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 celebrate its World Premiere in the prestigious Venice Classics Competition at the upcoming 83rd edition of the festival.
This selection marks the third consecutive year that Film Heritage Foundation (FHF), the not-for-profit organisation responsible for the restoration, has been invited to showcase a world premiere of its cinematic restorations on the global 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 cast adrift in the alien, bureaucratic landscape of small-town India.
The landmark 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.
Director Dev Benegal states, “Films are fragile. They survive because people choose to preserve them. Restoration is more than preserving a film; it is the preservation of a conversation across generations. I am profoundly grateful to the Film Heritage Foundation and everyone involved for restoring English, August, my first feature film with such care, dedication, and love. Seeing the film return to the screen in the Venice Classics Competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival is both humbling and deeply gratifying. More than anything, it is a reminder that stories continue to find new audiences long after they are first told. The greatest reward of any restoration is the opportunity for a new generation of viewers to discover English, August and find their own conversation with it.”
Actor Rahul Bose states, “This is incredible news. Shivendra Dungarpur and his team at Film Heritage Foundation, have worked their magic! I cannot think of many films 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, will be personally, so surreal and so emotional. Fantastic!”
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation states, “Film Heritage Foundation chose to restore English, August in keeping with our policy to restore unusual, artistically important films that are in danger 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 had to work with two 35 mm release prints – one preserved at the NFDC – National Film Archive of India and the other with in our foundation archive. We worked closely with Dev and cinematographer Anoop Jotwani to ensure 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 am so pleased that English, August has been selected to premiere at Venice. The English August premiere will 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 bit of common sense (and the entire planet) told us it was a disastrous choice for our first film! But it was meant to be! An unruly brat no doubt, but one that brought such hope and joy. 3 decades later. English, August. Venice Film Festival 2026?! I am beyond excited. And so deeply moved. Thank you, Venice. Thank you, Film Heritage Foundation. For giving English, August a 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 big screen in 4K restored print from January 9, 2026; deets inside!
