News

The 44th edition of genre film festival Fantasporto, which runs in Portugal’s second city Porto from March 1-10, has bestowed its best film award on Japanese sci-fi fantasy pic “From the End of the World,” directed by Kaz I Kiriya.

The movie follows 10-year-old Hana, whose dreams transport her across various eras in Japanese history, and have the ability to save humanity.

The jury’s special award went to “The Complex Forms,” Italian director Fabio D’Orta’s debut feature. The sci-fi horror centers on a man who has sold his body so it can be possessed by a creature of unknown nature.

The prize for best direction was nabbed by Spanish filmmaker Gonzalo López-Gallego for horror movie “The Shadow of the Shark” (La Sombra del Tiburon). In the film, a young woman, Alma, is undergoing therapy as she is unable to sleep. With the help of surveillance cameras, she...

Prime Video has acquired and set a stream date for “Delhi Crime” creator Richie Mehta’s investigative drama series “Poacher.”

Based on court documents and testimonials, “Poacher” is a fictional dramatization of events that unfolded in the dense forests of Kerala and the urban jungle that is India’s capital Delhi. The series highlights the contributions made by Indian forest service officers, Ngo workers from the Wildlife Trust of India, police personnel and good samaritans who risked their lives to investigate the largest ivory poaching ring in Indian history. It was filmed in real-life settings across Kerala and New Delhi and is primarily in the Malayalam, Hindi and English languages.

Created, written and directed by Mehta, whose Netflix show “Delhi Crime” won the International Emmy for drama series, the “Poacher” cast includes Nimisha Sajayan (Tallinn title “Adrishya Jalakangal”), Roshan Mathew (Busan winner “Paradise”) and Dibyendu Bhattacharya (Emmy nominated series “Rocket Boys...

Picture: Netflix

Movies were the focus in December, with no new Indian series debuting this month. The newly added films include a number of under-the-radar arthouse pictures as well as three new Netflix Originals: The Archies, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, and the true-crime documentary Curry & Cyanide.

Here are all of the new Indian movies added to Netflix in December 2023.

N = Netflix Original

New Indian Movies on Netflix: December 2023 Thank You for Coming (2023)

Language: Hindi

Runtime: 117 Minutes

Director: Karan Boolani

Cast: Bhumi Pednekar, Shehnaaz Gill, Pradhuman Singh

Genre: Sex Comedy | Added to Netflix: December 1

An unhappy single woman consents to an arranged marriage and has her first sexually satisfying experience on the night of her engagement party — only she’s too drunk to remember who she was with when it happened. This sex-positive comedy is slow to get going and not as funny as it should be, but actor Bhumi Pednekar...

Canadian filmmaker Denys Arcand’s satire “Testament” will open the 44th edition of Fantasporto, which runs March 1-10 in Portugal’s second city, Porto. Chinese fantasy epic “Creation of Gods I: Kingdom of Storms,” directed by Wuershan, closes the eclectic event.

The festival, which was named by MovieMaker magazine this year as one of the “25 coolest festivals in the world,” is headed by film critics Beatriz Pacheco Pereira and Mário Dorminsky. Around 600 feature films were submitted this year and 1,200 shorts.

Pacheco Pereira says they select films that have a “special touch but still a universal language.” Dorminsky adds: “We try to discover new directors.” These directors – having established a relationship with the festival – often return with their subsequent films, he says.

“Testament” epitomizes one trend that Pacheco Pereira identifies, which is “old people asking: ‘Where is the world going?'” She adds: “‘Testament’ is a wonderful film in which an...

Some films believe in getting the viewer immersed in the universe of the film, and once those who were uninterested in what the film has to say are weeded out, that is when the film shows that the return on attention invested was actually quite high. Adrishya Jalakangal, or Invisible Windows, is a remarkable film that quite subtly but effectively depicts the ill effects of war and the brutality people have to face, especially those on the margins of our society. It also brings a dystopian beauty to the composition in each frame, which wasn’t expected from it, but the message is clear: a place where people’s voices are suppressed or aren’t believed—that is the madhouse we must all be wary of. Written and directed by Bijukumar Damodaran, the Malayalam language film stars Tovino Thomas and Nimisha Sajayan, who play quite against their type and do...

There is a lot of talk about a potential war, and the police has been asked to haul all vagrants from the streets with a vague explanation that civilians without identity impose a national threat. The men are brought to a local mental clinic where they are sedated and kept for months and then discharged with a bunch of pills, just in time to make space for the new lot. Tovino Tomas plays a man who was put in such an institution for no other reason than leaving his house to do some errands, and running into the wrong kind of uniformed guys. Upon his release, he returns to a settlement made out of old train wagons somewhere in the countryside, in an area impacted by the heavy industry. He discovers a new, not that pleasant type of neighbor living in the wagon opposite of his, but the times are difficult enough,...

Malayalam actor Tovino Thomas’ film ‘Adrishya Jalakangal’, also titled ‘Invisible Windows’ is now finally set to make its international premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Dressed in maximum style, the actor came to the red carpet of the premiere alongside the crew and penned a lengthy note of gratitude, still in awe of the great honour.

Taking to Instagram, Tovino shared pictures of himself and the crew at the red carpet, an captioned his post: “Stepped into a world of cinematic enchantment at the European premiere of ‘Invisible Windows’ at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. @tallinnblacknightsff. An incredible journey crafted by the visionary @drbiju_official.”

He added: “Huge gratitude to the organisers, especially the festival director @tiinalokk , for this incredible opportunity. Her passion for cinema and meticulous curation make events like these extraordinary. Being the first Malayalam film in this A-category festival’s competition section is a milestone we’re proud of!

Malayalam actor Tovino Thomas’ film ‘Adrishya Jalakangal’, also titled ‘Invisible Windows’ is now finally set to make its international premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Dressed in maximum style, the actor came to the red carpet of the premiere alongside the crew and penned a lengthy note of gratitude, still in awe of the great honour.

Taking to Instagram, Tovino shared pictures of himself and the crew at the red carpet, an captioned his post: “Stepped into a world of cinematic enchantment at the European premiere of ‘Invisible Windows’ at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. @tallinnblacknightsff. An incredible journey crafted by the visionary @drbiju_official.”

He added: “Huge gratitude to the organisers, especially the festival director @tiinalokk , for this incredible opportunity. Her passion for cinema and meticulous curation make events like these extraordinary. Being the first Malayalam film in this A-category festival’s competition section is a milestone we’re proud of!

Indian filmmaker Dr. Bijukumar Damodaran has completed post-production on his latest work, Malayalam-language film “Adrishya Jalakangal” (“Invisible Windows”).

The film is headlined by Tovino Thomas, star of Netflix superhero film “Minnal Murali,” Nimisha Sajayan (“The Great Indian Kitchen”) and Indrans (“Home”). It explores events that occur when a window into a metaphysical realm that exists beyond human reality opens for an individual. The music is by two-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej.

Damodaran, known popularly as Dr. Biju, is well-known on the Indian and international film festival circuit. His films have been honored at India’s National Film Awards thrice. International accolades include “Veyilmarangal” winning one of the top awards at Shanghai and “Painting Life” (2018) the Critics’ Award at Oporto.

“Adrishya Jalakangal” is produced by Ellanar Films (upcoming immigrant drama “Minimum”), Mythri Movie Makers (producers of one of the biggest 2021 Indian hits “Pushpa”) and Tovino Thomas Productions.

“ ‘Adrishya Jalakangal’ is an...