Circle Award

Last Film Show

Chhello Show

PAN NALIN
India, 2021
111 minutes, Color

A perfect complement to Cinema Paradiso, this ode to the world of celluloid film sparkles like the light shining through a projector. A contender for the Oscars® Best International Film award, Last Film Show is set in the Indian countryside, where young Samay is a charming troublemaker who seeks meaning in his backwoods life. When his Brahman father takes him to the movie theater—"just this once," as he considers the art form sinful—Samay's life is changed. He meets projectionist Fazal, who lets the youngster watch all the forbidden films from the projection booth. Stealing some film trims, Samay creates his own type of projector and thrills his friends. But what Samay and Fazal don't realize is that they are at the end of the film era, with digital systems on the way. The film builds to a transcendent finish sure to warm the hearts of cinema lovers.—Dave Nuttycombe

In Gujarati with English subtitles