Satyajit Ray birth anniversary: Cannes Film Festival to celebrate works of the renowned filmmaker this year

The Cannes Film Festival will be paying a special tribute to the Indian filmmaker, Satyajit Ray. The organisers are planning to have a 10-film retrospective of Ray to pay him respect on his birth anniversary. According to Times of India, the Cannes organisers are in talks with the government of India regarding the same. 

The 12-day long film festival will start on May 17 and the organisers are reportedly shortlisting 10 films of Satyajit Ray for the screening in retrospective. The films that are expected to be a part of the festival include the Apu Trilogy (Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Apur Sansar), which depict the life of Apu from his childhood, and Charulata. The filmmaker had won Best Human Document award at Cannes in 1956 for his first film of Apu Trilogy, Pather Panchali. It was also the first time that the director had won an award at a big international film fest. 

Satyajit Ray's second instalment of the trilogy, Aparajito had also won the Gold Lion award for Best Film in Venice. He has also won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for the film Ashani Sanket in 1973 and Silver Bear honour in 1965 for the film, Charulata. 

Ray is one of India's most notable filmmakers, who established parallel cinema in the country with his film, Pather Panchali. The film is often described as the turning point in Indian cinema. It featured Subir Banerjee, Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee, Pinaki Sengupta, Uma Dasgupta, Chunibala Devi and Tulsi Chakraborty. The film is praised for its realism and its soul-stirring elements. 

The distinguished filmmaker has directed 36 films and is well-known for creating some of the most popular characters like Feluda and Professor Shanku. He has won 36 National Film Awards and was the first Indian to win an Academy Award in 1992. He was also honoured with Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, the same year. 

If things go as per plan, the Cannes organisers will be hosting his films in retrospective. An official announcement for the same is awaited.