Last minute funding support from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations has allowed the Guth Gafa Documentary Festival to bring to Ireland one of India’s leading filmmakers, Arvind Sinha, and his film, ‘King of India’.
In a country usually dominated by Bollywood stars and stories, Sinha’s work in documentary has achieved national and international recognition, with films selected for competition in Sundance, and awards from Leipzig, Bilbao, New York and Tokyo. Sinha has received the President’s Award, the highest honour for Indian cinema, eight times.
‘King of India’ (India, 2008), shot over a period of six years, tells the story of a family of Nats and of a changing and not so changing India. Nats are a lower caste of traditional street performers of India - singers, actors, dancers, acrobats, all rolled into one. The film is a journey into the individual lives of the family of Ratan Singh, a Nat. The personal and the political; the individual and the collective; the traditional and the modern; constantly clash and co-exist in this film revolving around the different choices marginalised people in crisis are faced with.
Guth Gafa is pleased to welcome Arvind Sinha to this year’s Guth Gafa festival, to join 20 other international directors in attendance.
Also at the Festival, FÁS Screen Training Ireland with the support of Bord Scannán Na hÉireann/The Irish Film Board are sponsors of the Guth Gafa Masterclass entitled ‘The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Filmmaker’. Taking place on Sunday, 14th June at 2.30pm in The Ostan Loch Altan Seminar Room in Gortahork, the practical hands-on masterclass by Canadian/Czech director, Petr Lom, will cover 3 main areas – how to work as a one-man-band ie how to direct/produce/edit your own films; how to successfully make human rights films, the practical and ethical difficulties of successfully working in closed societies; and how to shoot observationally and the importance of spontaneity in documentary film.
Lom, who has won awards around the world for his previous work, will show extracts of earlier films, including ‘Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan’ (2004) and ‘On a Tightrope’ (2007). His latest film ‘Letters to the President’ (2009) will be screened at the Guth Gafa Film Festival immediately before the master class.
Guth Gafa International Documentary Festival, in the village of Gortahork in County Donegal, will be opened by Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, and will run from the 12th to the 14th June. Featuring 30 award winning international and Irish documentary films, seminars, masterclass, kids’ screenings, a Festival café and Club, and a free crèche, while parents watch films, Guth Gafa promises to be a memorable weekend. And great Festival Guest and Student accommodation packages are still available for the weekend.
Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival is supported by the Irish Film Board, Ealaín na Gaeltachta, IFTN, The Arts Council, TG4, The Radharc Trust, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Screen Training Ireland, The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, and other industry partners.
For more information and bookings log on to www.guthgafa.com
IFTN is running a competition to win two season tickets and accommodation at the festival. The competition closes on Friday 5th June 2009. Enter competition here
