old is gold: Greta Garbo films are to be shown at Crown

A new venue, a tribute to Greta Garbo and a variety of films from across the globe ? Cine Central is fully geared to snatch some of the spotlight from the mega movie action at Nandan when the curtains go up on the 11th Calcutta Film Festival on November 10.

International Forum of New Cinema, simultaneously organised by Cine Central under the aegis of the Calcutta Film Festival, will showcase a bunch of around 67 films from 26 countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Greece, Israel, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Sweden, the US and Vietnam.

The Forum will be inaugurated by Mrinal Sen, in the presence of guests Soumitra Chatterjee and Aparna Sen, at Crown cinema where all the screenings will take place. The opening film is Bappaditya Bandyopadhyay?s Kantatar.

To pull in cinebuffs from Nandan, Cine Central is putting up a retrospective on Czech filmmaker Vera Chytilova. She will also be conferred the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to world cinema. Chytilova, who adhered to new wave cinema, shot to fame in the Sixties directing films like Another Way Of Life and Daisies. Both films will be screened alongside five others, including The Apple Game, Prefab Story, Faun?s Very Late Afternoon, Wolf?s Hole and The Jester And The Queen.

A tribute to mark the birth centenary of Greta Garbo is yet another high point. This section will feature the reclusive Hollywood star in Anna Karenina, Ninotchka and Queen Christina.

A homage to the Japanese maestro Yasujiro Ozu has been lined up with four films ? The End Of Summer, Late Spring, Floating Weeds and Hen In The Wind.

Cinema from Portugal is the special focus with a clutch of six films, made between 1999 and 2003. France and Italy will also draw some attention with five to six films each. The Indian section features Kantatar, the opening film, and Shoojit Sircar?s Yahaan (picture below).

The 1,056-seater Crown, located on Rafi Ahmed Kiwai Road, will screen six films daily for eight days. The leftover bunch will be shown at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI).

?Globe has been our permanent venue. We were slated to hold our festival here this time too, but a labour strike at the hall posed a problem. We approached all big halls but didn?t get any because several Bollywood blockbusters are releasing at the same time,? said Cine Central joint secretary Sajal Datta.

It was not that Globe owner Arijit Dutta didn?t want to screen the festival films at the heritage hall opposite New Market, but he had no options. Says the distributor-exhibitor: ?During the last festival, when we were screening an Italian film with the director present, the operator completely muddled up the reels. So I had to chuck him out. Now, after all these months, the staff?s gone up against me and I have had to close the theatre.?

Dutta feels the timing of the strike by the staff, represented by the Bengal Motion Pictures Employees Union, has to do with the renovation of Globe. ?During the last festival, I had promised the authorities that I would improve the hall conditions. So I changed the complete air-conditioning system, got a new projector, installed new seats... The staff must have thought that I couldn?t go anywhere now and went up against me. It?s really sad that the country?s oldest cinema hall would be facing such problems.?