Suman Sen's directorial debut Eka selected for Cannes' La Fabrique Cinema programme

Eka (Solo), the directorial debut of Suman Sen, has been selected in La Fabrique Cinema de L’Institut francais, a tailored programme helping talented young directors from emerging countries increase their international exposure part of the Cannes Film Festival. According to a press release, Solo has been selected alongside nine other projects from around the world, made by first and second-time feature filmmakers. The Kolkata-set film, currently in the scripting stage, lays bare the decaying social, economic and cultural conditions of our society. Also written by Sen, Solo follows Biplab, a 56-year-old long-term diabetic insurance agent whose frustration and hopelessness give birth to a mass revolt in the city, giving rise to a powerful worldwide movement. “The film reflects and documents the kind of time I am living in for the last couple of years. A time of hatred, intolerance, violence,” Sen said in a statement. “I believe that the reason our society is failing today comes from the burden of our past. I see the world through my father’s eyes. Their generation failed us entirely, in every sense. We have become intellectually bankrupt, emotionally isolated and politically paralyzed because of their indifference to society, to our nation,” the filmmaker added. Backed by Arifur Rahman and Bijon of Goopy Bagha Productions from Bangladesh and renowned producer Dominique Welinski of DW Productions from France, “Solo” was part of NFDC Film Bazaar’s co-production market in 2019 and was also selected by Torino Film Lab Next (TFL) in 2020. The shooting is likely to commence in mid-2022 in Kolkata, said Rahman. “We are currently in the process of auditioning and finalizing the cast and crew and are in conversation with some of the finest actors and crews from all across the world,” the producer added. “Since the first time I met him, I believed that Suman Sen brings a refreshing and new voice to Indian independent cinema. I have already had the pleasure of experiencing his sensibility and strong political anchoring in a previous short film The Silent Echo and so I am more than proud to be part of this new adventure as well,” added Welinski. Each year, La Fabrique Cinema, developed by the Institut francais, in partnership with France Medias Monde – RFI, France 24, Monte Carlo Doualiya, – the Sacem and the International Organisation of La Francophonie and with the support of Orange Studio invites ten directors working on their first or second feature films to attend the Cannes Film Festival along with their producers. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)