The Venice International Film Festival has officially announced that the newly restored 4K version of Dev Benegal’s landmark, award-winning film English, August (1994) will have a good time its World Premiere in the celebrated Venice Classics Competition on the upcoming 83rd edition of the festival.
31 years later, English, August heads to Venice in restored 4K avatar; details inside!
This selection marks the third consecutive yr that Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), the not-for-profit organisation answerable for the restoration, has been invited to showcase a world premiere of its cinematic restorations on the worldwide stage in Venice, following Girish Kasaravalli’s Ghatashraddha in 2024 and Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zamin in 2025.
Based on Upamanyu Chatterjee’s bestselling 1988 novel, English, August is an irreverent, darkly comic exploration of post-colonial identity. It follows a young man from an elite, Westernized background solid adrift within the alien, bureaucratic landscape of small-town India.
The landmark film can be presented at Venice by director Dev Benegal, lead actor Rahul Bose, producer and production designer Anuradha Parikh, and Film Heritage Foundation Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.
Director Dev Benegal states, “Movies are fragile. They survive because people decide to preserve them. Restoration is greater than preserving a movie; it’s the preservation of a conversation across generations. I’m profoundly grateful to the Film Heritage Foundation and everybody involved for restoring English, August, my first feature film with such care, dedication, and love. Seeing the film return to the screen within the Venice Classics Competition on the 83rd Venice International Film Festival is each humbling and deeply gratifying. Greater than anything, it’s a reminder that stories proceed to seek out latest audiences long after they’re first told. The best reward of any restoration is the chance for a brand new generation of viewers to find English, August and find their very own conversation with it.”
Actor Rahul Bose states, “That is incredible news. Shivendra Dungarpur and his team at Film Heritage Foundation, have worked their magic! I cannot consider many movies in recent history more missed by cineastes than ‘English, August’. To go to Venice and watch it 31 years after that memorable evening at TIFF where it debuted, can be personally, so surreal and so emotional. Improbable!”
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation states, “Film Heritage Foundation selected to revive English, August in step with our policy to revive unusual, artistically vital movies which can be in peril of being lost- either deteriorating slowly over time or surviving only as poor quality versions circulating on small screens. With this film too, no original camera and sound negatives survived. We needed to work with two 35 mm release prints – one preserved on the NFDC – National Film Archive of India and the opposite with in our foundation archive. We worked closely with Dev and cinematographer Anoop Jotwani to make sure we stayed true to their original vision. We were fortunate that Dev had preserved the digital audio tapes that enabled Vikram Joglekar to work on the sound restoration. I’m so pleased that English, August has been chosen to premiere at Venice. The English August premiere can be our third successive world premiere of our restorations at Venice after Girish Kasaravalli’s Ghatashraddha in 2024 and Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zamin in 2025.”
Producer Anuradha Parikh states, “Especially when every little bit of common sense (and your entire planet) told us it was a disastrous selection for our first film! But it surely was meant to be! An unruly brat little question, but one which brought such hope and joy. 3 many years later. English, August. Venice Film Festival 2026?! I’m beyond excited. And so deeply moved. Thanks, Venice. Thanks, Film Heritage Foundation. For giving English, August a brand new lease of life and love. See you in Venice! And Welcome to the irreverent and iridescent world of Agastya Sen!”
Also Read: Satyajit Ray’s Aranyer Din Ratri returns to the large screen in 4K restored print from January 9, 2026; deets inside!
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