The Habitat International Film Festival will start from March 8 at the India Habitat Centre (IHC) here with over 60 films from 30 countries and focus on Germany.
Works by award-winning filmmakers, including Margarethe von Trotta, Wim Wenders, and Frauke Finsterwalder, are part of the gala line-up, which is organised by IHC in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi.
The festival will showcase a series of Oscar and Golden Globe-winning films under the themes of 'New Voices', 'Famous Filmmakers', 'Documentary' and 'Coming of Age'.
Since the festival is opening on International Women’s Day, the curation will also put a spotlight on women directors and movies with a focus on women-centric issues.
"A festival of films that brings you a selection of the incredible talent of some of the best International filmmakers who craft narratives that cannot fail to touch hearts and evoke concern, empathy, sympathy, understanding, urgency, admiration and hope," Vidyun Singh, creative head programmes, India Habitat Centre, said in a statement.
Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi will open the festival with director and writer İlker Çatak’s acclaimed "The Teachers' Lounge" and showcase the best of contemporary films from focus country Germany.
“We explore new German feature and documentary films at the HIFF, ranging from luminaries, such as Margarethe von Trotta and Wim Wenders, to exciting new voices, including Ilker Catak or Frauke Finsterwalder. Without intending to, we have created a showcase of female filmmakers, protagonists, and narratives.
"This is a result of the recognition of women in the film industry in the last years that acknowledges the impact of their perspectives and narratives in the filmmaking landscape that was not that visible before," said Katharina Görig, director programmes South Asia, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi.
Showcased in the famous filmmakers’ segment will be von Trotta’s "Ingeborg Bachmann: Journey into the Desert" (2023), and Wenders' "Perfect Days" (Japan), which is nominated for best international feature film at the 2024 Oscars.
The 'New Voices' section will showcase German director Ilker Catak's "The Teachers' Lounge", also a best international feature film Oscar nominee for this year, and Sophie Linnenbaum’s "The Ordinaries", winner of the best director and best actor awards at 2022's Munich International Film Festival.
Other films in this category include "Sisi and I" by Frauke Finsterwalder, "Orphea in Love" by Alex Ranisch, and Steffi Niederzoll’s "Seven Winters in Tehran", a moving documentary debut, where Niederzoll has used original audio and visual material smuggled out of Iran.
Films by women directors and women-centric themes include "The Peasants" by DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman, "Un amor" by Isabel Coixet, "Six Weeks" by Noemi Veronika Szakonyi, "O Corno /The Rye Horn" by Jaione Camborda, "Marguerite's Theorem" by Anna Novion, "Midwives" by Léa Fehner, and "Inshallah A Boy" by Amjad Al Rasheed.
Other notable films by women filmmakers to be screened during the Habitat International Film Festival are: "From Abdul to Leila" by Leila Albayaty, "Shayda" by Noora Niasari and Sofia Coppola's "Priscilla".
The festival will also organise workshops and masterclasses by the likes of film editor Kai Eiermann and the artistic director of the VRHAM! Virtual Reality & Arts Festival in Hamburg, Ulrich Schrauth. MUBI special films, virtual reality programme - 'VROOOOM', and NETPAC award-winning films are also part of the slate.
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