Dev Benegal's classic 'English, August' to be screened at 83rd Venice International Film Festival
Mumbai, July 4
The newly restored 4K version of Dev Benegal's classic 'English, August' is all set to be screened at the prestigious Venice Classics Competition at the upcoming 83rd edition of the festival.
This selection marks the third consecutive year that Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), the not-for-profit organisation responsible for the restoration, has been invited to showcase a world premiere of its cinematic restorations on the global stage in Venice, following Girish Kasaravalli's Ghatashraddha in 2024 and Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zamin in 2025, read a press note.
Based on Upamanyu Chatterjee's bestselling 1988 novel, English, August is an irreverent, darkly comic exploration of post-colonial identity. It follows a young man from an elite, Westernized background cast adrift in the alien, bureaucratic landscape of small-town India. The landmark film will be presented at Venice by director Dev Benegal, lead actor Rahul Bose, producer and production designer Anuradha Parikh, and Film Heritage Foundation Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. Director Dev Benegal stated, "Films are fragile. They survive because people choose to preserve them. Restoration is more than preserving a film; it is the preservation of a conversation across generations. I am profoundly grateful to the Film Heritage Foundation and everyone involved for restoring English, August, my first feature film with such care, dedication, and love. Seeing the film return to the screen in the Venice Classics Competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival is both humbling and deeply gratifying. More than anything, it is a reminder that stories continue to find new audiences long after they are first told. The greatest reward of any restoration is the opportunity for a new generation of viewers to discover English, August and find their own conversation with it." Actor Rahul Bose shared, "This is incredible news. Shivendra Dungarpur and his team at Film Heritage Foundation, have worked their magic! I cannot think of many films in recent history more missed by cineastes than 'English, August'. To go to Venice and watch it 31 years after that memorable evening at TIFF where it debuted, will be personally, so surreal and so emotional. Fantastic!" Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation expressed "Film Heritage Foundation chose to restore English, August in keeping with our policy to restore unusual, artistically important films that are in danger of being lost- either deteriorating slowly over time or surviving only as poor quality versions circulating on small screens. With this film too, no original camera and sound negatives survived. We had to work with two 35 mm release prints - one preserved at the NFDC - National Film Archive of India and the other with in our foundation archive. We worked closely with Dev and cinematographer Anoop Jotwani to ensure we stayed true to their original vision. We were fortunate that Dev had preserved the digital audio tapes that enabled Vikram Joglekar to work on the sound restoration. I am so pleased that English, August has been selected to premiere at Venice. The English August premiere will be our third successive world premiere of our restorations at Venice after Girish Kasaravalli's 'Ghatashraddha' in 2024 and Bimal Roy's "Do Bigha Zamin" in 2025."
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival is scheduled to take place from September 2 to September 12, 2026.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Third consecutive year for FHF at Venice! That's some serious global recognition for Indian cinema restoration. Dev Benegal's film is so underrated - that clash between urban sophistication and small-town reality is something every Indian who has moved cities can relate to. Kudos to Shivendra Dungarpur and team! 🙌
Honestly, I've never seen the film but now I'm curious. The fact that Rahul Bose is going to watch it 31 years later at Venice - that must be such a surreal feeling! Sometimes we don't think about film preservation until it's too late. Glad FHF is doing this work. Will definitely watch the restored version if it comes to theatres here.
As a film buff from Canada, I'm always excited to see Indian cinema getting global recognition. But I can't help but notice that three successive Venice selections are all from older films - Ghatashraddha, Do Bigha Zamin, and now English August. While restoration is important, I do wish contemporary Indian films were also getting more international festival exposure. Still, happy for this!
"Stories continue to find new audiences long after they are first told." - That's such a beautiful quote from Dev Benegal. And how amazing that they had to use two release prints and old DAT tapes to restore it. Means the film was genuinely on the verge of being lost. Thankful for film preservation warriors like FHF! 🌟
R Rajesh Q Yaar, We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.