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Partho Sen-Gupta

Partho Sen-Gupta
Sen-Gupta in 2017
Born
Mumbai, India
Alma materLa Femis
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter, art director, production designer, producer
Years active1984–present

Partho Sen-Gupta (also spelt Partho Sen Gupta or Partho Sengupta) is an independent film director and screenwriter who has made films in India, France, and Australia. He has a post-graduate degree in film direction from the FEMIS in France.

Early life and education

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Partho Sen-Gupta was born in Mumbai.[1]

He has a postgraduate degree in filmmaking from La Femis in Paris, France.[2]

Career

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Sen-Gupta started working in cinema at 17, starting his career as an apprentice in the art department, in the studios of "Bollywood" in Mumbai. He worked with an Indian art director Bijon Dasgupta on the sets of big-budget commercial Hindi films like Saagar and Mr. India among others.[1]

After having spent a few years finishing his apprenticeship, he became assistant art director.[citation needed] In 1988, he worked on his first film as art director or production designer in an Indian art movie called Main Zinda Hoon (I am Alive) directed by Sudhir Mishra.[citation needed] He then set up his design studio, working on numerous advertising films and art movies, designing sets and specialising in real-time SFX. He won a Best Art Director Award in 1989.[citation needed]

He also worked as production designer on the French film Nocturne Indien directed by Alain Corneau and shot in Mumbai.[1]

In 1993, he was selected to do a two-month summer workshop at FEMIS, the French film institute in Paris. During the workshop, he directed his first short film, "La Derniere..." based on Samuel Beckett's radio play Krapp's Last Tape. He was then awarded a three-and-a-half-year full scholarship to study film direction at the same school.[3]

During his film school years, he made four short fiction films Le Cochon,[4] La Partition, Trajet Discontinu,[5] and La Petite Souris which took him to different European film festivals and won awards.[6]

After graduation in 1997, he directed his first feature film, Hava Aney Dey (Let the Wind Blow), which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2004.[7] It was selected in many international film festivals and won awards.[citation needed] The film was part of the Global Lens 2008 series of the Global Film Initiative.[8] and premiered at the MoMA NYC, in January 2008.[9]

In 2005, he made a documentary film The Way of Beauty on the Indo-fusion group Shakti which was released on the DVD in May 2006.[10]

In 2008, his new feature film project Sunrise, was selected among 30 other international projects at the 11th Pusan Promotion Plan (3 to 6 October 2008) at the Pusan International Film Festival. Sunrise was the only Indian project in the selection.[11]

Sunrise was completed and released in October 2014 and premiered at the 2014 Busan International Film Festival[12] and numerous international film festivals, received awards[citation needed] and international critical acclaim.[13][14][15][16]

In 2017, Sen-Gupta wrote and directed his first Australian feature film, Slam. It was an official selected project at the 2016 International Film Festival Rotterdam's CineMart [17] and the 2016 Berlinale Co-oproduction Market.[18] The film, starring Adam Bakri and Rachael Blake, was filmed in October and November 2017 in Sydney, Australia.[19] Slam was selected in the Official Selection Competition at the 2018 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival[20] and had its world premiere on 27 November 2018.[21]

Sen-Gupta lectured for the Masters in Directing course at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School from 2021 to 2023.[22]

Advocacy

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In December 2023, along with 50 other international filmmakers, including Claire Denis, Christian Petzold, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Sen-Gupta signed an open letter published in Libération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. It also asked for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.[23][24][25]

Filmography

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Writer/Director

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  • Slam - 2018/Fiction/115 min/English
  • Sunrise - 2014/Fiction/85 min/Marathi
  • The Way of Beauty - 2006/Documentary/180 min/English
  • Hava Aney Dey (Let the Wind Blow) - 2004/Fiction/93 min/Hindi
  • Trajet Discontinu - 1998/Fiction/26 min/French
  • Le Cochon - 1996/Fiction/12min/French

Production Designer/Art Director

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "An Interview with Partho Sen-Gupta". Dharamshala Film Festival.
  2. ^ "Partho Sen-Gupta". La Fémis - Anciens étudiants (in French). Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Partho Sen-Gupta's film Sunrise opened to great reviews at Film Festivals". Pandolin.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Le Cochon, France/1996". Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival.
  5. ^ "Official Selection - Festival Premiers Plan d'Angers - Trajet Discontinu, France/1998". Festival Premiers Plan d'Angers.
  6. ^ "Prix du jury des jeunes comédiens - Trajet Discontinu". Festival Premiers Plan d'Angers.
  7. ^ "Hava aney dey: Let the Wind Blow". Berlinale.
  8. ^ "GFI Announces Global Lens 2008 Film Lineup" (PDF). Global Film Initiative. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007.
  9. ^ "Hava aney dey: Let the Wind Blow". Global Film Initiative. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011.
  10. ^ "John McLaughlin with Zakir Hussain: Remember Shakti - The Way of Beauty". Barnes and Noble.
  11. ^ Han Sunhee (19 August 2008). "Pusan unveils PPP selections". Variety Asia. Archived from the original on 22 August 2008.
  12. ^ Liz Shackleton (3 October 2014). "Partho Sen-Gupta, Sunrise". Screen Daily.
  13. ^ Richard Kuipers (4 October 2014). "Busan Film Review: 'Sunrise'". Variety.
  14. ^ Elizabeth Kerr (7 October 2014). "'Sunrise': Busan Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  15. ^ Pierce Conran (7 October 2014). "Busan 2014 Review: SUNRISE Plunges Us Into Noirish And Riveting Tale Of Child Abduction". Screen Anarchy.
  16. ^ Sheri Linden (23 June 2015). "Busan 2014 Review: SUNRISE Plunges Us Into Noirish And Riveting Tale Of Child Abduction". Los Angeles Times.
  17. ^ Michael Rosser (15 December 2015). "IFFR: CineMart 2016 line-up". Screen Daily.
  18. ^ Michael Rosser (16 January 2016). "Berlin 2016: Co-pro market lineup". Screen Daily.
  19. ^ Liz Shakleton (12 December 2016). "Adam Bakri to star in Sen-Gupta's Slam". Screen Daily.
  20. ^ Vladimir Kozlov (21 October 2018). "Tallinn Black Nights Festival Unveils Competition Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter.
  21. ^ "Programme Official selection Slam". POFF.ee. 18 October 2018. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  22. ^ "Partho Sen-Gupta: Senior Lecturer – Directing". AFTRS. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  23. ^ "Gaza : des cinéastes du monde entier demandent un cessez-le-feu immédiat". Libération (in French). 28 December 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  24. ^ Newman, Nick (29 December 2023). "Claire Denis, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Christian Petzold, Apichatpong Weerasethakul & More Sign Demand for Ceasefire in Gaza". The Film Stage. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  25. ^ "Directors of cinema sign petition for immediate ceasefire". The Jerusalem Post. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
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