NASHUA, NH–Calcutta Club USA, a Boston area organization that promotes art, lifestyle, cuisine and literature of Bengal in North America, is hosting a Bengali film festival on September 10 and 11 in Cambridge, MA and Nashua, NH.
The festival will be held at Apple Cinemas in Cambridge and Chunkys in Nashua, organizers of the event said.
Called Caleidoscope 2016, it is the second annual Bengali Film Fest organized by Calcutta Club.
Chitro Neogy, co-founder of the Calcutta Club and one of the key organizers of the film festival, said this will be the largest such cine celebration across America.
“Bengali is the seventh most popular language in the world, spoken by 193 million people from India and Bangladesh, a significant population of which resides outside the Indian subcontinent,” said Neogy. “For over a hundred years, the Bengali film industry has consistently reflected the tides of change in values, social structures, human characteristics and geopolitical influence.”
Caleidoscope 2016 will unveil a collage of six ground breaking theatrical creations and two short films that challenge conventional wisdom and leave an impact on all attendees, regardless of their social or ethnic background, Neogy said in a statement. All movies are subtitled in English.
The event has been expanded from its 2015 debut to cover two locations, Apple Cinemas in Cambridge MA and Chunky’s in Nashua NH and will be held over two days, September 10th and 11th.
This year, Calcutta Club USA will provide cash awards to film attendees, as selected by a talented international jury pool. A number of acclaimed film personalities including directors, producers and distributors will attend Caleidoscope from India and other parts of USA, organizers said.
Caleidoscope 2016 at Nashua will also be part of the town’s sister city cultural exchange program with Mysore India. The event will end with an award night celebration after the final movie screening at Nashua.
There are several major themes that will be covered by Caleidoscope films. First, movies like Maya Mridanga, Hemanta, DMajor and short film In a Free State will focus on different aspects in the life of artists, their ambitions and the journey towards success. Secondly, there is a distinct impact of popular world literature on several festival offerings; Hemanta adapts from Hamlet, Chorabali extends Agatha Christie’s Cards on the Table and Teenkahon’s unexpected twists appear to draw inspiration from Roald Dahl classics.
“These narrations are designed for viewership by theater lovers worldwide. Finally, we see a growing interest in projecting contemporary, often dark events and social trends in celluloid creations, as Dark Chocolate is based on the recent Sheena Bora murder mystery while short film Elixir highlights family distress with mental health patients,” said Neogy.
Full information on Caleidoscope 2016 screenings, ticketing, dignitaries and event awards can be obtained at www.calfilmfest.org.
