La France is about a French woman who dresses herself up as a man to be able to take to the road during World War I
With the fifth Jagran Film Festival starting next week in the city, film lovers can rejoice
Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; September 20, 2014)

The year 2014 marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War (1914-1918) — a watershed event of the 20th century. Looking back at the depictions of the horrors, triumphs, and humanity of the War, the fifth Jagran Film Festival-2014, India’s only touring film festival that is scheduled to take place in Mumbai from September 22-28, will present a special section of classic and contemporary cinema depicting the essence of the Great War. The idea is to propagate the principle of global peace in today’s conflict-ridden scenario.

The films that will be screened include Grand Illusion (La Grande Illusion) directed by Jean Renoir; La France, directed by Serge Bozon; and Jules and Jim (Jules et Jim) directed by François Truffaut. Along with the screening of First World War cinema, the festival also has an exciting line-up of films in diverse genres drawn from every corner of the world.

Nutan and Sunil Dutt in the film, Sujata, that is based on a Bengali short storyThe festival will feature films under several sections starting with Cinema of the Uprising, International Competition, Indian Showcase and Country Focus (Cyprus).

In the Indian Showcase category, more than 20 feature films, made in different Indian regional languages, including Hindi blockbusters, will compete with each other. The festival will also host a Bimal Roy retrospective. His films, Sujata (left), Do Bigha Zameen, Madhumati, Devdas and Bandini, will be screened at the week-long event.

Curtains on the fifth edition of the Jagran Film Festival will go up with the screening of The Woods Are Still Green, an Austrian feature film set against the backdrop of World War ICurtains on this edition of the festival will go up with the screening of The Woods Are Still Green (right), an Austrian feature film written and directed by Marko Nabersnik, that has won several International Best Film awards. The film is an anti- war drama set against the backdrop of the World War I. The Indian section of the festival will see the screening of films such as Highway, Katiyabaaz, Mary Kom, Mardaani, Shahid, Queen and Ugly (below). The festival will also host workshops and masterclasses on cinematography, film festivals, making short films and casting, among other things.

The Mumbai edition marks the final leg of the fifth Jagran Film Festival that has travelled across 16 cities. These films will be screened at PVR Andheri and Cinemax Versova.

Conceptualised to bring world class cinema to a wide audience, Jagran Film Festival, Mumbai 2014 promises to be bigger and better this year.

Ronit Roy in Ugly, a pyschological thriller written and directed by Anurag Kashyap