nov 10-14 2010 - Rehoboth Beach Film Society

CounTRy spoTlIghT: IndIa
The story of Dadasaheb Phalke told above is chronicled in the festival film
Harishchandra Factory (PAGE 39). The 2010 Indian entry into the Academy
Awards for Best Foreign film is a delightful film that takes a light and
entertaining approach to telling a true story. To call it an Indian biopic
would be accurate, but would belie the nature of the character and the
film. The other blockbuster is the 2009 Indian entry into the Academy
Awards for Best Foreign Film, Like Stars on Earth (PAGE 45). It is a sweet
film focusing on a little boy who is “different”. He just can’t seem to fit in
and while he is a good kid, he encounters some disciplinary problems and
is shipped off to boarding school. When a new teacher takes an interest in
the boy, he finds out that the “problem” is dyslexia and goes about working
with the child through their common interest in art. It is a beautiful story
that is a triumph of the human spirit.
On the independent end of the spectrum are 2 films that brought Indian
Cinema to the world stage. Peepli Live (PAGE 49) is the first Indian film
ever to screen in the Sundance Film Festival. Best labeled as a satire, the
film uses the very real problem of farmer suicide to highlight the media
frenzy in the country. When it is suggested that a farmer commit suicide
to get insurance money that his family can use to create a better life, the
media gets a hold of the story and runs with it. A little madcap, a little
zany, a lot poignant, the bottom line is a great film. Udaan (PAGE 54) is
youth story that focuses on a boy who comes back from boarding school to
live under the iron fist of his father. The boy wants to be a writer and his
beautiful poems dot the landscape of the film. His father will have none of
it and the conflict between them escalates. A story of familial dysfunction
permeates the story, yet it is a simple, touching film that shows the depth
of the filmmaking talent in India.
Finally, Kavi is in the Short Stories program (PAGE 66). The 2010 Oscar ®
nominated short film is about a boy in India who wants to play cricket and
go to school, but instead he is forced to work in a brick kiln as a modernday
slave. Unsatisfied with his fate, Kavi must choose to either accept what
he’s always been told, or fight for a different life even if he’s unsure of the
ultimate outcome.
harishchandra Factory
Page: 39
liKe stars on earth
Page: 45
P ee P l i l i Ve
Page: 49
udaan
Page: 54
KaVi
Page: 66
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CounTRy spoTlIghT: IndIa