Gangubai Kathiawadi, Review: Guess what is the oldest profession in the world, and meet its President Gangubai, a variation of Ganga, is the most common name of Maharashtrian maid-servants in Mumbai. Ganga becoming Gangu is quite normal, while the Bai here refers to her designation as maid. An engaging film was made in 2013, with the maid as the central character, only it was spelt phonetically more correct, Gangoobai. In other parts of the country, Bai could mean a courtesan, a classical sin...

Love Hostel, Review: Khaps, cops, corpses, more corpses and still more corpses It’s not about a hostel. But it is about love. And the price that has to be paid for falling in love with someone who follows another religion. Killings spread through the film like a pandemic caused by a particularly deadly virus strain, ‘LH Covid 22’. The makers could run a contest with the big question: How many people are killed in the film? The prize could be four tickets for the film, so tha...

Pondicherry, Review: Enough icing, but the cherry is missing Marathi language Indian film Pondicherry is like a French patisserie (it used to be a French colony), with some delectable pastries to savour. It uses the relatively unknown locale quite well, and incorporates tastes of various other languages, besides Marathi: Hindi, Punjabi-accented Hindi, English, Tamil and French. It also uses characters from the ages of 7 to 70, to be really democratic in its story-telling. Having set the base ...

Tibetan Horse, a large-scale ethnic theme film produced by Maeya Films, held a grand launching ceremony in the Gannan Tibetan area a few days ago. The film is directed by young director Jade Li and starred by Cooper Budan, a famous Chinese minority actor. Maeya Films ed hands with Qinghai Mantanhong Culture Media Co., Ltd., Xining Baita Art and Culture Communication Co., Ltd., Sichuan Miding Media Co., Ltd., and Qinghai Linshui Media Co., Ltd. to co-produce the film.   Cooper Budan,...

Mirror Mountain Film Festival is now open for submissions on FilmFreeway! We’re looking for shorts, medium-length films and features in all genres, including drama, comedy, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, documentary, animation, experimental, music video, dance film and more. For the first time ever, we’re also welcoming submissions of interactive media pieces for exhibition in our festival lounge. If you’re an independent filmmaker with a unique creative voice, then submit your wor...

Pyar Mein Thoda Twist, Review: A sack-full of emptiness A lot of action in the film Pyar Mein Thoda Twist takes place inside a bound sack. It is marked, Lena Hae Lena Hae (have to take, have to take) Brand, and it twists alright. No, not because it is haunted, but because it holds a man captive. This man is supposed to be Mr. Wanted, a dangerous criminal, whose capture carries a reward of Rs. 2 million. While the sack changes hands and locations several times, being stolen or ‘kidnapped...

A Thursday, Review: For whom the mobile rings Make a hostage-taker your protagonist, pit her against the country’s police force and even the Prime Minister, cash-in on the title of a rivetting thriller called A Wednesday (2008), moving it a day further, create the ambience of a cat and mouse game in the thriller genre, and you have A Thursday. While the idea of holding hostages and making demands from the police force are common factors, this latter day ‘avtaar’, in which t...

Badhaai Do, Review: No blessing for this messing Watching Badhaai Do, an old thought re-surfaced. I used to wonder what would happen if, by some quirk of circumstance, a homosexual and a lesbian ended-up marrying each other. Looks like some antenna picked-up this concept and turned it into a lengthy film. Unfortunately, the writers and the director are unable to decide whether they should inject humour or treat it as a tear-jerker. They lean towards the latter, but fail on the mise en sc&egra...

Minnal Murali, Review: Two bolts from the blue Minnal Murali’s première at the Mumbai Film Festival, on 16 December, was a grand affair. The venue was the recently constructed Jio World Drive in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex, and drinks and snacks were waiting for those who arrived early. The cast and crew were present too. Viewing the film came with an embargo that no reviews should be posted before December the 24th, the day of its release directly through the streaming p...

IFFI 52, 040: Koozhangal is India’s Oscar nomination Koozhangal (Pebbles), India’s official nomination to Oscars, delineates the pain and sufferings of a child and a mother, both victims of marital abuse. “It’s a simple story told in the simplest form. And it is borrowed from my life itself. The film is based on the sufferings that my sister and her small child went through due to an alcoholic husband”, said the director of this Tamil film, Vinothraj P.S., at a ...

IFFI 52, 039: “We are just here to make honest cinema,”—Ganesh Hegde To be or not to be. The very same existential question that vexed Hamlet in Shakespeare’s timeless eponymous play is what troubles 10-year-old boy Sidda, albeit in a somewhat different avatar. Having been forced to bid adieu to the pristine beauty and serenity of his village, the young boy is confronted with the inevitability of having to choose between the chaotic and alienating hustle of the city, t...

Pushpa-The Rise – Part 1, Review: Cross your legs Having steadfastly kept away from the staple diet of Telugu dubbed in Hindi dished out on a few TV channels 24 x 7, one was not aware of what one was in for when one went to see the press preview of Pushpa at the invitation of a major, local PR agency, albeit with a notice of 11 hours. Firstly, an eponymous film, the title is an abbreviation of PushpaRaj. Pushpa, by itself, means a flower, and is feminine. You might be pardoned for recal...

Chandigrah Kare Aashiqui, Review: Engendered species A film that takes a taboo subject head-on, but takes its own time to get there, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui is handicapped by its own title. Running on three, or rather, three-and-a-half parallel tracks, the film has nothing to justify Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, except that it is set in the north Indian city of Chandigarh. Its lead pair turns in largely convincing performances, and when it comes to using language that is brazen and bold, to it ...

Velle, Review: R4=Raw, rash, rant, rabble When you have to wait for an hour to see a film like Velle, it is like rubbing salt into wounds that have yet to be inflicted. That it lasts a mere two hours and five minutes is among the saving graces of the film. Touting a poster that says ‘phasey’ (meaning ‘phansey’ or trapped) and a middle finger ri, you should probably be able to guess what the film might be like. After seeing the film, you will still not have any i...

Relive the magic of Mirror Mountain Film Festival’s epic 2021 live music + film performance! Ottawa singer-songwriter Kimberly Sunstrum and filmmaker Hingman Leung collaborated on an original audio-visual experience that combined songs with unique cinematic visuals created in real time. Full video: https://bit.ly/3EGFV9D ...

One of the high points of our 2021 live music + film performance was the electrifying closing number, “Fix It,” sung by Kimberly Sunstrum with cinematic visuals created by filmmaker Hingman Leung. See some of their amazing collaboration here: https://bit.ly/3we1taF Co-presented by Girls+ Rock Ottawa. Cover photo by Adrienne Row-Smith. Full video of this epic show coming very soon!   ...

Revisit a highlight of the stunning live music + film performance from our 2021 festival. Watch as Ottawa singer-songwriter Kimberly Sunstrum performs their song “The Train,” with live visuals created in real time by local filmmaker Hingman Leung! Link: https://bit.ly/3EKysGS Co-presented by Girls+ Rock Ottawa. More video from this epic show coming very soon! ...

Babloo Bachelor, Review: Bachelor and the marriage lure Of all the themes that have been chosen for making Hindi films over the last several decades, marriage is the most common. Till the dawn of the 21st century, a host of film scripts were woven around the boy-meets-girl, they cannot marry due to a plethora of reasons, the most common being inequality of status, a villain was added for effect, and it all ended well. Now, with mobile phones, social media, so many mixed marriages and live-ins...

Year of the Fox, the latest feature film from acclaimed director Megan Griffiths (Lucky Them, Eden, The Off Hours), has just wrapped. The film, which was filmed in Washington state, stars starring Jane Adams, Jake Weber, Balthazar Getty, and as the lead, Sarah Jeffery (Shades of Blue, Charmed Reboot).   Megan Griffiths Written by Eliza Flug, Year of the Fox is a fictionalized depiction of teenage experiences and personal encounters Flug had while growing up in Aspen, Colorado, duri...

Splendid Land, Review: Xinjiang is a many splendoured place The China-Greece co-production documentary, Splendid Land, directed by Eleni Vlassi and Jin Huaqing, presents the wonderful land of Xinjiang, China and its ancient customs, through a musician pursuing the Mukam music and the spectacular landscape.  Seldom has so much splendour been captured in such a short span. The film is only twenty minutes long, but it flows along seamlessly, and when it ends, you are left craving for more. ...

Dilli Kaand, Review: Those that rape and those that gape When a film is delayed six years in its release, its fate is more or less sealed. Dilli Kaand was launched in August 2015 and sees the light of day on 24 September 2021. Of course, the delay of the last 18 months can be attributed to the Covid 19 Coronavirus pandemic, when cinema-halls remained shut, but the six-year delay cannot be explained by Covid. Even now, cinema halls have only opened in some states of India, with conditions impo...

  Visit our Facebook page to see some great photos of our 2021 festival by Adrienne Row-Smith! Adrienne snapped awesome shots of the Kimberly Sunstrum x Hingman Leung live music + film performance, our technicians hard at work, and Q&As with filmmakers from the New Visions and Moving Images programs! Photos here: https://bit.ly/3sGT79N ...

  Tickets and es for Mirror Mountain Film Festival are on sale now!   es let you access all of this year’s film programming from July 24 – 25. Have the entire 2021 lineup at your fingertips!   If you’re just looking to watch an individual program or a single screening block, then tickets are the option for you! Tickets grant access to one program only from July 24 – 25.    Both are available now at www.mirrormountain.vhx.tv/p...

  LAST DAY to submit your film for this summer’s Mirror Mountain Film Festival! We want to see original, unique, independent and alternative expressions from the world’s most creative minds! Use the discount code ENTERTHEMIRRORMOUNTAIN on @filmfreeway and save 25% on submission fees. Submit here: http://bit.ly/1wgqagA ...