To the REEL LIFE : London Film Fest is on..

Right now, getting a taste of the 2-wk FilmFest here.

Shivajee from Mumbai, a friend from the time of Himalaya Winter Trekking in Himachal, is here with the B&W movie he directed, FROZEN, which is also nominated for 2 awards in London FF for debut directors, 1 being Satyajit Ray award.

Watched it on Sat'day. Simple story, for a debut, impressively captured with a striking eye-for-details, in B&W with flashes of great cinematographic frames and substance. Some of the frames struck me as commendable B&W photographs that could go into a coffee table book. It was very well received here, going by the audience response in the Q&A session after the screening.

Was interesting to listen to his response to the questions about the inspiration for making the movie, and the story of its making in Ladakh. With no movie background, and struggling financially, drowning in mortgage, how he had to cross his own boundaries within, to follow his heart.. Drawing inspiration from Calvin-and-Hobbes to Satyajit Ray!

Some review and interview here..
http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/lff/news
http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/lff/frozen_0

..and the trailer...

http://www.youtube.com/frozendirector

Planning to go for Adoor's "Naalu-Pennungal" [4 Women] today, the last day of the Fest. Sunday's show was fully bkd.

Watched a Bangla movie called The Voyeur by Buddhadeb Dasgupta. No tkts for RituparnoGhosh's Hindi flick The Last Lear with BigB and PZinta.

Wanted to watch, pulled strongly by reading the story in brief, but missed an interesting intense-drama Italian flick My Brother Is an Only Child (Mio Fratello e figlio unico). Was sold out.
{
Read more if interested:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/lff/film_programme/film_square/my_brother_only_child

The story of two brothers growing up in Italy in the 1960s and 70s who are diametrically opposed - physically, emotionally and even politically. Yet whilst their lives take completely different routes, there is an underlying love and affection which stops them from breaking all contact. As they get older, however, the polarisation of their political opinions (one becomes a fascist, the other an extreme left-wing activist with connections to terrorist circles) tests their familial bonds to the very limit.

Luchetti's film is a powerful human drama that is also a portrait of Italy at a particularly turbulent point in its modern history. More than a didactic social commentary, it is a subtle and moving film about the blood ties that bind people together against all odds.
}

There were interesting movies in the Fest last week:
'The World Unseen', directed by the lady who wrote that novel, Shamim Serif, a 3rd generation Desi from London. Story about 2 very contrasting young indian muslim women in 50's SAfrica during apartheid..
One a submissive wife and mother of 3kids and the other young, independent, dynamic, tom-boyish, custom-flouting, shirt-trouser-hat- wearing, who runs a small restaurant with an old black man to help manage it.
The 2 ladies' lives coming together, connecting, understanding and exploring each other, one finding her own voice thru the other, and even ending up in a "relationship" beyond boundaries.
I felt the director elicited much better performance from Lisa Ray than Deepa Mehta did from her in Water.
She was there for a Q&A session.

"Into The Wild"- Premiere. Paid £15!. Directed by oscar-actor Sean Penne. He and some of the cast made the Red Carpet appearance for it.

Real Life story of a 22yr old american grad who gave away all his possession and $24k savings to charity and set off alone on a journey of adventure travelling to Alaska... (and discovery of human values and trying to understand life better and seeking its purpose other than mundane everyday existance, meeting very diff people.. learning from and sharing with them, touching their lives, finally dying in the Alaskan wilderness )
Appreciated more as a real story than how well it was shot overall- which stretched a bit.


In July, as part of the India Now festival for 60th-year of independence, some mal movies, a series on "Comtemporary Kerala" were Screened in London at the Barbican.
They showed six movies of which I saw 3 over two weekends:
PERUMAZHAKKAALAM, THANMAATRA, SANCHAARAM. I missed KAYYOPPU, which has good review, the critically acclaimed one, with Mammootty in it.
Had seen (MT's) ORU CHERU PUNCHIRI sometime back .

PERUMAZHAKKAALAM is by Kamal who was around for the screening.
(it had won 2k4 National Award for best film on social issues).

Found Thanmaatra falling short of expectations generated by the hype and popularity I'd heard about.
'Sanchaaram' by a young lady debut-director Ligy Pullappally, is a refreshingly sensitively captured story and mature portrayal of 2 senior school friends from a village who develop a lesbian relationship, and how they cope with the stigmatic stare and ridicule of society.
(Apparently she got an award in Bangalore http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/03/14/stories/2005031401930100.htm)


Cut... to Tech from the Reels...

2 weeks back, there was this Global smartphone/mobile-tech conference in London. One of the talks on Mobile Futures,
'Mobility and Next Wave of Innoavtion', was by the EVP& CTO of Motorola, Padmasree Warrior (sic). She was introduced there as "the Wickedly intelligent lady who makes decisions on Motorola's $3.7 billion R&D investments- So you better listen up" ;)

When talking about future, she did emphasize that the future is not just about making the already super-mobile technorati more mobile, but also about taking the technology to touch the lives of those millions untouched by it or yet to be touched significantly.
Touching upon that line of thought,she mentioned about the innovative use of mobiles by the Fishermen of God'sOwn, who while at sea, returning to the shore with their catch, direct the boat to the place giving them better quote.
(I had read about it 7-8yrs back while at home. Rahul was saying that it was mentioned by a Brit guy during a management conference in London this month)

And to bring her point of opportunity in the mobile market, she showed one slide with just two dots blinking- 1 at the rate of 4 per second, and the other about three times faster, and asked the audience whether they have any clue, what they represent. Total Silence. Followed by laughter when she reveals that the slower one is for the rate at which childbirth is happening now globally, and the faster one, of course, rate at which mobile phones are sold.

Some tech talk from this energetic,inspiring super-techie lady and more about her is here:
http://blogs.motorola.com/author/padmasree-warrior/

Could sense she is very approachable.. Though was busy and had to leave for some official stuff..
My only regret was, not being able to approach and talk to her, introducing as a former Moto-man who worked at its bottom end ;), and invite for a spl-mallu dinner with another inspirational soul from God'sOwn whom I met here- Das Sreedharan, chef and owner of Rasa Restaurants in London.
The moment I mentioned about her to Das, his response was "can we invite her for dinner ?".