Mami Select: Filmed on iPhone is an initiative undertaken by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami) to make short films shot on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The five filmmakers chosen for this virtuous deed were Prateek Vats, Saurav Rai, Faraz Ali, Archana Atul Phadke, and Saumyananda Sahi. These filmmakers were mentored by veteran filmmakers like Vishal Bhardwaj, Vikramaditya Motwane and Rohan Sippy. The five short films are tales of individuals who deal with the challenging lives of the marginalized, the vulnerable, the impoverished, the alienated, and the troubled. From the confines of a garment factory to the narrow alleys of a daily market in a rural town to the snow-clad locales of Kashmir to the dunes of Rajasthan to the bustling metropolis, they present vivid characters whose individual problems are no less vital and compelling. Small errors snowball into unintended and unimaginable consequences. As a result, the principal characters...
- 5/10/2024
- by Dipankar Sarkar
- Talking Films
Folklore, feminism and film noir come together in Pushpendra Singh’s meticulously crafted fourth feature “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.” Set in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region in Northwest India, this moody fable about an unhappy young bride plotting her escape from tradition and patriarchy is a gripping character study that stutters slightly in the latter stages before producing a magical finale that no-one will forget in a hurry. Singh’s beautifully shot film has traveled extensively on the festival circuit and picked up awards at Hong Kong and Jeonju since debuting at Berlin in 2020. Specialty distributor partners Deaf Crocodile Films and Gratitude Films have acquired the film for U.S. release.
Singh’s penetrating study of toxic patriarchy and female identity is based on a short story by Vijayadan Detha, the acclaimed Rajasthani author known for bringing modern and often provocative sensibilities to folk tales. Singh previously...
Singh’s penetrating study of toxic patriarchy and female identity is based on a short story by Vijayadan Detha, the acclaimed Rajasthani author known for bringing modern and often provocative sensibilities to folk tales. Singh previously...
- 3/1/2022
- by Richard Kuipers
- Variety Film + TV
The Kashmir region is defined by it beauty and the many cultures its conveys. However, its territory also highlights the troubled history of India after the partition when Kashmir became the most fought-over region, resulting in three wars between Pakistan and India, and the region finally being subdivided among the two states, as well as China. Its history as well as its rich culture is what attracted Indian director Pushpendra Singh for his third feature “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs” whose story is set within the Indian-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir. The movie, which had its world premiere at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival, tells a story about the region, but also one about oppression and liberation, about desire and attraction.
“The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs” lands on digital and video-on-demand March 15, 2022 in North America from Deaf Crocodile Films and Gratitude Films, collaborating with digital partner Grasshopper Films.
“The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs” lands on digital and video-on-demand March 15, 2022 in North America from Deaf Crocodile Films and Gratitude Films, collaborating with digital partner Grasshopper Films.
- 2/20/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The Kashmir region is defined by it beauty and the many cultures its conveys. However, its territory also highlights the troubled history of India after the partition when Kashmir became the most fought-over region, resulting in three wars between Pakistan and India, and the region finally being subdivided among the two states, as well as China. Its history as well as its rich culture is what attracted Indian director Pushpendra Singh for his third feature “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs” whose story is set within the Indian-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir. The movie, which had its world premiere at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival, tells a story about the region, but also one about oppression and liberation, about desire and attraction.
The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs is screening at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
Upon their travels through the Kashmir territory, shepherd Tanvir (Saddakit Bijran) is...
The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs is screening at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
Upon their travels through the Kashmir territory, shepherd Tanvir (Saddakit Bijran) is...
- 5/21/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Northwest India’s Jammu and Kashmir region resides at the center of a longstanding geopolitical stalemate involving neighboring Pakistan. While those tensions are referenced in The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs, they are not the film’s focal point. Instead, paranoia and opportunism have become fully ingrained in the forest area’s mountainous bedrock. Of more importance is why these characters either accept or subvert such societal realities, and how they normalize modes of corruption and gender inequality under the guise of tradition or progress.
When split in half, the title of Pushpendra Singh’s riveting character study represents competing forces of assimilation and freedom, patriarchy and artistic expression. Laila (Navjot Randhawa), who comes by her occupation not out of choice but an arranged marriage to the shepherd Tanvir (Sadakkit Bijran), embodies this strain wholeheartedly. To make sense of the suffocation felt as an independent woman in spirit and kept bride in practice,...
When split in half, the title of Pushpendra Singh’s riveting character study represents competing forces of assimilation and freedom, patriarchy and artistic expression. Laila (Navjot Randhawa), who comes by her occupation not out of choice but an arranged marriage to the shepherd Tanvir (Sadakkit Bijran), embodies this strain wholeheartedly. To make sense of the suffocation felt as an independent woman in spirit and kept bride in practice,...
- 12/10/2020
- by Glenn Heath Jr.
- The Film Stage
2012 turned out to be a year when a number of smaller or independent films made their way onto many Top Ten lists. But, as always, there are films that, for a number of reasons, risk being forgotten or overlooked, especially in a year where there are so many great films to choose from. Here are 13 films – 10 already released, 3 from the festival circuit – that you should have seen in 2012. It’s still not too late!
Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid (dir. Nila Madhab Panda)
It’s a massive shame that Nila Madhab Panda’s film didn’t get as much attention as his I Am Kalam, and also a shame that the film was released to DVD without English subtitles. Because Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid, like I Am Kalam, weaves an issue into a story about, and for, children and families, and the message it carries (about the value of women and...
Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid (dir. Nila Madhab Panda)
It’s a massive shame that Nila Madhab Panda’s film didn’t get as much attention as his I Am Kalam, and also a shame that the film was released to DVD without English subtitles. Because Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid, like I Am Kalam, weaves an issue into a story about, and for, children and families, and the message it carries (about the value of women and...
- 1/6/2013
- by Katherine Matthews
- Bollyspice
The tranquil restraint with which Aamir Bashir and Shanker Raman depict the violence and madness in Kashmir in “Harud” (Autumn) is extra-ordinary. They achieve remarkable success in capturing the human side of the situation in Kashmir in a manner that we rarely see in Indian cinema.
Rafiq (Shahnawaz Bhat), an unemployed Kashmiri young man, attempts to cross the border possibly to join a militant training camp in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. His father, a traffic policeman, foils his attempt and brings him back. Rafiq lives a life of utter confusion and meaninglessness until he finds his lost brother’s camera.
Through his meandering life, the director shows us the shattered pieces of life in Kashmir: a mother waiting for her disappeared son, a man leaving for Ludhiana to sell shawls, a wannabe actor eager to get selected for a model hunt reality show, a Kashmiri pundit visiting Kashmir to distress-sell his ancestral...
Rafiq (Shahnawaz Bhat), an unemployed Kashmiri young man, attempts to cross the border possibly to join a militant training camp in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. His father, a traffic policeman, foils his attempt and brings him back. Rafiq lives a life of utter confusion and meaninglessness until he finds his lost brother’s camera.
Through his meandering life, the director shows us the shattered pieces of life in Kashmir: a mother waiting for her disappeared son, a man leaving for Ludhiana to sell shawls, a wannabe actor eager to get selected for a model hunt reality show, a Kashmiri pundit visiting Kashmir to distress-sell his ancestral...
- 7/27/2012
- by Bikas Mishra
- DearCinema.com
Harud, a film by debutante director Aamir Bashir continues to make waves at festivals. It has been selected for the 7th Dubai International Film Festival to be held from Dec 12 to 19, 2010. Harud is in competition in Diff's Muhr Asiaafrica Competition and is making its Middle East Premier. The screenings are on Dec 13 at 10pm and Dec 16 at 1pm at Moe. Director and producer Aamir Bashir, co-producer and Dop Shanker Raman and the lead actor Shahnawaz Bhat who plays the role of...
- 12/13/2010
- Bollywood Trade
Harud, a film by debutante director Aamir Bashir continues to make waves at festivals. It has been selected for the 7th Dubai International Film Festival to be held from Dec 12 to 19, 2010. Harud is in competition in Diff's Muhr Asiaafrica Competition and is making its Middle East Premier. The screenings are on Dec 13 at 10pm and Dec 16 at 1pm at Moe. Director and producer Aamir Bashir, co-producer and Dop Shanker Raman and the lead actor Shahnawaz Bhat who plays the role of R...
- 12/11/2010
- GlamSham
Kashmir, a hotbed of India-Pakistan territory dispute is the subject of Harud (Autumn). A young man, Rafiq (Shahnawaz Bhat), is seen trying to cross the border over to Pakistan only to be captured and returned to his home, to his parents. The village is under watchful eyes of heavily armed occupying Indian Soldiers. Rafiq's brother is one of the thousands of young men who have gone missing since the military insurgence. His mother is still hopeful that her older son will turn up some day and attends rallies by Apdp (Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons). His father, a traffic cop, having seen a lot of violence, is deteriorating fast due to post-traumatic stress disorder. Rafiq sleepwalks through the day with his friends who are dreaming about escaping from Kashmir. The jobs are scarce for young people and the news of cell phones arriving in town is quite possibly the...
- 10/29/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Kashmir, a hotbed of India-Pakistan territory dispute is the subject of Harud (Autumn). A young man, Rafiq (Shahnawaz Bhat), is seen trying to cross the border over to Pakistan only to be captured and returned to his home, to his parents. The village is under watchful eyes of heavily armed occupying Indian Soldiers. Rafiq's brother is one of the thousands of young men who have gone missing since the military insurgence. His mother is still hopeful that her older son will turn up some day and attends rallies by Apdp (Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons). His father, a traffic cop, having seen a lot of violence, is deteriorating fast due to post-traumatic stress disorder. Rafiq sleepwalks through the day with his friends who are dreaming about escaping from Kashmir. The jobs are scarce for young people and the news of cell phones arriving in town is quite possibly the...
- 10/29/2010
- Screen Anarchy
"South Asia" takes in a lot of territory, both literally and culturally/aesthetically, so you've got to hand it to the fest and programmer Galen Rosenthal in particular: the diversity of themes, styles, and genres on display in this year's Saiff is downright stunning. The easier path would have been to pick a brow--low, middle, or high--and stick with it, thus playing it safe by appealing to a certain target audience and stacking the deck accordingly. Instead, this year's Saiff goes after movie-lovers in all shapes and sizes. There are wide-ranging approaches to filmmaking on display, from the boldly experimental to crowd-pleasing popcorn fare, and with both veterans and up-and-comers well-represented. Yet because of that same diversity, fest-goers may welcome some guidance, so with that in mind I offer up the following preview of what's on tap.
Harud ("Autumn")
Managing somehow to be both meditative and seething, Harud represents quite...
Harud ("Autumn")
Managing somehow to be both meditative and seething, Harud represents quite...
- 10/24/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The Toronto film Festival 2010, which began this Thursday, will have a lot to offer to its Bollywood patrons. On show are Anurag Kashyap’s That Girl In Yellow Boots, featuring Kalki Koechlin and Naseeruddin Shah, Kiran Rao’s Dhobi Ghat, co-starring Aamir Khan and Prateik Babbar, Sidharth Srinivasan’s Pairon Tale (Soul Of Sand) and actor Aamir Bashir’s directorial debut, Harud (Autumn), with Iranian actor Reza Naji and Shahnawaz Bhat. Co-director of the festival, Cameron Bailey was all praise for Kiran Rao’s Dhobi Ghat, describing it as “a love letter to Mumbai”. Bashir’s Harud, he says, “is a remarkable achievement marked by ...
- 9/9/2010
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
It.s a different kind of tiff this year. A new kind of tiff.The festival.s 35th year is marked with a whole lot of new in 2010.The festival will open doors to its new home, the Bell Lightbox on September 12th with a big ol. block party including a live concert in the entertainment district - right in middle of all the action.There.s also a new festival strip of commotion . the all new festival village, located on King Street in the heart of downtown Toronto just steps away from all the wining and dining your heart can desire. The Indian contingent at the festival is also quite .hatke. (different) from previous years.The festival.s South Asian line-up is fragrant of the winds of change and an increasing acceptance of a new crop of Indian films gaining momentum and emerging strong in Mumbai . Independent Cinema. Cinemagoers...
- 9/7/2010
- Filmicafe
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