This award-winning film takes you to the lively, colorful Gujarat Kite Festival in India, where six intriguing, interconnected stories are told beautifully through the lens of director Prashant Bhargawi.
On July 20th, director Prashant Bhargawi’s film Patang (The Kite) will open in Los Angeles. The film, set in the city of Ahmedabad in India, tells the poetic, beautiful story of six individuals whose lives are changed by India’s largest kite festival. In the movie, a businessman takes his daughter back to his childhood home for the festival, upon which his family is forced to face the realities of their past.
The Gujarat Kite Festival, which serves as the backdrop of the film, is called the “day the wind direction changes” and is a “kaleidoscope of color and light. In an interview, Bhargawi describes the festival as a bustling, high-energy event where kite flyers skilfully and masterfully maneuver their kites in order to cut the kite strings of other participants.
With three years and 100 hours of research footage behind the film, Patang‘s story and its characters are informed by a strong understanding of the people, sights and sounds of Ahmedabad.
Patang was filmed using small HD cameras in a naturalistic, documentary-like style, a conscious decision made by the director in order to “preserve intimacy” and to “allow people to live on-screen.” This created a unique cinematography style, described by Bhargawi as “dancing between the actors.”
Featured in countless film festivals, Patang has been praised by many, including renowned movie critic Robert Ebert as well as The New York Times.
In Los Angeles, Patang opens this Friday, exclusively at Laemmie’s Music Hall (9036 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90211). For more information, check out the film’s official website at www.patang.tv.
TRAILER:
(Photos and trailer courtesy of Kushi Films)
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