Tongues On Fire London Asian Film Festival Opening Night: Michael

We are delighted to be once again hosting the opening night of the 14th London Asian Film Festival. This year's opening night film, Michael, takes its place in India's emerging independent cinema landscape, portraying its current social predicament head-on. The film follows a chain of people as they merge and become lost in Kolkata's landscape. First-time director Ribhu Dasgupta displays a keen and observant eye on the strange tides that, at times, juggle our fate. At the start we find Michael, old and infirm, as he stands still with Kolkata's traffic whizzing around him. A flashback reveals him as a young policeman, hesitant and reluctant as he is forced to carry out an order to shoot at a peaceful march. In doing so, he is left guilt-ridden and facing a series of tragic events.