The Urban Lens Film Festival is a one-of-a-kind international film festival that brings together filmmakers, academics and urban practitioners to dialogue with each other on cinema and the urban experience. Curated by the IIHS Media Lab, the festival has presented 174 films from various genres from 35 countries in 30 languages.

The seventh edition of the festival will be hosted online from 1 – 6 December 2020, in association with the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan and the Danish Cultural Institute. Going online has expanded the possibilities of what the festival can offer and has created the opportunity for conversation and exchange of ideas across cities and countries bringing a richer discourse to the audience.

The festival will feature a special package of films called ‘Works of Art are Landscapes of the Mind‘ curated by eminent filmmaker, editor and curator Bina Paul and will screen films from across the globe spanning India, Brazil, Cambodia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Lebanon, Poland, Portugal, Senegal and the United Kingdom.

The festival will host two Masterclasses. One, with Anjali Menon, is on her practice as a director in and from south India and the role of collectives in creating equal spaces for women in the industry. The one with Dibakar Banerjee is about what his work has meant for the cinematic landscape in India, and how it has played a pivotal role in recreating a form of cinematic urbanism. 

Since 2016, the Urban Lens Film festival has presented a series titled ‘On Practice‘ with film practitioners whose contribution comes together in the many layers that shape films. This year, the festival will host two panel discussions – one on reflections by cinematographers, of being women who work in a largely male-dominated field and one on the many cinemas of the north-east of India.

As always, the festival remains free.