Ankur marks the stunning beginnings not only of filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who takes over the reins from the first generation of great Bengali innovators (e.g. Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak), but also of Shabana Azmi, who emerges as the face incarnating the renewal of the so-called “parallel” cinema that follows on from neo-realism but leans more to a wide audience. Crowned with the national best actress award, Azmi plays a poor young woman struggling against the financial and sexual pressures of a man from a higher caste. Inspired by a true story, Ankur belongs to a reformist and social vein that denounces the inequalities in rural India. It was presented at the Berlin Festival and was a major success in India. AR
SCREENINGS
LE CINÉMATOGRAPHE
MON 18 > 5:00 pm
KATORZA
WED 20 > 10:00 am, in the presence of Shabana Azmi
