New York film society to celebrate Satyajit Ray`s work

New York: The Film Society of Lincoln Centre will celebrate India`s greatest filmmaker and one of cinema`s greatest auteurs Satyajit Ray with "Long Shadows: The Late Work of Satyajit Ray."Unspooling at the Walter Reade Theatre here from April 19 through April 26, the promised follow-up to the 2009 Satyajit Ray tribute, Long Shadows includes all the films made by Ray in the autumnal years of his career.

Already an acknowledged giant of world cinema, Ray in these later works reveals a more meditative side: his brilliant powers of observation lead him to pare down his style, allowing his characters and the world to reveal themselves. Of special interest is "The Home and the World", his final, wonderful adaptation of a work by his mentor, Rabindranath Tagore, as well as his final, luminous work, "The Stranger", an extraordinary summing up of so much of Ray`s worldview graced with a sensational lead performance by Utpal Dutt. "Long Shadows: The Late Work of Satyajit Ray" is presented in collaboration with Columbia University. Featured films include: The Branches of a Tree, The Chess Players, Deliverance (Sadgati), Pikoo`s Diary The Inner Eye, Distant Thunder, The Elephant God, An Enemy of the People, The Golden Fortress, The Home and the World, The Kingdom of Diamonds, Sikkim, Bala and The Stranger. Screenings will be held at the Film Society of Lincoln Centre`s Walter Reade Theatre. Tickets range from $5 to $12 and are now on sale both at the box office and online. A prolific director, Ray made a feature every year from 1956 to 1981. In addition, Ray developed a notable literary career, writing short stories, articles and novels as well as reviving a children`s magazine, Sandesh, started by his grandfather. On March 30, 1992, Satyajit Ray was awarded the Honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement. Due to ill health, he could not attend the ceremony and his acceptance speech was pre-recorded in Calcutta. He died on April 23 that year. IANS