Showcasing 50+ shorts, documentaries and feature films from South Asia, Canada, Britain, Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, Argentina, Australia, Turkey/Syria, Iran and Thailand, the I-View World Film Festival kicks off Thursday, December 10, 2020, at the DLF CyberHub in Gurgaon, Haryana, with a socially distant red carpet, COVID-conscious screening and intimate panel discussion around Deepa Mehta’s FUNNY BOY, the film Canada has submitted as its official entry for the 2021 Academy Awards.
Based on Shyam Selvadurai’s book by the same title, the film, about Love and War, Conflict and Sexuality, is set amidst a background of Tamil oppression and resistance and narrates the story of Arjie, who is exploring his sexuality and comes of age at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in Sri Lanka. “For me, FUNNY BOY is a quintessentially Canadian story and could have only been written by a Sri Lankan who had emigrated to Canada,” says Mehta, whose work challenges traditions and stereotypes and is always daring, fearless and provocative. “The objectivity that Canada provides, through which we can look at our respective homelands, is, I think, this country’s greatest gift. It’s what I hope will give us a global understanding of the nature of the ‘Other’.”
The centerpiece programming is the new VISUAL CULTURE section for the festival, featuring several shorts & docs at the intersection of art, activism and contemporary culture. Two main highlights of this section include the Indian Premiere of
- Short film OCTOBER RUMBLES, a poignant response to this time of global crisis, by the highly-acclaimed Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Palme d’Or and Jury Prize winner at Cannes Film Festival
- Award-winning documentary CAN ART STOP A BULLET by Mark Street about the power and potential of art to temper violence when politics and reason fails.
“The one thing that these extraordinary times have brought is a sense of shared crisis across humanity, and while these times are challenging, there are all kinds of new possibilities that have emerged,” said Myna Mukherjee, founder and director of Engendered, “We are able to reach out across the globe through these films, which are the perfect gateway to open up universal conversations around identity/marginalities, gender/sexuality, climate change/justice, class/caste and oppression/migration in contemporary culture. By utilizing the cinematic lens, we aim to create global awareness of issues that become heightened in the midst of a global pandemic.”
The closing night feature is director Nathan Grossman’s critically-acclaimed documentary, I AM GRETA, an extraordinary journey of a teenage climate change activist on her international crusade to get the world’s attention towards environmental issues. The documentary chronicles Greta Thunberg’s ‘School Strike for the Climate’ every Friday outside the Swedish parliament to a global movement over the years.
*Starting in 2020, I-View World will merge with the NYC South Asian Film Festival (NYC SAFF), produced by JINGO Media, to alternate its human rights programming between New Delhi and New York City every other year. “We have a decade-long, symbiotic, dynamic relationship with Engendered,” said Jitin Hingorani, founder and festival director of NYC SAFF, “and we are joining forces to increase our global reach by curating world-class content that will question the representation of “other” and help find their place in our politically and socially-divisive cultures, all in an effort to bring us closer together as global citizens.”
Global Programming Spotlights @ I-View World 2020:
- Conversation on “Archetypes of Justice” with Richie Mehta (director) and Shefali Shah (lead actor, in attendance) of DELHI CRIME, the International Emmy Award Winner for “Best Dramatic Series”
- Virtual Screening of Argentina’s official entry to the Oscars, Paula Hernandez’s THE SLEEPWALKERS (LOS SONAMBULOS)
- Women in independent cinema, feature narrative MAADHATY by Leena Manimekalai, docu-fiction EBANG BEWARISH and IF YOU DARE DESIRE by Debalina Majumdar and short film AYESHA by Ambarein Alaqdar.
- Two screenings of Sweden’s critically-acclaimed, AND THEN WE DANCED, the passionate coming-of age tale set amidst the conservative confines of modern Georgian society
- Virtual Screening of Teddy Award Winner for Best LGBTQ film at Berlin Film Festival, BRIEF STORY FROM THE GREEN PLANET
- In conversation with the cast of CHURAILS, a series that was banned in Pakistan for its bold representation of gender roles in Muslim society
- Virtual Screening of NASIR, part of the New York Film Festival & New Directors/New Films Series at MOMA
- Animated documentary short HALF A LIFE, by Dutch filmmaker, Tamara Shogaolu, a timely story of activism and hope, set in the increasingly dangerous, oppressive and unstable social climate of Egypt today
- Three extraordinary film sections curated in association with British Film Institute and presented by the British Council of The films are an intersection of climate change, migration, disability, homelessness and sexuality.
Presenting Partners:
- High Commission of Canada in New Delhi
- Instituto Italiano De Cultura, New Delhi
- Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA)
- Pearl Academy
- Emami Art
- British Council New Delhi
- European Union
- Embassy of Argentina
- Embassy of the Netherlands
- Embassy of Sweden
Celebrities Attending & Walking Red Carpet on Dec. 10th:
- Deepa Mehta
- David Hamilton
- Dilip Mehta
- Divya Dutta
- Swara Bhaskar
- Faraz Ansari
- Onir
- Vivek Gomber
- Tillotama Shome
- Sayani Gupta
- Shefali Shah (TBC)
- Shiladitya Bora
- Tushar Tyagi
- Dipannita Sharma
Celebrities Participating in Virtual Panels & Discussions:
- Mira Nair (USA)
- Jamie Lee Curtis (USA)
- Fiona Cochrane + Mark Street + William Kelly (Australia)
- Michele Cinque (Italy)
- Albertina Carri (Italy)
- Sarita Choudhary (USA)
- Yilmaz Ozdil (Turkey)
- Babak Haghi (Iran)
- Eisha Marjara (Canada)
- Brandon Ingram (Sri Lanka)
- Nimmi Harasgama (Sri Lanka)
- Richie Mehta (UK)
- Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury (India)
- Four More Shots (India) in conversation with Churails (Pakistan)
Culture Makers:
- Noah Cowan, Former TIFF Director (Canada)
- Davide Quadrio (Italy/Shanghai)
- Sheba Chachi
- Raghava K.K (India)
- Pooja Kohli (India)
- Asim Abbasi (Pakistan)
- Nupur Asthana (India)
- Shyam Selvadurai (Author)
*Exclusive Media Partner: Asian Variety Show (AVS)
*Exclusive Travel Partner: DestinationPick
*I-View World’s 2020 programming, which includes premiere screenings, industry panels, in-depth discussions and debates, will be available exclusively on www.plexigo.com/IViewWorld2020/, an OTT platform created by UFO Worldwide, from December 10, 2020 to January 24, 2021. All screenings and panel discussions will be FREE and available to cinephiles all over India and New York City. For the complete festival lineup, trailers, synopses and images, please visit https://www.facebook.com/IViewWorld2020FilmFestival.
