Past Editions
River to River Florence Indian Film Festival
River To River 2023
To celebrate the Festival’s 23rd edition, plenty of films have been screened, including Mrinal Sen’s Interview and Bhuvan Shome, Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding and Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. Among the guests, actors Abhishek Bachchan, Adil Hussain and Suraj Sharma, directors Nathalia Syam and Diego D’Innocenzo, and producers Pooja Chauhan and Peter Kirby. Matinée with a morning talk about Italo Calvino and his idea of India by content creator Veronica Giuffrè.
Among the side events, Rocco Rorandelli’s photo exhibition My India/Metgalopoli at Spazio C.A. Ciampi of Consiglio Regionale della Toscana in collaboration with Fondazione Studio Marangoni, cooking show by chef BasheerKutty Mansoor by Nura and the Indian cooking lessons at Cescot.
River To River 2022
To celebrate the Festival’s 22nd edition, plenty of films have been screened, including Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zamin and Bandini, Sanjay Leela Bhansali Devdas and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Appunti per un film sull’India.
Among the guests, directors Anurag Kashyap, Nikhil Mahajan, Soumyajit Majumdar and Prataya Saha, actor Karan Mehta and producers Ankita Batra and Anirban Chandra.
Matinée with a theatre homage devoted to Pier Paolo Pasolini by Murmuris in collaboration with La Città dei Lettori.
Among the side events, the fashion show in collaboration with I Was a Sari, Oxfam italia and Accademia Italiana, Arko Dutto’s photo exhibition Mannequin at Fondazione Studio Marangoni, and the Indian cooking
lessons at Cescot.
River To River 2021
To celebrate the Festival’s 21st edition, plenty of films have been screened, including Satyajit Ray’s Charulata and Karan Johar‘s Kabhi Khushi Khabie Gham. Among the virtual guests, actors Amitabh Bachchan, Kabir Bedi, Shristhi Bakshi and Tanmay Dhanania, directors Rajat Kapoor, Ajitesh Sharma, Sushrut Jain, Anuj Gulati, Suman Mukhopadhyay and Mohit Tekalkar, producers Farrah Choudhry and Vidhi Kasliwal and artist Sudarshan Shetty with Kochi-Muziris Biennale co-founder Shwetal Patel. The speakers of the morning talk have been the journalist Cristina Piotti and founder of I Was a Sari Stefano Funari. The pre-opening event has taken place in collaboration with ondazione Studio Marangoni at Murate Art District, unveiling Peter Bialobrzeski’s photo exhibition Rivers. Furthermore, among the side events, also the Indian cooking lessons at Cescot.
River To River 2020
To celebrate the twenty years of the Festival, that has taken place online, the best films of the last year have been selected, along with an homage devoted to actor Irrfan Khan. Among the guests, directors Anurag Kashyap, Rajat Kapoor, Arati Kadav, Atanu Ghosh, Gaia Ceriana Franchetti, Akarsh Khurana and Ranjan Ghosh, actor and producer Sonal Sehgal, and vfx supervisor Zenish Mehta. River to River has also received some special messages from Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, director Deepa Mehta and actor Kabir Bedi. The speakers of the talks – the River to River Chai Times – have been Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, Pierpaolo Di Nardo, Marco Restelli and la Ven. Siliana. As side event of the Festival an Indian cooking lesson at Cescot has taken place.
River To River 2019
To celebrate the Festival’s 19th edition, plenty of films have been screened, including Franz Osten’s 1929 black and white A Throw of Dice.
Among the guests, directors Shonali Bose, Anjali Bhushan, Ines von Bonhorst, Yuri Pirondi, Sue Sudbury, Abhishek Shah and producer Prateek Gupta.
The speakers of the morning talk have been the indologist and journalist Marco Restelli and the travel designer and blogger Pierpaolo di Nardo. The pre-opening event has taken place at Fondazione Studio Marangoni, unveiling Umberto Coa and Nicolò Panzeri’s photo exhibition Quel che resta dell’India. Furthermore, among the side events, also the photo exhibition Mystic India by Parul Sharma at Museo Marino Marini and the Indian cooking lessons at Cescot.
River To River 2018
To celebrate the Festival’s 18th edition, plenty of films have been screened, including Franz Osten’s 1928 black and white Shiraz and Furio Colombo’s reportage Meditazione con i Beatles.
Among the guests, directors Rohen Gera, Arjun Mukerjee, Furio Colombo, Akarsh Khurana, Christiane Mordelet, Kireet Khurana, Vibha Gulati, Priyanka Banerjee, Rahul Chaturvedi, actors Taapsee Pannu and Avantika Akerkar and lyricist Anant Mutreja.
The speakers of the morning talk have been the Hindu Nun Svamini Shuddhananda Ghiri and the Buddhist Nun and Zen Master Anna Maria Shinnyo Marradi. The pre-opening event has taken place at Fondazione Studio Marangoni, unveiling Majlend Bramo’s photo exhibition Like Sugar in Milk.
River To River 2017
On the occasion of the seventy years from India’s Independence, the festival has decided to screen Earth by Deepa Mehta, Gandhi by Richard Attenborough and footage from Teche Rai.
Among the guests to introduce their films, directors Hansal Mehta, Onir, Arshad Khan, Yasmine and Fazal Kiswai, actress Suhaee Abro and producers Parag Sankhe and Miguel Yimenez.
The morning talk speakers have been Fabrizia Baldissera and Rocco Altieri, as well as Barù and Umar Malik. As pre-opening event, the photo exhibition Instant Kharma by Wolfgang Zurborn at the Fondazione Studio Marangoni.
River To River 2016
Kabir Bedi has been the 16th edition special guest, on the occasion of the forty years of his Sandokan by Sergio Sollima. Along with the tv series, to complete the homage, the Festival has also screened his new feature film Mohenjo Daro by Ashutosh Gowariker. Among the other guests, the feature film actors and directors Rajat Kapoor, Soumendra Padhi, Anu Menon and Radhika Apte, the writer Jeevan Zutshi, the short film directors Meneka Das and Kartik Singh and the music directors Andrew Mackay and Denis Volte. The morning talk speakers have been Eleonora
Degrassi, Marco Restelli and Teresa Nannucci. As pre-opening event, the photo exhibition Concrete Flowers by Francesca Manolino has taken place at the Fondazione Studio Marangoni.
River To River 2015
To celebrate its 15 years, the Festival has invited the great director Deepa Mehta, whose films have been released worldwide, including Italy.
Other than Mehta, there have been feature film directors Sharat Katariya, Prawaaal Raman and Suman Ghosh, short film director Myriam Raja, actors Javed Khan and Smita Tambe, actor and scriptwriter David Brooks and music composer Andrea Guerra. The morning talk speakers have been Giuseppe Cederna, Sabrina Ciolfi and Folco Terzani.
Furthermore, there has been the premiere of the photo exhibition Bollywood Talkies by Vanessa Vettorello, at the Fondazione Studio Marangoni.
River To River 2014
To celebrate its 14 years, in 2014 the Festival has invited the actor and star of Indian cinema Irrfan Khan, very well known for his Indian films as well as in Hollywood movies. Other than Khan, feature film directors Arunima Sharma, Anup Singh and Shiladitya Moulik, short film directors Kartik Singh, Ryan Chan and Laila Khan, actors Neerja Naik, Vinesh Nagrani and Pierre Cassini and producer Sandeep Sahota. And, on a skype call from India, the great musician Zakir Hussain. The morning talk speakers have been Troy Nachtigall, Marco Restelli, Rosella Fanelli, Nihar Mehta e Ernesto Tacco.
River To River 2013
On the occasion of the 13th edition the chief guest has been the great actress and activist Shabana Azmi, to chom the Festival has devotedan homage with the screening of three films. Among the feature film directors, Abhishek Kapoor (Kai Po Che screened at the 2013 Berlinale) and Unni Vijayan (Lessons in Forgetting, by the Anita Nair novel). Among the actors,one of the new stars of Indian cinema Vijay Varma (Monsoon Shootout, screened at the 2013 Cannes). Furthermore, also in Florence the documentary filmmaker Susheel Kurien (Finding Carlton, uncovering the story of jazz), Piyush Pande (A man who planted the jungle), Fabian Oswald (Dancing Colours), Istling Mirche (Horn Please) , and the producers Ambika Vijan and Bhavna Kapoor (The coffin maker). To represent the documentary Fearless: the Hunterwali Story, Roy Wadia, brother of the director Riyad Fabrizia Baldissera, Maria Gloria Roselli, Laura Antonini and Antonio Cristaudo have taken part to the morning talks around India.
River To River 2012
In 2012 the Festival has celebrated 100 years of Indian cinema and for the occasion has had the honour to have as special guest the super Bollywood star and icon Amitabh Bachchan. Among the feature film directors, Anurag Kashyap and Bedabrata Pain. Furthermore, the documentary filmmakers Anirudh Chawla and Avadhoot Khanolkar, and the producer Robin De. Among the short film directors, Vikram Dasgupta and Johannes Helsberg. The morning talk speakers have been Franco La Cecla, Anna Nadotti, Ashanti Omkar and Marco Restelli.
River To River 2011
The 11th edition of the Festival has taken place from 2 to 8 December 2011 at Odeon cinema. Among the Festival guests, the directors and actors of the feature films Rudronil Ghosh (actor in Chaplin), Zaib Rehman (actress in Bol) and Q (director of Gandu). Some of the directors of the short films and documentaries: Milind Dhaimade (director of Prakata Het Yad), Valerie Berteau and Philippe Witjes (directors of Himself He Cooks), Filippo Carli (director of Nataraja) and Anubhav Syal (cinematographer of Gulcharrey). Furthermore, the speakers of the morning talks have been: Sauro Albisani, Franca Bacchiega, Fabrizia Baldissera, Maria Grazia Beverini del Santo and Folco Terzani.
River To River 2010
The tenth edition of the Festival has taken place from 3 to 9 December 2010 at cinemas Odeon and Spazio Uno. Among the Festival guests, the directors and actors of the feature films: Aparna Sen (director of Iti Mrinalini, The Japanese Wife and Mr. and Mrs. Iyer), Rahul Bose (actor in I Am, The Japanese Wife, Split Wide Open, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer and director and actor of Everybody Says I’m Fine!), Ajit Ahuja (co-director of Ishqyia), Onir (director of I Am) and Malaika Shenoy (actress in Peepli Live). Some of the directors of the short movies and documentaries: Prithi Gowda (Televisnu), Arati Kadav, Devendra Gandhi and Chetan Vora (Uss Paar), Franco La Cecla (Minimum Maharaja), Jan Michelini and Italo Spinelli (The Streets of Shantaram), Rupesh Paul (You Can’t Step Twice in the Same River), Michael Anthony Rawlins (Kiss Me A’ready), Rizwan Siddiqui (Kharboozey) and Vijay Singh (India by Song).
River To River 2009
The ninth edition of the Festival has taken place from 4 to 10 December 2009 at cinema Odeon. Among the festival guests, filmmakers Ketan Mehta, Raja Menon, Sooni Taraporevala, Sanjeev Sivan, Kartik Singh, Dev Khanna, actresses Nandana Sen and Iyanah Bativala, and scriptwriter Shakir Kadri. The Opening and Closing Films, both out of competition, have been Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya and Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues. The winners of the River to River Digichannel Audience Award in the three sections: A Heaven on Earth by Deepa Mehta in the feature film section, Topi by Arjun Rihan in the short film section and Children of God by Yi Seung-yun in the documentary section.
River To River 2008
The eighth edition of the Festival has taken place from 5 to 11 December 2008 at cinema Odeon. Among the festival guests, filmmakers Fiorella Castanotto, Nishikant Kamat, Sahshank Ghosh, Richie Mehta, Christopher Mitchell, Sarab S. Neelam and Ramesh Sharma. The winners of the River to River Digichannel Audience Award in the three sections: Amal by Richie Mehta in the feature film section, Funerailles by Subarna Thapa in the short film section, and Super 30 by Christopher Mitchell in the documentary section.
River To River 2007
The seventh edition of the Festival has taken place from 7 to 13 December 2007 at cinema Gambrinus. Among the festival guests, filmmakers Ashish Avikuntak, Sarthak Dasgupta, Nandita Jain, Francesca Lignola, Ishaan Nair, Chitra Palekar, Stefano Rebechi, Joy Bimal Roy and Bhavna Talwar. The winners of the River to River Digichannel Audience Award in the three sections: Maati Maay by Chitra Palekar in the feature film section, Saving Mum and Dad by Kartik Singh in the short film section, and Sotto il cielo di Ahmedabad by Francesca Lignola and Stefano Rebechi in the documentary section.
River To River 2006
The sixth edition of the Festival has taken place from 8 to 14 December 2006 at cinema Spazio Uno. Among the festival guests, filmmakers Aditya Bhattacharya, Jamil Dehlavi, Nicole Maria Krieger, Diego Liguori, Massimiliano Pacifico, Filippo Papini, Anna Pitscheider and Pietro Silvestri. The winners of the River to River Digichannel Audience Award in the three sections: Infinite Justice by Jamil Dehlavi in the feature film section, Dog by Daniel Lang in the short film section, and I for India by Sandhya Suri in the documentary section.
River To River 2005
The fifth edition of the Festival has taken place from 9 to 15 December 2005 at cinema Spazio Uno. Among the festival guests, filmmakers Dheeraj Akolkar, Bharatbala, Krishna Das, Ruchi Narain, Gianluca Pipitone, Pietro Silvestri and Thomas Wartmann. The winners of the River to River Digichannel Audience Award in the three sections: Sof Haolam Smola (Turn Left at the End of the World) by Avi Nesher in the feature film section, 6ft. in 7 min. by Rafael Del Toro in the short film section, and Between the Lines by Thomas Wartmann in the documentary section.
River To River 2004
The fourth edition of the Festival has taken place from 8 to 12 December 2004 at cinema Spazio Uno. Among the festival guests, filmmakers Goutam Ghose, Herbert Krill, Dishad Husain, Vinta Nanda and Partho Sen Gupta, actress Koel Purie and producer Mohanjit Singh. Waisa bhi hota hai (Shit Happens) by Shashanka Ghosh has won the River to River DigiChannel Audience Award.
River To River 2003
The third edition of the Festival has taken place from 10 to 14 December 2003 at cinema Spazio Uno, at the presence of filmmakers Roysten Abel and Manisha Jha, journalist and filmmaker Meenakshi Shedde, and festival programmer and journalist Uma da Cunha.
River To River 2002
The second edition of the Festival has taken place from 11 to 15 December 2002 at cinema Spazio Uno, at the presence of filmmakers Rahul Bose and Anand Patwardhan, and festival programmer and journalist Uma da Cunha.
River To River 2001
The first edition of the Festival has taken place from 4 to 7 October 2001 at the Teatro del Rondò di Bacco of Palazzo Pitti, at the presence of filmmakers Preeti Chandrakant, Dev Benegal and Biju Viswanath.