Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma, often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Kannada language films, and television. Varma has directed films across multiple genres, including parallel cinema and docudrama noted for their gritty realism, technical finesse, and craft. Regarded as one of the pioneers of new age Indian cinema, he was featured in the BBC World series Bollywood Bosses in 2004. In 2006, Grady Hendrix of Film Comment, published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center cited Varma as "Bombay's Most Successful Maverick" for his works on experimental films.
Deepa Mehta, is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005).
Lisa Rani Ray is a Canadian actress. She began her modelling career in India in the early 1990s, appearing for leading Indian brands like Bombay Dyeing and Lakmé. She made her acting debut in 1996 in the Tamil film Nethaji. Her first Bollywood appearance was in 2001, in the offbeat romantic thriller Kasoor. Through her acting career, Ray has demonstrated a penchant for issue-oriented portrayals, most notably in the 2005 Oscar nominated Canadian film Water and the award-winning South African feature The World Unseen, described by a reviewer as "one of the best-conceived queer films of the past year."
Such a Long Journey is a 1998 Indo-Canadian English language film based on the novel of the same name written by Rohinton Mistry. The film is directed by Sturla Gunnarsson with a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala. The film received twelve Genie Awards nominations including the Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. The film was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Bollywood/Hollywood is a 2002 Canadian romantic comedy drama film directed by Deepa Mehta and starring Rahul Khanna and Lisa Ray.
Ranjit Chowdhry was an Indian character actor, known for his roles in television, movies, and theatre. He appeared in two episodes of The Office, as Vikram, a telemarketer who worked with Michael, and was briefly hired for The Michael Scott Paper Company.
Vikramaditya Motwane is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for films like Udaan (2010), Lootera (2013), Trapped (2017), Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2018) and "Indi(r)a's Emergency" (2023).
Cooking with Stella is a 2009 film written by siblings Deepa Mehta and Dilip Mehta. The film is a light comedy about a Canadian diplomat and her husband living in New Delhi, and their cook, Stella. Indian actress Shriya Saran makes a special appearance. Cooking with Stella was shot on location in New Delhi, and entered post-production in May 2008. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 16 September 2009. The film was also nominated at London Asian Film Festival under Best Crossover film category and best actress for Seema Biswas.
Devyani Saltzman is a Canadian writer, curator and multidisciplinary cultural programmer. She works on projects nationally and internationally, and also as a consultant in arts and culture, collaborating with organizations on innovation in programming and people-centred and values-based cultural strategy. She has held senior positions in three of Canada's major cultural institutions, most recently as the Director of Public Programming at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Punjabi cinema, popularly known as Pollywood, refers to the Punjabi-language film industry centered around the Indian state of Punjab, and based in Amritsar and Mohali.
Heaven on Earth a.k.a. Videsh is a 2008 Canadian film directed and written by Deepa Mehta. Preity Zinta plays the leading role of Chand, a young Indian Punjabi woman who finds herself in an abusive arranged marriage with an Indo-Canadian man, played by theatre actor Vansh Bhardwaj. The film released in India dubbed into Hindi under the title Videsh. Zinta received unanimous acclaim for her performance in both Canada and India.
Party is a 1984 Hindi-language film directed by Govind Nihalani. The film boasted an ensemble cast, including Vijaya Mehta, Manohar Singh, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, and Rohini Hattangadi. It based on the play Party (1976) by Mahesh Elkunchwar.
Robert Wertheimer is a writer, producer, director and executive producer of film and television productions. Wertheimer started working in 1977.
The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This 33rd annual festival was from September 4 to September 13, 2008. The opening night gala was the World War I romantic epic Passchendaele from Canadian director Paul Gross.
The 44th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 May 1991. The Palme d'Or went to Barton Fink by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
Camilla is a 1994 comedy drama film directed by Deepa Mehta. It was Jessica Tandy's penultimate film appearance and is dedicated to her memory. Tandy plays the title character, Camilla Cara, a former concert violinist. Bridget Fonda plays the role of Freda Lopez, an unfulfilled musician and composer.
Paul Saltzman is a Canadian film and television producer and director. A two-time Emmy Award-recipient, he has been credited on more than 300 films, both dramas and documentaries.
The 16th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and September 14, 1991. Jodie Foster's directorial debut film Little Man Tate, premiered in the Gala Presentation at the festival.
The Toronto New Wave refers to a loose-knit group of filmmakers from Toronto who came of age during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Funny Boy is a 2020 drama film, directed by Deepa Mehta. An adaptation of Shyam Selvadurai's 1994 novel of the same name, the film centres on the coming of age of Arjie Chelvaratnam, a young Tamil boy in Sri Lanka who is coming to terms with his homosexuality against the backdrop of the increased tensions between Tamil and Sinhalese people before the breakout of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
