The legendary Indian actress and great-granddaughter of Rabindranath Tagore, Sharmila Tagore, who was recently recognised for her lifetime achievements by the prestigious IIFA awards in Toronto, and Spanish film director Jaime Chávarri, who is currently working on full length feature which will be shot in India, will discuss the influence Tagore has exerted on the art film culture in India. At the end of the event the film Devi will be screened.
‘Devi’ (1960, 93 min, Bengal), by Satyajit Ray
The story of this film, set in rural Bengal in the 1860’s, centres on Doyamoyee, whose father-in-law Kalikinkar Roy, sees in dreams as the embodiment of the goddess Kali, to whom he is devoted. His belief spreads through the community who start to regard the character as a transformation of the goddess, an idea that she herself ends up believing.