A new 4K restored version of Satyajit Ray’s Aranyer Din Ratri, which premiered at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in May, will have its North American premiere at the 2025 edition of Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, the Film Heritage Foundation announced on Monday. The film will be screened at the TIFF’s Lightbox section.
“The newly 4K restored version of Satyajit Ray’s masterpiece Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest, 1970) travels to the Toronto International Film Festival and will be screening on September 7 at 01:00 pm at the TIFF Lightbox,” Film Heritage Foundation wrote on X.
Adapted from Bengali author Sunil Gangopadhyay’s eponymous novel, the film follows a group of urban men from Calcutta — played by Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Samit Bhanja, and Rabi Ghosh — as they head out for a weekend in the wilderness. Sharmila Tagore, Kaberi Bose and Simi Garewal were also part of the ensemble.
Aranyer Din Ratri was also screened at Italy’s Il Cinema Ritrovato in June.
Aranyer Din Ratri was nominated for Best Film at the 20th Berlin International Film Festival in 1970. A sequel, Abar Aranye, directed by Goutam Ghose, was released in 2003. The film continued the story of the four friends and their families who return to the wilderness.
The Cannes screening of the restored classic was attended by Tagore and Garewal, the only living members of the cast. Filmmaker Wes Anderson and Purnima Dutta, the head of Piyali Films and producer of Aranyer Din Ratri, also attended the screening.
The Toronto International Film Festival will be held from September 4 to September 14.