Cannes 2025 to screen Satyajit Ray's classic 'Aranyer Din Ratri'
What's the story
The 2025 Cannes Film Festival announced that Satyajit Ray's iconic 1970 film Aranyer Din Ratri will be screened in the Classics section.
The movie starring Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore will be screened in a 4K restored version.
The restoration has been done by The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project at L'Immagine Ritrovata in partnership with the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), Janus Films, and the Criterion Collection.
Funding details
'Aranyer Din Ratri' restoration funded by Golden Globe Foundation
The Golden Globe Foundation funded the restoration of Aranyer Din Ratri. The 4K restoration was done with the original camera and sound negative that was preserved by producer Purnima Dutta.
Dutta will attend the screening along with Tagore, Margaret Bodde (executive director of The Film Foundation), and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur (founder of FHF).
Premiere presentation
Wes Anderson to present 'Aranyer Din Ratri'
The premiere of Aranyer Din Ratri will be introduced by celebrated American filmmaker Wes Anderson, an admirer of Ray since a long time.
Anderson had showered praises on the film, saying, "Anything signed by Satyajit Ray must be cherished and preserved; but the nearly-forgotten 'Days and Nights in the Forest' is a special/particular gem... Made in 1970. Modern and novelistic. Ray worked in terrain perhaps more familiar to Cassavetes."
Film themes
'Aranyer Din Ratri' explores themes of class and modernity
Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest, in English) is a Bengali-language film based on the novel by author Sunil Gangopadhyay.
The movie touches upon themes of class, modernity, and alienation. It follows a story of four men from the city, who head to the forests of Palamau, to spend a holiday, but end up going on a journey of self-discovery.
Film premiere
'Aranyer Din Ratri' premiered at 20th Berlin International Film Festival
Aranyer Din Ratri had its world premiere at the 20th Berlin International Film Festival, where it was also nominated for a Golden Bear prize for Best Film. This is a huge achievement for the film, which cemented its place in cinema history.
Last year, another Indian film, Shyam Benegal's 1976 movie Manthan, was screened in the same Classics section at Cannes. The restored version of the movie then hit our theaters and television, too.