Presented by India International Centre and G20 Secretariat, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
INAUGURATION
By Shri Victor Banerjee, well-known actor; and Shri Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa, Govt. of India
Followed by
PATHER PANCHALI (Song of the Little Road/India)
(112 min; 1955; b/w; Bluray; Bengali with English subtitles)
A film by Satyajit Ray
With Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee, Subir Banerjee
Multiple award winner including Best Human Document & OCIC Award – Special Mention, Cannes Film Festival 1956; National Film Awards for Best Feature Film & Best Feature Film in Bengali, National Film Awards, 1956; Golden Gate Awards for Best Director & Best Picture, San Francisco International Film Festival, 1957; among others
With the release in 1955 of Satyajit Ray’s debut, Pather Panchali, an eloquent and important new cinematic voice made itself heard all over the world. A depiction of rural Bengali life in a style inspired by Italian neorealism, this naturalistic but poetic evocation of a number of years in the life of a family introduces us to both little Apu and, just as essentially, the women who will help shape him: his independent older sister, Durga; his harried mother, Sarbajaya, who, with her husband away, must hold the family together; and his kindly and mischievous elderly “auntie,” Indir—vivid, multifaceted characters all. With resplendent photography informed by its young protagonist’s perpetual sense of discovery, Pather Panchali, which won an award for Best Human Document at Cannes, is an immersive cinematic experience and a film of elemental power.
