The restoration of [this film] is an extraordinary gift—not just to those of us who were part of the film, but to world cinema. I still remember the silence of the forests, the rhythm of the shoot… Working with Satyajit Ray was like stepping into the mind of a quiet genius—every word, every gesture mattered, and he had this rare ability to make you discover depths in yourself you didn’t know existed. — Simi Garewal
Filmed and set at the end of the 1960s, Satyajit Ray’s little-seen masterwork DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE FOREST finds four bourgeois, somewhat jaded young men from Kolkata off on a weekend getaway to rural Jharkhand, northwest of the city. After the men—Ashim (Soumitra Chattopadhyay), Sanjoy (Subhendu Chattopadhyay), Hari (Samit Bhanja), and Sekhar (Robi Ghosh)—meet and interact with various local women in unexpected ways, what started out as a lark becomes a sojourn of introspection and self-discovery.
Co-starring Sharmila Tagore (as Aparna), Kaberi Bose (Jaya), and Simi Garewal (Duli), Ray’s indelible pastoral—a work in conversation with films by Ingmar Bergman (Smiles of a Summer Night) and Jean Renoir (A Day in the Country)—has been lovingly restored thanks to the initial efforts of Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, spearheaded by Wes Anderson. For the closing night of its series Past Present 2025: A Celebration of Film Preservation, the Academy Museum presents the Los Angeles premiere of the 4K DCP of this gem. See screening info and links below.
DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE FOREST
(ARANYER DIN RATRI)
Directed by Satyajit Ray
Los Angeles Restoration Premiere
Monday, December 22, at 7 pm
Ted Mann Theater
Academy Museum
6067 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles
academymuseum.org/days-and-nights-in-the-forest
academymuseum.org/present-past-2025-a-celebration-of-film-preservation
Simi Garewal quotation from Naman Ramachandran, “Wes Anderson Powers Satyajit Ray’s Aranyer Din Ratri Rescue for Cannes Classics,” The Film Foundation, May 19, 2025.
film-foundation.org/days-and-nights-cannes-classics
Satyajit Ray, Days and Nights in the Forest / Aranyer Din Ratri (1970), from top: Robi Ghosh and Soumitra Chattopadhyay (from left, outside car), and Kaberi Bose and Sharmila Tagore (from left, inside car); Tagore and Soumitra Chattopadhyay; Samit Bhanja and Ghosh; Subhendu Chattopadhyay; Bhanja, Subhendu Chattopadhyay, Soumitra Chattopadhyay, and Ghosh; Tagore; Soumitra Chattopadhyay, Subhendu Chattopadhyay, Bhanja, and Ghosh.
Film stills courtesy and © Janus Films.
The 4K restoration of Days and Nights in the Forest was made from the original camera negative and sound preserved by Purnima Dutta, and the magnetic track stored in the BFI National Archive. Presented by the Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project at L’Immagine Ritrovata, the Film Heritage Foundation, Janus Films, and Criterion Collection. Special thanks to Sandip Ray and Wes Anderson.
