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The MisEducation of Bindu
2019-11-16 14:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Palo Alto Art Center Auditorium, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94303, United States
Palo Alto Premiere
Filmmaker Prarthana Mohan in Person!!
This coming-of-age comedy coming straight from Mill Valley Film Festival will resonate with viewers both young, old and in between. The Miseducation of Bindu follows a day in the life of a painfully bright but awkward 15-year-old Bindu, who endures high school and tries to graduate early.
Her mother (Priyanka Bose, Lion) does her best to keep Bindu on track while maintaining her Indian heritage, and her clueless stepfather (David Arquette, Scream), tries to give Bindu advice on boys and high school life in America. Paying homage to Bollywood rock with one fantastical Bollywood dance number, Bindu dreams about escaping and longs for her home in India. The film shines a light on the immigrant experience of a teenager caught between girlhood and womanhood, and India’s traditional past and the promise of a global future where she can blend in to be whomever she wants to be.

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Bangla
2019-11-16 16:45
West Coast Premiere
In this playful romantic comedy, Bangla, Phaim, an awkwardly charming 22-year-old Italian-Bengali, panics when he falls in love with an impulsive and spirited Italian girl. The attraction between them is immediate, and Phaim will have to figure out how to reconcile his love with his life full of rules.
Echoing the best of recent cinema hit The Big Sick, the film takes its own unique look at the multicultural experiences of second generation South Asian Europeans in the Italian context, and specifically of those living in Rome. The narrative, which puts a whimsical lens on the clash of cultures as an everyday reality for many second-generation immigrants, is based on the director’s own life, who as the lead plays a fictionalized version of himself.
Highlighted in Rotterdam’s International Film Festival in the Big screen competition section and recently screening at the Chicago Film Festival, Bangla brings in a fresh new voice and pioneer of a new generation of Italian filmmakers.
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Sir
2019-11-16 19:00
A beautifully nuanced, sensual and insightful feature film that premiered at Cannes, Sir delves into the spiritual and romantic connections of two people living parallel yet entirely separate lives. Rohena Gera tentatively explores the forbidden attraction between Ratna (Tillotama Shome), a maid, and her employer Ashwin (Vivek Gomber), a wealthy Mumbai bachelor.
The film gains gravity for its insight into Indian social rigidities that tether both impoverished villagers and well-heeled urbanites, with each character quietly yearning to break free from the narrow bounds of their class and gender-based expectations.
Drawing on similarities to two other critically acclaimed films, Lunch Box and In The Mood For Love, Gera achieves a particular delicacy in her directing, combining an appealing, understated sweetness with an edge, and thwarting all expectations and stereotypes of a typical Indian love story.
“Gera is a female Indian director making her mark celebrating women’s empowerment against dire economic odds… her direction exudes a simple grace that transcends local issues.”
– Variety, Cannes Film Festival Review
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