Wednesday 25 October
10am, 2:30pm, 5pm, 7:30pm
Director: Pan Nalin
Drama
India
Gujarati (English subtitles)
110 minutes
Samay, a 9-year-old boy living with his family in a remote village in India, discovers films for the first time and is absolutely mesmerized. Against his father’s wishes, he returns to the cinema day after day to watch more films and even befriends the projectionist, who, in exchange for his lunch box, lets him watch movies for free. He quickly figures out that stories become light, light becomes films, and films become dreams.
Samay and his wild gang of friends move heaven and earth to catch and project light to achieve a 35mm film projection. Together, they use an innovative hack and jubilantly succeed in making a film projection apparatus.
For those who love cinema this beautifully photographed and very well-acted film will be a joy. – David Stratton, The Australian
Cannily mixes the nostalgic celebration of movies like Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso with the feel-good underdog trope of innumerable films best highlighted by Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. – Namrati Joshi, Screen International
