Some like it Wilder

Beyond the likes of art-house favourites like Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini or Satyajit Ray, there lies a world where cinematic gold has come out of mainstream directors. And out of the commercial directors of Hollywood, Billy Wilder is a radiant name. To revive interests in the works of one of the most versatile directors from Hollywood’s golden age, Enlighten Film Society is holding a film festival.

The festival will feature two of his famous works: Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend. A meticulously written cynical thriller, Double Indemnity starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson is widely considered as one of the greatest films ever. The latter is among the only two films ever to win an Academy Award for Best Picture and the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Pranav Ashar, the founder of the Society, says, “Whenever there are talks of a film festival, people only think of art-house favourites like Ozu, Kurosawa, Bergman or Tarkovsky among many others. Though the trend in Hollywood is that they have lost the sensibility they had earlier in their mainstream movies, we can’t ignore the importance of mainstream Hollywood cinema.”

Ashar adds, “We are screening these two films to gauge the reaction of our patrons. If there is a demand for more of Wilder’s works, we would be more than happy to screen those. But securing the rights for screening is not an easy job. So, we are hopeful that we would be able to screen those too,” he adds.
The films will be screened on May 26 and 27 at NCPA.