Director Anand Gandhi and Actor Sohum Shah’s Ship of Theseus is ready to set sail to foreign shores, and this time there’s an international star who is steering the ship. Film personalities have been getting involved with independent films as presenters for quite some time in Hollywood. The trend has seen filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese presenting films like Chungking Express, Hostel, and The Grandmaster. Kiran Rao had seen Ship of Theseus at a film festival in Mumbai, where the filmmaker, Anand Gandhi was felicitated. She was so overwhelmed by her experience of the film, she felt more people should get the opportunity to watch it, and in July 2013, the film was released to pack houses across the country. The stupendous success of Ship of Theseus has made this approach desirable for other independent filmmakers. Now, for the first time ever, an Indian film is being presented to foreign audiences by an eminent international film personality. The legendary actor Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Cloud Atlas, Lord of the Rings, V for Vendetta) will be presenting Ship of Theseus to audiences in Australia.
Filmmaker Anand Gandhi, and Hugo Weaving were part of the jury panel at the Sydney International Film Festival, where they became extremely good friends, sharing a palate for films and art. The film also played at the festival, where Hugo had a chance to watch it. “Ship of Theseus is an absolutely rare and profound piece of cinema, full of wonder and enlightenment. Anand Gandhi has proved himself as a groundbreaking filmmaker,” says Hugo. Gandhi is delighted that his friendship with Weaving has become an alliance involving his debut film. “Hugo is one of the finest actors in the world, and one of the most amazing people I have had the privilege to meet. It’s such an honour that he is now presenting the film in his country.”
The film is set to release on November 7th across Australia.
