Belfast Film Festival kicks off a new five-year ‘Cultural Diversity in Film’ project and as part of this is set to host one of cinema’s biggest names, Aamir Khan. Newsweek has called him “the biggest movie star in the world“, and in 2013, Time magazine named him as one of the world’s hundred most influential people.
Khan, an award-winning director, critically acclaimed actor, producer and television presenter will make his first ever visit
His work combines some of the most widely seen entertainment cinema in film history – comedies such as 3 Idiots (2009) and PK (2014) – with innovation. He insisted that the Oscar nominated epic Lagaan (2001), in which he starred and produced, was shot with synch sound – rare in Indian cinema. His directorial debut – the award-winning Taare Zameen Par (2007) explored the subject of dyslexia.
Known for his far-reaching humanitarian work, he brings attention to critical world problems affecting children, the environment, human rights, poverty, slavery, people trafficking and many other issues.
With each of his successive films, Khan has attracted legions of additional fans and simultaneously shattered previous box-office records. His pictures are not just commercially popular but are also critically successful.
During the 19th Belfast Film Festival, Aamir Khan will participate in an ‘In Conversation’ event in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast. This event on Tuesday 16th April will celebrate Khan’s body of film work and pay tribute to his humanitarian activities.
The evening will be hosted by Nasreen Munni Kabir, author of 17 books on Hindi cinema. Nasreen has made over 80 TV programmes on Indian film for Channel 4 and continues to curate C4’s annual Indian film season.
“Many of us fell in love with film because of big-hearted movies like ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and Tom Hanks’ ‘Big’. That’s the sort of film that Aamir Khan makes.
His epic entertainments have the spirit of Frank Capra movies; he draws on the best of Hindi film. He uses his stardom as boldly as Jane Fonda. We are honoured that he will come to the Belfast Film Festival. If you haven’t seen Aamir Khan’s films, treat yourself! A special thank you to Nasreen Munni Kabir, one of the most admired people in Indian film.”
Mark Cousins, Chair of the Belfast Film Festival
“The Belfast Film Festival’s tribute to Aamir Khan is the start of a bold new five-year exploration of cultural diversity in film, which will include Chinese, Polish and many other cultures. As part of this work we are delighted to announce a new collaboration with the New York Indian Film Festival.
Indian cinema – its stardom, storytelling, history, themes and popularity is a great starting point for this project, and hosting the wonderful Aamir Khan is a perfect beginning.”
Michele Devlin, Director of the Belfast Film Festival
Tickets for the In Conversation event go
With over 100 events including over 40 premieres, the full programme will launch on Wednesday 13 March.