Another interesting day at fiesta, started with the premier of Dreaming Movies an exclusive documentary directed by Sanjit Narvekar. This 30 min film is based on the history of Indian Cinema since independence from British rule, highlighting the changing practices and genres of Indian Cinema between 1947 and now.

Soon after, I left for another festival bustle. Displayed at this one-of-its-kind expo are cameras as old as those used in the 1920s like Mitchell, Arricord, and Eymo to the latest ones. Arri 435, 16 SR3, DVC Pro, old recording and editing equipments, lights, lenses, rare photographs, and other paraphernalia. All these precious preserves are intended to take the cinema lovers to a journey down memory lane from the magic world of filmmaking of yore to the digital age. Truly, gazing at these antiques, I become conscious about the hard effort that filmmakers of yesteryears had to put in for their creations.

My favorites at the expo… the first few moving pictures made by Frenchmen Lumiere brothers and a bomb-spotting camera, a property of the US Army Air Corps. Also unfolding are the attention-grabbing bits and pieces on the history of cinema. I observe a steady stream of film lovers visiting this distinctive exhibition. Not planned, but I end up spending most of the day hours here. I promise to return back to this matchless exposition which will remain open until Dec 02.

At this quiet and calm evening, I am here at INOX Theater to look at Khuda Ke Liye (For God’s Sake), a controversial film from Pakistan, directed by Shoaib Mansoor. I see quite an unexpected crowd of viewers for this screening, maybe because this is the first-ever Pakistani movie to be premiered at an Indian festival, also because of the similar language spoken in both the neighboring nations. So, viewers don’t have to muse on subtitles compared to other foreign language films.

This 170 mins with 9/11 in backdrop, is about the complex situation in which the Pakistanis in particular and the Muslims in general are caught up since 9/11. In this film, of two brothers, musicians in Lahore, one gets radicalized under the sway of extremists, while the other goes to America and gets unlawfully apprehended after 9/11. It is also about an interesting Pakistani-British character, played by debutant Iman Ali, who is brought to Pakistan by her father and married off against her will. This movie depicts the ongoing war between the Fundamentalists and the Liberal Muslims.

For God's Sake is a must watch!

Today undoubtedly was a very interesting “been there and seen that” at IFFI.