After covering the 11th edition of CIFF , we felt that facets like volunteering, visibility & organization needed minor tweaks to give the festival a better facelift and reach. Our hope was indeed translated into reality by the commendable efforts of ICAF and volunteers from DG Vaishnav college. Another plus to this installment of CIFF was Natty, a fictional character in Social media, to engage the present-day audience better.

The 12th Chennai International Film Festival was held between December 18 and 25, 2014 across five screens within the city,

  • Woodlands
  • Woodlands Symphony
  • Casino
  • Russian Cultural Center Auditorium
  • Inox-3

While it is true that when compared to the other film festivals in India such as IFFI, MAMI, IFFK etc our line-up needs improvement, we sincerely believe that it is not due to lack of knowledge but just plain lack of funds. While expected films like Goodbye To Language, Mommy, Corn Island, Boyhood did not make it to the festival, we did have acclaimed flicks like Wild Tales, Two Days One Night, Leviathan, Winter Sleep & our very own Kuttram Kadithal which managed to attract tremendous crowd. The CIFF team in addition to multiple fliers on circulation on venue daily, was quite active on Facebook & Twitter, being innovative & informative at the same time.

As is the norm with almost all the Film Festivals there were glitches with respect to Subtitles not loading correctly, audio being out-of-sync with video, crowd management, sudden changes in schedule etc. But it would be gross injustice to just highlight these minor hassles without taking into account the enormous amount of time & effort that must have gone behind organizing such a big event spread across a week having college students from DG Vaishnav as volunteers, who on their part did a fairly decent job at managing the proceedings.

Full Review

Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere (Vietnamese, 2014) - 18th Dec

A pregnant teenage girl Huyen tries to make money for her abortion – her naive boyfriend Tung tries to help her in getting the money – by trying his luck in illegal cockfights – but in vain. Huyen is also caught up in the moral dilemma of a mother.
To Summarize Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere is a slow realistic drama with engaging performances - and interestingly etched characters.
Runtime: 99 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB
Full Review
Full Review

Charlie’s Country (English, 2014) - 19th Dec

Rolf de Heer’s Charlie’s Country is not the normal riveting cinema that arrests our attention, but a towering performance from David Gulpilil that highlights discrimination and cultural dislocation faced by the aborigines, certainly deserves our attention.
Runtime: 108 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB
Full Review
Full Review

Life in a Fishbowl (Icelandic, 2014) - 19th Dec

A struggling mother works in a pre-school by day and sells herself by night to sustain; a successful writer lives alone and drowns himself in alcohol daily unable to come to terms with a tragedy from his past; an injured soccer player turned hotshot banker finds it tough to resist worldly temptations in spite of his charming family.These three plot lines collide to give us a taste of Life in a Fishbowl.

To summarize this is a poignant tale with 3 plots colliding, that deserves a watch for the wonderful performances from all the actors.

Runtime: 130 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB
Full Review
Full Review

Mr. Kaplan (Spanish, 2014) - 19th Dec

Mr.Kaplan is an amusing ride of an aged man & a darling ex-cop as they aim to redefine their respective average lives. Fantastic out-of-the-box situations coupled with the crowd-pleasing antics of the two leads make this a film that you will certainly not regret watching.
Runtime: 95 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB
Full Review
Full Review

Roseville (Bulgarian, 2013)- 19th Dec

For a movie based on a real life incident, RoseVille takes its share of artistic freedom to put forward a probable explanation for the events that remain unsolved. A brilliant attempt to string the facts and weave them into a web of horror, suspense and thrill which will ensure to convince us that no remote villa is safe!
Runtime: 120 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB
Full Review
Full Review

Yellow (Marathi, 2014) - 20th Dec

Yellow is a standout Marathi film standing as an epitome of determination, perseverance, kindness, and most of all, love. All the above qualities have been showcased through various relationships such as uncle-niece, coach-student & mother-daughter featuring extraordinary performances & fantastic writing
Runtime: 130 min | Category: Indian Panorama
Full Review
Full Review

Circles (Serbian, 2013) - 20th Dec

A realistic emotional rollercoaster based on a true event - with many heart warming moments and fabulous performances that will remain in you long after the movie ends.
Runtime: 112 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB
Full Review
Full Review

Dreamland (German, 2013) - 20th Dec

There are two lives for each one of us, the one we dream to and the one we are trapped into! Dreamland is where the attempt of such trapped beings to break away and live their dreams, is captured and where they are left to face the consequences of trying to upset the systematic compulsions – All presented in a touching fashion!
Runtime: 98 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB
Full Review
Full Review

Kuttram Kadithal (Tamil ) - 21st Dec

While it is very tough for films of such a stature to satisfy all the pre-release hype, we at PipingHotViews after having watched it, certainly think that it is worth all the attention that it has been getting. Previously such level of anticipation was felt for Aaranya Kaandam &Thanga Meengal for having done well at various Film festivals, but sadly they did not do well in the Box-office. We hope the modern audience do not make the mistake of not catching this film on theatres and then wonder aloud how it failed for years to come.
The film deals with a contemporary burning issue placing a set of characters in a riveting human drama where no person is in the wrong. Filled with plenty of subtext that requires multiple viewings to grasp wholly, the film features a largely fresh cast who have delivered some memorable performances in their respective roles even if they come on screen for just 5 mins (the IT friend of the female journalist, the auto driver friend etc).
Our review will be posted after the theatrical release as requested by the cast & crew of the film. For now (even though it is a clichéd statement these days), the film is undoubtedly a MUST-WATCH
Runtime: 122 min | Category: Tamil Competition | IMDB
Full Review
Full Review

Two Days, One Night (French, 2014) - 22nd Dec

Two Days One Night is a slow yet gritty account of a lady’s quest to keep her job captured in ultra-realistic fashion raising pertinent questions on humanity. While it is not highly engaging, it is worth a watch for Marion Cotillard who proves once again why she is one the finest actors around.
Runtime: 95 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB
Full Review

Leviathan (Russian, 2014) - 22nd Dec

In a small rural town in Russia, Nikolai(Kolya) lives with his second wife and his child from a previous marriage. He tries to make his livelihood by working as a car mechanic. When the Mayor Vadim tries to get his land from him by paying only a small amount , Kolya fights back with the help of his friend Dmitri who is a lawyer. But when the Mayor uses all his force to get the land from Kolya - he struggles back to get what is his by right - midst his tumultuous personal life.
A slow burning movie filled engaging moments, but this is the kind of movie with many motifs and subtexts that requires multiple viewings.
Runtime: 140 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB
Full Review

Gour Hari Dastaan – The Freedom File (Hindi, 2014) - 22nd Dec

Gour Hari Dastaan is a film that deserves a wide release for staying so close to the truth yet never being flat or disengaging. The fact that the film was able to arouse the National Spirit of the audience without being ever manipulative or preachy makes it not just award-worthy but National-Award worthy.
Runtime: 111 min | Category: Indian Panorama
Full Review

Cowboys (Croatian, 2013) - 22nd Dec

It is a story of six men and one women with a guidance of a once famous play director who will try to create a western while breaking every existing rule of theater business. Sasha, a moderately successful theater director with signs of ill-health , returns from the big city to his industrial home town without a clear idea of what that change might bring, and is offered a role by his old mayor friend to re-start the neglected local theater. With no actors in the town or anyone who would know anything about the theater business Sasha makes a audition call and settles with few amateurs having no skills whatsoever and tries to train them for a western and the humour comes to life with the antics and tussle between the actors and director. Amid some high drama in the end, Tomislav Mrsic has made an winning comedy with some excellent usage of iconic songs in key scenes makes one nostalgic!
Runtime: 107 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB

Winter Sleep (Turkish, 2014) - 23rd Dec

Aydim who owns a beautiful and laidback hotel in remote area in Anatolia (Turkey) belongs to a provincial family and doesn't think much about the working class. He lives there with his young philanthropic wife and his caustic sister comes to stay with them for a while. What unfolds is the slow drama of conflicting ideologies and swept aside emotions. Based on the short stories of Checkhov, this makes a wonderful watch and a thought exercise.
Runtime: 196 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB
Full Review

December-1 (Kannada, 2014) - 23rd Dec

Scores of events happen every day in our country - A lot of them concerning politics and politicians. While the media coverage is restricted to the event itself, December-1 is an outstanding effort to capture the ground work leading up to one such event and the impact it could have on the unassuming common men! Throw in a sensitive socio-political backdrop to the mix and you get to watch a truly captivating movie!
Runtime: 97 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB
Full Review

The Fool (Russian, 2014) - 24th Dec

The Fool is a take on the mission of a simple and honest plumber to save the inhabitants of a government maintained housing complex. Artem Bystrov as the chief plumber struggles alone to evacuate the inhabitants of the worn out dorm which is sure to collapse as a result of years of administrative neglect of corrupt bureaucrats of his town. This dark and socio-political drama with a heavy dose of reality was well received by the audience as everyone here can relate easily to similar corrupt practices although the movie is set in Russia.
Runtime: 116 min | Category: World Cinema | IMDB

This 12th edition of the Chennai International Film Festival was undoubtedly a massive crowd puller as it screened 170 movies from all over the world and featured quite a few movies that had won accolades including the Tamil film “Kutram Kadithal” which won top honors in the Tamil feature film competition. This sets up giant expectations on the next edition which promises to be bigger and better, just like how it has evolved every year – now that’s the yearly phenomenon we all look forward to witness!