Anurag Kashyap Seeks 'New Cinematic Language' at MIFFest
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- Anurag Kashyap is jury president at this year's Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest), while his latest directorial feature "Bandar" marks his return behind the camera.
- Kashyap is leading a masterclass titled "Unfiltered Realism" at MIFFest, telling Variety he's as eager to learn as to share during the sessions.
- As jury president, Kashyap said he's "looking for a new cinematic language" and is focused on how younger filmmakers tell stories in ways his generation couldn't.
- Kashyap pushed back on authenticity being a style choice, telling Variety: "Staying real isn't a choice... you have to stay real," whether directing, producing, or acting.
- Kashyap identified AI tools, social media and information abundance as reshaping both how films are made and how audiences receive them.
- Kashyap said South Korea, Japan, China and India all have mature film industries but face the same problem: shrinking audience attention spans and streaming-platform choice overload.
- Kashyap argued that local stories resonate globally specifically because they stay rooted in their own cultures, rather than chasing an international branding strategy.
Why it matters: With Kashyap openly framing his jury role as discovery rather than gatekeeping, MIFFest's awards may tilt toward formally experimental work from younger Asian filmmakers — a concrete signal in a region where mature industries (South Korea, Japan, China, India) are all wrestling with the same streaming-era attention problem he flagged.
