Cast: Pankaj Kapur, Supriya Pathak Kapur, Krish Parekh, Hrishita Bhatt
Cinematography: Nalla Mutthu
Editing: Asif Ali Shaikh
Sound: Dilip Subramaniyam
Music: Debajyoti Mishra
Art Direction: Wasiq Khan
Screenplay: Vibha Singh
Producer: Sheetal Talwar
Directed by: Bhavna Talwar

SYNOPSIS
Set in Benares, this is the story of Pandit Chaturvedi, a Hindu Brahmin priest who fastidiously practices his religion as per ancient Hindu scriptures. He follows the prescribed social practice of casteism, which ordains that he is a Brahmin, the most superior of human beings. An abandoned infant comes into Pandit Chaturvedi’s life, who he adopts and names Kartikey. Bringing up Kartikey as a good Brahmin fills the Pandit’s life with joy and laughter, till the day Pandit Chaturvedi learns that Kartikey is a Muslim. Pandit Chaturvedi turns Kartikey away. But the memories of the four years of Kartikey’s childhood challenge the very core of the Pandit’s belief. What will persist? Is it his love for this child or his love for God and his religion? Are the two really any different?

THE FILMMAKER
Bhavna Talwar has worked as an assistant director on various feature and advertising films and has over eight years of experience in the industry. “Dharm”, her directorial debut, has received rave reviews from the critics and was also screened at the 60th Cannes Film Festival in 2007. Bhavna has also been nominated for the Gucci Group Award 2007.

Cast: Muzamil Ibrahim, Tulip Joshi, Anupam Kher, Gulshan Grover, Aushima Sawhney, Munish Makhija
Cinematography: Anshuman Mahaley
Editing: Devendra Murdeshwar
Music: M.M. Kreem, Raju Singh
Screenplay: Mahesh Bhatt, Shagufta Rafique
Producer: Mukesh Bhatt
Directed by: Pooja Bhatt

SYNOPSIS
When a bomb blast takes place in Mumbai, upright cop Zaid is called in to investigate. However, he is soon shocked to learn that not only did his pregnant young wife die in the attack but that she is suspected of being the suicide bomber. As most of his friends desert him — reverting to stereotypes about his Muslim roots — he sets out to clear his and his wife’s name. What he discovers are unsettling truths.

THE FILMMAKER
Pooja Bhatt began her illustrious acting career with an unconventional debut in “Daddy” (1989) directed by her father Mahesh Bhatt. A moving film about a father-daughter relationship, “Daddy” was the beginning of a journey that culminated in her mature role in “Zakhm” (1999), also directed by Mahesh Bhatt. Her last appearance as an actor was in 2001’s “Everybody Says I’m Fine.” She became the youngest female producer in India with the bold “Tamanna” (1997), which won the National Award for the Best Film on Social Issues. She has also produced the hits “Sur” and “Jism.” She made her directorial debut with “Paap” in 2003. “Dhoka” is her third film as director.

SYNOPSIS
This sequel to Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen finds Elizabeth facing bloodlust for her throne and familial betrayal. Growing keenly aware of the changing religious and political tides of late 16th century Europe, Elizabeth finds her rule openly challenged by the Spanish King Philip II with his powerful army and sea-dominating armada determined to restore England to Catholicism. Preparing to go to war to defend her empire, Elizabeth struggles to balance ancient royal duties with an unexpected vulnerability in her love for Sir Walter Raleigh.

THE FILMMAKER
Born in 1945 in Lahore, Shekhar Kapur trained as a chartered accountant in London before abandoning the profession for a career in Bollywood. He made his debut as a director in 1983 with the award-winning “Masoom.” He followed it up with the 1987 hit “Mr India”, and the critically acclaimed “Bandit Queen” in 1994, which propelled him to a career in Hollywood. “Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen”, his first Hollywood film, garnered him much critical praise as well as an Oscar. He has also executive produced “Dil Se” (1998) and “The Guru” (2002).

Cast: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Susan Sarandon
Cinematography: Don Burgess
Editing: Gregory Perler, Stephen A. Rotter
Music: Alan Menken
Art Direction: John Kasarda
Screenplay: Bill Kelly
Producers: Barry Josephson, Barry Sonnenfeld
Directed by: Kevin Lima

SYNOPSIS
A classic Disney fairytale collides with modern-day New York City in a story about a fairytale princess who is sent to our world by an evil queen. Soon after her arrival, Princess Giselle begins to change her views on life and love after meeting a handsome lawyer. Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?  

THE FILMMAKER
Born in 1962, Kevin Lima has worked as an animator, character designer and writer on a number of animation projects. He made his directorial debut with “A Goofy Movie” in 1995 and followed up with “Tarzan” (1999) which won him a nomination for an Annie award, the premiere animation award. In 2000 he directed “102 Dalmations.” “Enchanted”, his fourth feature, was nominated for three Oscars (all for music) as well as two Golden Globes.

Cast: Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, Borje Ahlstedt, Allan Edwall, Ewa Froling
Cinematography: Sven Nykvist
Editing: Sylvia Ingmarsson
Music: Daniel Bell
Producer: Jorn Donner
Written and Directed by: Ingmar Bergman

SYNOPSIS
Set in the early 20th century, the title characters are children in the exuberant and colourful Ekdahl household in a Swedish town. Their parents, Oscar and Emilie, are the director and the leading lady of the local theatre company. Oscar’s mother and brother are its chief patrons. After Oscar’s early death, his widow marries the bishop and moves with her children to his austere and forbidding chancery. The children are immediately miserable. The film dramatizes and resolves these conflicts. The film won 4 Oscars in 1984, including for Best Foreign Film.

THE FILMMAKER
Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in motion picture history. He was the first director to bring metaphysics — religion, death, existentialism — to the screen. His films deal with issues of pain and torment, desire and religion, evil and love. He made over 60 films over the span of six decades and was nominated for nine academy awards. His films also won awards at the Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals. Bergman died in July, 2007.

Cast: Tisca Chopra, Shahana Goswami, Deepti Naval, Paresh Rawal, Naseeruddin Shah, Sanjay Suri, Raghuvir Yadav
Cinematography: Ravi K. Chandran
Editing: A. Sreekar Prasad
Music: Rajat Dholakia, Piyush Kanojia
Screenplay: Shuchi Kothari, Nandita Das
Producers: Harindra M. Singh, Shailendra M. Singh
Directed by: Nandita Das

SYNOPSIS
Gujarat, immediately after the carnage of 2002 in which some 2,000 people – mostly Muslims – were killed. Made with an ensemble cast, the film shows a day in the life of would-be neighbours right after the killing is over, but while the anger and fear is still dense in the air. There’s a rickshaw driver whose house was burned down, his wife who suspects her Hindu friend did it, a gravedigger wanting revenge, a Muslim priest oblivious to the conflict outside, a secular shopkeeper married to a Hindu wife and another Hindu woman married to a man who was a perpetrator in the riots. Their lives loosely intersect: they could be a community but for an age-old hatred made fresh by the killing, raping and burning of the last month.

THE FILMMAKER
Nandita Das is a celebrated and critically acclaimed actor who began her career in 1981 with a small role in “Laawaris.” Her work in “Fire” (1996), “Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa” (1998) and “Earth” (1998) propelled her to international stardom and she has worked in over 35 films to date. She has also served on the jury of the Cannes film festival. “Firaaq” is her debut as a writer and director and brings together her two passions: filmmaking and social activism.

Cast: Donatella Finocchiaro, Fabrizio Gifuni, Gioia Spaziani, Giuseppe Fiorello, Giorgio Colangeli, Marcello Prayer, Lamberto Probo
Cinematography: Paolo Carnera
Editing: Luca Benedetti
Music: Gabriele Rampino
Screenplay: Alessandro Valenti, Andrea Piva, Edoardo Winspeare
Producer: Fabrizio Mosca
Directed by: Edoardo Winspeare

SYNOPSIS
Ignazio has been secretly in love with Lucia since childhood, and his feelings seem no less diminished when he returns years later to his native Lecce to work as the chief prosecutor against the Sacra Corona Unita, the Apulian mafia. It takes him a while to believe that the object of his affection is connected to the murders and arms trafficking he is investigating.

THE FILMMAKER
Edoardo Winspeare is one of Italy’s most talented filmmakers, who sets his films in his native Apulia, usually among small-time criminals or the poor. He made his directorial debut with “Pizzicata” in 1996 which won him the Best Film Award at the Molodist International Film Festival as well as the Bronze Precolumbian Circle award at Bogota. His sophomore effort “Sangue Vivo” (Live Blood, 2000) won him the Best New Director award at San Sebastian as well as the Silver Ribbon from the Italian Syndicate of Film Journalists for the best original story. His third film “Il Miracolo” (The Miracle, 2003) was nominated for a Golden Lion at Venice and won the City of Rome award as well as the FEDIC award. This is his fourth film as a director.

Cast: Baran Kosari, Bita Farahi, Bahram Radan, Masoud Rayegany
Cinematography: Mahmoud Kalari
Editing: Sepideh Abdolvahab
Sound: Mohammad Reza Delpak
Screenplay: Mohsen Abdolvahab, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Farid Mostafavi, Naghmeh Samini
Producers: Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Jahangir Kosari
Directed by: Mohsen Abdolvahab and Rakhshan Bani-Etemad

SYNOPSIS
The story centers on the relationship between a heroin-addicted daughter and her mother. The mother suffers and ultimately facilitates the daughter’s addiction, while the daughter endlessly cycles between giving lip service to wanting to clean up, and then getting high “one last time.” An often uncomfortable look at modern-day Iran.

THE FILMMAKERs
Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, one of Iran’s most celebrated women film directors, was born in 1954 in Tehran. She completed her BA in film directing from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Tehran University and began her career in 1973 as a continuity girl and documentary assistant for Iranian television. She made her directorial debut in 1986’s “Off Limits.” In 2004 KaraFilm Festival showcased a brief retrospective of her work while her film “Gilaneh” won the Best Feature Film and the Best Female Actor award in 2005.

Mohsen Abdolvahab has directed three films, including the documentary “Hamsaran-e-Haj-e-Abbas” which won the Silver Wolf at the Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival in 2001. He co-wrote and co-directed “Gilaneh” and “Khoon Bazi” with Rakhshan Bani-Etemad.

Cast: Shaan, Iman Ali, Fawad Khan, Austin Marie Sayre, Naseeruddin Shah,
Cinematography: Ali Mohammad, Neil Lisk, Ken Seng, David Lemay
Editing: Ali Javed, Aamir Khan
Music: Rohail Hayat
Screenplay: Shoaib Mansoor
Produced and Directed by: Shoaib Mansoor

SYNOPSIS
Two brothers, both musically inclined, follow different trajectories. While Sarmad comes under the sway of religious hardliners, elder brother Shaan goes away to the US to study music, where he falls for an American classmate and marries her. Meanwhile, Iman, their young British-born cousin, is duped by her father into a forced marriage with Sarmad. The events of 9/11 and its aftermath affect both brothers in profound ways. The film is about the difficult situation in which educated and liberal Pakistanis and Muslims in general are caught (criticized and harassed by the hardline Islamists at home and stereotyped as potential terrorism suspects by the West).

THE FILMMAKER
Shoaib Mansoor is one of the most respected television directors, writers and music composers in Pakistan. Critically acclaimed for extremely successful television serials such as “Ankahi”, “Sunehray Din” and “Alpha Bravo Charlie”, he was also the moving force behind landmark satire and travel shows such as “Fifty Fifty” and “Gulls and Guys.” In addition, Mansoor has also successfully dabbled in song-writing for pioneering pop band Vital Signs, Junaid Jamshed and the “Ishq” series of songs. He was recently awarded the Presidential Pride of Performance award by the Government of Pakistan. “Khuda Kay Liye” is his feature directorial debut.

Cast (Voices of): Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim
Animation: DreamWorks Animation
Cinematography: Yong Duk Jhun
Editing: Clare Knight
Music: John Powell, Hans Zimmer
Screenplay: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris
Producer: Melissa Cobb
Directed by: Mark Osborne and John Stevenson

SYNOPSIS
Po is a lazy, irreverent panda who is also the biggest fan of Kung Fu around... which doesn’t exactly come in handy while working every day in his father’s noodle shop. Unexpectedly chosen to fulfil an ancient prophecy, Po’s dreams become reality when he joins the world of Kung Fu and studies alongside his idols, the legendary Furious Five – Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey – under the leadership of their guru, Master Shifu. But before they know it, the vengeful and treacherous snow leopard Tai Lung is headed their way, and it’s up to Po to defend everyone from the oncoming threat.

THE FILMMAKERS
Mark Osbourne is an animator who has worked on television series such “SpongeBob SquarePants” as well as directed music videos. His 6-minute short “More” won an Oscar in 1999 as well as the Short Filmmaking Award at Sundance. “Kung Fu Panda” is his feature animation directing debut. John Stevenson has worked as an animator, actor, storyboard artist, art director and television director. “Kung Fu Panda” is his feature film directorial debut.