IFFI 2017: Indo-Argentian production Thinking Of Him chosen as closing film

Filmmaker Pablo Cesar’s film about Rabindranath Tagore’s time in Argentina with writer-activist Victoria Ocampo, Thinking Of Him, has been selected as the closing for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

The 48th edition of the film festival commemorates the theme ‘Celebrating the Future of Cinema’ and will be held in Panaji, Goa from 20 to 28 November.

The Indo-Argentian production takes place in the past and present. The black and white portions of the past features Indian actor Victor Banerjee as Rabindranath Tagore and Elenora Wexler as Victoria Ocampo. Thinking Of Him captures the time the two writers spent in Buenos Aires when Tagore visited the country in 1924. Ocampo also took care of the writer when he fell ill during his visit. Tagore and Ocampo continued their correspondence until his death in 1941.

The colour portions of Thinking Of Him follows Felix, a geography teacher who becomes entranced by Tagore’s work and travels to India, to Shantiniketan to learn more about the great man. Hector Bordoni plays Felix, while Raima Sen plays Kamali, a young woman Felix meets on his travels.

The surrealist filmmaker Cesar has had the film in mind since 2008 and has based the film around Ocampo’s experiences with the Nobel Prize winner. Tagore had dedicated a book of poems, Purabi, for her in 1925. 

Cesar is no stranger to IFFI and India. In 1994, he brought Grey Fire to the festival and served as a jury member a decade ago in November 2007. His film Hunabku (2007) was also presented during the line-up that year. 

Prior to casting Banerjee, Cesar had considered Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah for the role.

Watch the trailer here: