Deepa Mehta: A Cinema of Rebellion October 19–22, 2017

Istanbul Modern Cinema hosts Indo-Canadian director Deepa Mehta who has been nominated for numerous awards for her films since 1991. Deepa Mehta’s poignant films, which push the limits, have been presented at leading film festivals and distributed and watched all around the world. Deepa Mehta is best known for her epic Elements Trilogy. Water, the final installment of the trilogy, was nominated for the “Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film” in 2007. Shooting and screening all three films was difficult due to their critique of Indian society. Movie theaters were burned down when Fire, the first Indian film to portray the relationship of two women, was released for screening, while the film set of Earth, which depicts the 1947 India and Pakistan partition, was attacked. The shooting of Water was sabotaged in Varanasi by Hindu fundamentalists and thus postponed for five years. Despite these difficulties, Mehta maintained her courage and defiance and continued to fearlessly produce films that focus on women’s issues and challenge traditions and stereotypes. Mehta adapted Salman Rushdie’s Booker Prize-winning novel Midnight’s Children into an epic film, and achieved worldwide success for her films Bollywood / Hollywood and Heaven on Earth. Through its depiction of a criminal case that took place in Delhi in 2012, her latest film Anatomy of Violence critiques the caste system and fundamentalist customs of India. In addition to countless achievements throughout her career, Mehta is the winner of the Reykjavik International Film Festival’s Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement.

In Conversation with Deepa Mehta

Date: October 21, 2017

Time: 17.00

Deepa Mehta will also be in attendance for a talk as part of the program presenting six films from her filmography. The talk will be moderated by film critic Nil Kural.