Allo la France review – romance of French phone booths exposes funding cuts to rural services

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In an endearingly whimsical road trip documentary, Floriane Devigne takes calls from her interview subjects in the last remaining phone boxes dotted across rural France The humble telephone box, a souvenir from the days of analogue, can also be an intriguing cinematic locus. Floriane Devigne’s road trip documentary begins with such a relic: the last public phone booth in Paris, which also appears in Jacques Rivette’s mesmerising 1981 film Le Pont du Nord. Unlike their Instagrammable British counterparts, French phone boxes are usually painted in a demure grey and blend seamlessly with their surroundings. As it moves from the capital city to more remote areas, Devigne’s film observes the vanishing of a formerly essential utility as her cross-country odyssey sparkles with an endearing whimsicality. Instead of using talking heads, Devigne ducks into various phone boxes scattered across France, as she takes calls from her interview subjects. Stories of love and longing fill these unassum...
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Kumar Shahani, Maya Darpan and Khayal Gatha filmmaker, passes away at 83

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Filmmaker Kumar Shahani, regarded as one of the pioneers of Indian parallel cinema, passed away in Kolkata on Saturday, February 24. He was 83. With a career spanning six decades, Shahani directed some of the most critically acclaimed movies including Maya Darpan (1972), Tarang (1984), Khayal Gatha (1989) and Kasba (1990).

Born on December 7, 1940, in Larkana, British India (now in Pakistan), Kumar Shahani studied at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, where he was deeply influenced by the works of filmmakers like Ritwik Ghatak and Jean-Luc Godard. His films often explored complex cultural, social, and political issues, reflecting his deep engagement with Indian classical arts and literature.

His film Maya Darpan won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1973. He also taught at various institutions, including the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, where he himself was trained.



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