TO DIE A FRENCHMAN
(80 mins | Tamil with English subtitles | 2026)
Director, DoP, Editor, Producer: Pankaj Rishi Kumar
(80 mins | Tamil with English subtitles | 2026)
Director, DoP, Editor, Producer: Pankaj Rishi Kumar
Watch Clip
11 November 2026 | 7:00 PM
Juhu, Mumbai [exact venue to be confirmed to registered audience]
Followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, facilitated by Aanchal Kapur (Founder, Kriti Film Club)
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About the Film: In the crumbling neighbourhood of Ville Noir (in Pondicherry, where French street names fade into dust and memories of empire linger like ghosts, seventy-year-old Monsieur Mounissamy lives as a relic of a world that no longer exists. Each July 14th, (French National Day) he unfurls a flag mirroring the French tricolour, and sings in trembling, imperfect French—an anthem to a “Mother France” he believes could still reclaim him.
About the Filmmaker: Pankaj Rishi Kumar graduated from FTII Pune (1992). His first film was ‘Kumar Talkies’ (1998). Subsequently, Pankaj has become a one-man crew. (Pather Chujaeri, The Vote, 3 Men and a Bulb, Punches n Ponytails, Seeds of Dissent, In God’s Land). Since 2012 he has been actively documenting in Pondicherry (a former French colony). ‘Two Flags’ (2019), Janani's Juliet (India's official entry to Oscars) and ‘To Die a Frenchman’ (World Premiere at Rotterdam, Feb’ 2026) are three films based out of Pondicherry.
Queries: 9810666692 | space.kriti@gmail.com
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