US festival spotlights independent Indian films

LOS ANGELES: Bollywood films often capture the colour and beauty of Indian culture through high-profile stars and big-budget blockbusters, but a group of film-makers is attempting to show a different side of India’s people through smaller, independent fare.

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, commencing on Tuesday, is bringing the movies made outside of the Bollywood studio system to Hollywood. The six-day event will showcase 33 feature films, documentaries and short films from film-makers across nine countries, all exploring Indian stories.

Kicking off the festival is Sold, a gritty drama by director Jeffrey D. Brown, about a 13-year-old girl sold into prostitution in India. Brown said he wanted the film to be a call to action globally for people to take a stand against child prostitution and slavery, which as of 2013, involved 115 million around the world, according to the United Nations. “The film is an intense situation especially when you realise it’s a light version of the reality of one girl’s story that represents literally millions,” Brown said.

“Sold explores the harsh, terrible reality of child prostitution in India, but with a pinch of song-and-dance to get the audience through the dark themes,” Brown said.

Brown, who won an Oscar in 1986 for best short live-action film, said India is experiencing a ‘golden age’ as film-makers from the subcontinent breakout into the wider film industry. The new wave of Indian cinema could be pinpointed to the success of Slumdog Millionaire, said Brown.

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles aims to be the Sundance of Indian cinema according to festival director Jasmine Jaisinghani, with films that contrast Bollywood’s often glamourised escapism with vivid realism.

They festival will also play Bombay Talkies, an anthology of short films from four celebrated Indian directors, exploring love stories of ordinary people. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2014.

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