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In Search Of Famine

Dir. Mrinal Sen
Spotlights - Smita Patil: Spice and Fire
Sun 3 Nov and Mon 4 Nov
Sun 3 Nov
and
Mon 4 Nov
  • Sun 3 Nov
    16:00 - 18:35
    Pictureville, Bradford
    Screen 1
    Past event
  • Mon 4 Nov
    17:30 - 20:05
    Vue in the Light, Leeds
    Screen 11
    Past event

Smita Patil stars in a self-reflexive meditation on filmmaking about a film crew attempting to make a film on the Bengal famine.

A self-reflexive meditation on filmmaking, director Mrinal Sen explores the haunting legacy of the 1943 Bengal famine that resulted in the deaths of at least three million people. The story follows a film crew that arrives in a small village in an attempt to make a film on the Bengal famine. Smita Patil delivers a mesmerising performance as a young actress grappling with the blurred lines between art and reality. This is one of the great statements on film making, comparable to Kiarostami’s Life, and Nothing More (1990) and Wender’s The State of Things (1982). 

"One of Indian cinema's most probing recorders of the country's social fabric, Sen has made a lively, truthful film, no less profound for perceiving the comedy in the situation of clashing worlds." - Ronald Bergan, Robyn Karney, Foreign Film Guide

Director: Mrinal Sen
Premiere status: UK Premiere of Digital Restoration
Running time: 155 minutes
Production year: 1981
Country: India
Language: Bengali
Subtitles: English
Print source: NFAI / Nandita Chakraborty
Cast: Smita Patil, Gita Sen, Dhritiman Chatterjee

Part of

Smita Patil: Spice and Fire

The world of Smita Patil, an iconic actress whose work transcends the boundaries of Indian cinema, engaging with universal themes of identity, activism, and social justice.