Wikipedia

Abhinandan Banerjee

Abhinandan Banerjee is an Indian film director, scriptwriter, author, essayist, magazine editor, publisher, illustrator, painter and graphic designer.[1] His debut feature The Cloud and the Man, which premiered at the 25th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, 2021 [2][3] won the NETPAC award for Best Asian Film, at the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival.[4][5][6]

Abhinandan Banerjee
Born
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Film director, Scriptwriter
Notable workManikbabur Megh, Marichjhapi

Early life

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Born and brought up in Kolkata, Abhinandan Banerjee studied at Barasat Peary Charan Sarkar Government High School. Having finished his schooling, he shifted to Mumbai and went on to study Architecture under University of Mumbai.[7] Later, he would eventually drop out and switch to filmmaking.

At the age of 14, Banerjee started writing and illustrating for newspapers, and little magazines. Later, at the age of 15, he started his own little magazine as the editor and by the age of 18, he was heading his own publication house.[8]

Career

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Banerjee co-wrote, assisted and post-produced Teenkahon (2014) with Bauddhayan Mukherji that won the Best Screenplay award at the Bridge Film Fest, Kosovo.[9] The film was nominated for Best Original Screenplay of a Foreign Language Film at Madrid International Film Festival.[10]

Banerjee then co-founded the creative agency cum production house called Asterisc.

In March 2019, he shot his first feature film The Cloud and the Man produced by Bauddhayan Mukherji and co-produced by Monalisa Mukherji [11] that received the special mention at the NFDC Film Bazaar, 2021.[12][13] The film premiered at the First Feature Film competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, 2021.[14][2]

Marichjhapi, his next collaborative venture with Bauddhayan Mukherji and Little Lamb Films was chosen to represent India at the Asian Project Market at Busan 2019 [15] and Cinéfondation L'Atelier[16][17] at the Cannes Film Festival 2020.[18]

Reception

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The Indian premiere of the film happened at 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), 2021. ‘Manikbabur Megh’ was part of the Indian Panorama at the IFFI.[19][20] The film was also part of the Kaleidoscope section at 26th International Film Festival of Kerala. The film had its North American premiere at the 37th Santa Barbara Film Festival[21] It was in the Jeffery C. Barbakow International Cinema competing with 11 other films from all over the world.[22] The film was also part of the Taipei Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival (金馬影展 TGHFF) 2022 being the only Indian film in the edition line up.[23]

The film has been declared as one of the top 10 Indian Films of 2021 by Fipresci, India.[24] It was the only Bengali film in the coveted list of top 10 films of 2021 that are in the running for the Fipresci-India Grand Prix.[25]

Banerjee's Manikbabur Megh[24] also won the NETPAC Award for Best Film, at the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival. The NETPAC jury, had the following citation for this award - “very artistically tackled this surrealistic romance between a man on earth and a cloud in the sky.”[6][5][26][27]

Filmography

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Other ventures

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Since 2019, Banerjee has been designing posters under Asterisc’s banner for a Bengali audio show called Sunday Suspense by Radio Mirchi and transfigured the aesthetics of the Bengali audio industry like never before.[28] He also wrote and adapted multiple stories for the same show by Radio Mirchi. With his horror short story ‘Roopkatha’, [1] Mirchi started a new vertical under the show called Sunday Suspense Originals.[28]

His stories have been made into shorts, feature films & platform originals. In Bengali, this included Annapurna Basu’s Zee5 Original 'Saat No. Shanatan Sanyal’ (2019),[29] and Rajdeep Ghosh’s ‘Shubho Sharodiya’ (TV Movie 2018). In 2023, Banerjee forayed in animation. Presently he is working on three animation shorts under his newly formed boutique house Nandanik Studios.[8] Also, he is presently working on his next Hindi web series & features,[30] other animation projects, upcoming books & graphic novels, and a new game for children.[30]

References

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  1. ^ "Abhinandan Banerjee – Outsider Pictures". Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  2. ^ a b Correspondent, Our. "Manikbabur Megh only Indian film selected for Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival's First Features section". Cinestaan. Retrieved 2024-07-18. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  3. ^ "The Cloud & the Man". poff.ee. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  4. ^ "Winners of 2021 - Kolkata International Film Festival". kiff.in. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  5. ^ a b "Bengal directors bag top Kolkata International Film Festival awards". The Times of India. 2022-05-03. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  6. ^ a b Sarkar, Roushni. "Manikbabur Megh, Adieu Godard, Jhilli win at 27th Kolkata International Film Festival". Cinestaan. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  7. ^ "KIFF : তালিন, গোয়া ঘুরে অবশেষে কলকাতায় অভিনন্দন বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের ছবি 'মানিকবাবুর মেঘ'". Bongodorshon | ইতিবাচক বাংলা. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  8. ^ a b দত্ত, অভিনন্দন (11 July 2024). "'যাঁদের সঙ্গে দেখা হয়, তাঁদের সিংহভাগ ছবি তৈরির বদলে নিজেদের পরিচিতি তৈরি করতে ব্যস্ত!'". Anandabazar Patrika. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  9. ^ Staff, T. H. R. (2014-12-11). "'Three Obsessions': Goa Film Bazaar Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  10. ^ "Teenkahon wins 11th international award!". The Times of India. 2017-01-12. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  11. ^ "Kolkata-based director's debut film to be screened at Edinburgh Film Festival". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  12. ^ Sarkar, Roushni. "Manikbabu reflects my philosophy, says director Abhinandan Banerjee". Cinestaan. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  13. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (2021-01-21). "'River of Blood,' 'Ambush,' 'Today Me Tomorrow You' Win Top Prizes at India's Film Bazaar". Variety. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  14. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (2021-10-14). "Tallinn Black Nights Competition Films 'The Cloud & the Man,' 'The Red Tree' Get Sales Representation – Global Bulletin". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  15. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (2019-10-07). "Busan: India's Adil Hussain Boards APM Project 'Marichjhapi' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  16. ^ "Bauddhayan Mukherji and his 'Marichjhapi' to travel to Cannes". The Times of India. 2020-03-12. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  17. ^ "Cinéfondation". www.cinefondation.com (in French). Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved 2024-07-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  18. ^ "Exclusive! Abhinandan Banerjee's Manikbabur Megh to be screened at Cannes Marchè Du Film". OTTPlay. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  19. ^ "8 films from Bengal make it to IFFI's 52nd edition in Goa". The Times of India. 2021-11-06. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  20. ^ Service, Pragativadi News (2021-11-05). "Indian Panorama Announces Official Selection For 52nd IFFI 2021". Pragativadi | Odisha News, Breaking News Odisha, Latest Odisha News. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  21. ^ Hipes, Patrick (2022-02-10). "Santa Barbara Film Festival Sets Lineup; Brit Comedy 'The Phantom Of The Open' To Tee It Off". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  22. ^ "Bengali film makes it to int'l festival in America". The Times of India. 2022-03-06. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  23. ^ "台北金馬影展 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival | 男人與雲". goldenhorse.org.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  24. ^ a b "Abhinandan Banerjee's directorial debut to be screened at KIFF". The Times of India. 2022-04-22. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  25. ^ Correspondent, Our. "The Great Indian Kitchen, Barah by Barah among 10 films shortlisted for FIPRESCI-India Grand Prix". Cinestaan. Retrieved 2024-07-18. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  26. ^ "KIFF doffs a hat to young, indie filmmakers". The Times of India. 2022-05-03. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  27. ^ "Long queues at KIFF venues: Heat fails to cow down movie buffs". The Times of India. 2022-04-27. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  28. ^ a b Banerjee, Preetha (2018-12-05). "This Bengali radio show's storytelling skills could put even Netflix in the shade". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  29. ^ "কে সেই 'সাত নম্বর সনাতন সান্যাল'? খোঁজ করে বেড়াচ্ছেন কৌশিক". sangbadpratidin. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  30. ^ a b "After Manikbabur Megh, Abhinandan Banerjee to start his Hindi web series with the makers of Maharani | Exclusive". OTTPlay. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
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