Bengali film on Kolkata lauded at Venice film fest

It was a big day for Sreelekha Mitra and Aditya Vikram Sengupta on Tuesday. Aditya’s film, Once Upon A Time In Calcutta (OUATIC), was screened at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, as part of the Orizzonti (

Horizons

), an international competition section dedicated to films that highlight the latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema. OUATIC, which features Sreelekha, Bratya Basu, Arindam Ghosh and others, was shot in Kolkata in 2019. Sreelekha, Arindam and other crew members walked the red carpet before the screening. This is Aditya’s third feature and the second one to compete in the festival after Asha Jawar Majhe (Labor of Love) in 2014.
“It is by far the proudest moment in my career to be able to represent my country on this prestigious platform. It felt almost surreal when the film was lauded by the audience after the screening. People came to me asking for my autograph. I missed Aditya and Jonaki (Bhattacharya) very much. I wish they were here,” Sreelekha told us over the phone from Venice.
Talking about working in the film, the actress added, “The director extracted the best in me and I think I have given every bit of my art to this film. I am very satisfied with the film.”

Aditya, who had to give the festival a miss due to the pandemic-related restrictions, said, “A Bengali film entering such a festival is a proud moment for all of us. I think Buddhadeb kaku’s (Dasgupta) Uttara was the last one to compete in this section and that was more than two decades ago. Additionally, this year marks Satyajit Ray’s birth centenary and it feels great to be able to see a Bengali film at the festival.”
Inspired by true events, Aditya pays homage to Kolkata in the film, which follows the life of a bereaved mother desperately trying to find a new identity, love and independence, but soon realises that she is not the only scavenger in a city brimming with hunger. The film has been shot by

Gokhan Tiryaki

– a collaborator of Palme d’Or winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan – and the music has been composed by Dutch composer

Minco Eggersman

.