Odia feature Adieu Godard to have world premiere at 43rd Moscow International Film Festival

The Odia-language feature Adieu Godard will have its world premiere at the 43rd edition of the prestigious Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF) later this month.

Written and directed by Amartya Bhattacharyya and produced under the banner of Swastik Arthouse, the film is an Indo-French co-production.

Shot in Odisha, the film is a socio-cultural comic tribute to the legendary French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard and draws inspiration from his quirky style of cinema.

The story revolves around an old man, Ananda, who is a pornography addict. He secretly watches porn with some friends in a conservative Indian village. One day, they accidentally come across a film by Godard which is mistakenly rented as porn. Though his friends are disgusted, Ananda is attracted to it and gradually develops an obsession with Godard's films. 

The film stars Choudhury Bikash Das as the central character around whom the film revolves. The film's music has been scored by Kisaloy Roy, and Rupam Islam has lent his voice to an Odia song for the first time.

Bhattacharyya, who is also the cinematographer and editor of the film, said, "In a lot of ways, Adieu Godard has been the most challenging film that I've made so far. It is also a very special film because, through this film, I pay a kind of tribute to the French auteur Jean-Luc Godard, who happens to be my favourite filmmaker. I am very happy and I feel blessed that we have been selected at one of the world's top film festivals like Moscow. I am very hopeful that this humorous film will be deeply loved."

Producer and actor Swastik Choudhury said he was excited about the selection. "MIFF is a festival we all look forward to. And what a roller-coaster ride this film has been. Several not-so-favourable things were amplified due to the lockdown last year. Nevertheless we were able to push ourselves and complete this film. It is a fantastic script. Everyone's effort is there to be seen on the screen and this film will be special for we pay tribute to the great filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard in our sweet way."