The Apu Trilogy: Pather Panchali

1955, Satyajit Ray, India, 126 min.

Bengali with English subtitles

Introduced by film scholar Annette Danto.

Pather Panchali, the first entry in The Apu Trilogy, introduces Apu and the cast of characters who create the family and world around him. Apu’s classic coming-of-age story unfolds in his rural Bengali village. Satyajit Ray’s cinematic debut was met with international acclaim, including Best Human Document at the Cannes Film Festival.

“It is a pastoral poem dappled with the play of brilliant images and strong, dark feelings, a luminous revelation of Indian life in language that all the world can understand.”

—TIME

“justly won the “˜most human document award’ at the 1956 Cannes Film Fest, unveiling a mature film talent in director Satyajit Ray.”

—Variety

About Cabaret Cinema

In tandem with the Rubin’s exhibit Henri Cartier-Bresson: India in Full Frame, Cabaret Cinema is featuring movies that exemplify the legendary photographer’s lesser-known influence on the world of moving images. He served as an assistant to director Jean Renoir in The Rules of the Game, which he called “one of the summits of art,” and appeared in the film himself. Acclaimed director Satyajit Ray, who began his foray into filmmaking after meeting Renoir, cites Henri Cartier-Bresson as a key influence in his work on The Apu Trilogy, now recognized as a masterpiece of Indian cinema.

About the introducer

Annette Danto is a filmmaker, educator, and co-author/editor of the textbook: Think/Point/Shoot: Media Ethics, Technology and Global Change. A three-time Fulbright Scholar in Film and Media Making, her documentaries are held in permanent collections of universities and educational institutions worldwide. Recent documentaries include: Reflections On Media Ethics, Gandhi’s Wheel, and The Never Ending Path. Recent invited presentations include: British Film Institute, Daniel Pearl Film Festival, and IIE/CIES Global Exchange. She is currently in post-production for an 18-year longitudinal documentary highlighting rural development in the Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu, India.