Monday, November 30, 2020

22nd Madurai Film Festival 2020 : Filmmaker in Focus - Sandhya Kumar

22nd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020 
6-10 Dec; online and physical 

Filmmaker in Focus : Sandhya Kumar 


1) Koothu

Dir : Sandhya Kumar 
52 minutes | English & Tamil with English subtitles | India | 2018

Produced by Public Service Broadcasting Trust 


Synopsis: In many villages in Tamil Nadu, a theatre tradition still links people with a past. Closely connected with religion and caste rituals, koothu brings to life stories about gods, demigods, kings and demons from the Indian epics. 

A typical koothu performance is an all-night show in which performers wear elaborate make-up, costumes and wooden ornaments, and simultaneously sing, dance and act on stage. Koothu companies tour the countryside, often commissioned by villages to perform for several consecutive nights. Yet, in spite of its enduring rural popularity and because of its low-caste associations, koothu struggles to find place and patronage in urban art circles.

Who creates the binaries of folk and classical? Through the work of two koothu masters, P. Rajagopal and Sambandan Thambiran, the film delves into questions of representation and patronage of the art form while presenting its art and aesthetics.

Credits : 
Direction & Editing Sandhya Kumar
Associate Director Justin Mccarthy
Assistant Director Grace Mary Sukanya
Cinematography Srikanth Kabothu & Saumyananda Sahi
Location Sound Christopher Burchell & Shyamsunder
Graphic Design Anand Kalpakaserry
Sound Post-Production Christopher Burchell

Festivals & Screenings:
- Open Frame 2018
- IDSFFK 2019
- SIGNS International Film Festival 2019
- 7thChennai Film Festival, 2019
- Madurai International Film Festival 2019
- Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) 2020
- International Theatre Festival of Kerala 2020


3) Hockey In My Blood

Dir : Sandhya Kumar
52 mins | 2015 | HD | English and Kodava Takk with English subtitles


Synopsis: Hockey in my Blood is a film about hockey in Coorg, told through the story of the Kodava Hockey Festival, a tournament played between the families of Coorg. Kodavas, the people of Coorg, are a martial-tribal community known for strong ties to land and family. 

Every year, players from over 200 families come together to play in their own hockey tournament – The Kodava Hockey Festival. There is no bar on age or gender. The only rule of forming a team is that all members must be from the same family. Young boys and girls, fathers, uncles, mothers, professionals and even former Olympic heroes, are all players. With the families playing for bragging rights for the rest of the year, victories are hard fought and competition can get heated. At the end of the month-long event, there will be just one winning team but many winners, the sport and the sense of community not least among them.

Welcome to The Kodava Hockey Festival!

Credits
Direction Sandhya Kumar
Camera Amith Surendran
Sound Christopher Burchell
Editing Sandhya Kumar & Iram Ghufran
Production Ballachanda Deepthi Bopaiah

Festivals and Screenings:
- Film South Asia 2015
- Films Division, Mumbai 2015
- Vikalp Bengaluru, 2015
- IIT Powai, 2015
- TISS Mumbai 2015


3) Memory of a Light

Dir: Sandhya Kumar
26 mins | 2014 | English | Produced by Public Service Broadcasting Trust


Memory of a Light is a visual essay on nostalgia for the childhood house. What makes the experience of the first home so unforgettable? Does the core of this experience lie in the structure and design of the house or in things that cannot be measured, yet make impressions on the senses? From memories of architectural details to accounts of lived experience, the film moves between many rooms, many corners of a past and windows of the present, exploring the core of the childhood home.

Credits :
Direction & Editing Sandhya Kumar
Camera Saumyananda Sahi
Sound Christopher Burchell
Music Konarak Reddy
Gaffer Tanushree Das

Festivals and Screenings:
- IDPA Gold Award, 2015
- Open Frame Film Festival 2014
- Urban Lens Film Festival 2014
- Vibgyor Film Festival 2014

22nd Madurai Film Festival 2020 : Retrospective I - Suma Josson

22nd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020

6-10 Dec; Online and physical

Retrospective I: Suma Josson


1) Saree 
Dir : Suma Josson; 72 min; Malayalam with Eng subtitles; 2001


Gita and Radha, two young friends are on their way back from school. And they find themselves stranded in a no man's land between dreams, fantasy, fears, with life and death lurking behind every corner. For the children it is an initiation process through death into life.

Direction & Screenplay: Suma Josson
Cast: Remya, Krishna, Nedumudi Venu, Sreelatha, Priyanka
Cinematography: M J Radhakrishnan, K G Jayan
Editing: Bina 
Music: Chandran Veyattumal


2) I Want My Father Back
Dir: Suma Josson; 50 min; Marathi with English subtitles; 2007


It is a documentary on the suicide of farmers in Vidarbha, Maharashtra.


3) Butterfly Stand Still
Dir: Suma Josson; 20 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2011


 It is a portrayal of a 55-year-old woman who has modeled for art students and artists for 30 years.


4) In Search of Our Lost Rice Seeds
Dir : Suma Josson; 40 min; English; 2013


It is a documentary film on the loss of the traditional rice seeds of India.


5) Niyamgiri, you are still alive
Dir : Suma Josson; 16 min; Odia with Eng subtitles; 2010



This is a film on the anti-bauxite mining campaign in Orissa, India, led by the indigenous communities against Sterlite, a subsidiary of the U.K. mining company Vedanta.

22nd Madurai Film Festival 2020 : Indian Short Films

22nd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020
6-10 Dec; Online and physical

Indian short films

1) GANTABYA - THE DESTINATION
Dir: Sahin Aktar; 27.36 min; Bengali with English subtitles; India; 2020


Piyali and Ajay, a lower middle-class newly married couple from Kolkata is going to meet together after two months as Piyali was in her parents' home. Ajay, a rickshaw puller, in his mid-thirties is capable of buying either Piyali's favourite cuisine 'Biriyani' or condom. This placed Ajay in a mental dilemma what he should buy.

2) Pakheru (The One Who Flies)
Dir: Nazir Khan; 22 min; Bundeli, Hindi with Eng subtitles; India; 2019

An old man who works in a junkyard strugges with himself and the societyaround him to get a good night’s sleep.

3) CHAK CHAGE IMA
Dir : JENISH SALAM; 4.50 min; Manipuri with Eng subtitles; India; 2020

The storyline is based on the life hurdles faced by a poor mother and her 4 years old son during the ongoing lockdown period imposed due to covid-19 pandemic.

4) Pe (The Umbrella)
Dir : Rakesh Moirangthem; 8.49 min; Manipuri with Eng subtitles; India; 2019


An old and torn umbrella, but a protection for this poor father and son in the days of rain and heat. The next moment of the fearsome wind blew that very umbrella down to the river. The son filled with excitement whilst the father trying his best from the river back to get his jewel bck. Seeing the father, the son remembers all those days where that old and torn umbrella protected them from heat and the rain. What does he do?

5) Akam
Dir: Remya; 3.42 min; No dialogue; India; 2018

Kathakali is something Mathu has been hearing since childhood from his grandmother's tales and father's childhood adventures.He never been to any performance yet. One fine summer day, his mother finally takes him to temple for one such performance. But what awaits there is beyond one's comprehension.

6) Home (Ghar)
Dir : Souvik Roy Chowdhury; 10 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; India; 2019

A woman waits for the return of her husband from work and grows increasingly apprehensive as she is consoled by the old landlord whom the couple look after. They are a migrant couple from Bihar living in Gujarat now and it’s a riot like situation outside, following the rape and murder of a 14 month old child in the neighborhood - and since the culprit was a Bihari the local goons are after everyone who came from that area.

7) Prashna ( Question)
Dir: Santosh Ram; 23.24 min; Marathi with Eng subtitles; India; 2019


Ganga and her Husband Rajkumar work as seasonal sugar cutting Labourers on contract basis. They have to migrate from place to place for the work leaving behind their Native Village.

Their only son Ganesh (Age 10 Years ) has to accompany them because nobody is there at home to take care of him . This is a problem for Ganesh’s educational progress as he is absent every year for Three Months . How Ganga , a Third Standard educated woman overcomes the problem of Ganesh’s Education as well as finds a way of acquiring knowledge for her own Progress .

8) Inner Self
Dir: Shree Raj; 11.17 min; Tamil with Eng subtitles; India; 2020


The film tells the story about a lonely living drawing artist and his other side of strange and mysterious life. Even though the story is about an artist, superficially, it discusses current world's socio racial conditions, especially about the inner self of Indians and their socio-racial approach.

9) Miangsho (The Meat)
Dir : Tathagata Ghosh; 19 min; Bengali with Eng subtitles; India; 2020 


Rizwan, a migrant worker has walked back all the way to his hometown from Delhi due to the nationwide lockdown as the corona virus hit India. Out of job and belonging from the religious minority, he feels cornered. His wife Fatima works as a domestic help to bring food to the plate. Due to strict measures from the police, Rizwan hides his religious identity and takes shelter for the day at Sahadev’s place, an upcoming Islamophobic politician. But things soon take a dark turn.

10) Kadachit
Dir : Suraj Shelar; 16.43 min; Marathi with Eng subtitles; India; 2019


The film features young married couple from the middle working class and their formal city life in which their love is slowly waning. Sudden circumstances bring two echoed life to certain symphony.

11) Stains
Dir : Rhea Mathews; 30 min; English, Malayalam, Hindi with Eng subtitles; India; 2019



Stains’ is a Short Fiction Film based on Manjula Padmanabhan’s short story of the same name.

The film revolves around a couple from diverse cultural backgrounds, who are spending a weekend with the man’s mother for Onam. During the visit, the woman starts menstruating and stains her bedsheets. Her boyfriend’s mother’s extreme reaction to the event, his failure to stand up for her and in turn expecting her to adjust, results in a fraught environment. This conflict builds through the course of the visit, as she examines her own relationship with her blood and pain; while simultaneously examining her romantic relationship.


Sunday, November 29, 2020

22nd Madurai Film Festival 2020 : International Short Films

22nd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020

6-10 Dec; Online and physical


International Short Films

1) Ifigeneia: no more tears
Dir: George Georgakopoulos; 17.40 min; Greek with Eng subtitles; Greece; 2019



When Ifigeneia gets invited for lunch to her future husband's family home, she doesn’t go empty handed. Hoping to make a good impression, she brings along a little girl. However, when two mysterious investigators suddenly appear, things get quite complicated.

2) Collar
Dir : Katarina Ivanovich; 20 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




Olechka's husband controls Her in everything, they live according to his laws, lead an ascetic lifestyle. The girl feels that she is happily married. But everything changes when a naked neighbor breaks into their quiet and measured life.

3) Reflection
Dir : Elena Nodel; 8 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russis; 2020




Imagine that after the death of a loved one you got the opportunity to communicate with the deceased with the help of artificial intelligence technologies – to say the last ‘forgive me’ and ‘goodbye’, to hug him for the last time, to close gestalt ...

4) 51+
Dir: Daniyar Abirov;9.05 min; Kyrgiz with Eng subtitles; Kyrgyzstan; 2019




It's not about love. A man falls in love with a young girl, but he is over 50 years old already.

5) Tradition
Dir : Zhanuzak Mamytov; 13.09 min; Kyrgiz with Eng subtitles; Kyrgyzstan; 2019




Circumcision in Kyrgyz culture is not just a tradition, but for kyrgyz male is an essential part of his life. Main character without attention of his parents mocked by his peers. How will he find solution of this situation?

6) Scenes by the Sea
Dir: Oksana Degtyareva; 20.04 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2019




Nina spends her time at her parents’ busy with the preparation for her younger sister’s wedding. Unexpectedly for her, her husband Nikita comes there too. Nina and Nikita have been going through a family relationships crisis. In order not to spoil the event, they try to pretend that everything is OK between them.

7) Thank you Coach
Dir : Nikita Tarasov; 9 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




An experienced coach Alexandra gives advices to housewife Sonya who wants to learn how to manipulate her husband. But Sonya’s husband also has his own coach.

8) Please Have a Seat
Dir: Eteri Nioradze ; 11.36 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




Nadia is a nail artist tries to create around her a "perfect" world of beauty and neatness, but one day a new client comes to her and accidentally destroys everything around.


9) BANANA
Dir : Stepan Azarian; 14.31 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




Sasha works as a promoter in a banana costume at a fruit and vegetable shop. At the one moment his usual life collapses - threats from the collector, deprivation of parental rights, dismissal from work - this is just the beginning.

10) THE WAY HOME
Dir: Elena Khimyalyaynen; 16:15 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




It is a reflection film about a human life lost in a series of monotonous everyday life. The character has only one way to hear themselves in this nonsense. Perhaps it is from this step that a human being is commencing, and life becomes meaningful.

11) LIPSTICK
Dir : Svetlana Yashina; 01:19 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




A woman takes a break from a party and hides in the bathroom only to find a frightening reflection in the mirror. Having overcome the first surge of fear, she finds an unexpected solution to the problem.

12) Triplet
Dir: Vadim Zaytsev; 20 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




Three brothers travel to their ancestral home to visit their elderly mother who was dying. Brothers find adoption certificate of a boy, but the name and date of birth are impossible to read, due to it being burned. In order to find the truth and discover which one of them was adopted, they compare their childhood memories…

13) BALI-TO-FUN
Dir : Jeanne Desire; 20:06 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Indonesia, Russia; 2020




Anya comes to Bali for a women's workshop where she has to practice her seduction skills, and bring a man to the final day of the workshop to get a certificate.

14) Tisbea
Dir : Israel Ahumada; 11 min.; Spanish with Eng subtitles; Mexico; 2020




The process of a young actress who, based on her own emotional experience, gives life to the character of Tisbea in the play The Trickster of Seville by Tirso de Molina. Tisbea is a transdisciplinary experiment that combines theater, sound art and cinematography.

15) The Return
Dir: Chach Elena Andreevna; 07:36 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2018




Small household troubles reinforce the anxious foreboding of a young woman in the absence of her husband, whom she somehow can not reach.

16) The Axe
Dir : Lanna (Svetlana) Rybakova; 14.55 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




Sergei sells knife sharpeners in the Moscow metro and notices schoolgirl Katya. A strong attraction leads him to follow the little girl and carry her into the entrance.

17) The Swings
Dir : Anastasiia Ostapenko; 13 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




Roma is 6 years old. His parents are about to divorce. After being asked if he want to stay with mom or dad, Roma becomes silent. His inner feelings that very much remind of swings, Roma expresses in his drawings.

18) The Power of Childhood
Dir : Lolita Naranovich; 13 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




It is Russian Revolution of 1905. A crowd that has rebelled against the government is going to execute an officer. His son runs up to him and hugs him saving the officer’s life. What the child does returns the sense of compassion both to the crowd and the officer.

19) The Last Illusion
Dir: Vladimir Feklneko; 15.57 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




Russia. 1910 year. Once-famous magician Arseny Vilsky lost his popularity and bears t miserable existence of a wandering circus artist. Gathering the remaining strengths, he prepares to his last performance...

20) Performance
Dir : Nina Moiseeva,; 20 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




An artist fakes suicide during a performance in order to learn what it’s like to be dead.

21) I want to go home
Dir: Tatyana Lyalina; 14.05 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




He wanted to go home so badly that he just got up out of his grave and went. But it turns out that his home was now occupied.

22) Tooth
Dir: Siman Lyashenko; 7.58 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




A young father preparing for the public protest is distracted by his six-year-old son who has loose tooth. While the father is persuading his son to pull it out, the police come up to their front door.

23) Talent
Dir: Oleg Ageychev; 9.57 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




A young actor decided to play grief for real...at the real funeral...

24) Tsoy is Dead
Dir: Alexander Solovyov; 5.20 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




Nine-year-old Kim lives in North Korea. Surrounded by a totalitarian regime every day is the same - until the moment when Viktor Tsoy’s rock concert interferes with the usual TV Signal. Kim is shocked by what he sees and becomes obsessed by the rock star, trying to move and dance like him. Kim is not the same person anymore, but will his new personality be accepted by his surroundings?

25) Under the Stork’s Nest
Dir : Ani Oganesyan; 20 min; Armenian with Eng subtitles; Armenia; 2020

The film takes place in a small Armenian village. The main character Aaron during a football game unsuccessfully kicks the ball right into the tandoor. The loss is not great, but the ball is not his but his friend Grieg’s. Moreover, it was brought from the World Cup. Now Aaron must return the same ball to him.

26) Freedom of Choice
Dir : Alexey Medvedev; 21 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




A fatal accident - hostage-taking in a faraway country - brings together an important diplomat, his unfaithful wife and her lover. To be saved, they need to act together, but is it possible when hatred is stronger than the desire to live, a sense of duty is more important than reputation, and betrayal is higher than love?

27)Wantok
Dir : Dmitrii Komarov; 7 min; Tok Pisin with Eng subtitles; Papua New Guinea



The boy forced to run away from his home village of Papua New Guinean remote province overtaken by conflict between neighboring tribes into the country capital. The path is dangerous but he meets a militiaman on his way, who seems volunteering to assist in reaching of his destination.

28) Hands and Wings
Dir : Sungbin BYUN; 15 min; Korean with Eng subtitles; South Korea; 2019




An adolescent boy ‘Woo-Sung’ is unable to move his hands freely due to physical disabilities. So he can’t solve his sexual desire alone. His mother tries to help him, but one day he refuses mother’s help.

29)Forget the Palms
Dir : Tim Berezin; 6:05 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




A film about the bard fighting squad who battled new technologies.

30) Letters
Dir: Elena Kuzhel; 14.01 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




The main character is a participant in the first Chechen war. He reads a story dedicated to his comrade in arms. A vision comes to the hero during the reading of each letter. Now war, death, love take on peculiar images. After he finishes reading, he leaves the room and finds himself in a cemetery with unmarked graves. Next to him is a Chechen with a severed ear. Men have a short dialogue before they disappear.

31) Knitting Club for Men over 40
Dir : Egor Gavrilin; 22.06 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




There’s a new member in the mysterious knitting club for mature men. On his first day he sees that there’s someone who wants to seize power over the club. He decides to bring back justice. The bad guy has already mastered the skill of knitting but our hero has resolve and best intentions. But… are they that good after all?

32)The World’s Last House
Dir : Amir Gholami; 16.19 min; Kurdish with Eng subtitles; Iran; 2019




An old man, answering people’s letters and solving their problems at a far-off cottage for a long time, is facing the weirdest challenge of his life; an intrusive guest with three bullets in his gun...

33)The Prophetess
Dir : Marco Joubert; 2.20 min; French with Eng subtitles; Canada; 2020




Drawing from the observations, experiences and thoughts gathered throughout her life, the prophetess, in a surge of hope and altruism, shares her conception of a world which should have been, could or will be: a manifesto, for a fictitious or latent generation. The text is freely inspired by a Francis Ponge poem, The Law and the Prophets (1930), reinterpreted and rewritten to better anchor it to the contemporary context as well as to my own ideals.

35) Jack and Chan
Dir : Alexey Petrashevich; 15 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




The recently appointed Mayor of the provincial town makes casual preparations for impending inspection by an image committee, all the while enjoying his new state of life and the recently purchased new imported car with money intended for acquire an international celebrity. Right before the committee’s arrival, the Mayor is informed that a registered international celebrity in his town is a crucial requirement, which won’t be possible to ignore.

36) Nap Time
Dir: Elina Smirnova; 11 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020

A young woman finds out that she is pregnant. Doctors recommend her to terminate the pregnancy because her mother has an inherited mental illness. The protagonist doesn’t know what to choose.

37) Talent
Dir : Oleg Ageychev; 9.57 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020




A young actor decided to play grief for real...at the real funeral...

38) Alaska, Lost Face
Dir : Alexey Matveev; 19.59 min; Russian with Eng subtitle; Russia; 2020





Subyenkov, a fur miner, has risen through the ranks, starting as an idealist and ending up as a criminal thrown by fate into the lands of Alaska. And now he sits tied up in natives' captivity. And next to him, a "Big Ivan" is twisting with pain, a man he thought was a man without nerves. Subyenkov finds a way out for himself, telling the Indian leader about a miraculous remedy that will simply prevent him from dying. The experience of trading with the Indians helps him get the chief into his game. So what's he up to?

39) When We Open the Gate of the Sky
Dir : Pavel Bykovchenk; 6.35 min; Kirghiz with Eng subtitles; Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan; 2019




An inquisitive boy asks his grandfather about a man whose monument he diligently cares for. Who is this man?

40) The Gift
Dir : Radik Kudoyarov; 12.57 min; German, English; Kazakhstan, Germany, Russia, USA, UK, France; 2020





Father gives his son an unusual gift for his 10th birthday. It will change the boy's life forever.