Movies @ IFFI 2009

Distance is a 2001 movie by Japanese director Koreeda Hirokazu, starring Arata, Asano Tadanobu, Iseya Yusuke, Terajima Susumu, and Natsukawa Yui. This film was nominated for the Golden Palm award at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.

A still from Heaven, Hell... Earth.

The Indian Panorama – Feature Film Section was inaugurated at the ongoing 40th International Film Festival of India at Panaji with the screening of the Konkani Feature Film Paltadcho Manis (The man Beyond the Bridge) directed by Laxmikant Shetgaonkar. The 96-minute film revolves around Vinayak, a forest guard, who lives a lonely life in a government house in the dense forests of Goa-Karnatake border. Paltadcho Manis has won awards at the Fipresci Award at Toronto International Film Festival ’09, Hong Kong Asian Film Festival ’09, Cairo International Film Festival ’09, Mumbai Film Festival ’09 and Berlin International Film Festival ’09.

German film The Architect will also be screened.

Autumn Ball is an Estonian film that talks about six inhabitants of Soviet-era tower blocks whose lives touch together, and who are all united by a feeling of loneliness.

Panic and intrigue grip the lives of a group of hardened factory workers with the arrival of a man they fear is a head-office spy sent to rob them of their redundancy payouts. The ruthless baiting between top dog Jack and his men only intensifies when the pacifist of the group, Wesley, befriends the seemingly normal outsider, David. But when Wesley discovers David is hiding a much darker secret, the seeds are planted for an explosive finale that strikes like an emotional sledgehammer and seal the fate of The Nothing Men.

Wheat is a Chinese historical drama film directed by He Ping. Starring Fan Bingbing, Wang Jue, and others, Wheat tells the story of women left behind after their husbands are sent to war. The film was produced for US $6 million and was funded by He's own Beijing Classic Culture, along with Polybona Films, and the state-backed Xi'an Film Studio.