We sat down with director James Ivory to talk about growing up on the west coast, arts, films, Ismail Merchant, Ruth Prawar Jhabvala, Satyajit Ray and India. Ivory also shares some of his favorite films from his childhood days. Ivory was born in Berkeley, grew up Oregon and every year they visited San Francisco Bay… Continue Reading
We caught up with director James Ivory at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival, where his film Maurice was screened. This is a highlight of a longer upcoming interview. In this clip Ivory shares how his interest in India developed and the first documentary he made on India called The Sword and the Flute. It… Continue Reading
Filmmakers Amit Madheshiya and Shirley Abraham’s award-winning documentary The Cinema Travellers shows you a different side of India’s love for films. The duo takes you on a magical ride around the small villages and towns outside of Mumbai (Bombay), India’ entertainment capital, which is home to Bollywood film industry. What we get to see in… Continue Reading
Meet Robert Byrne, President, Board of Directors of San Francisco Silent Film Festival, film restorer and engineer. We sat dow to talk about how he developed his passion for silent films, the legacy of silent films and his work in restoring silent films. We also find out why Byrne switched his major from film and theatre… Continue Reading
We caught up with filmmaker James Gray to talk about his new film The Lost City of Z. Gray was in San Francisco to attend the 60th San Francisco International Film Festival. We spoke to Gray about why Brad Pitt sent him the novel and how he got attached to the project and what did… Continue Reading
Noah Cowan of SFFILM shares what is in store for the 60th San Francisco International Film Festival, the oldest film festival in the US. The festival runs from April 5th to April 19th 2017 in San Francisco and Berkeley. This year’s festival features over 180 films. And, for the first time the festival will honor… Continue Reading
Director Niki Caro talks about her new film The Zookeeper’s Wife, Jessica Chastain and Andrij Parekh, who is the director of photography for the film. The Zookeeper’s Wife is set in Warsaw, Poland during WW-II. The film is based on a true story on how the husband and wife team of Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain) and Dr.… Continue Reading
We caught up with filmmaker Ritesh Batra in San Francisco to talk about the making of his film The Sense of An Ending (2017), his next film project with Robert Redford & Jane Fonda and his favorite Bollywood films. Batra shares what it was like to adapt the British novel to a film and work with an… Continue Reading
Highlights of our upcoming interview with filmmaker Ritesh Batra on his new film The Sense of An Ending. The film is based on Julian Payne’s novel by the same name. This coming-of-age film is about a older man, who is semi-retired. Set in England, the film stars Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter and Michelle Dockery (Downtown Abbey). Batra… Continue Reading
So, there I was at a screening of Kong: Skull Island at a IMAX theatre with my 3D glasses jammed over my regular glasses. Get ready for some fantastic action whispered my better half. I could sense the excitement in the theatre and it looked like folks were really looking forward to watching this picture.… Continue Reading
Filmmkaer Mark Pellington talks about this new The Last Word that stars Shirley MacLaine, Amanda Seyfried, AnnJewel Lee Dixon, Thomas Sadoski & Philip Baker Hall. This is a coming-of age film of a octogenerian played by MacLaine. We sat down to speak with Pellington about the making of The Last Word, working with MacLaine & Amanda Seyfried and The… Continue Reading
San Francisco’s Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) Film Festival is back this year with an interesting theme – Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. The festival spotlights and celebrates Asian American films, music and food from March 9-19, 2017 in San Francisco and Oakland. Filmmaker Lena Khan’s debut feature The Tiger Hunter is the opening night film… Continue Reading
Silicon Valley’s annual film festival Cinequest is back this year with a strong focus on Virtual Reality (VR). Rebranded as Cinequest Film & VR Festival the festival has expanded beyond its traditional downtown San Jose area. This year film screenings will be held in various parts of San Jose and in a new location in… Continue Reading
Academy award winners Damien Chazelle and Justin Hurwitz talk about La La Land, a film that pays homage to Hollywood musicals and French filmmaker Jacques Demy. Chazelle and Hurwitz were room mates at Harvard Univeristy and they moved to Los Angeles to pursue their dream of making films. While at Harvard they worked together on… Continue Reading
This year’s San Francisco’s Mostly British Film Festival (Feb 16-23) has a rare treat in store for film buffs. On Tuesday, Feb 21st you catch the legendary film editor Anne Coates in conversation with film historian David Thomson at the Vogue Theatre in San Francisco. This will be followed by the screening of A Murder… Continue Reading
Director Ritesh Batra of The Lunchbox fame is back with a new film The Sense of an Ending. The film is based on Julian Barnes’s novel by the same name that won the Man Booker prize in 2011. The compact novel as the New York Times Book Review put it is ” a mystery of memory and… Continue Reading
I sit down to talk with John Turner director of Korla, a documentary that takes you on a fascinating journey on Korla Pandit’s music and life. Pandit was a talented musician, who was the person to perform live on American TV. Pandit performed on KTLA in Los Angeles in 1949. He was eventually replaced by… Continue Reading
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s award-winning film The Salesman (Forushande in Persian) centers around the notion of love, friendship, trust, revenge and forgiveness. If you have seen Farhadi’s previous films like About Elly or The Separation you know they leave you with more questions than answers. In The Salesman Farhadi skillfully peels layer after layer and… Continue Reading
San Francisco Bay area fans of filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch are in for a treat at Stanford Theatre. From now till March 25, 2017 you can catch Lubitsch’s silent and talkie or sound films. Lubitsch was known for his witty and elegant films like Trouble In Paradise, Ninotchka and The Shop Around the Corner. Lubitsch started his career in… Continue Reading
I sat down to speak with Halfdan Hussey, CEO and co-founder of Cinequest Inc, a Silicon Valley-based organization. Every year they host an annual film festival that features films, workshops, conversation and spotlights the latest technology for content creators and filmmakers. They also have a program for youths called Picture The Possibilities. Hussey talks about the philosophy behind… Continue Reading
We caught up with Oscar nominee Theodore Melfi of Hidden Figures in San Francisco. Melfi directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Alison Schroder. We talked to him about the making of Hidden Figures, how he got attached to the film. the math boot camp for his actors and the music by Pharrell Williams and Hans… Continue Reading
I sat down to speak to with Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges about his role in Manchester By The Sea, Kenneth Lonergan, his new film with Martin McDonagh, acting, learning to pay the banjo and his love for Harry Potter. We also find out why he elected to study at University of North Carolina School of the Arts,… Continue Reading
I popped over to my local picture hall in Silicon Valley to catch the first show of a new Bollywood film. This was director Rahul Dholakia’s Raees starring Shah Rukh Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Mahira Khan. All I knew about Raees is that it is a thriller loosely based on a underground criminal or a gangster from Gujarat,… Continue Reading
Silicon Valley’s annual film festival Cinequest is back this year with a strong foucs on virtual reality (VR). The VR offerings range from short VR films to VR experiences and workshops with filmmakers on how to capture and create VR content. Cinequest Film & VR festival runs from Feb 28 – Mar 12, 2017 and is… Continue Reading
Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone was in Hollywood a few days ago to promote her new film xXx Return of Xander Cage that stars Vin Diesel and is directed by DJ Caruso. Diesel, Caruso and Padukone attended the Indian premier in Mumbai since the film released in India on Jan 13, 2017. Diesel’s films are hugely popular in India, and so… Continue Reading
We caught up director Theodore Melfi during the screening of his film Hidden Figures by the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS). We talked to him about the making of Hidden Figures which is about 3 African-American math teachers, who went on to work for NASA and worked in the Apollo project in the 1960s. We… Continue Reading
Veteran actor Om Puri (66) passed away on Jan 6, 2016 in Mumbai. A versatile and talented actor, Puri acted in theatre, films and TV. He made his film debut in the 1970s and went on to act in many art house films in Hindi and branched off into mainstream Bollywood. He then went on to act… Continue Reading
What a year 2016 turned out to be. To use the hackneyed phrase surreal to describe 2016 would be a master understatement. It is as if we are all part of some bad film. What was utterly surreal is the way in which the mother and daughter actors Carrie Fisher (60) and Debbie Reynolds (84) passed away… Continue Reading
Director John Madden’s new film Miss Sloane is about a powerful Washington DC lobbyist played by Jessica Chastain. We caught up with Madden at Industrial Light Magic’s (ILM) office in San Francisco. ILM was a fitting venue since Madden’s first American project was a radio drama of Star Wars. George Lucas is a big fan of radio… Continue Reading
Lucas Hedges is a fine, fine actor. I sat down to speak to Hedges about his role in Manchester By The Sea, Kenneth Lonergan, his new film with Martin McDonagh, acting, music and Harry Potter. Hedges has known Lonergan since he was a kid and yet was very nervous when he audioned for the film. He auditioned… Continue Reading
The Kamla Show 