Benegal's 'English, August' restored and set for Venice Classics 2026
Dev Benegal's 1994 cult favorite English, August is making a big return, this time at the Venice Classics section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival in 2026.
The film, adapted from Upamanyu Chatterjee's novel, follows Agastya Sen as he tries to figure out life and identity in a small Indian town.
This marks the third year in a row that Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) has landed a restored Indian classic at Venice.
Lost negatives, Benegal tapes aided restoration
Restoring English, August wasn't exactly smooth sailing: the original negatives were lost, so the team had to work with two surviving 35mm prints. Luckily, original archival digital audio tapes preserved by Benegal helped piece together the sound.
Director Dev Benegal called being selected for Venice humbling, while producer Anuradha Parikh said it feels like things have come full circle after all these years.