The much-anticipated first of four films in the My Melbourne project was shown at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Onir and William Duane are both directing the movie, which doesn’t have a name yet.
Arka Das, Mouli Ganguly, and Jackson Gallagher are in the movie that hasn’t been given a name yet. The movie was shot in just five days, and the story is about loss and letting go. The movie is about an Indian man named Indranil (played by Arka) and his father Mihir (played by Mauli), who haven’t seen each other in several years.
Onir said, “I’m glad to be in My Melbourne because it’s a special and unique film. This is the first time that two countries have worked together in such a unique way to bring two communities together through film. My Melbourne films are all different, but they all focus on showing off local talent from Melbourne. I can say for sure that there is amazing local talent waiting to be found, and this project did just that. My movie is about a father who is trying to connect with his gay son. It is a warm story about how diversity is important. It was great to work with and learn from the talented people of Melbourne. I’m glad Film Victoria and Meetu Bhowmick Lange are doing this to celebrate movies and different cultures.
Mitu Bhowmik Lange, who is in charge of the festival, says, “This is a very ambitious labor of love that honors IFFM’s core values: diversity and openness. The main goal is to support creative people from marginalized backgrounds, different parts of Australia, and with different skills. Some of the best filmmakers in the world taught him how to make movies. The experience of living abroad. We can’t do what we don’t see.”
With help from the Australian government, IFFM is one of the largest film festivals outside of Australia. In the My Melbourne Project, four well-known Indian filmmakers work with young Australian filmmakers to make films about race, disability, sexuality, and gender. These films will be shot in Melbourne. Other than Onir, Kabir Khan, Imtiaz Ali, and Reema Das will direct the other three films.
