9th River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival

From 4 to 10 December, 2009, Florence will be hosting the 9th River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival, established and directed by Selvaggia Velo. The Festival, under the Patronage of the Indian Embassy to Rome, will be held at Odeon, the beautiful 1920s theatre right in the centre of the city, under the aegis of Mediateca Regionale Toscana-Film Commission as part of the Cinquanta Giorni di Cinema Internazionale a Firenze.

Entries to the River to River Digichannel Audience Award will include the latest feature films, short films and documentaries produced by India’s movie industry, telling stories and real-life experiences which reflect a multifaceted, colourful and ever-changing society which is playing an increasingly important role in the Western world.
Filmmakers, actors and producers will be there to illustrate their films.

Friday 4th December will be the opening night of the Festival, beginning at Museo Marino Marini in Florence with an exhibition curated by Giovanni Aprile on the great Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906), who showed his unconventionality in his life and work, upsetting XIX-century India.
Later on, at 8.30 pm, Cinema Odeon will host the Italian preview of the opening film of the Festival, telling the story of painter Raja Ravi Varma: Rang Rasiya (Colours of Passion) by world-known Indian director Ketan Mehta, who will be at the Festival and will meet the audience after the screening of his film
along with Nandana Sen.