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The River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival hosts a focus on Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore, with screenings and talks, plus films in competition and special sections.

The River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival, directed by Selvaggia Velo, had its first edition in Florence in 2001 as the world's first festival entirely devoted to films from and about India: a mirror on the culture of an ever-growing, ever-changing subcontinent.

Now in its 11th year, the River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival, under the Patronage of the Embassy of India, will take place at Odeon Cinema in Florence from December 2nd to 8th, 2011, under the aegis of the Region Tuscany and Fondazione Sistema Toscana Mediateca, as part of the Cinquanta Giorni di Cinema Internazionale a Firenze.

In collaboration with the National Film Development Corporation of Mumbai, the Festival will pay a tribute to the Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), the well known Indian poet, novelist and playwright, on the 150th anniversary of his birth, an important date for our country as well, as this year it celebrates 150 years of national Unity.

Films inspired by Tagore's works that will feature at the Festival include:

• Khudito Pashan (Hungry Stones) directed in 1960 by one of Tagore's great followers, Tapan Sinha, with legendary actor Soumitra Chatterjee (who had already starred in some of Satyajit Ray's masterpieces). It tells the story of a man who moves into a haunted house and falls in love with the ghost that lives there;
• Ghare Baire (The Home and the World) directed in 1984 by the great Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, once again with Soumitra Chatterjee. The film, which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes film festival in 1984, addresses a topic that the Bengali director had very much at heart: the emancipation of women.

The tribute will be closed by a documentary on the life of the Nobel Laureate: Rabindranath Tagore, directed by Satyajit Ray in 1961.

As usual, the Festival will host the films in competition - feature films, shorts and documentaries - nominated for the River to River Bitebay Audience Award and the non-competing special sections, including student films from FTII and Whistling Woods, with directors and actors coming to present their works to the audience and the press.

The best animation films from Anifest India 2011 in partnership with The Animation Society of India and the winners of the fourth Advantage India Advantage India, a competition for short films lasting up to three minutes promoted by 1takemedia.com, will also be screened.

Side events will include some morning talks about India and its cinema, and a special screening:

• Saturday, December 3rd, Folco Terzani will speak about his new work on the Indian sadhus of the Himalayas;
• Sunday, December 5th, a talk about the Indian Nobel Prize Winner Rabindranath Tagore, chaired by Maria Grazia Beverini del Santo in collaboration with Fondazione Il Fiore;
• Thursday, December 8th, a matinee screening of the Audience Award winner of the 2010 Festival, I Am by Onir.

The Festival is supported by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage - Cinema Directorate, the Region Tuscany and Fondazione Sistema Toscana Mediateca, as well as Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze along with OAC and the India Tourism Office in Milan. Precious support has also been provided by our sponsors, Angela Caputi Giuggiù, Hotel Roma, Instyle, Jet Airways, Klopman, Lisa Corti Firenze, Sport Clinic Center and the Indian Restaurant Zafferano, as well as the collaboration with CTS and Palazzo Tornabuoni, with the Patronage of the Italy-India Association.

Applications for industry, cultural and press accreditations may be sent in until November 20th, by filling in the online form in the Accreditations section of the website of the Festival.

Last-minute accreditations will be available during the Festival.

At Odeon Bistro, all through the Festival, our guests may enjoy the excellent Indian dishes prepared by Florence-based Ristorante Zafferano.