Now, dearest husband, come, step from your chariot.
But do not set to earth, my lord, the conquering foot
That trod down Troy. Servants, do as you have been bidden;
Make haste, carpet his way with crimson tapestries,
Spread silk before your master’s feet; Justice herself
Shall lead him to a home he never hoped to see.
Queen Clytemnestra orders spread of crimson path for the titular king of the Ancient Greek – Agamemnon following his triumph return after 10 years of Trojan War to City of Troy in the tragic play written in 458 BCE by Aeschylus, the ancient Greek tragedian often described as Father of Tragedy.
Red Carpet screenings have become the given practice and a social do. They are dejure without which film festivals turn dull, dry and drab affair, despite fascinating and fantabolous films that await audiences.

The high profile gala gathering where glitz and glamour hog the limelight given that gliteratti form an important constituent of the ensemble exercise for fans to catch up, close and personal with their screen idols and dieties, while the paparazzis have a field day.

The exclusive nature of the event which also mandates certain dress code like in Cannes and marks a sense of prestige to the participant, where exclusivity and elegance are in order of the evening that mark the movie premieres.

Red Carpet dos became a film festival practice when in 1992 a crimson-hued carpet was used for first ever Hollywood premiere of Robin Hood starring Douglas Fairbank by American showman and theatre owner Sid Grauman who rolled out a red carpet at the Egyptian Theatrewhile promoting the big ticket mega $1 million movie.

Thereafter, there was no looking back for a practice which is religious followed even today as film festivals vie with each other for brownie points scoring over in terms of biggies in entertainment business they are able to bring to their doorstep.

Introduced in 1961 at the Academy Awards at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, the red carpet has become an acknowledged focal point for actors and actresses to make a grand entrance and showcase themselves, with their grand entry in their haute couture sartorial best.

Following in the footsteps of Cannes and other film festivals besides several award galas such as Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Grammy Awards, Met Gala, and BAFTAs, et al, one has seen it being embraced in India too especially at IFFI, Goa.

Given its quintessential status symbol, the aura and attention it bestows on a film festival building the necessary brand equity and visibility, you have the 22nd Chennai International Film Festival too walking the Red Carpet high street with a specially curated compendium of 12 choicest highly appreciated, accoladed and awarded contemporary cinemas that have travelled the premier international film festival circuits to be showcased at CIFF under the ubiquitous umbrella of Red Carpet Screenings.

The eclectic ensemble of enchanting and engaging films presented as part of the CIFF branding exercise as it gears to become the film festival of choice in South India and scale up to the global par, by The Madras Branding Company these exclusive dozen will light up the Six Degrees Theatre of the PVR Satyam Cinemas. Mind you the access to these elite screenings is by Invitation Only for which one can register his/her interest by either mailing your details to president@icaf.inor messaging your keeness to +91 80657 13629.

The films coverting attention at the Red Carpet Screenings are:

The Norwegian film Loveable by the Norwegian-Icelandic woman filmmaker Lilja Ingolfsdottir whose film chronicles the struggles of a 40-year-old mother of four, who must come to terms with tragic breakdown of her blissful and contented second marriage, while embarking on a voyage of self-discovery and growth, dealing with subconscious and dysfunctional patterns in her personal self. The film, which has won six awards, is being screened on December 13, at 4 pm.

The same day, at 6 pm, you have the screening of similarly six awards, including Cannes’ prestigious Palme d’Or winner, Anora directed by the American filmmaker Sean Baker. The high octane dazzling romantic comedy centres around aexotic Brooklyn stripper-sex dancer-worker who meets up and marries the student-son of the wealthy Russian oligarch, following a whirlwind romance and partying, which when the son’s parents come to know of travel from Russia posthaste to have the fairytale marriage annulled puncturing Anora’s Cinderella dreams.

Likewise, on the 14th, the next day, at 4 pm, you have the screening of five awards winner soulful Somalian family drama The Village Next To Paradise directed by the Somali-Austrian filmmaker Mo Harawe. The debut feature details the struggles of a single father raising his son taking odd jobs to provide better future for him, in rural ramshackle Somali village swathed in conflict, natural disasters, the constant threat of US’ killer drones. The arrival of the elder man’s sister following her divorce changes the entire family dynamics with the two sides coming to terms with the new situation which the film truthfully conveys as they contend with the harsh realities that dog their lives and struggles.

The evening show at 6 pm, the same day, sees the screening of the Danish feature The Girl With The Needle by the Swedish-Polish filmmaker Magnus von Horn. The gut-wrenching and highly haunting psychological horror flick, loosely based on the true story of Danish serial killer, revolves around an unemployed young worker, who on discovering herself pregnant meets up with the woman who runs
an underground adoption agency. While she bonds with the matriarch post the dissolution of her unwanted pregnancy her world shatters when she stumbles on the shocking truth behind work she has been ordained to as a wet nurse and confronting the nightmarish reality she has been unwittingly trapped into.

On 15th at 4 pm you have the Swedish film Quiet Life by the Greek filmmaker Alexandros Avranas which chronicles the trials and tribulations of a Russian refugee family with two daughters one of whom goes into a coma as a sign of resignation syndrome when their application for asylum is declined.

On the same day at 6 pm the festival features the Iranian socio-polical film The Seed Of The Sacred Fig by the exiled independent Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof. The film, which has bagged a bushel of 15 prestigious participating at various film festivals including the Cannes where it bagged a bounteous five awards the festival’s Special Award (Prix Spécial), the FIPRESCI Prize, among others.

The highly surcharged film centres around a devout and honest investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, who becomes paranoiac grappling with mistrust as nationwide political protests over the authoritarian rule intensify and his gun mysteriously disappears and is forced to undertake decisions against his better conscience.

The 16th, the fifth day of the festival features at 4 pm, the Iranian film Shahid by the woman director Narges Kalhor, winner of two awards at the Berlin International Film Festival. An ingenious debut feature that’s sum of all its part – reality, fiction, theatre and musical, it spotlights on the political refugee who seeks to officially remove her surname, “Shahid,” was inherited from her great-grandfather, in an act of youthful defiance and feminist resistance to patriarchal structures.

The fulsome fun and frolicsome film in the end, showcasds how everyone is hindered by the societal and political and traditional systems: the director by bureaucracy, the actor by director’s demands, the great-grandfather by his descendant’s determination and the film seeking to show it all by itself.

At 6.30 pm, the same day, you have the acclaimed and much feted Spanish cinema auteur Pedro Almodavar’s The Room Next Door featuring two of the most equally high profile and versatile actresses – Britain’s Tilda Swinton and the American Julianne Moore who give up an impeccable and brauvra performance as two long lost friends with equally eclectic and delectable direction by the maestro.

Ingrid, a best-selling writer, rekindles her relationship with her friend Martha, a war journalist with whom she had lost touch. As the two women cosily chat and cuddle themselves conversing about their pasts, shared memories, anecdotes, art, movies, Martha’s strange request however sees Ingrid put in a piquant situation which will test their newly stitched and sealed bond.

The 17th at 4 pm brings the Brazilian film Motel Destino a highly erotic noir thriller by Karim Ainouz, wherein a young man on the run from a mob boss and seeking to go into hiding lands with the unlikely job because he is found sexually attractive both by the boss and his lady with whom he enters into a passionate affair.
At 6 pm it is Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov’s The Shameless with the Indian cast of award winning Ansuya Sengupta & Mita Vashisht among others. The film highlights the challenges faced by lesbian couples within an oppressive society, showcasing their struggles of maintaining their relationship deemed taboo, through a woman who is on the run after murdering a cop and another young girl who is groomed to a sex worker.

The sixth and final day of the Red Carpet screenings on the 18th at 4 pm it is German film Every You Every Me by Michael Fetter Nathanskyset against the industrial backdrop of Europe’s largest lignite mining area, the mushy romance fare details the initial magic of falling in love and the painful process of falling out of love as the woman seeks to revive the failing relationship with her man.

At 6 pm calling curtains on exclusive, select screenings will be the French fast and furious highly infectuous musical crime film Emilia Perezwritten and directed by Jacques Audiard, based on the director’s opera libretto of the same name, in turn, loosely adapted from Boris Razon’s 2018 novel Écoute.The film, which has swept as many as 36 awards and equal number of nominations under its belt, is about a much feared cartel leader with trans leanings who enlists a lawyer to help him disappear and achieve his dream of transitioning into a woman.

Well, as they say “variety is the spice of life,” which these special screenings have sought to bring to the audiences. Those lucky will get to watch them in the exclusive and elite company.

by

S VISWANATH is a veteran film critic who officiates as JURY at several National & International Film Festivals. He deputises as CHIEF CINEMA CURATOR/PROGRAMMER & CREATIVE ADVISOR for Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes). He also curates & advises on the selection of shorts & documentaries for Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF). Mr Viswanath is the author of “RANDOM REFLECTIONS: A Kaleidoscopic Musings on Kannada Cinema”.