Irrfan Khan at 14th River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival / Looking back at last year’s #R2RFIFF

Irrfan Khan (Photo: http://www.bollywoodhungama.com / Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license)

Just announced: Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan will be the guest of honour at this year’s River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival in beautiful Florence/Italy – always my favourite festival of the year.

The festival will hold a special tribute to Khan who next appears in Colin Trevorrow’s „Jurassic World“. There will be screenings of his films „Qissa“, „The Namesake“ and „Paan Singh Tomar“, plus seven episodes of the third season of the HBO series „In Treatment“.

According to Wikipedia, Irrfan Khan has appeared in more than 30 Bollywood films (as of 2013). Khan’s English-language mainstream work includes character roles in movies like „New York“, „I Love You“, „A Mighty Heart“, „Slumdog Millionaire“, „The Amazing Spider-Man“, and „Life of Pi“.

The festival runs from December 6 to 12, 2014, and will showcase over 40 films. It was founded by my friend Selvaggia Velo.

Looking back at River to River 2013

Last year’s guest of honour was Shabana Azmi. During a Q&A session, I shot a short clip of her talking about roles in „Fire“ and other controversial movies:

Full Q&A session:

Tweets and Trailers from 2013

The Coffin Maker ***** (IND 2013): Smart, sweet & funny fable about love, life & death. Brilliant as usual: Naseeruddin Shah. #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 23, 2013

No Problem! **** (IND '12): Enchanting docu about Indian project teaching international groups of women how to install solar energy #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 26, 2013

Finding Carlton ***** (USA/IND 2012): First highlight of #R2RFIFF. Moving docu about the history of jazz in India. http://t.co/0Bvh7y9tt1

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 23, 2013

Susheel Kurien talks about „Finding Carlton“ (a short clip I filmed last year):

Oonga **** (IND '13): Combines genocide, torture & guerrilla action with tribal boy's coming-of-age story. Succeeds – surprisingly #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 27, 2013

Resonance of Mother's Melody *** (IND 2013): Uneven docu about a remote Indian village communicating through whistling & singing. #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 27, 2013

Dancing Colours ***1/2 (D/IND 2012): Way-too-short (11 minute) documentary about India's Holi celebrations. http://t.co/teK14gILDJ #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 27, 2013

Lessons in Forgetting **** (IND 2012): Gripping movie version of Anita Nair's novel about female foeticide in rural India. #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 25, 2013

Fearless: the Hunterwaly Story ***1/2 (IND 1993j: Docu about Australian actress & stuntwomen who became a star in India in the 30s. #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 25, 2013

Scattered Windows, Connected Doors **** (IND 2013): Elating documentary about eight strong Indian women sharing stories & insights. #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 25, 2013

Pizza ***1/2 (IND 2012): Tamil horror movie with many chilling moments, marred by erratic narration. Teaser: http://t.co/Xa981lQMNq #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 24, 2013

Monsoon Shootout **** (IND/NL/USA 2013): Exciting cop thriller with touches of Run Lola Run and classy camera work & performances. #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 24, 2013

One of the strongest performances was contributed by Tannishta Chatterjee whom I caught doing an impromptu a capella session in the streets of Stuttgart/Germany around 1 a.m. in July 2012.

Beyond Bollywood **** (IND 2013): Intimate look behind the scenes of Mumbai's film industry, circling around four protagonists. #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 24, 2013

A Man Who Planted the Jungle ***1/2 (IND 2013): Remarkable story of a man who singlehandedly planted a 1200 acre jungle in Assam. #R2RFIFF

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 24, 2013

Opening party of River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival. #R2RFIFF (@ Club Montecarla) [pic]: http://t.co/Rp4DPWuXl5

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 22, 2013

Opening of River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival. http://t.co/EFAFRYeKmw http://t.co/TNsAsk6QEg #R2RFIFF http://t.co/bmMp5vmuqg

— Peter Jebsen (@pjebsen) November 22, 2013

Previous posts about River to River

• Preview: 13th River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival: From Ganges to Arno … and Tiber! #R2RFIFF
• Shukriya, Amitabh Bachchan! (Celebrating 100 Years of Indian Cinema at River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival)
• YouTube: „Gandu“ director Q. on his soundtrack choices … and why he is sick of Bengali music
• YouTube: „Gandu“ director Q. on being self-taught
• YouTube: „Gandu“ director Q. on guerrilla marketing and having a torrent hit
• YouTube: „Gandu“ director Q. on the meaning of the title term
• YouTube: „Gandu“ director Q. on the first (and last) screening in India (at a beachside film festival)
• YouTube: „Gandu“ director Q. answers an audience question about his courage
• YouTube: „Gandu“ director Q. on the audience reaction he expected at „River to River“
• From Ganges to Arno: 11th River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival
• Aparna Sen and Rahul Bose at River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival
• Qype: River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival in Florenz (in German)
• Flickr post about my first visit in 2005

River to River Facebook fan page / Twitter hashtag: #R2RFIFF / My 2013 River to River tweets

See you in Florence and/or Rome in December … or at Indisches Filmfestival / Indian Film Festival 2015 in Stuttgart (favourite photo from the 10th edition in 2013 / looking back at the 9th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart)!

Peter Jebsen