Cornell Cinema celebrates the films of India's Ritwik Ghatak this weekend

Cornell Cinema welcomes filmmaker Mani Kaul for a weekend celebrating the work of Ritwik Ghatak, one of India's finest directors. The events will take place April 27 through 29 (see time and location listings below). Admission to "Hidden Star" and "E-flat" is $4.50 general/$4 students and seniors. Other events are free, and all are open to the public.

Cornell Cinema presents Indian director Ritwik Ghatak's classic film "Hidden Star" on Friday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. as part of a tribute to the filmmaker's work. Director Mani Kaul will discuss Ghatak's films at a free lecture at 5 p.m. Both events are in Willard Straight Theatre.

Kaul, who studied with Ghatak and who currently is teaching at Harvard University, will kick off the weekend with a lecture, "An Introduction to the Films of Ritwik Ghatak," Friday, April 27, at 5 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre. Ghatak (1925-1976) is considered one of India's greatest directors along with Satyajit Ray, although Ghatak's films have never been distributed in the United States. Kaul's talk will focus on how Ghatak made use of the epic tradition in his films with his background in theater and his knowledge of Indian literature, philosophy and mythology, but the lecture also will delve into Ghatak's Marxist position and the final disillusionment he experienced with organized politics.

Cornell Cinema will screen three of Ghatak's little-known masterworks (a loose trilogy) that are touring the country from the British Film Institute. Kaul will introduce "Hidden Star" Friday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre. "Considered Ghatak's masterpiece, "Hidden Star" (aka "The Cloud-capped Star") tells the story of a refugee family living on the outskirts of Calcutta in the late '50s after the terrible postwar political, economic and spiritual upheavals in East Bengal. "Although there are two grown sons, it is the older of the two daughters, Nita, who supports the family. At first she embraces her fate with a kind of voluptuous self-abnegation, but gradually she begins to recognize the futility of her sacrifice, but she no longer has the strength to reorient her life" (Film Society of Lincoln Center). "Hidden Star" also features a stunning soundtrack of traditional Indian music.

Kaul also will introduce Ghatak's "E-Flat" on Saturday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre. Based in part on Ghatak's own experiences in the People's Theater movement of the late 1940s, the film examines the conflicts within the movement through the experiences of one young woman. "The title comes from a Tagore poem comparing a girl with a particular melody and the melody with Bengal, and the script has an equally elaborate structure, with the divided mind of the film's heroine, who mirrors the divided leadership of the People's Theater and, ultimately, divided Bengal." (Film Society Lincoln Center)

The weekend concludes with a free screening of "The Golden Thread," presented by the Pentangle Film Program on Sunday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Uris Auditorium. While quieter in style than Ghatak's "Hidden Star," it also recounts the tragic story of a refugee family.

Kaul's visit and the presentation of Ghatak's films are co-sponsored with the Cornell Council for the Arts, the Einaudi Center for International Studies, the South Asia Program, the Cornell India Association and ASHA.