Filmmaker Satyajit Ray's 1970 film Aranyer Din Ratri, starring Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore, will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival 2025, under the Classics section, the organisers said on Thursday, as per a report in PTI. The classic film will be screened in a 4K restored version.
Aranyer Din Ratri is presented and restored by The Film Foundation바카라s World Cinema Project at L바카라Immagine Ritrovata in collaboration with the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), Janus Films, and the Criterion Collection. The funding was provided by the Golden Globe Foundation, said a press release issued by the festival organisers.
The 4K restoration was completed using the original camera and sound negative preserved by producer Purnima Dutta.
Dutta will attend the screening along with Sharmila, Margaret Bodde, executive director of The Film Foundation, and FHF founder Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.
The premiere of Aranyer Din Ratri will be presented by renowned American filmmaker Wes Anderson, who is a long-time admirer of Satyajit Ray.
"Anything signed by Satyajit Ray must be cherished and preserved; but the nearly-forgotten 'Days and Nights in the Forest' is a special/particular gem... Made in 1970. Modern and novelistic. Ray worked in terrain perhaps more familiar to Cassavetes," Wes said, as quoted by the FHF.
"A clash/negotiation between castes and sexes. Urbans and rurals. Selfish men and their hopes and cruelties and spectacular lack of wisdom. Women who see through them. The great Soumitra Chatterjee: lost but searching. The great Sharmila Tagore: mysterious, cerebral, mesmerizing. From the master, another masterpiece," he added.
About Aranyer Din Ratri
The Bengali-language film is based on the novel of the same name by author Sunil Gangopadhyay. It is titled Days and Nights in the Forest in English.
Alongside, Soumitra and Sharmila, the film had a stellar ensemble cast of Subhendu Chatterjee, Aparna Sen, Samit Bhanja, Robi Ghosh, and Simi Garewal.
The movie explored themes of class, modernity, and alienation. It revolved around the story of four men from the city who escape to the forests of Palamau for a holiday, just to go through the journey of self-discovery.
Aranyer Din Ratri had its world premiere at the 20th Berlin International Film Festival, where it was nominated for a Golden Bear prize for Best Film.
Last year, the 4K restored version of Shyam Benegal's 1976 film, Manthan was screened in the same section of the Cannes Film Festival.
