The Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival (VISAFF) is back for its 8th year. This year they are presenting a line-up you don’t want to miss, including the Opening Gala presentation – Mehsampur, a MAMI Mumbai Grand Jury Prize winning film, having its North American premier at VISAFF 2018.
Mehsampur is filmed in mockumentary style, and follows a young filmmaker who sets out to make a documentary about deceased Punjabi folk-singer Chamkila, sometimes referred to as the “Elvis of Punjab”. What proceeds is a stylistic exploration of the assassination of Chamkila and also the filmmaking process, creating a sort of meta-movie or a film-within-a-film. Described as outrageous, bold, vigorous, and provocative, Mehsampur blurs the line between art and life.
Closing the festival is Manto – a biographical drama about the daring and controversial famous Urdu author Saadat Hasan Manto, directed by acclaimed actress and director Nandita Das and starring Sacred Games’ Nawazuddin Siddiqui, which has been eagerly awaited by North American audiences.The main narrative follows Manto through the time of India’s Independence in which he experiences several major life events and is interwoven with some of his most famous stories. Incredibly poignant and sincere, Manto illustrates the importance of storytelling.
In addition to these blockbusters,VISAFF will screen 30+ short films by filmmakers from across the globe, and host a variety of industry workshops. The festival runs from November 22-25 and the full festival lineup, schedule, and tickets can be found at www.visaff.ca
Disclaimer:
The Opening Gala film, Mehsampur is for mature audiences and contains some provocative and explicit scenes.
