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One film is presently in the scripting stage—DEVI, a coming-of-age feature film set in God’s Own Country. And three are in the pre-production stage—MADAN VEDI, a documentary on a dying musical instrument; FOREST BERRY JOHN, a Malayalam feature film; and THROUGH THE LENSES OF THE SACRED TRIO, a comparative study of the films of Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, and Mrinal Sen.
Two films are presently in the post production stage—THE LEGACY OF KHEMCHAND PRAKASH and CINE VEDA, cinematic essays on the pioneer Hindi film music composer, and on cinema, respectively.
DUKHU MAJHI (2022)
Director: Somnath Mondal
Producers: Somnath Mondal & Christopher Dalton
A NIGHT, A DAY (2019)
Director: Prathap Joseph
Producers: Prathap Joseph & Christopher Dalton
House of Illusions on IMDb
Director: Somnath Mondal
Producers: Somnath Mondal & Christopher Dalton
Somnath Mondal is the Audio Visual Officer at the Information Education Communication Division of the Government of West Bengal. He is a batch of 1992 FTII alumni specializing in Sound. His documentary script on a dying music instrument won the Best Screenplay Award at CNFF.
A film by Minimal Cinema in association with House of Illusions, A Night A Day was the Official Selection at the Pune International Film Festival, among several others. Prathap Joseph is the recipient of the Tarkovsky International Film Festival (Russia) Award for Best Cinematography.
A comparative study by Siladitya Sen and Christopher Dalton on the filmmaking styles of the sacred trio — Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, and Mrinal Sen. Siladitya Sen is a senior film critic /journalist at Anandabazar Patrika. He specialises in, and lectures on, the cinema of the trio, and has written a book on Mrinal Sen.
Shalini Shah is the CEO of Akriti Productions & a National Award winner. She assisted Saeed Akhtar Mirza on his National Award winning film ‘Naseem’, before getting into TV serials, & making newsreels such as Uchalia Tribe for Films Division. She has served on the jury of IFFI & the National Awards, & is the founder /artistic director of the Kautik International Film Festival,
Rajesh Shah is an FTII product in cinematography with degrees in science and law & an MBA. He has been the chief assistant cameraman of Naseem, Kabhi Pass Kabhi Fail, Choo Lenge Akash, Foto, Ek Hasina Thi, Johnny Gaddar, Naina, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 3 Idiots, & Ek Choti Si Love Story. He's the founder and festival director of the Kautik International Film Festival.
Alvaro Turrion is an award-winning Spanish musician—keyboard player of the Lie Detectors band, winner of the Best Original Soundtrack Award for ‘Cirilo’ at the Videocorto Nettuno Festival, and music composer of ‘Magoado’, nominated at the International Film Festival of India. He is presently cutting an album with Spanish superstar singers.
Rafique Baghdadi is a National Award winning film critic, authority on Saadat Hasan Manto, historian who conducts heritage walks in the South Mumbai area, former journalist at the Economic Times, and former President of the Indian chapter of FIPRESCI. He screens classics every Saturday at the Mumbai Press Club, and is presently writing a documentary script on the last of the single screen cinema theatres.
Kripal Kalita is an award-winning filmmaker; a very-low-budget indie filmmaking sensation from Assam in the same stride as Rima Das. His debut short fiction film 'Red to Black' won the Assam State Film Award. The next, 'Jaapi', won the Best North East Film at the Chalachitram National Film Festival. And his debut feature film 'Bridge' won the Jury Special Mention Award at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
Amrit Pritam is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as well as the Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA. He is the recipient along with Resul Pookutty of a Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award and two Producers Guild of India - Apsara Awards. Additionally, Pritam has been conferred with awards by the three different state governments (Assam, Goa, & Maharashtra) & has a National Film Award.
Monita Borgohain — Festival Director, Guwahati International Film Festival; Producer, Xobdo Nixobdo Kolahol (Soul of Silence); Director, Bhupen Hazarika Regional Government Film and Television Institute; Secretary, Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio, Govt. of Assam; and Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Administrative Reforms and Training, Pension and Public Grievances department — launches the House of Illusions website, on Feb 10.
Christopher Dalton—quintessentially, a film critic /essayist—began his journalistic odyssey with ‘The Hindu’ and later wrote on music for the ‘Times of India’. He reviewed films for around a decade for such publications as ‘Rediff’, ‘The Film Street Journal’, ‘Dear Cinema’, ‘Upper Stall’, & ‘Deccan Chronicle’/‘The Asian Age’. He’s one of the authors of the book, ‘Indian Film Culture: Indian Cinema’. And is presently editor of ‘Cinematic Illusions’ and the ‘Journal of Indian Cinema’. Additionally, he’s the producer of A Night, A Day; founder of the Cinema Society of India; chief advisory board member of the Kautik International Film Festival (Uttarakhand); and artistic director of the Chalachitram National Film Festival (Assam) and the Chicago International Indie Film Festival (Chicago, US). He has served on the music jury of Mahatma Gandhi university, and on the film jury of several international festivals as well as on the west zone panel of the 67th National Film Awards of India.
