One of South Asia’s most original and uncompromising filmmakers, Ritwick Kumar Ghatak (1925-1976), is being celebrated with a short season of his work at the Star & Shadow cinema.

Emerging from Kolkata’s vibrant 1960s Communist theatre movement, Ghatak dedicated his artistic career to crafting a true “people’s cinema”. He viewed filmmaking not merely as entertainment, but as a collective, revolutionary instrument for mass mobilisation and social change. Curated by Northumbria University film scholar and documentarian Sanghia Sen to mark the centenary of Ghatak’s birth, this rare retrospective brings a long-inaccessible body of work to local audiences. Across two days, the program explores enduring themes of marginalisation, human connection, post-Partition displacement, and ecological crisis—proving his visionary style was decades ahead of its time. The lineup pairs two of his most vital feature-length works with complementary short films. Saturday highlights his acknowledged masterpiece ‘The Cloud-Capped Star’ (pictured) alongside ‘The Golden Line’. Sunday turns to ‘A River Called Titas’, a remarkably prescient 1973 drama focusing on climate refugees, screened alongside ‘Turbulent Padma’. Don’t miss this crucial opportunity to experience the bold, politically charged legacy of a master auteur on the big screen.

The Cinema of Ritwik Ghatak, Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 November, Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle, 4.30pm (Sat) & 5.45pm (Sun), pay-as-you-can scale (£0–£15), with 50% of all ticket proceeds donated directly to Medical Aid Palestine. starandshadow.org.uk