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മീരാ മേനോന്റെ ചിത്രം 'ഫാറാ ഗോസ് ബാംഗി'നു നോറാ എഫ്രൊണ്‍ പ്രൈസ്

Published on 25 April, 2013
മീരാ മേനോന്റെ ചിത്രം 'ഫാറാ ഗോസ് ബാംഗി'നു നോറാ എഫ്രൊണ്‍ പ്രൈസ്
ന്യു യോര്‍ക്ക്: താര ആര്‍ട്‌സ് സി. വിജയന്റെ പുത്രി മീര മേനോന്‍ രചനയും സംവിധാനവും നിര്‍വഹിച്ച ഫാറാ ഗോസ് ബാംഗ് എന്നകോമഡി ചിത്രത്തിനു ട്രെബെക്കാ ഫിലിം ഫെസ്റ്റിവലില്‍ നോറാ എഫ്രൊണ്‍ പ്രൈസ് ലഭിച്ചു. 25,000 ഡോളറാണു സമ്മാനം.
2004-ലെ പ്രസിഡന്റ് തെരെഞ്ഞെടുപ്പില്‍ ജോണ്‍ കെറിയെ പിന്തുണക്കുന്ന വനിതാ സുഹ്രുത്തുക്കളെപറ്റിയാണു ഫിലിം. പേര്‍ഷ്യന്‍ വംശജയായ ഫാറാ, ഇന്ത്യാക്കാരിയായ രൂപ, അമേരിക്കാക്കാരി കെ.ജെ. എന്നിവര്‍ ഒഹായോയില്‍ കേരിക്കു വേണ്ടി പ്രചാരണത്തിനിറങ്ങുന്നതും തുടര്‍ന്നുണ്ടാകുന അനുഭവങ്ങളുമാണു ചിത്രീകരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നത്

 

Nora Ephron Prize Is Given to Director of ‘Farah Goes Bang’

 

The Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday inaugurated its Nora Ephron Prize, for a “woman writer or director with a distinctive voice,” by awarding it to a very surprised Meera Menon, the director of the road-trip comedy “Farah Goes Bang.”

The award, bestowed at a brunch for female filmmakers, includes $25,000 for the winner, and that would be very helpful, Ms. Menon told the crowd, which included Glenn Close, Anna Wintour and Ms. Ephron’s sister Delia. “I have soooo much credit card debt,” Ms. Menon said.

Turning serious, she referred to the story of her film, about girlfriends stumping for John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election, as she spoke about the influence of the filmmaker Nora Ephron, who died last June, “in terms of taking issues that are painful and kind of fear-ridden for women and finding the humor in them.”

This year, contenders for the prize were chosen from titles already selected for the festival. Next year, organizers said, female filmmakers can apply for the honor.

 

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/nora-ephron-prize-for-farah-goes-bang/

 

Familiar road movie tropes are re-energized with a gender switch and infusion of politics in Farah Goes Bang, director Meera Menon’s loosely entertaining debut feature receiving its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

This tale about a trio of multi-cultural, twenty-something women traveling cross-country to stump for John Kerry’s ill-fated 2004 presidential campaign occasionally succumbs to juvenilia—as with its winking title, for starters—but it features many evocative moments along the way.

Best friends Farah, Roopa and K.J.--of Persian, Indian and American heritage respectively—are assigned the task of driving to Ohio to canvass door-to-door for their candidate in that all-important swing state. Despite being warned by their handler to avoid the hopelessly red states, they can’t resist the opportunity to try and change a few minds along the way.

That their task will be a difficult one is signaled by their very first stop, in which they encounter a woman who regales them with a musical ode to George W. Bush. An encounter with a redneck who advises them to “tell your friend to friend to go back to whatever Taliban camp she came from” is similarly dispiriting.

REVIEW: Red Obsession

These being healthy young women, they also have sex on their minds, as evidenced by the industrial-sized box of condoms they bring along. In particular, Farah is hoping to lose her virginity along the way, a goal that her friends are eagerly encouraging.

Director Menon, who co-wrote the screenplay with Laura Goode, delivers a friskily realistic portrait of her three protagonists, who playfully banter about sex, grooming (“I look like Magnum, P.I., complains a horrified Roopa upon scrutinizing her facial hair) and men, including a debate about whether they’re rather sleep with Kerry or John Edwards.

Along the way, they interact with a gallery of disparate types, including a drag queen who says of Bush that “he’s the only weapon of mass destruction,” and, in a quietly moving scene, a Korean War veteran who graciously invites Farah to have a beer and make her case.

The storyline has its predictable moments, such as its conclusion in which—spoiler alert--Farah enjoys a one-night stand, accompanied by a background of exploding fireworks, no less, with a hunky young man who teaches her to shoot a gun.

Ultimately, however, the film’s warm-hearted treatment of its central characters and incisive portrait of a politically divided America provide ample compensation, as do the engaging performances by Nikohl Boosheri, Kiran Deol and Kandis Erickson.

(Tribeca Film Festival)

Production: Farah Goes Bang, LLC

Cast: Nikohl Boosheri, Kandis Erickson, Kiran Deol, Michael Steger, Samrat Chakrabarti, Lyman Ward

Director: Meera Menon

Screenwriters: Laura Goode, Meera Menon

Producers: Danielle Firozzi, Liz Singh, Erica Fishman

Executive producer: Laura Goode

Director of photography: Paul Gleeson

Editor: Kate Hickey

Production designer: Ashley Margo

Costume designer: Bri Xandrick

Composers: Samuel Jones, Alexis Marsh

Not rated, 90 min.


മീരാ മേനോന്റെ ചിത്രം 'ഫാറാ ഗോസ് ബാംഗി'നു നോറാ എഫ്രൊണ്‍ പ്രൈസ്
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