James Ivory in Person

February 20–23, 2019

The celebrated writer and director best known as half of the Merchant Ivory duo visits BAMPFA with early films that offer perspectives on postcolonial India.

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  • Autobiography of a Princess

  • Shakespeare Wallah. Image courtesy Cohen Media Group

  • The Guru

  • Upcoming
    Films
  • Upcoming
    Events
  • Selected
    Objects
  • Past
    Films
  • Past
    Events

Past Films

  • The Guru

    • Saturday, February 23 7:30 PM
    James Ivory
    India, 1969

    35mm Studio Vault Print

    A sitar virtuoso takes an English pop star as a pupil—with predictably disruptive results—in “Merchant Ivory’s version of a sixties trip” (James Ivory). Uptal Butt, Michael York, and Rita Tushingham star in this spoof on the Western fascination with all things India.

    James Ivory in Person

  • Shakespeare Wallah

    • Friday, February 22 7 PM
    James Ivory
    India, 1965

    A family of English Shakespearean actors find themselves lost in the new India in Ivory’s insightful, Chekhovian look at life, art, and cultural change. With a musical score by Satyajit Ray.  

    James Ivory in Person

  • Autobiography of a Princess

    • Wednesday, February 20 3:10 PM
    James Ivory
    United Kingdom, 1975

    The adoring daughter (Madhur Jaffrey) of a once-powerful maharajah invites her father’s tutor (James Mason) to tea, and stories begin to flow, in Ivory’s critique of colonial memory. With shorts The Sword and the Flute and The Creation of Woman.  

    James Ivory and Ajay Gehlawat in Conversation