In an ode to the magical world of cinema, mischievous 9-year-old Samay's dreams come true one summer when the young Indian cinephile strikes a deal with the projectionist at the movie theater.
"Last Film Show," which premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, has been labeled a cinephilgood drama – and the awkward term pretty much captures its essence.
The film, an Indian-French co-production, is about the love for the creative arts, and film-making in particular, in a 9-year-old boy from rural India whose parents want him to go to school instead of wasting time on watching movies (hence the drama).
Ever since his parents took him to the cinema for the first time, Samay knows that he wants to spend the rest of his life making films.
When he meets Fazal, a cinema projector technician, Samay manages to bribe him to let him watch several films through the summer for free.
The young boy begins to skip school to have more time for the cinema. But then Fazal tells him that the local theater is likely to shut down. Against the wishes of his father, who believes that the film world is immoral, Samay begins concocting a plan to save the theater.
Directed by Indian filmmaker Pan Nalin, "Last Film Show" captures the viewer with impressive shots of rural India, accompanied by music by French composer Cyril Morin, who already worked with Nalin on the 2001 film "Samsara."
