Palestinian films and Nadav Lapid’s satire await censor nod at Bengaluru International Film Festival

Also awaiting the CBFC clearance at the Bengaluru festival is Yes! by Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, a satirical critique of the Israeli state and politics. Lapid previously served as a judge at the International Film Festival of India in November 2022, where he strongly criticised the film The Kashmir Files.

‘Woman As She Is’: Bengaluru International Film Festival’s theme

Organised by the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy and the Department of Information, the Film Festival will run until February 6. The theme for the festival this year is ‘Woman As She Is’ or ‘Stree Yendare Ashte Saake’ in Kannada, a reference to a poem by Kannada poet and writer Dr G S Shivarudrappa. Aside from various film screenings and competitive categories, the festival will also include several seminars and workshops on different aspects of filmmaking.

While two previous festival screening venues, Dr Rajkumar Bhavana in Chamrajpet and Suchitra Film Society, remain unchanged this year, screenings will be held at the Lulu Mall in Rajajinagar instead of the previous Orion Mall venue. Organisers noted that this was due to the additional space available in the new venue, allowing events such as seminars and conferences without taking up cinema halls that might otherwise be used for screenings.

The films being screened under the festival theme run the gamut of international cinema, from Hindi and Arabic productions to a German documentary on the life of German playwright and Literature Nobel awardee Elfriede Jelinek.

Fans of classic yesteryear movies will also find something to look forward to: among the offerings is the 1978 Kannada film Paduvarahalli Pandavaru, a commentary on feudal oppression in a rural setting that also parallels the Mahabharata’s storyline.

Another restored classic on display at the festival is The Earrings of Madame de…, a 1953 French romantic drama considered to be among the high points of French cinema in that decade, as well as an Oscar nominee for costume design.