To book your tickets for the Cinema Indien Film Festival, visit: http://www.sf.se/cinemaindien

India Unlimited’s Film Festival – Cinema Indien 2014 – Unlimited in scope, unlimited in its promise to entertain and to make you think…
First of its kind in Scandinavia, possibly in the world, Cinema Indien 2014 brings to Stockholm more than 30 screen gems that span the cinematic universe of India. Covering different genres, extending over five decades and in five languages, this is a selection that offers recent blockbusters to the finest Satyajit classics to avant garde regional language films. Cinema Indien 2014 is set to challenge the popular notion that Indian cinema is nothing more than song-and-dance Bollywood films.

The carefully selected programme of Cinema Indien 2014 addresses traditional, modern and timeless human themes; relevant far beyond the borders of India. For example, the films throw the spotlight on the Indian woman who triumphs against odds, on traditional relationships and the colonial past, LGBT relationships, surrogacy, the aspirations of the disabled and much more. It presents stories that are heartwarming and heartbreaking, fantasy and fiction, drama and comedy – not to mention good old detective stories! With something for every taste, the festival offers the perfect opportunity for those who already know Indian cinema to really indulge and for those new to it to explore a world as colorful and unlimited as the country of its origin.

The festival opens with the internationally acclaimed “The Lunchbox”, the poignant story of a relationship that blossoms between two individuals through notes passed in the lunchboxes delivered back and forth by the amazing 5000 Dabbawalas (Lunchbox Service) of Mumbai. Every day 170000 lunchboxes are delivered and only one in a million goes astray! The Lunchbox has been screened at several important film festivals around the world, such as in Cannes and Toronto, where it has been celebrated and won prizes. The Chicago Sun Times described it as “A touching and credible story that easily draws the viewer into the lives of its characters”. The Lunchbox will be shown in Swedish cinemas from April 25.

A few of the other ‘must sees’ include:

• Fire & Firaaq – Showcases Nandita Das, actor/director’s acting prowess in Fire, one of the first Indian films on the LGBT theme and her directorial skill in her debut film Firaaq, which traces the lives of a handful of characters struggling to come to terms with the tragedy of the 2002 riots in Gujarat in a nuanced, moving exploration of life and loss. Nandita Das will be in Stockholm to present the films herself.

• Qissa — A strangely compelling blend of gender-switching romance, drama and ghost story in Punjabi language, which won the Best Asian Film Award at Toronto Film Festival in September 2013; & The Good Road – the first Gujarati-language film selected as the Indian entry for the Oscars last year.

• Classics such as the lyrically romantic Charulata and thought-provoking Mahanagar (The Big City) ,  by the famous Bengali Director late Satyajit Ray

• Na Hanyate — Young Bengali Director Riingo’s  2012 offering, Na Hanyate (It never dies) is a poignant tale of how relationships change in times of crisis. Three other films of Riingo will be screened in Cinema Indien including Shada Kaalo Aabchaa (White, Black & Gray), Ray and Ghuri (The Kite). Representing three different genres, Shada Kaalo Aabchaa is a thriller; Ghuri, based on Khaled Hosseini’s celebrated novel The Kite Runner portrays the universal search for salvation; and Ray is a dark comedy which wills premier in this festival. The Director Riingo and actress Sayani Dutta will be here to interact with the audience before some of the shows.

• Liv & Ingmar and Let the Scream be Heard – Indian filmmaker Dheeraj Akolkar’s sensitive documentaries on the legendary Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman with his muse Liv Ullman telling the story of their relationship, and the great Norwegian artist and painter Edvard Munch that show the universality of the appeal of these Scandinavian icons. Dheeraj Akolkar will be here to interact with the audience after the films.

• Mala Aai Vhaychay –  The first Indian film on the important theme of surrogacy based on a real-life case that was handled by the producer/director, Samruoddhi Porey, a lawyer in Mumbai. The child in the film is a surrogate offspring who learnt Marathi to do the role.

And Much More…

Programme of Cinema Indien and other details available at http://www.sf.se/cinemaindien

To see this press release in Swedish, please click here

To see the full range of synopses, click here for Swedish | click here for English

For the day by day schedule of the films, click here to download the PDF