SATYAJIT RAY, VISIONARY OF CINEMA

AUTHOR TALK

Sat 30 Nov, 2–3pm

At the Museum and Online

This event takes place at the Museum and online via Zoom

With Andrew Robinson, author

Jean Renoir called Satyajit Ray (1921–92) ‘the Father of Indian Cinema’. Akira Kurosawa said: ‘Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.’ Martin Scorsese remarked: ‘Ray’s magic, the simple poetry of his images, will always stay with me,’ shortly before Ray received an Oscar for his lifetime achievement in 1991. His 30 or so films put India on the map of world cinema.

Satyajit Ray as a young filmmaker - black and white photo by Marc Riboud

Satyajit Ray as a young filmmaker. Photo by Marc Riboud

Beginning in 1955, Ray's films 'Pather Panchali', the first of the Apu Trilogy, followed by classics such as 'The Music Room', 'Charulata' and 'The Chess Players', changed the world’s perception of India. Hence his honorary degree from Oxford in 1978: a ceremony watched by Andrew Robinson as an undergraduate.

In this talk, Robinson – who observed Ray shooting and interviewed him at length in Bengal – will explore a unique artist at home and at work. His biography, Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye, was described by Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul as ‘an extraordinarily good, detailed and selfless book'.

This talk is part of our Change Makers season of events.