Programs
SANTOSH ★
FILMeX Competition
© Oxfam
Introduction
India, UK, Germany, France / 2024 / 127 min
Director：Sandhya SURI
When Santosh’s husband is killed in the line of duty, a government policy for widows allows her to assume his job as police officer. As she adjusts to the unfamiliar role, she soon finds herself immersed in and compelled to navigate the outdated practices of policing, which are sexist, corrupt, and rife with both power struggles and the social divisions of caste and religion. Under the direction of an experienced and charismatic female police officer, Inspector Sharma, Santosh is tasked with investigating the death of a young "untouchable" girl who was raped, murdered and dumped in a local well. At first she sees her superior as an inspiring mentor and a source of feminist solidarity, but the reality turns out to be different. Told steadfastly from Santosh’s perspective, the film depicts her emotional journey in learning what she comes to accept, what she internalizes, and what changes she is able to enact. There within we witness structural and generational corruption, explored with meticulous attention to detail and remarkable rigor. Screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival and selected as the UK entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards.
Director：Sandhya SURI
Sandhya SURI is a British-Indian writer-director based in London. Her debut feature, SANTOSH premiered at Cannes in Un Certain Regard to critical acclaim in May this year. The film, which was selected for both the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs, was financed by BBC Films, BFI and Arte.
Sandhya’s first fiction short, THE FIELD, won Best International Short Film at TIFF in 2018, and was BAFTA-nominated for Best Short Film in 2019. Her feature documentary I FOR INDIA premiered in the World Competition section of the Sundance Film Festival, screened at over 20 international festivals and garnered several awards before being released theatrically to critical acclaim in the UK and the US.
Sandhya was named as a Screen International Star of Tomorrow 2023.
Schedule
Please note that there has been a change to the screening time for Santosh. We were originally informed by the production company that the film would be 120 minutes in length, but the version we will be screening is actually 127 minutes.
As a result, the end time of the screening will be different from the originally scheduled time.
11/24（Sun）12:50 -
Marunouchi TOEI
Guest
Sandhya SURI（Director）
11/29（Fri）21:10 -
Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho