National Award-winning filmmaker Gurvinder Singh's next feature in Punjabi language, Adh Chanani Raat ('Crescent Night') will make its world premiere at the prestigious 52nd International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) held from January 26 to February 6. The film is part of the Harbour section which offers a safe haven to the full range of contemporary cinema that the festival champions.Originally planned to be held physically, IFFR has moved online this year, too, for the second consecutive year due to growing concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 across Europe, making it the first major European film festival to take the virtual route in 2022.A Contentflow Studios production, 'Adh Chanani Raat' is produced by Bobby Bedi of 'Bandit Queen' and 'Maqbool' fame Vipul D Shah, Manmohan Shetty and Rajesh Bahl.'Adh Chanani Raat' is Singh's third feature in the trilogy of Punjabi language films after 'Anhey Ghorey Da Daan' (2011 Venice Film Festival, Orizzonti) and 'Chauthi Koot' (2015 Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard) to be adapted from literary works of noted Punjabi authors.
This is also the director's second feature to be inspired by Gurdial Singh's novel by the same name after his highly acclaimed debut feature, 'Anhey Ghorey Da Daan' ('Alms for a Blind Horse').Set in rural Punjab, 'Adh Chanani Raat' features an ensemble cast, including acting debuts of Jatinder Mauhar as Modan (noted Punjabi filmmaker of 'Qissa Panjab', 'Mitti', 'Sarsa'), Mauli Singh as Sukhi (indie publicist/producer) and professional actors like Samuel John (Ruldu), Raj Singh Jhinger (Geja), Dharminder Kaur (mother). It has been shot by Satya Rai Nagpaul.Sharing his thoughts on the film, Singh says, "The film is about sadness on the verge of implosion that engulfs a silent agrarian land. Here is unwritten violence simmering under the surface in which the margins are pushed far into a breakdown of basic human relations. It is violence that scripts the alienation of the being from its own self-hood. It is also about the last-ditch resistance of the oppressed.""Cinematically, for me, it's the culmination of a journey that started with 'Anhey Ghorey Da Daan', the tropes pared down to the bare essential leading to an interiorised and a self-reflective form," he adds.