Mangal Pandey and Aamir at Locarno International Film Festival

The 58th Locarno International Film Festival is screening today two Indian films, the 61-second feature “Village Football” - the shortest work at the festival - followed by “The Rising - Ballad of Mangal Pandey“, director Ketan Mehta’s story of India’s first rebellion against foreign rule in the mid-19th century.

The festival will be attended by Sandeep Bedi, Aamir, Rani Mukherjee and Mehta. Aamir’s Lagaan had received a fantastic reception at the Locarno Film Festival four years ago. The film was screened in the Piazza Granade section in 2001. The response was excellent and Lagaan went on to bag the popular ‘Prix Du Public’.

After the theatrical release of the film, Bedi plans to enter it in other festivals like Toronto and Sundance. Earlier too Bedi’s other films like Bandit Queen was entered at the Toronto and Cannes film festivals, while American Daylight premiered at the London Film Festival and Maqbool was featured in the Toronto Film Festival.

Producer Sandeep Singh ‘Bobby’ Bedi has high expectations from The Rising. “I expect it to get mainstream release in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. A special US edit release will make it the most widely released Indian film ever,” he says.

The film’s English version may not be released immediately as it is getting offers from festivals in North America. The Hindi film will be launched on August 12 with a thousand prints, 600 for India and 400 for the overseas territories.

Locarno has grown constantly over the last two decades, establishing itself as Europe’s fourth-ranking international event.

With all eyes on the 17-film international competition, festival director Irene Bignardi, who is bowing out this year, said that Locarno is trying to maintain its long tradition of bringing together films from “the four corners of the world.”

Bignardi says the festival is somewhat different in tone to that of 2004.

“Last year… we were aware of how the tragedies of 9/11 and the war in Iraq had impacted fundamentally on filmmakers’ consciences… so the vast majority of films dealt with history, politics and questions about society,” said Bignardi in her introduction to the festival.

The festival runs from August 3 to 13.