River to River to pay Europe’s first tribute to Irrfan Khan

Irrfan Khan (File Photo)

River to River Florence Indian Film Festival will take place in Florence from 6 to 12 December, Rome (13 and 14 December), Milan (February 2015) and, for the first time ever, in Mumbai (March 2015). The festival will showcase 40 films, among them Italian, European and worldwide premieres. Child prostitution in Calcutta’s brothels; a single mother’s unease in a foreign country; a song contest for manual workers who try to redeem themselves from a hard life; the rural India of the castes, the aspirations of the young generations, between tradition and a rapidly-evolving world, through to sports as a way to personal redemption: these are some of the topics addressed by the 14th River to River Florence Indian Film Festival, Italy’s only festival all about Indian cinema, which will take place at Cinema Odeon (Piazza Strozzi 2), in Florence, from December 6th to 12th, with over 40 films (Italian, European and world premieres), including brand-new independent films and the latest Bollywood productions.

The picture is completed by Europe’s first tribute to Indian star Irrfan Khan, with 2 Italian premieres (the actor will receive ‘The Key to the City’ from the Lord Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, at cinema Odeon, on December 7th at 08.30 pm; 5 special events; 2 morning talks and 10 international guests who will meet the audience after the films.

As part of the 50 Giorni di Cinema Internazionale a Firenze, the Festival has been founded and is directed by Selvaggia Velo, under the Patronage of the Embassy of India and FIND - India/Europe Foundation for New Dialogues, with the contribution of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage – Cinema Department, the Tuscan Region and Fondazione Sistema Toscana, Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and OAC, and the India Tourism Office of Milan.

Then, the festival will move to Nuovo Cinema Aquila (via l’Aquila n.66) in Rome (December 13–14) for a two-day festival and, in February 2015, it will move again to Spazio Oberdan in Milan (Viale Vittorio Veneto n.2) for the “best of” Florence’s festival. For the first time ever (March 2015), the River to River Florence Indian Film Festival will land in Mumbai, at the Blue Frog, with the “best of” the Florence Festival, in partnership with Pocket Films of Mumbai and Blue Frog.

Opening and Closing Films

The River to River festival will open with a smile on Saturday, December 6th with the Italian premiere of the on-the-road comedy Finding Fanny by Homi Adajana, a box-office hit in India, with a stellar cast including Nasseruddin Shah, Arjun Kapoor, Pankaj Kapur, Dimple Kapadia and Deepika Padukone, about an unsent love letter found thirty years later and five friends going on a journey to try to find the addressee. The film will be introduced by Arunima Sharma, associate director. Then, Deepika Padukone will star in the closing film too in the Italian premiere of the colossal Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, a gripping Bollywood take on the classic Romeo and Juliet story, with fairy-tale music and scenes.

A Tribute to Irrfan Khan

Irrfan Khan, who will soon be in all cinemas in Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World (the new chapter in the Jurassic Park saga, out in June 2015), will receive Europe’s first tribute, with the screening of three of his films: Qissa by Anup Singh (Italian premiere) in the presence of director Anup Singh and Irrfan Khan), the story of a little girl raised as a boy by her father and married off to a girl, Paan Singh Tomar by Tigmanshu Dhulia (Italian premiere) - a biopic about an Indian soldier and 3000 metre champion forced to become an outlaw, and the cult movie The Namesake by Mira Nair about an Indian couple in New York, who try to fit in the city. In addition, seven episodes of the third series of the US HBO episodes of In Treatment that the actor starred in will be screened.