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Satyajit Ray Film and Study Collection, UCSC
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We are moving from our Mission Street Extension office to Crown College.

Update — Tuesday March 28, 2013

Cowell College Screenings April 14 at 5:30 2013


Lecture & Screening, September 24 2011



Update — Tuesday June 18, 2009

Our Ray Their Ray

"It is prime time for Ray plays and not in Calcutta alone. Theatre groups across the country seem eager to tap in Ray's oeuvre of detective, sci-fi and other short stories. The public response is always high since entire generations have grown up on accounts of the supersleuth Feluda, science genius Professor Shanku and the unforgettable characters of Ray's stories for the young."

Click to view article

Update — Tuesday June 2, 2009

Archive's Satyajit Ray Restorations Screen in India

"The 14th Kolkata Film Festival, which took place November 10-17, presented an eclectic array of some 275 films from more than 60 countries. Included were four features and one short film by legendary Indian writer-director Satyajit Ray, preserved by the Academy Film Archive as part of its Ray Preservation Project, which launched more that 15 years ago."

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Update — Tuesday April 28, 2009

Satyajit Ray's World of Restless Watchfulnees and Nuance
by Terrence Rafferty, The New York Times

"'I find I am inimical to the idea of making two similar films in succession,' wrote the great Indian director Satyajit Ray in 1966, and in this, as in everything he wrote or filmed, he spoke the truth."


Update — Thursday April 2, 2009

First Light: Satyajit Ray from the Apu Trilogy to the Calcutta Trilogy
April 15-30, 2009 (Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York)

"This series focuses on what was roughly the first half of Ray's film career, in which the tensions between East and West, old and new, and even city and country are especially prevalent. This series is also a tribute to the work of the Satyajit Ray Preservation Project at the Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles, which together with the Satyajit Ray Film and Study Center at the University of California-Santa Cruz has done so much to preserve and promote the work of this major film artist for future generations. The archive is currently hard at work restoring the rest of Ray's films. We hope to be able to present a series built around the second half of Satyajit Ray's career in the not-so-distant-future."

For more information go to —http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/satyajit.html

To view the schedule/buy tickets go to —http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/satyajit/program.html


Update — Tuesday February 24, 2009

India Rising: Tradition Meets Modernity
February 27-28, 2009 (Herbst Theatre, San Francisco)

"India's artist, in pace with their country's rapid modernization, have adopted many contemporary techniques. Yet past traditions remain strong. Familiar themes and modern modes of expression interplay with fruitful creative tension. "

A lecture on Mirrors of Tradition and Modernity: Cinema of Satyajit Ray, Independent Cinema and Bollywood will be given by Dilip Basu (Director of the Satyajit Ray Film and Study Center, University of California Santa Cruz, and Associate Professor of History). This lecture with film clips will argue that the cinema of Satyajit Ray and his cohorts in post-independent India remain quintessentially modern; popular cinema, both past and present, use the modern cinematic medium to the fullest while following the traditional Indian dramaturgy in form and content.

For more information go to — http://www.humanitieswest.org/currentIndia.html


Update — Tuesday February 17, 2009

The Apu Trilogy to be Screened at the Stanford Theatre
Mr. David Packard has scheduled the screening of Satyajit Ray's APU TRILOGY at the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto during February 21-23 weekend (Pather Panchali Sat/Sun 3:10, 9:30, Mon 5:10; Aparajito Sat/Sun 5:25; Mon 7:30; Apur Sansar Sat/Sun 7:30, Mon 9:30).

The Winter 2009 Classic Films brochure of the Stanford Theatre states: "As an antidote to a popular exploitation film recently made by the British in Bombay, we present, in cooperation with the Stanford Film and Media Studies Program, an authentic masterpiece of Indian cinema, the APU TRILOGY of Satyajit Ray. You can watch all three of the APU TRILOGY at your leisure over the Oscar weekend for a single ticket." Tickets are available at the box office on the the day of the show. Ticket prices are $7.00 for adults, and $5 for Seniors (65 and over) and Youth (18 and under).

The Stanford Theatre is located at 221 University Avenue in downtown Palo Atlto.

For more information go to http://www.stanfordtheatre.org/stf


Update — Tuesday January 27, 2009

Graphic Genius
by Samhita L. Chakroborty

"Satyajit Ray the filmmaker needs no introduction. But Ray the graphic designer? Deliving into the mind of the master, graphic artist Debashish Deb, along with Ray's filmmaker son Sandip Ray and adman Sugato Guha held a presentation on Saturday evening at Saint Xavier's College..."


Update — Friday January 9, 2009

Park AV. Panchali

Previously unpublished letters reveal the maestro's anguish and doubts before the release of his pathbreaking film

CHANDAK SENGOOPTA

 

Click to view Page 1

Click to view Page 2


Update Friday November 21, 2008

Soundtrack Snag in Rare Ray Screening
by Prithvijit Mitra

"KOLKATA: It was to be the high point of the first day at the 14th Kolkata Film Festival. Instead, it turned out to be a huge embarrassement for the organisers. The much-awaited public screening of Satyajit Ray’s short film Two at Nandan III on Tuesday afternoon had a soundtrack failure. Even as dignitaries such as US consul-general Douglas G Kelly, the director of American Centre and several other foreign delegates waited in anticipation, the 10-minute film rolled on silently. It had to be replayed after making a technical adjustment..."


Update Wednesday July 16, 2008

Aparajito's Apu Dies
by Staff Writer, The Telegraph

"Smaran Ghosal, who played the teenaged Apu in Satyajit Ray’s Aparajito, died of cardiac failure at his south Calcutta residence on Thursday night. He was 64. Ghosal is survived by his wife and two daughters."  


 

Update — Wednesday June 11, 2008

Special thanks to Sharmila Roy Pommot, Aashish Khan, Bodhi Das, and Soumy Chakravarti for a wonderful performance this past May 2, 2008. The event: "The Music of Satyajit Ray, Impact of Tagore" went very well. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the event. Check back for future events and updates.


 

Update — Thursday April 24, 2008


On Friday May 2, 2008 the Satyajit Ray Film and Study Center at UCSC plans to mark the Fifteenth Anniversary of its establishment with a rare and unique music program: "The Music of Satyajit Ray, Impact of Tagore".

We plan to begin the program with Utpalendu Chakravarti's seldom seen documentary "Music of Satyajit Ray". This film shows Ray composing - writing the notations, playing them on the piano - rehearsing with the musicians, recording the pieces as well as shooting with the actors.

It will be followed by Sharmila Roy Pommot, a musicologist who teaches at the Sorbonne and is a leading exponent and expert on Tagore's and Ray's music, will begin by singing a song. She will then speak on how Ray composed his complex Indian and Western music adopting Tagore songs in several of his major films. The second part of the program Roy Pommot will sing the Tagore songs in Ray's films.

Roy Pommot will be accompanied by Aashish Khan on the Sarode, a string instrument favored by both Tagore and Ray, and Bodhi Das on the Khol and Tabla. The Khol is a rarely heard percussion instrument in this country.

The Ray Film and Study Center was established in 1993 as a focused research activity in the Humanities Division, UCSC. Since then it has built a comprehensive archive of Ray's films in 35mm, Ray papers, books, film art, music notations, several thousand production stills among other Ray film - related materials.

The program on May 2 will begin at 7 PM at the Humanities Lecture Hall, UCSC. There will be signs from the campus entrance directing motorists to the Lecture Hall. Parking is available at the Cowell and Stevenson College parking lots adjacent to the Lecture Hall.

Tickets are $10.00 and $5.00 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the day of the show .

For more information please call (831) 459-4012 or email jpalines@ucsc.edu or dayani@ucsc.edu

Click to download poster


 

Update — Thursday April 17th, 2008

On Friday, May 2, Satyajit Ray Film & Study Center presents "The Music of Satyajit Ray: Impact of Tagore" at 7 pm at the Humanities Lecture Hall, Cowell College campus in Santa Cruz.

A Rare & Unique Performance by Sharmila Roy-Pommot (Vocal) Shewli Basu (Esraj) Rajnarayan Bhattacharya (Tabla) Roy-Pommot, based in Paris, is arguably the top exponent/expert on Tagore and Ray's music.

Tickets are $10.00 and $5.00 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the day of the show . For more information please call (831) 459-4012 or email jpalines@ucsc.edu or dayani@ucsc.edu.

Click to download poster


 

Update — October 14th, 2007

The Packard Humanities Institute has given a $150 million gift to the Library of Congress to preserve and restore the nation's film and audio treasures. The Mercury News reported on the new National Audio-Visual Conservation Center: article image.


 

Update — September 4, 2007:

On Saturday, September 8, at 12 noon at the Del Mar Theatre in beautiful downtown Santa Cruz, the Satyajit Ray Film and Study Collection (Ray FASC) of UCSC Humanities Division and the Santa Cruz Film Festival present director Shyam Benegal in person with a screening of his 2001 film Zubeidaa (color, in Hindi with English subtitles).

Tickets are $8.00 and $7.00 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the day of the show at The Del Mar Theatre. For more information please call 831 459-4012.

Click to download poster


 

Update — May 9, 2007:

On Sunday, April 29, Pather Panchali was screened at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, to mark the 50th anniversary of the SF International Film Festival. Pather Panchali won the festival's first Golden Gate Awards for Best Film and Best Director 50 years ago.

The Satyajit Ray Society in Kolkata has launched a new website — www.satyajitrayworld.com


Update — October 5, 2006:

UCSC Currents: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen to present annual Maitra Lecture at UCSC
http://currents.ucsc.edu/06-07/09-25/maitra.asp


Update — September 19, 2006:

UCSC Currents: Dynes lauds UCSC's Ray FASC archives at U.S.-India summit
http://currents.ucsc.edu/05-06/06-12/brief-basu.asp


Update — August 23, 2006:

Satyajit Ray Film & Study Collection
University of California, Santa Cruz
presents the sixth annual

Sidhartha Maitra Memorial Lecture • 5:30 pm
The Tyranny of Identity
Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate, Lamont Professor of Economics and Philosophy, Harvard University

Film Screening • 7:30 pm
Satyajit Ray's The Home and the World (with English subtitles)

Saturday, October 7, 2006
Music Recital Hall, UCSC

Admission is free. For more information call (831) 459-4012 or (831) 459-4713.

Please follow directions to the UCSC campus and directions to the Music Center.

Poster

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Update — September 28, 2005:

Satyajit Ray Film & Study Collection
University of California, Santa Cruz
celebrates Ray’s Apu Trilogy

Sidhartha Maitra Memorial Lecture 4 pm
Speakers: Dr. Partha Mitter & Ms. Sharmila Tagore

Fiftieth Anniversary Screening 5 pm
Pather Panchali (restored, with subtitles)

Sunday, October 23, 2005
Recital Hall, Performing Arts, UCSC

Admission Free. For more information call (831) 459-4012.

Please follow directions to the UCSC campus and directions to the Music Center.

Poster

JPEG, 548 KB
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Update — April 21, 2005:

Press Release: Pather Panchali at Cannes

The Ray Society in Kolkata and the Satyajit Ray Film and Study Collection at the University of California, Santa Cruz are pleased to announce that the Cannes Festival 2005 will screen Pather Panchali on May 12 as a "kick-off" event at this year's Cannes Classics Series. Cannes Classics was introduced as an integral part of the festival three years ago.

This year Pather Panchali has been selected to honor it as one of the world's greatest films, on the fiftieth anniversary of its release in 1955. Pather Panchali received one of the most prestigious awards of the event in 1956 — the Best Human Document award.

Mr. Thierry Fremaux, Artistic Director of the Cannes Festival, was pleased to accept the proposal from the Satyajit Ray Film and Study Collection (Ray FASC) to honor Pather Panchali this year. Fremaux came to California to see the restored print of Pather Panchali. A special screening was arranged at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Archives. He approved of the print but requested that a brand new print be struck for the event at Cannes. The Academy offered to provide one with newly translated English subtitles. Cannes Classics Director, Van Papadopoulo, offered to prepare the French subtitles.

The Academy will be represented at the screening by its President — Oscar-winning screenwriter and director, Frank Pierson.

Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, President of the Ray Society, will be unable to attend because the Parliament will be in session on May 12. The Indian delegation will comprise Sandip Ray, Lalita Ray, Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore. Ray FASC will be represented by its director, Dilip Basu, and its curator, Dayani Kowshik.

Sandip Ray
Member-Secretary, The Ray Society
Phone: +91-0-33-2226 2728
April 20, 2005


Update — November 30, 2004:

Due to unavoidable circumstances and technical problems, the film festival program in Calcutta has been postponed indefinitely. We will still be showing some features at Goa, and hope to put on additional festivals in 2005. We sincerely apologize to anyone who has been inconvenienced by the cancellation.

Update — November 2, 2004:

Professor Dilip K. Basu, Director of Ray FASC, will speak on The Art of Satyajit Ray at Sundaram Tagore Gallery, 137 Greene Street, New York on November 13, 6:30-8:30 P.M. The lecture will be followed by a cocktail reception. RSVP by November 8: (212) 677-4520.


Sidhartha Maitra Memorial Lecture and Events
Sunday, October 17, 2004
UC Santa Cruz
Free Admission

1:00 PM

Satyajit Ray Film Art: Opening Reception
An exhibition of Ray's storyboards, set and costume designs, posters, and graphic art

Opening reception at the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, Cowell College, with a short violin raga by Sisirkana Dhar Chaudhuri

Sponsored by UCSC Art and Film Departments

3:00 PM

Screening of Satyajit Ray's 1957 classic film Jalsaghar (The Music Room) at the Music Recital Hall

5:30 PM

From Music Room to Talk Room
A lecture by Professor Nazir Jairazbhoy, UCLA

6:30 PM

Live Thumri Vocal Recital
Purnima Chaudhuri with Subha Jyoti Guha on tabla

Directions

Take High Street to the West Entrance (Heller Drive). Turn right on Meyer Drive to get to the Music Recital Hall.

If you are coming from outside Santa Cruz, please follow directions to the UCSC campus and directions to the Music Center.

Poster

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Update — August 26, 2004:

The University of Indiana at Bloomington will be screening four Ray films from September 10 to October 1. For more information, see http://www.indiana.edu/~isp/s04-08.shtml.

The Cinematexas Film Festival will be showing a retrospective of Ray's short films and
documentaries September 20-26. For more information, see http://cinematexas.org.

RayFASC and AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) are sponsoring a number of upcoming festivals of restored Ray films:
December 10-16 in Calcutta, India
January 10-16 in Bangalore
March 15-20 in New Delhi
May 10-20 at the Cannes International Film Festival

AFI in Los Angeles showed Aparajito (The Unvanquished) on August 20.

The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco screened a restored print of Nayak (The Hero) on August 4. The screening was sponsored by GreenCine.

Update — November 3, 2003:

The Apu Trilogy (Pather Panchali, Aparajito and The World of Apu) was released on DVD on October 28 by Columbia Tristar. The New York Times published an article on November 2 reviewing the DVDs. The article is available online (free registration required) at http://www.nytimes.com/.

India West published an article on Sharmila Tagore's visit to California, "Fresh Outlook Key to Sharmila's Timeless Appeal". An excerpt from the article is available online at http://www.indiawest.com.

Update — October 10, 2003:

The Stanford Theatre in downtown Palo Alto is showing a 35 film Satyajit Ray retrospective from October 10th until December 21st. This will include a series of screenings of Ray films paired with some of Ray's favorite Hollywood movies. For a complete schedule and more information, please see http://www.stanfordtheatre.org.

Update — September 30, 2003:

The San Francisco Chronicle published an article on September 26, entitled "Indian director's works find home in Santa Cruz," covering Ray's work and the efforts of RayFASC to preserve it. The article is available online at http://www.sfgate.com.