It’s almost the weekend! Block your dates, as one of the most celebrated film festivals is back in Bangalore with its sixth edition. The ‘Urban Lens Film Festival’ hosted by Indian Institute For Human Settlements (IIHS) kick-started this Thursday and will be showcasing a wide impressive range of both fictional and non-fictional films till Sunday.
The film festival is held in association with Goethe Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan. With a wide line up of films from different genres exploring the urban experience, each film is unique and approaches a distinctive way of storytelling, bringing out the stories inspired by personal lives.
This year ‘Urban Lens’ is paying its tribute to filmmaker Agnes Varda, one of the most influential filmmakers who was a part of New Wave Cinema in France, with a special screening of her ‘Jacquot de Nantes’. On inauguration day, the Lalit Vachani’s ‘Recasting Selves’ got world premiered along with a brief conversation with the filmmaker himself.
The ‘Looking Back’ section of the film festival is definitely going to hit the nostalgic chord by bringing back memories of the city, before digitalization engulfed it. It will showcase the films that challenged the notion of Documentary film making and its general perception among the people.
Apart from screenings, the festival is also conducting a workshop, a round table conference and an exhibition. ‘In Pursuit Of Happiness’, a four-day-long workshop mentored by Samina Mishra, will focus on creative filmmaking, engaging narratives and understanding film language based on the experience and city.
The round table event under the title ‘The Future of Documentary Practice in the Digital Age: A Funder’s View’ will be curated and moderated by filmmaker Shabani Hassanwalia. You can also have an experience of ‘Hungry Cities Project’ carried out by IIHS, about food vending in Bangalore through a medium of animation, audio, illustrations and photographs.
With a line up of 21 films including short films and personal essays, a four-day long film festival started at Goethe Institut/ Max Mueller Bhawan and rest of the screenings will be held at IIHS City Campus, Bengaluru.
Later on, the ‘Urban Lens Film Festival’ is also going to be held in New Delhi for a spread of three days starting from the 8 November at the India International Centre and Goethe Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan.
Have a look at the detailed schedule here:
IIHS also released a small interactive video showcasing the highlights of this year’s ‘Urban Lens Film Festival’.
