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France to honour Sharmila Tagore, Saumitra Chatterjee

Ranvir Nayar in Nantes

The famous Festival Des 3 Continents began in the north western French town of Nantes on Tuesday, November 23. And the theme, the time, is Indian. West Bengal, to be more specific.

In fact, the highlight of the Festival's 21st edition will be the lifetime achievement awards given to Satyajit Ray’s favourite lead couple, Saumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore, along with a retrospective of Tagore’s films. Included in this list is Ray's Apur Sansar, which introduced the duo.

On Friday, November 26, Chatterjee and Tagore will be honoured by the French government with the Insignes de Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the nation's highest award for artistes. This is the first time that an Indian film personality has been nominated for this award.

Ray himself was presented with the Legion d’Honneur – the highest civilian award in France -- by the then French President Francois Mitterrand when he visited Calcutta in 1988.

Four of Ray’s films will be screened at the festival. Besides Apur Sansar, these include Devi, Aranyar Din Ratri and Nayak. The festival will also feature some of Tagore’s Hindi films like Amar Prem, Mausam, Grihapravesh and New Delhi Times.

Tagore and Chatterjee will also participate in a debate that will follow the screening of Apur Sansar on Friday evening. Also being screened at the festival is Gaach, a documentary profiling Chatterjee's career as the lead man in Ray’s (right) films. It has been directed by French director Catherine Berger and produced by Merchant-Ivory Productions.

Berger, who has played an instrumental role in getting the awards organised, says they are a belated recognition for the two artistes who have been highly commended for their lead roles in several Ray films.

"It is really a pity that, though Ray and his films are very popular in France, not many people know the faces in those movies. They have all commended the extraordinary performances of the lead pair, but don't even know the names. I think this award will help create some kind of awareness amongst the people and recognition for Saumitra in France," Berger told rediff.com.

Berger has been fascinated by Chatterjee for several years. She first came across his work in the early nineties, while studying cinema in the United States, and was impressed enough to want document the actor. A dream she realised in 1997 with Gaach – a biographical sketch of Chatterjee, interwoven with clips from the films he did with Ray.

Amar Prem

The Festival des 3 Continents, conceived in 1979 by two brothers, Philippe and Alain Jalladeau, was the first in the world to focus on film-makers from the three continents of Asia, Africa and South America. It has, since its inception, screened over 1,000 films, bringing to Europe some of the best talent from these parts of the world.

The week-long festival will feature over 70 films drawn from over 30 countries. A large part of the festival will be centred around the Arab directors from west Asia. This special section will include 24 films from Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar.

Though no Indian film has entered the competition category of the festival, Murali Nair’s award-winning Marana Simhasanam (it won the Camera d'Or at the Cannes film festival earlier this year) has been selected for a special screening on November 30, the last evening of the festival. The festival will also feature a Mani Kaul production.