Indian film Invisible Demons selected for the 74th Cannes Festival

The 74th edition of the eagerly awaited Cannes Festival returns next month. The festival which couldn’t take place in 2020 due to the corona induced pandemic is making a comeback in the French Riviera this year. It will be held from July 6-17 and will see some of the world's best talents from the film industry.  

The Indian film Invisible Demons has been selected as the Cannes official selection. Directed by Delhi-born filmmaker, Rahul Jain, Invisible Demons will shine a light upon the deathly air pollution condition in Delhi.

Invisible Demons is the only Indian film in the Cannes official selection among seven films under a new section in the festival- Cinema for the Climate. This section has been introduced this year to depict the urgency of protecting the environment, discussing topics ranging from water shortage and education of girls in Sub-Saharan Africa and the dangers of nuclear energy.

Rishab Jain wanted to explore the way artists have been able to explore human relationships with nature in the past 100 years of filmmaking. Out of that, the most drastic change came about in the 20th century.

A Night of Knowing Nothing by FTII (Film and Television Institute of India ) alumna, Payal Kapadia will be screened as part of The Directors' Fortnight, one of the parallel programmes at the Cannes festival.

Kapadia's epistolary film is about a young woman who writes letters to her estranged lover. "The young Indian director Payal Kapadia transcends the documentary material and draws the portrait of a contemporary Indian youth," says Paolo Moretti, artistic director of Director's Fortnight. 

At the Cannes film market, La Fabrique Cinema, Kolkata-born director Suman Sen will screen Eka (Solo). 

Eka tells the story of a 56-year-old insurance agent in Kolkata named Biplab who decides to stand motionless in front of a giant statue of the common man. The statue is about to be inaugurated by the president, unwittingly setting off a powerful people's movement.

Sen points out “the burden of our past” and calls it the main reason towards the failure of society today. He attributes his father’s generation in failing the current one. The film documents the kind of times we have been living for the past couple of years, which is a time filled with intolerance, violence and hatred.

Directors' Fortnight will show 24 feature films, including Panah Panahi's debut film, Jadde khaki (Hit the Road). He is the son of the Iranian director Jafar Panahi. 

Due to prevailing travel restrictions in France for countries still battling Covid-19, the festival will see lower attendance this year. India falls on the list of red countries which will make it difficult for professionals from the country to travel to Cannes.

"I have to undergo a 10-day quarantine," says Sen, who will be present in Cannes with his producer Arifur Rahman from Bangladesh. The country will be represented in the official selection at Cannes for the first time through Rehana Maryam Noor by Abdullah Mohammad Saad.