"Brought to Calgary by Niru Bhatia of Hidden Gems Film Festival, The Waiting City was a poignant film with a simple yet universal story about compelling desire for parenthood. Great Cinematography, compassionate portrayal of Calcutta's chaotic everyday living and believable couple played by Radha Mitchell and Joel Edgerton was definitely an experience not to be missed. Thanks Niru for bringing us such sumptuous feast everytime."
- Renu Mahajan-
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Hidden Gems Film Festival
The film depicted an Australian couple who travel to India to finalize their International Adoption of a young little girl. Amidst the adoption process and deep desire to raise a child this film brings to life the strains and struggles that couples can experience when dealing with sensitive subject of being childless. As a general progression of life, one often expects couples to grow and have a home with children, however often we do not realize the obstacles some couples may face. These challenges can cause tension in marital relationships that as an outsider we may be not be aware of, often leading to loss of faith, loss of self, or loss of love for one another. It can on the other hand also strengthen relationships if couples allow themselves the space to manage such emotions through the support of friends and family around them. Hope, faith, and belief play a huge role in managing these challenges, and other challenges in life. Many emotions are brought to life in this film regarding love, marriage, parenthood, and faith. India can viewed as chaotic and serene, often referred to as the perfect balance between the spiritual world, and the material world. India is one place that in the midst of the total chaos one can gain complete inner peace through spirituality if you are lucky enough to let yourself awaken to it. The backdrop of India in this film beautifully illustrates the power of faith and our own beliefs whatever they may be.
A special thanks goes out to everyone who pulled out their wallets while satisfying there taste buds with some tantalizing chai to support the Smile Foundation in India. The Smile Foundation supports genuine grassroots' initiatives targeted at providing education and health to underprivileged children. In the process, becoming the first ever grantmaker and changing the face of thousands of lives. For more information in the Smile Foundation India please visit their website:
Smile Foundation India.
Thanks to all the patrons that came out to view the film and to all those that took a moment to vote after the film. Below are the results of your votes:
- 11.3% Liked It
- 45% Loved It
- 43.7% Wow!!!
Kudos to the volunteers who orchestrated the event with glamour and grace, and congratulations to Ramzan Hirji winner of "dinner for two" at Mango Shiva courtesy of Mango Shiva.
Stay tuned for information on more "gems" coming your way soon. Don't miss out, make sure you join the Hidden Gems Film Festival Facebook group, and subscribe to the Hidden Gems blog to stay updated! Don't forget to visit our website also at: http://www.hiddengemsfilmfestival.com
It is said to be the first Australian feature shot entirely in India and that gives a sense of immersion - quite literally in a couple of scenes to do with the Ganges. It would be hard to avoid confrontations of many kinds while shooting in India but it's another thing to catch them on film. McCarthy does that well: she shoots on the streets, at food stalls, within the lively shops of Kolkata, in tiny alleys where bewildering crowds come and go in seconds bearing religious statues on parade. Many films by Westerners tend to do places like Kolkata from high vantage points, possibly to avoid creating more chaos with cameras on the streets, but this one embraces the chaos, at least when the couple venture out of their five-star hotel.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like this is the kind of film you either really love or for some reason hate! It seems like this is the kind of film you either really love or for some reason hate! But 88% of the audience in Calgary loved it.
As for myself, I really enjoyed Durga Puja in Calcutta.
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The Waiting City (2009)
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“I really loved the film. My husband and I are actually looking at adopting. We are in the process of adopting from India, so it’s really nice to see a really realistic portrayal of what could happen. We were both actually in tears while watching it!! We were wiping our tears away in the movie. It was very personal. I liked that it wasn’t glamorized as much as you often see. Sometimes, in a lot of the Bollywood industries, you see it very glamorized, so it was really realistic. I really liked that piece of it.” - Geetika
“I thought it was great! The movie gives an in-depth situation of what India is like. It’s also cultural too as well. When you go to these cultural movies you learn about the different cultures and customs along with it, so it’s more than just watching a movie. I would recommend the movie to other people, but also because being an Australian movie that is taking place in India also shows that other filmmakers are getting an interest in spreading their culture and experience with other groups.” - Len
ReplyDelete“I loved the movie! I had the opportunity to visit India twice already and it’s not the last time, so for me, it just caught me… the whole length of the movie! The attention was there. [I thought] it very well acted, very well presented India as it is. Also, I saw a lot of… [to have] faith or not [to have] faith and when it is meant to be that will happen, whether we believe in God or not so it really impacted me. I am very happy that I came. I would live to find out about more movies that you present here.” - Merta
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