Line up of Films: 3 Venues: Fath Auditorium at the Cincinnati Art Museum (Free Parking)
Esquire Theater ( Free Parking with Validation)
Mariemont Theater ( Free Parking)
To listen to the directors of Feature Films, click on the image of the film. To watch the trailer click on the title of the film.
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Synopsis
Brilliantly directed by the young talented Ananya Kassarvalli,Hari is the story of a young Yakshagana dancer, Harischandra who is tormented by his gender identity. "Western audiences will latch on to the sensitively treated transgender theme, which proves an enormous source of conflict for the young hero, Hari, played with great sensitivity by Shrunga Vasudevan, he's a star in his rural theater troupe. He'd like to try his hand at male roles, but his soft looks and melting eyes typecast him. After years of performing as a woman at night, he finds it harder and harder to turn back into a man in the morning. Marriageable girls avoid him, and when a willing lady approaches him for a night’s entertainment, he’s too confused to have any kind of sex life at all.In the film " (HollyWood Reporter). Hari's life unfolds in three episodes as interviews conducted by two young journalists. The acting is superb. This movie will capture your hearts. Join us for the opening night of the festival with this spectacular film. Nov 10.
"An actor who plays female parts in traditional Indian theater loses his sexual identity in Ananya Kasaravalli’s debut feature".-The Hollywood Reporter http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/chronicles-hari-review-946502
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Synopsis
My pot of gold revolves around the lives of three wonderfully different people; some family and some more than that.
Alexandra (Nani), Kiarrah (Granddaughter) and Sunita (Maid) share a bond that none can describe.
From the very start of their day; till night falls; they cannot help but call out to each other; if not 10 times; then 10 times 10.
The relationship they share is so strong that in spite of all their violent and outrageous fights; a hearty laugh, a tight hug and a big kiss is undoubtedly exchanged.
My pot of gold tells us a warm, loving and heartfelt story; of a day in the lives of Nani, Kiarrah and Sunita; their laughs, their love and the legacy left….
Ashok Kumar's daughter Bharathi Jaeffrey plays Nani in this award winning film
https://m.rediff.com/movies/report/the-film-industry-has-forgotten-ashok-kumar/20170831.htm?src=whatsapp&pos=movies
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Synopsis :
The Film depicts the predominant social stigma which has taken deep
roots in the form of an obsession with fair skin, especially with
regards to women in India. Pinky Beauty Parlour is an engaging and
poignant tale of the repercussions this obsession for fairer skin has on
a human mind, families and society in general. The Film takes us on a
touching journey of two sisters’ lives, Pinky and Bulbul, who run a
Beauty parlor in one of the by-lanes of Varanasi, the holiest of cities
in India. As the story progresses we enter a unique colorful world of
the beauty parlor, and are drawn into an engaging, quirky and
entertaining story of inter-mingled loyalties, insecurities and
complexes. At the same time the film ‘Pinky Beauty Parlour’ has a
timely message for the audience to take home and chew on.
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Synopsis
Set in 1979, A Death in the Gunj is a coming of age story, about a shy student Shyamal Chatterjee. He uses a family road trip to McCluskiegunj, an old Anglo-Indian town, as an escape from his failed semester. At the outset, the makings of a perfect family holiday are in place but something is amiss. In the week that follows, Shutu's quiet unraveling is overlooked by the family revelers, until the holiday ends with an implosion.
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Synopsis:
A film about desires and the yearning for the unattainable, Half Ticket is a story of two slum
kids who are fascinated with the arrival of a new pizza shop in their locality. Expensive beyond their means, they long to try one. But, fate has a different game in store for them.Weaving a story of myriad relationships in the world of the Have Nots, Half Ticket interlaces the story of the kids’ desires for a Pizza with a mother’s desire to bring her husband back home and a low rent thug’s desire
for easy money.
The film also metaphorically accounts the world of the ‘Haves’ and their desire for the little things in lives that eludes them and the desires invoked by television, which teaches us to salivate over things we never knew, otherwise existed
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Synopsis:
Shree, a Bangalore based mid 20's freelance copywriter is battling with nagging self-doubts about his artistic abilities. He does ads for small time ad agencies, but is quite frustrated that the world doesn't understand or respect Freelancers. Unable to concentrate at home, he visits various Cafes to find his peace and works from there. Addicted to his cellphone and the social media, Shree's worldview is shaped by what he reads online, not having traveled much in the "real" world.
As fate would have it, Shree gets an invitation to attend an all-expenses paid trip to a College Friend's wedding in the North of India, a part of this vast country where he has never been before. And what was supposed to be peaceful getaway trip from the South to the North soon turns into a quirky adventure full of danger, excitement and introspection as Shree is challenged to question many of the stereotypes that he had built up within himself.
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Synopsis
, ‘Kalichaat’ is the name for a kind of exceptionally hard rock found in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. Encountering it while digging for water is considered no less than a disaster in this often drought-affected region. At the same time, it also presents a ray of hope because it is believed that beneath ‘Kalichaat’ lies boundless water, if it can be broken to reach it.
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Synopsis
What happens when after 20 odd years of estrangement, two sisters are forced to have a face-to-face confrontation? With the tragic demise of her husband, Seher has no option but to return to her hometown and live with her older sister, Meher. But Meher has made it clear that Seher is not welcome in their home. After all, she had been tending to the house in her sister’s absence for all these years. Furthermore, she cannot find it in her heart to forgive Seher for running off with the man she believed was in love with her. But the reality of what actually transpired is revealed through the story as both sisters try to find the right moment where they can come together and start a conversation.
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Synopsis:
In a world rapidly being torn asunder by violence, racism and suspicion, there is a growing despondence and a feeling that almost all of humanity is at cross purposes, and most of it at war. There is a dire need for reassurance that not all is lost, that the fundamental goodness of humanity is still intact.
This is the story of a Family of filmmakers who sell their house in order to finance their film project. It follows the struggle of Hindu wife and Mother Parvati, 11 year old, but wise beyond his years Hari Aziz, and optimistic Muslim Father Imran, who holds a blind faith in the people of India to put their prejudice and hatred aside. The family experience today's India, highlighting modern religious divides, intolerance and prejudice as they fight to make their film.
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Synopsis:
Zaynab is a thirty-something Pakistani, Muslim, lesbian in Chicago who takes care of her TV-obsessed mother As Zaynab falls for Alma, a bold and very bright Chicana woman, she searches for her identity in life, love and wrestling.
One of “The 50 Most Anticipated American Films of 2017”
—Filmmaker Magazine
Grand Jury Prize – Best U.S. Narrative Feature, Outfest Los Angeles
Best Feature – American Spectrum, Hoosier Lens, Indy Film Fest.
Best Feature, Columbus International Film + Video Festival,
Audience Award – Best Feature, Connecticut LGBT Film Festival,
Best Direction – Jennifer Reeder
Audience Award – Best Actress in a Feature – Fawzia Mirza Film Out San Diego LGBT Film Festival