his delicate features are a stark contrast from the other men in the village, and when potential female companions approach he’s at a loss how to behave.

Saturday, April 8 at 12:00 pm

FILMMAKER ROUNDTABLE

Saturday, April 8 at 1:30 pm

SHORTS PROGRAM 2

Saturday, April 8 at 2:00 pm

THE GOLDEN WING - 86 min



Set among the breathtaking landscapes of Western Assam, Bobby Sarma Baruah’s second feature foregoes the traditional structure of the all-too-common biopic to deliver an enchanting, positively gorgeous portrayal of the life of Pratima Baruah Pandey. Born to royalty in 1935, Pandey found her passion in the folk songs performed by the working people of her region, rather than in the life of marriage and domesticity expected of a woman of her circumstance. She forsook tradition by dedicating her life to learning these songs – usually sung by boatmen and buffalo herders – and sharing them with the world.

Saturday, April 8 at 4:15 pm

SOMETIMES (SILA SAMAYANGALIL) - 101 min



In a nondescript waiting room at a medical clinic, a group of strangers waits for test results. Everyone is desperate not to admit what they have tested for: HIV. As they grow frustrated with the reality that they will have to wait until the end of the day to receive results, they come up with the idea to bribe the receptionist, who is dealing with her own personal problems and desperate for the money. She comes back with the news that only serves to make the wait more tortuous.

Saturday, April 8 at 4:30 pm

INCOMPLETE - 120 min

Set in a lush, breathtaking mountain region of West Bengal, celebrated filmmaker Suman Mukhopadhyay’s latest triumph boasts a rich, vividly portrayed ensemble of characters and an intricate, unpredictable story with the resonance of a great novel. Indrajit (played by the consistently stellar Ritwick Chakraborty) is an intelligent if indecisive man of 35 on holiday from Kolkata to visit his old college friend Moloy. He arrives to find Moloy constantly battling with his neglected wife Tuki, a formidable woman seeking elsewhere for the tenderness she fails to receive at home. In town, Indrajit comes across a familiar man whose insistence that they’ve never met before clearly masks an intriguing secret. Then, Indrajit runs into an old lover and her jealous husband, setting the stage for some fierce confrontation.

Saturday, April 8 at 7:00 pm

AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN - 96 min



When the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party – led by the polarizing political firebrand Arvind Kejriwal — challenged India’s long-dominant two party system in the 2013 Delhi state elections, expectations for victory were not high. Rooted in principles of anti-corruption and working class justice, the AAP faced the scorn of the political establishment, the indifference of the media and the growing pains of a new, revolutionary ideology struggling to remain pure through infighting, accusations and possible violent sabotage.

Saturday, April 8 at 9:15 pm

SEXY DURGA - 85 min



When it won the prestigious Tiger award at Rotterdam this year, the critical responses to SEXY DURGA were both squeamish and rapturous. Was Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s road movie about star-crossed lovers unrelentingly provocative, or a masterly exposure of the vulnerability of women in Indian society to exploitation that masquerades as chivalry? The answer is: it’s both.

Saturday, April 8 at 9:30 pm

LADY OF THE LAKE - 71 min



Beginning with the breathtaking opening shot, filmmaker Haobam Paban Kumar introduces us to a unique culture on a scale that is both intimate and panoramic. In the state of Manipur in northern India, families of fisherman live on small islands of biomass called phumdis floating on Lake Loktak. In 2011, citing pollution concerns, government authorities forcibly displaced inhabitants and burned their homes.

Sunday, April 9 at 1:00 pm

A BILLION COLOUR STORY - 104 min



11-year-old Hari Aziz lives a blissful life in Mumbai with his parents, a pair of Bohemian filmmakers whose optimistic views have been embedded into their son’s DNA. Hari approaches the world with refreshing openness and curiosity, but soon the social realities of a country in crisis pose a challenge to his family’s gentle existence. Financial hardships force the family to move out of their beloved house, and Hari’s mom and dad – a Hindu woman and a Muslim man, neither one particularly observant – face a sort of religious intolerance from both sides that they had long hoped would disappear from India.

Sunday, April 9 at 1:30 pm

CHUTNEY POPCORN - 92 min


Sunday, April 9 at 3:45 pm

A DEATH IN THE GUNJ - 104 min



Celebrated actress Konkona Sen Sharma steps behind the camera for an electrifying directorial debut with A DEATH IN THE GUNJ. Set in 1979, a wealthy family arrives at their vacation home in the Anglo-Indian town of McCluskiegunj. Several generations have gathered for an idyllic week of relaxation, games, sun-bathing and merriment, but tension soon arises when young Shutu – a college student taking an abrupt break from his studies – begins to bear the brunt of his relatives’ barely-masked disdain and superiority.

Sunday, April 9 at 7:00 pm - Closing Night Gala

HOTEL SALVATION - 103 min




After a prophetic dream, 77-year old Daya (Lalit Behl) announces to his family his time has come and he wishes to travel to the holy city of Varanasi to die there. The task to accompany his father falls to his dutiful son Rajiv (Adil Hussain), who is nearly overwhelmed by the stress of his job and the upcoming marriage of his daughter. In Varanasi, they check into the Hotel Salvation, where guests wait for the end of their lives. Once there though, Daya seems to be reinvigorated, and lifelong conflicts and feelings between father and son reemerge.