Screening of And, Towards Happy Alleys

30 July 2025-30 July 2025

Screening of And, Towards Happy Alleys

Date: 11 July 25

Time: 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Venue: KNMA Saket

About the Event

Cine Paradiso talk series
And, Towards Happy Alleys
A film by Sreemoyee Singh
Runtime: 75 minutes

Join our new series of film screenings and talks that invite off-beat and independent filmmakers and creative professionals working in the medium of cinematic arts to share their films, videos and engage in conversation with audiences. The title of the series is inspired by the well-known classic Italian film Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988) by Giuseppe Tornatore. The film is an ode to the love of cinema as seen through the eyes of a young boy, Toto, while he develops a friendship with the projectionist of a dilapidated cinema theatre based in post-WW2 Sicily. In the same vein, this talk series will bring together cinema professionals and scholars to decode and demystify the magic that plays on screen, and hope to hone love and appreciation for the cinematic arts. KNMA hopes to invite artists and storytellers working with the medium of moving images, attempting to bridge a gap between popular arts and museum audiences.

The series is initiated by Neha Tickoo and Eshan Sharma

Schedule:
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm: conversation
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: film screening
The screening will take place after a conversation between Sreemoyee Singh and Eshan Sharma, founder of Karwan Heritage

Synopsis: Fascinated by Iran's film culture and the poetic works of the feminist poet Forough Farrokhzad, Indian filmmaker Sreemoyee Singh sets out in search of the protagonists of Iranian cinema. The numerous interviews she conducts over a period of six years with filmmakers Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Shirvani and human rights activist Nasrin Sotudeh, among others, show the precarious situation in which critics of the regime find themselves, including the constant threat of imprisonment and being banned from practising their profession. With a keen eye for unusual situations, she documents the effect of the Islamic Republic’s strict and omnipresent censorship on the daily lives of Iranian women whose uncompromising struggle has put them at the forefront of the protests that are currently rocking the country. And, Towards Happy Alleys is a passionate declaration of love for the cinema and poetry of Iran, which also provides a frank view of daily life, and bears witness to a fearless generation raising its voice and implacably demanding its civil liberties.

Featuring: Jafar Panahi, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Jinous Nazokkar, Farhad Kheradmand, Aida Mohammadkhani, Mina Mohammadkhani, Mohammad Shirvani, Maede, Sreemoyee Singh

Journey of the film: Festivals, awards and nominations:

World Premiere- Berlinale International Film Festival (Panorama) 2023 Awards :

• Best Film in the International Competition at BAFICI (Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema) in Argentina, April 2023
• Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari award for Best Debut Director at Mumbai International Film Festival, June 2024
• FIPRESCI (International) Critics Jury Award at Mumbai International Film Festival, June 2024.
• Best Documentary at Indo German Week Film Festival, Berlin 2024
• Best South Asian Documentary, Imagine India International Film Festival, Madrid, 2024
• Best Documentary in World Cinema Festival, Calcutta, 2024

Nominations:
Audience Award: Berlinale Panorama
Best Documentary, Critics Choice Award, Film Critics Guild, India, 2025

Sreemoyee Singh Bio Sreemoyee is a filmmaker and producer from Kolkata, India. She has a PhD degree on “The Exiled Filmmaker in Post-Revolution Iran” from the Department of Film Studies at Jadavpur University. She learned Persian and traveled to Iran to film her debut documentary And, Towards Happy Alleys which launched at the Berlinale International Film Festival (Panorama section) in February 2023 and has screened at prestigious film festivals such as CPH: DOX (Denmark) Thessaloniki (Greece) Sheffield (UK) DMZ Docs (South Korea) Antenna Film Festival (Australia) Jio MAMI (India), Docpoint Helsinki (Finland) winning the ‘best film’ in the International Competition at BAFICI, Argentina. Sreemoyee also won the Best Debut Director award at the Mumbai International Film Festival for her film, along with the FIPRESCI (International) Critics Jury award. Sreemoyee has also worked as Assistant Professor of Film Studies at St. Joseph’s University, Bengaluru and as a Guest Lecturer at New York University, Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). She is the recipient of the Golden Globe Foundation Residency for International Filmmakers in Los Angeles in February-March 2024.

Eshan Sharma Eshan Sharma is the young and dynamic founder of one of India's leading student collectives, Karwaan: The Heritage Exploration Initiative. He loves reading non-fiction books and talking to people. Eshan studied History at Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi. He has a Master's Degree in Modern Indian History from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He also conducts very interesting history and cinema walks around cities like Delhi, Bombay and Baroda.