Dev Benegal’s landmark 1994 film 'English, August' is set to return to the global spotlight with its newly restored 4K version. The film will have its World Premiere in the Venice Classics Competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.
The restoration has been carried out by Film Heritage Foundation, the not-for-profit organization founded by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. This marks the third consecutive year that Film Heritage Foundation will present the world premiere of one of its restorations at 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 of the same name, 'English, August' is regarded as one of the defining Indian independent films of the 1990s. The film is an irreverent, darkly comic look at post-colonial identity, alienation and bureaucracy.
The restored version of the film will 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.
'English, August' follows Agastya Sen, nicknamed August, a young, urban, English-speaking Indian from an elite, Westernized background. Training to become an Indian Administrative Service officer, Agastya is posted to the remote provincial town of Madna, where he finds himself deeply disconnected from the India he is meant to serve.
