MUMBAI: Having clocked 10 releases within five years of its foray in English film distribution and delivering films like Alexander, Million Dollar Baby and The History of Violence, E-City Films Pvt. Limited will close its year with Babel.
After picking some aces at 2006 Festival de Cannes and the American Film Market 2006, E-City Films re-enters the fray with its Brad Pitt – Cate Blanchett starrer, Babel, which it will release in India by the year end. Babel will be released with close to 30 prints initially, in major metro locations across the country.
After trailblazing through rave reviews that it received at the Cannes this year – coupled with the Best Director award bagged by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Babel has also been invited to be the closing film at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2006 to be held in Goa from 23 November to 3 December, 2006.
Babel makes IFFI 2006 its final festival pause, before it plays out to the public nationwide on the E-City Films platform. It has by now toured prestigious festivals like Cannes, Toronto and London – where it also closed the 50th year of this premiere event in the UK.
“English cinema audiences in the country will only walk to the movie halls if we get them used to good, independent cinema. I guess the disparity is quite clear from the number of English speakers in the country in comparison to English film buffs,†says E-City Ventures CEO Atul Goel.
“To promote intelligent cinema, which is not necessarily ‘experimental’ or ‘art house’, is the objective of E-City Films. Most big banner Hollywood movies confirm to commercial compulsions. By getting movies like Million Dollar Baby (Hillary Swank, Clint Eastwood) and Babel to the theatres, we are creating a whole new discerning audience. You will see more of that conviction turn to action with the release of movies like I Could Never Be Your Woman (Michelle Pfeiffer), Miss Potter (Renne Zellweger), Astronaut Farmer (Bruce Willis) and the likes, through 2007,†adds E-City Films vice president Amit Dhanuka.
