'Sacred Code' in India, the new film on the trail of Sanskrit

While Rome and Venice, the teaser of the new film by Jordan River was surprised for 3D, music, sound and photography, in the land of Mahatma Gandhi is prepared instead to talk to great souls with the soul sound that pulses insideimage. Just as in the sacred texts of Hindu literature of the second century BC, in which the uniqueness of the text is that no indication is given of an abstract God, so in the movie the book is not sacred code of dead letter, but becomes hero - provided that it also becomes the reader's, a very ancient text, which speaks in first person and the third millennium, man provides the key to overcome, through love and its ultimate destruction.

The film is scheduled for the end of next year in theaters around the world, but the director wanted to implement in the preview, the viewing of some of the early scenes.

The screening of the teaser will be held in New Delhi (India) on Sunday December 13th at Indian International Centre at 4,40 p.m.

During the presentation there will be a diplomatic agent for the production account for business meetings and co-production of the film.

Special thanks: Italian Institute of Culture, Regione Lazio, Sviluppo Lazio, Indian International Centre

Official Website: www.sacrocodice.com

11th Osian's Cinefan Annouces Lineup

The 11th edition of Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival will open in New Delhi on October 24 with a Romanian entry, “Hooked”. Directed by Adrian Sitaru, the movie is his first feature that has also been scripted by him, and was screened at Toronto and Palm Springs. “Hooked” tells crisply in 84 minutes the terse story of a couple whose car runs over a prostitute on a forest highway near Bucharest. Narrated over a single day, the film examines the relationship of the two lovers as they grapple with the unexpected tragedy.

The Festival, one of the world’s leading showcases of contemporary Indian, Asian an Arab cinema, has changed it date from July to October from this year on. It will screen a hundred movies, both features and shorts, reflecting on cultures and ideas with a special focus on India. For the first time in 11 years, India will be the country of spotlight. Helmers such as Vishal Bharadwaj (“Kaminey”), Anurag Kashyap (“Dev D”) and R.K. Gupta (“Aamir”) are some whose works will be shown.

The week-long Festival will have three sections: In Competition, In Dialogue and New Stream. The first, second or third films of selected directors will compete for the top prizes. The entries in In Dialogue will crisscross across boundaries to establish cinematic resonances between and among the movies from India, Asia and Arabia. The New Stream category will dare to redefine mainstream works.

Some of the 12 competing entries are Iran’s “Before the Burial”, Indonesia’s “Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly”, South Korea’s “Daytime Drinking”, Japan’s “Deep in the Valley”, China’s “Er Dong”, Turkey’s “Knot”, Syria’s “The Long Night”, Iran’s “Over There”, Tunisia’s “Wailing Wall” and India’s “Man’s Woman and Other Stories” and “Khargosh”.

A 30-member jury, including photographer Raghu Rai, Hindi writer Asghar Wajahat and Odissi dancer Shivani Vazir Pasrich, will present the Osian’s Connoisseurs Jury Award to the Best Film and Best Director in the Competition section. In a radical departure from its earlier years, the Festival decided to have a large jury, rather than its usual five-member panel. The jury has been so composed to represent a cross section of professionals, like college teachers and artists apart from movie professionals. Experts in different disciplines, these men and women are nonetheless passionate about the medium, an essential qualification that probably got them a place on the jury.

NFDC and Locarno Fest join hands for Screenwriters’ Lab 2009

National Film Development Corporation Ltd. (NFDC), will conduct Screenwriters' Lab 2009, a 2-part screenwriters' workshop for writing and selling original Indian screenplays, in association with
Binger Filmlab, the Locarno International Film Festival and the Entertainment Society of Goa.Screenwriter's Lab 2009, a 2-part workshop
is designed to prepare screenwriters' with original Indian stories for working with the international filmmaking market place. It aims at improving a completed screenplay in its final stages and to increase the international marketability of the same.

The 1^st Session will be held during the Locarno International Film Festival, Locarno, Switzerland from 8^th - 12^th August, 2009 where participants will get first-hand experience of the workings of the international film community and get to train with their screenplay mentors.

The 2^nd session at Film Bazaar, Goa from 24^th - 26^th November 2009 is where participants will apply their training and pitch their revised screenplays to participants at the film market.

The workshop will be conducted by Marten Rabarts, Artistic Director, Binger Filmlab, aided by experienced international guest mentors.