Unique retrospective of Bengali cinema opens in Edinburgh

Feature by Jenny Baldwin | 19 Jun 2009

The St John's Church Hall in Edinburgh has been transformed into a Sunderbans jungle for a three-day Bengali film retrospective of classics by Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Tapan Sinha as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The Paradise Movie Hall, as it is now known, has been transformed into a magical forest cinema, covered by foliage from West Bengal and full of the sounds of monkeys and the smell of banyan trees. It promises a cinematic experience to be remembered.

Classic Bengali films to be shown include Ghatak's Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), Titash Ekdi Nadir Naam (1973), Tapan Sinha's Niranjan Saikate (1963), and Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri (1970). The Bengali Film retrospective runs until tomorrow, when noted Indian actor Sharmila Tagore will be present to publicly discuss the mists and magic of Bengali cinema with curator and former EIFF director Mark Cousins.

"I associate forests with fairytales, so the idea of telling a story in a forest is very appealing,” said Cousins. "Bengal is famous for its jungles. Its images and sounds appear in all their poetry, music and literature. Besides, if you want to convince people to come to films they haven't heard of, you have to make it as magical as possible."

The Bengali Film Festival at the EIFF is part of a year-long programme of events aimed at strengthening ties between Scotland and India, organised by the EIFF in partnership with the Scottish Government and the British Council.

"I want white Scots to fall in love with these films. I want people to be gripped by the desire to see what Kolkata is like. I want them to be left with a major hunger to go and see Bengali films. These are great works of art. It's as simple as that," Cousins added.

In continuation of the Scotland-Kolkata Connections 2009 project, the West Bengali films will also be touring Scotland in the autumn.

http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk