Goldfish, an English language feature film directed by Pushan Kripalani starring senior actress Deepti Naval and Kalki Koechlin will have its World Premiere at the 27th edition of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).
The film is part of ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ section of the festival to be held from 5-14th October 2022.
Apart from Deepti Naval and Kalki who play the lead roles of mother and daughter, the film also stars the prolific actors Rajit Kapur, Gordon Warnecke (lead in ‘My Beautiful Laundrette), and Bharti Patel (Featured in BBC series Doctors) in pivotal roles.
Goldfish deals with memory and identity. Anamika, the child of a mixed marriage, returns home to her estranged mother Sadhana because she is suffering from the onset of dementia. Ana returns to a neighbourhood she barely remembers, to a woman who sometimes doesn’t remember her.
Set in London Goldfish is a UK production and is produced by Amit Saxena’s Splendid Films (USA) and executive produced by Pooja Chauhan. The film had its market screening at Marche Du Film (2022) and was part of the First Cut Plus lab in association with Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
Actor Deepti Naval said, “When I first heard the story of the film in three lines, I immediately connected with the film. Something inside me said, this is for me, this is what I have been waiting for. Maybe because I saw my mother go through Alzheimer’s and Dementia. I am really excited about the selection of the film at BIFF and I am sure the audiences will take the story of Sadhana & Anamika with them in their hearts.
Actor Kalki Koechlin said, “The film’s cast included Indians from all over the world and all these actors had their own accents, which is something we’ve never seen in a film – the diversity of Indian accents and therefore of the people of India. So I am both excited and humbled that Goldfish will premiere at Busan, a festival that has highlighted so many iconic films and hosted amazing talent through the last quarter of a century.”
Amit Saxena, Director of Splendid Films and Film Producer said, “We are honored that Goldfish has been selected for its world premiere at Busan, this is a great validation of the team and the hard work everyone has put in. This has been a remarkable and rewarding journey. Stay tuned, there are more accolades coming.”
Excited about the premiere, Director Pushan Kripalani said, “Goldfish explores the ideas of identity through two women. One is unsure of who she is because she lives between two cultures, neither completely her own, and the other, stuck in a land not her own, now because of her disease, with her identity ephemeral. It seeks to address the ideas of duty, love and painful history. We are delighted and honoured to be part of the Busan International Film Festival. We hope people relate to the themes explored and we look forward to presenting our film. We are eager to meet our hosts and form new friendships.”
Pooja Chauhan, Film’s Executive Producer said: Goldfish is about belonging. It’s about being able to call a place your own. It’s about good things and bad things, and everything in the middle, where life is lived. Where tragedies are small and epic, all at once. And the joys seem both mundane and transcendent. It should speak to people around the world and we are really excited that Busan is providing our film the platform to find its place and reach its audiences.
Splendid Films is the brainchild of US-based software entrepreneur Amit Saxena. With a global audience in mind, the company produces entertaining and meaningful content, based on the idea that quality is an attribute of the mind, not a function of money. The goal of splendid films is to promote new and upcoming talent wherever possible and to create “value” for all stakeholders. Goldfish is the first production under the Splendid Films banner.
