MUBI Specials will include Four features –‘The Delinquents, Sophia Coppola’s acclaimed ‘Priscilla’ based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir and Ira Sach’s LGBTQIA+ love story ‘Passages’ and the multi-country production ‘Settlers’…reports Asian Lite News
Cinephiles are in for a treat as the annual event celebrating of acclaimed cinema ‘Habitat International Film Festival’ is back with a showcase of over 60 films from 30 countries. Scheduled from March 8 to 17 at India Habitat Centre, this year, Germany is the focus country in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi with support from Lufthansa Group. As the festival kicks off on International Women’s Day, the curation puts a spotlight on women directors and movies with a focused lens on women-centric issues.
The festival is divided into multiple sections that coalesce movies in a thematic thread. The main sub-themes of this edition are ‘New Voices’, ‘Famous Filmmakers’, ‘Documentary’, and ‘Coming of Age’. There will also be workshops and masterclasses, MUBI special films, a virtual reality programme – VROOOOM, NETPAC award-winning films, and a showcasing of a series of Oscar and Golden Globe-winning feature films. Free passes will be available from March 1 at www.habitatworld.com.
Sunit Tandon, Director, of India Habitat Centre says, “The HIFF is back in its full-fledged form this year, with an exciting line-up of top-notch new cinema from across the world, with a focus on German cinema, a return of the much-loved and successful VR Section, two Masterclasses and sections featuring NETPAC Award Winners and MUBI specials. All of this curated for us by the wonderful HabitatProgrammes Team led by Vidyun Singh.”
“A Festival of films that brings you a selection of the incredible talent of some of the best International filmmakers who craft narratives that cannot fail to touch hearts and evoke concern, empathy, sympathy, understanding, urgency, admiration, and hope,” addsmVidyun Singh, Creative Head Programmes, India Habitat Centre
Acclaimed filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta’s ‘Ingeborg Bachmann: Journey into the Desert’ and 2024 nominee for Palme d’Or and Best International Feature Film at the Oscars ‘Perfect Days’ by Wim Wenders will be showcased in the famous filmmakers’ segment. ‘The Teachers’ Lounge’ by Ilker Catak and Sophie Linnenbaum’s ‘The Ordinaries’ which won nominations in several categories at the German Film Awards 2023 will be showcased in the New Voices section. Other films in this category include ‘Sisi and I’ by Frauke Finsterwalder and ‘Orphea in Love’ by Alex Ranisch. Also featured will be Steffi Niederzoll’s Seven Winters in Tehran, a moving and shockingly topical documentary debut, where Niederzoll uses original audio and visual material smuggled out of Iran.
VROOOM – a Virtual Reality Film Experience, launched in 2023 by Goethe- Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi as part of HIFF will return with a new set of innovative and interesting works of filmmakers from around the world, who are using Virtual Reality or 360-degree filmmaking to convey their powerful stories.
In the ‘Coming-of-Age’ section, ‘Mission Ulja Funk’ by Barbara Kronenberg and Joya Thome’s ‘One in A Million’ will be screened. A masterclass on Editing with Kai Eiermann, a film editor and script consultant based in Berlin, Germany will also be held. Ulrich Schrauth who is also the curator of the VROOOOM – A Virtual Reality Film Experience and an artistic director for VRHAM! Festival Virtual Reality & Arts Hamburg, XR & Immersive Programmer for the British Film Institute (BFI), and the London Film Festival will also hold a masterclass and workshop.
MUBI Specials will include Four features –‘The Delinquents, Sophia Coppola’s acclaimed ‘Priscilla’ based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir and Ira Sach’s LGBTQIA+ love story ‘Passages’ and the multi-country production ‘Settlers’.
The NETPAC film screening at HIFF will be introduced by Bina Paul, Joint President, NETPAC. The films that will be showcased include ‘Sunday/Yakshanba’ (Uzbekistan/ Uzbek/ 2023), directed by Shokir Kholikov, ‘Whispering Mountains’ ( Sri Lanka/ Sinhalese/ 2023), directed by Jagath Manuwarna, ‘Solids by the Seashore’ (Thailand/Thai/ 2023), directed by Patiparn Boontarig and ‘Iti Mapukpukaw’/The Missing (Animation/ Philippines,Thailand/ Filipino and Ilocano/ 2023, directed by Carl Joseph E. Papa.
In the ‘Women In Film’ films including ‘The Peasants’ about Jagna, a young woman determined to forge her path within the confines of a late 19th-century Polish village, and ‘Inshallah A Boy’, Jordan’s official entry to the Oscars 2023 will be screened.
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