Homecoming Opens the Gange Sur Seine Film Festival in Paris
News Editor, Takmaa News, Kolkata/Paris, 27th Sep 2023 : #Homecoming is the opening film at the Gange Sur Seine film festival in Paris to be held between October 5th- October 8th at the iconic Le Lincoln Cinemas followed by Toulouse at Le Cretere on October 27th as part of the same film festival. The jury includes French cinema legends Mrs.Sophie Dulac, Mr.Nello Banfi and Mr. Emmanuel Pierrat.
It is also the official selection at META filmfest ( 8th-12th NOV) which is the only International Film Festival in Dubai. Besides, a London based production and distribution company Moringa Entertainment owned by Munsur Ali, (Chairman ,London City Corporation Culture,Heritage and Libraries Committees) is presenting special screenings of the film in UK during October-November as part of the broader tie- up of Moringa and LOK for facilitating Indo-UK cultural collaborations.
“Even after one and a half years from its release as a direct-to-digital on Sonyliv, #Homecoming still continues to break conventions. I am glad to embark on the last leg of the film festival round and international screening tour of #Homecoming across UK,France and Dubai . The door to world cinema had opened up for me after watching French new wave cinema of greats like Truffaut, Godard,Agnes Varda and Eric Rohmer. French new wave is instrumental in shaping up my artistic aesthetics. Screening my debut feature film as a writer-director-producer In Paris at an iconic cinema with French subtitles as the opening film of a film festival will be a memory of a lifetime. I would be back in December to start pre-production of my next film,” says Soumyajit Majumdar, writer, director and producer of #Homecoming.
In the words of Chayan Sarkar, Founder and Artistic Director of the festival Gange Sur Seine, #Homecoming succeeds in weaving & delivering a profound message beautifully.It reinforces the constant inner urge of an individual living far away to reconnect back to their cultural , artistic & linguistic heritage.The film depicts the deep theatrical passion & intellectual dimension of Kolkata artists particularly a tradition that’s finding it hard to survive.This has high emotions, drama, social challenges & dilemma, beautiful music and interesting characters that paint a modern Kolkata which is going through a transition of cultural values & renewed identity.You never feel that it is film maker’s debut feature.Soumyajit’s style & script at times made me think of Italian films like ‘Settembre’ of Giulia Steigerwalt. #Homecoming is a fresh approach.”
The unique style of this film will intrigue French audience. French cinephiles have been always appreciative of good Bengali cinema from the days of Satyajit Ray or Mrinal Sen. #Homecoming demonstrates that State of West Bengal still remains the centre of ‘Nouvelle Vague’ experiments when it comes to innovative ways of telling & structuring complex socio cultural layers of Indian stories. It’s a film to screen in France for sure.
Homecoming is the most viewed feature film from West Bengal,India on OTT worldwide and the trailer has crossed cumulatively 14 Million + views on digital media. Comprising the best of young talents in the huge ensemble cast from Bollywood and Tollywood including Sayani Gupta, Tushar Pandey, Soham Majumdar,Hussain Dalal,Plabita Borthakur besides an eclectic multi genre music album and a national-international award winning crew, our film deals with urban youth issues and lives of young independent artists in Kolkata.
About the film: A group of “friends” and “misfits”, who had formed a popular yet short-lived youth theatre group, reunite for the first time after seven years on an eventful Durga Puja (One of the largest Art and Culture festival, recognised by UNESCO in its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list) night at their old rehearsal space, a bungalow which is about to be converted into Kolkata’s first five-star heritage hotel by the Ganges. This cosmopolitan, multi-lingual film (English/Bengali/Hindi) is a musical love letter to Calcutta.
Homecoming’s successful international festival run previously :
Won Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress at the coveted 19th annual South Asian international film festival, New York presented by HBO,
Best Asian Film at Tokyo film Awards ,
Best Debutant Director and Best Costume Design at Jaipur International Film Festival
Besides winning several other awards and being screened at more than 20 film festivals including , Los Angeles Asian Film Awards ,Washington DC South Asian film Festival ( Central Section Special feature) , Florence River to River International Film Festival, Vancouver South Asian International Film Festival, London Bengali Film Festival, Boston India International Film Festival and New Jersey India and International Film Festival.
Trailer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsVtV7q1DYE
IMDB page – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14767926/?ref_=fn_rvi_tt_t_1
