18th Madurai International Film Festival on Democracy 2016

6-10 December 2016

Madurai, India

Entry Form

Name of the Film:

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Duration:

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Documentary/Short film/Animation/Music video:

International Films/Rest of India/Films from Tamilnadu:

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I have the rights to send the entry. I agree with rules and regulations. I allow the festival to keep the DVD copies for further non commercial screenings and film festivals conducted by MARUPAKKAM.

Signature

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Check list: DVD copies 2; DVD with press kit; Press kit hard copy; Signed entry form

Entries to be sent to:

Shashong Rajesh / Amudhan R.P.
17th Madurai Film Festival
33, Scheme Road, 3rd Cross St
Ellai Amman Colony, Teynampet
Chennai 600086
India
Ph: 9710904481, 9750118811
email : amudhan.rp@gmail.com

Note: copy the entry form, paste it on a word or an equivalent file, fill it, take a print out, sign it and send it to us.

LAST DATE TO SEND ENTRIES : 15 OCT 2016

23rd Madurai Film Festival 2021 : Animation, Music Videos and Experimental films

23rd Madurai Film Festival 2021
Animation, Music videos and experimental films

The Fox of the Palmgrove
Dir: Divakar SK;08:56 mins; German, Tamil with English subtitles; 2019; India; animation

A random television visual triggers the memories of an old man in which we go through a sequence of random events that summarizes his entire life.

Bloodslide - Pica (Official Video)
Dir: Evan Pearce, Josh Tokarsky; 05:11mins; English; 2021; Canada; animation

The music video depicts Pica - the compulsive appetite for substances considered outside the realm of the acceptable consumables such as ice, hair, metal. Both of the elements, nature and human body are deeply connected, existing in an undisturbed and sublime state. The digitization of these elements using machine learning and medical imaging highlights the divergent attributions of value we assign to these elements in the digital space, and the fact that we - like those who suffer from Pica - are constantly fighting an appetite to consume these digital ghosts.

Kapaat
Dir: Janvi Madabusi; 14:00 mins; Marathi with English subtitles; 2021; India; experimental

As a 10 year old kid loses his favorite cupboard (kapaat) to a dowry transaction he sets out on a quest to buy a new one.

Not Far Out
Dir: Beran Ergün; 11:46 mins; Portuguese with English subtitles; 2021; Germany; experimental

For his training, an extreme swimmer goes to the sea at dawn. On this day the waves are very rough, and the man has problems to keep his head above the water. In what will probably be his last moments he makes an unexpected discovery. 

The bird
Dir: Perrine Lamy-Quique; 05:33 mins; 2020; France; experimental

A man. A woman. A bird. The water and the sky of our memories.

Angel
Dir: Lina Asadullina; 13:36 mins; Russian, Tatar with English subtitles; 2021; Russian Federation; experimental

The year is 2027! A young woman tenderly cares for her one-year-old child, enjoying every moment of his presence or thinking that she is enjoying …… ..?! Or maybe, she is saying goodbye?!

Fallen Friends
Dir: Russell Lake, JazzElle; 04:01 mins; English; 2021; United States; music video

The verse relays two allegories... and the chorus sings out a heartfelt response.

Devoid of Sense: Dark Side of Your Soul
Dir: Maxim Vorobyev; 03:25 mins; English; 2021; Russian Federation; music video

23rd Madurai Film Festival 2021 : Indian Documentaries

23rd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2021

Indian Documentaries



1) Days Of Summer
Dir: Adhiraj Buragohain; 58.40 min; Assamese with English Subtitles; India; Documentary

Amid the pandemic, I went back from my university to my village in Assam. This film is about my interaction with my family and the village members. The film also explores the landscape of Assam, which is changing rapidly due to environmental and socio-economic reasons.

2) Ghar Ka Pata
Dir: Madhulika Jalali; 1 hr 7 min; English/Hindi/Kashmiri with English subtitles; 2020; India; Documentary

I was 6 when my family had to leave the Kashmir valley due to an armed insurgency in 1990. This personal account seeks to understand ‘loss’, ‘identity’ & is an attempt to reconstruct the long lost home of my birth, a place and of a time that exists in mine and my family’s collective memories.

3)Who says the Lepchas are vanishing
Director- Abhyuday Khaitan; 42 minutes 21 seconds; Hindi; 2020

The last documentary featuring Soham Tshering Lepcha, the cultural icon, and the most respected Lepcha figure, documents his life and work. A look at his life and work is also inevitably a look at the tribe, as his life and work are rooted, intertwined, and inseparable from his tribe.

4) Kerala hip hop- Into the roots
Director- Akshay K.P; 9 minutes 4 seconds; English, Malayalam with English subtitles; 2021

5)Dreaming of Words
Director- Nandan; 60 minutes; Malayalam, Tamil with English subtitles; 2020

Njattyela Sreedharan, a fourth standard drop-out, compiles a dictionary connecting four Indian languages. Travelling across four states and doing extensive research, he spent twenty-five years making the multilingual dictionary. This unique dictionary offers a comparative study of Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu. 'Dreaming of Words' traces Sreedharan's life, work, love for languages and the struggles to get the dictionary published. The film also explores the linguistic and cultural diversity in India.

6) Moving Upstream: Ganga
Director- Shridhar Sudhir; 1 hour 45 minutes; Bengali, English, Hindi with English subtitles; 2021

The 'Moving Upstream: Ganga’ documentary was filmed over 6 months on a 3000km walk along River Ganga in India. This documentary explores the idea of walking, people’s responses to a walking traveller in this fast-paced era and an evolving relationship with the natural world. It does this while also amplifying the voices and concerns of the riparian community

7) TUN-RUNG-KHAM (The Golden Willow)
Dir: Mridupawan Bora; 24:20 mins; Assamese with English subtitles; 2021; India; doc

A glimpse into the history, folk traditions and cultural preservation of the Tai Ahom people, from Yunnan to a glorious dynasty in Assam and the existing generation with deep rooted connection to their ancestors that transcend time.

8) BACKSTAGE
Dir:Lipika Singh Darai; 85 mins; Odia with English subtitles ;2020; India; doc

The film portrays the lives and times of puppeteers of Odisha, India. It documents four forms of puppetry; the glove, the string, the rod and the shadow, which are now being performed by the last generation of artists. After them, the art form will probably die. The folk art form, which is as vulnerable as its performers who mostly belong to the lower strata of the society in terms of caste and economy, is experiencing a silent death. The filmmaker builds a personal narrative to trace the time a dying art form is going through. 

23rd Madurai Film Festival 2021 : Indian films - Short Fiction

23rd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2021

Indian films : Short Fiction 

1) Imaginary Homes
Dir: Priya Naresh; 18 min; Punjabi with English subtitles; 2021; India; Short Fiction

An old woman with her incoherent past and a young maid build an imaginary home together.

2) When the Earth Sang a Song
Dir: Teena Kaur; 14:06 min; Hindi with English subtitles; 2021; India; Short Fiction

Rekhi lives in a remote village of Rajasthan and does storytelling with a box of mythological paintings called "Kaavad". His pupil Jhangid is learning this art from him. The peaceful life of Rekhi is disturbed when the village headman starts forcing him to sell his plot of land, as a resort will be built in the village.

3) The Falling Fruit. The Frozen Time. And the Five Variations on Mani Kaul's Uski Roti
Dir: Jay Kholia; 12:12 min; Silent; 2021; India; Short Fiction

In 1969, Mani Kaul made his debut feature film ‘Uski Roti’ (A Day’s Bread), fifty years later I am revisiting Kaul’s film, creating five variations from its key inaugural shot which has become my basic note.

4) Sita
Dir: Abhinav Singh; 18:58 min; Hindi with English subtitles; 2021; India; Short Fiction

Sita is a story of a young 11 year old Dalit boy who finds a dead newborn baby girl in the streets. All he wishes to do now is give her a respectful cremation.

5) Visitors
Dir: Navnita Sen; 13:10 min; Hindi/English with English subtitles; 2020; India; Short Fiction

A 10-year-old boy wakes up to find himself alone in his house, during the Pandemic of 2020. His mother, who had left for work early morning, is unable to return, due to a curfew-like lockdown in the city. An encounter with some unusual visitors, who drop by unexpectedly, change the course of his day.

6) Colors: Saffron
Director- AK Srikanth; 14 minutes 51 seconds; English; 2021

A dance film performed by Savita Sastry is set in a dystopian hell where for a woman to be more successful than men is proscribed. The film looks at the enormity of this crime against women, and their act of defiance on the face of it. 

7) Zero kilometer
Director- Shamas Nawab Siddiqui; 14 minutes 20 seconds; Hindi with English subtitles; 2021

Kajal, a small-town woman who works as a labourer to feed her child, sister and a useless husband finds a way to fulfil her material desires, but that path soon put her on a downward spiral where she loses everything that she had.

8) Since Forever
Dir: Nisam Asaf; 14:22 mins; Malayalam with English subtitles; 2021; India; SF

Unavailability of pregnancy care during the nationwide Covid-19 lock-down in India forces a young woman to seek dangerous illegal methods to terminate her unwanted pregnancy.

9) STATE
Dir: Swanand Kottewar; 08:40 mins; Hindi with English subtitles; 2020; India;SF

The life of a family caught up in stillness amidst the lockdown. Thoughts like void in an empty box. No sense of the passing time. Emptiness, anxieties, ecstasies and mixed hopes for an uncertain tomorrow.

10) A Father’s Gift
Dir: Jagannath Radhakrishnan; 20:00 mins; Tamil with English subtitles; 2021; India; SFAn electrician in desperation to fulfil a promise he made to his son commits an offence at a client's house. The act pushes him into an uncomfortable confrontation where he has to uphold either his dignity or the promise.

11) The Florist
Dir: Priyam Chanda; 14:44 mins; Bengali with English subtitles; 2021; India; SFThe story revolves around Anish, a common man with a painter inside of him, his wife Amrita and a stranger Anish who meet one day while searching for yellow roses. Thus starts the journey of two strangers from their distant lives to an undefined relationship; a journey that leaves both of them battered and bruised. Will they ever find their place in a rather judgmental society? Will they ever be accepted?

12) A Window Of Heart
Dir: Shrinidhi Naulakha; 09:23 mins; Hindi with English subtitles; 2021; India; SF

The film talks about a girl, Nabha, who is missing her friends and decides to write them letters, hoping they'll come and see her.

13) The Threshold
Dir: Mithun Gomes; 11:41 mins; Hindi with English subtitles; 2021; India; SF

20-year-old Seema is nervous about a new business deal for her company, but just as she reaches her workplace, she learns that Naveen has invited his parents over for a lunch. Today, they will decide if Seema is a suitable match for their son. In order to impress them, she must present them with a delectable meal. Unfortunately, her trusted cook, Malati, is unavailable. Seema has never cooked before, and now, for Naveen's sake, she must sacrifice the business opportunity and find a way into the hearts of Naveen's parents.

23rd Madurai Film Festival 2021 : International Documentaries

23rd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2021

International Documentaries



Emptiness Crossing Us
Dir: Fernando Moreira; 22:58; Portuguese; Brazil; Documentary/Experimenta

Crossed by greed, two hundred and seventy-two people were buried by tailings from the Vale mining company in Brumadinho (MG), Brazil. The emptiness that now crosses those who try to carry on will never be filled. This tribute film is dedicated to the victims of the irresponsible mining tragedy that continues to take its toll with blood and devastation.

La Mujer Salvaje (The Wild Woman)
Dir: Sara G. Cortijo; 25 min; Spanish; 2021; Spain; Documentary/Short

"The Wild Woman" tells five stories of overcoming of five women. Inspired by the book "Women who run with wolves" by Clarissa Pinkola, this piece dives into perseverance as the engine to move forward in the lives of the five women.

Terra Sospesa
Dir: Matteo Grimaldi, Giacomo Boeri; 60 min; Italian with English subtitles; 2021; Italy; Documentary

From the days in which the mountain trembled, they remain anchored to the heavy debris that still obstruct the roads, without being able to fly away, towards some sort of future. Between the 24th of August 2016 and January 2017, their houses crumbled to dust, the people they knew disappeared or were displaced somewhere far: those who remained had to deal with the desolation, gathering on the collapsed walls of the villages, herding the animals on abandoned land, floating in a bubble of eternal present from which it is difficult to see a future besides an old run down bell tower.

65 Rose
Dir: Davide Del Mare; 89.28 min; Italian with English subtitles; 2021; Italy; Documentary

Christian has lost his pregnant girlfriend, Marta, and decides to start a long journey by foot to raise money for the scientific research against the most widespread rare genetic disease in Italy: Cystic Fibrosis. The director, Davide Del Mare, affected by the same disease, tells the story in first person walking side by side Christian for 4000km.

Hanlong Soymilk Shop
Dir: Ina Morken; 6:57 min; Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles; 2021; Taiwan; Short Documentary

Hanlong Soymilk Shop opens from 2 am to 2 pm every day, and is run by 72 year old Zhu Xiuyun. Sharing Xiuyun's world, this short documentary gives an observational glimpse of this relic, its closely intertwined relationship to Taipei's past, present and future and the woman who runs it.

Atomkraftwerk Zwentendorf
Dir: Hope Tucker; 16:40; English; 2018; USA; Documentary/Experimental

Atomkraftwerk Zwentendorf is a monument to the power of public protest and the potential of a democratic vote.

Father
Dir: Deng Wei; 1 hr 37 min; Chinese/English with English subtitles; 2021; China; Documentary

Set against the vast transformation and economic change within contemporary Chinese society, Wei’s quiet fly-on-the-wall cinematography captures the fraught relationship between his father and grandfather as they negotiate past resentments and an uncertain future.

652 miles = 0 (or the wonderful convenience of videocalling)
Dir: Giulio Gobbetti; 3:45 min; Italian with English subtitles; 2021; UK; Short Documentary

During a time of quarantine, global distances contract. The 652 miles separating the director’s London home from his grandmother in Italy are not any different than the distance between her and her neighbours. As most interpersonal relationships are brought into the online world, there is no better opportunity to teach her remotely how to do video-calls.

Dancing With Rosa
Dir: Robert Muñoz Rupérez; 26 min; Catalan with English subtitles; 2021; Spain; Short Documentary

At 84 years of age, Rosa realises that she no longer has the strength to take care of her daughter Eva who has Down syndrome, and she struggles to decide whether or not to put her into a care home.

I Won’t Remain Alone
Dir: Yaser Talebi; 15 min; Persian with English subtitles; 2021; Iran; Documentary

An old disabled couple living in a small village in the northern part of Iran, face an unfathomable tragedy when their youngest son falls into a coma after an accident. Defying the Islamic traditions of burial and overcoming problems of red tape, the parents agree to donate their son’s organs.

Ailleurs Partout
Dir: Isabelle Ingold, Vivianne Perelmuter; 1 hr 3 min; English/French/Persian with English subtitles; 2020; Belgium; Documentary

It’s the journey of Shahin, a 20-year-old Iranian boy who, fleeing his country alone, lands in Greece, then winds his way to England where he claims asylum.

Street Out
Dir: Sofia Rocha; 1 hr 40 min; Spanish with English subtitles; 2020; Argentina; Documentary

A choral account of women, who turned or have turned to prostitution, stands up to put to discussion abolitionism and legalization within the women’s movement and feminism, through their life stories, desires and convictions. 

Talilo and Wassla
Dir: Jon Meyer; 24:33 min; English; USA; 2020; Documentary

An inspiring story of two hip hop artists from an impoverished town who turned their lives around and now use music to help the youth not fall into the same pitfalls they had to endure like prison and homelessness.

Id-Tal
Dir: Yamini Makeshwar; 16:42 min; Tribal language with English subtitles; 2021; Canada; Short Documentary

Lakshmi, a shaman priest of an age-old Lanjia Saora tribe, performs a healing prayer on one of her patients, she summons the spirits of her ancestors to find the evil responsible for the illness.

From Durban to Tomorrow
Dir: Dylan Mohan Gray; 39:52 min; Multiple languages with English subtitles; 2020; South Africa; Documentary

Five frontline health advocates from different parts of the world work through victories and defeats forging a path toward a meaningful, universal human right to health.

The Broken Femur
Director- Luyckx Jonas; 28 minutes 44 seconds; French with English subtitles; 2020

Within my walls, scrutinising the world, I took my camera to talk about intimacy in the face of a global upheaval.

Saving Kolobok
Director- Zhanna Shmakova; 10 minutes 1 second; Russian with English subtitles; 2022

The theatre director I.P. Kolobkov is accused of staging a protest performance in a children's theater. Major Zaytsev tries to detain Kolobkov during the performance. The major's son is in the audience, therefore, to go on stage and catch Kolobok, he and other police officers are forced to put on bunny masks. Kolobok makes the police sing and dance until his girlfriend Lisa appears on the stage and turns out to be the initiator of the allegations.

The Sako Tapes
Dir: Machiel van den Heuvel; 73 mins; Dutch, Indonesian with English subtitles; 2019; Netherlands; doc

A film about Sako, an eccentric Indonesian man with Chinese roots. Sako is struggling with his past. He is traumatized because of the murder of his innocent father, who was one of the approximately half a million alleged communists that were killed in the transition period to the Suharto regime in Indonesia in 1965. Sadly, this brutal period is still taboo in Indonesia. To break the taboo and process his trauma, Sako went out with his camcorder and filmed people close to him and talked with them about their experiences related to this past.

The Russian Rondo of Natalia Shakhovskaya
Dir: IRINA ZAITSEVA; 77 mins; Russian with English subtitles; 2019; Russian Federation; doc

Natalia Shakhovskaya was a 20th-century cello player, professor of the Moscow Conservatory and Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, a holder of the honorary title People's Artist of the USSR, whose name is etched in the history of both Russian and world music. She had many opportunities to leave the country, but she refused to, since patriotism, honor, and dedication to music were the values of a decent musician.

Ishim
Dir: Kirill Sultanov; 24:37 mins; Russian with English subtitles; Russian Federation; ; Documentary

How long do feelings last? To find out the answer, the film director organizes a meeting of his divorced parents in Ishim, the town of their youth, where they separated 16 years ago. Mutual claims, unspoken resentments and old feelings return to the lives of ex-spouses during their journey through the memorable places. 

The Custodians of the Andean Gold
Dir: Marcella Menozzi; 32:25 mins; Spanish with English subtitles; 2019-2021; Italy; documentary;

In the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes, more than 3800 meters above sea level, live alpaca and vicunia breeders. Quechua and Aymara families who protect their animals earn livelihood from the sale of the animals’ fiber. Gold mining is another activity that is widespread among families living in the border area between Peru and Bolivia. The intensity of these production activities increases the need for environmental protection and workers' rights. It has become indispensable to support producers so that this activity does not disappear with the migration of native peoples, and abandonment of traditions and animals.

Murder Most Modest
Dir: Shany Moran Haziza; 106 mins; Hebrew with English subtitles; 2020; Israel; doc

The journalistic investigation of a cult in Jerusalem’s Meah Shearim neighborhood to solve two 30-year-old mysteries. Following the crucial findings discovered by the filmmakers during the filming, there are ongoing investigations by the legal authorities in Israel. 

80.000 Schnitzel
Dir:Hannah Schweier; 103 mins; German with English subtitles; 2020; Germany; doc

Berta Zenefels (84) has never seen the sea. She has barely left her beloved farm,”Zollhaus“in Bavaria. A life shaped by hard word, a life that nobody wants to live anymore. During her lifetime she had to bury her firstborn son, her husband, her grand-son and her youngest son. Every single one of them lived and died for the big dream of the Zollhaus. But without a successor the heavily indebted farm is threatened with bankruptcy. But now the granddaughter Monika appears out of nowhere and decides to save the family-owned farm.

The Price of Cheap
Dir: Barry Stevens; 80 mins; Hindi, Tamil with English subtitles; 2021; Canada; doc

The stories of modern slaves in textiles manufacturing supply chains and the brave individuals fighting on the ground against immeasurable odds to help them. Joseph Raj, runs an organization called T.E.S.T. (Trust for Education and Social Transformation) in Tamil Nadu, India as he goes on raids to rescue underage children from unsafe and labor intensive factories. 

The Disappearance of Tom R.
Dir: Paul Sirague; 18:55 mins; French with English subtitles; 2020; Belgium; doc

On March 22nd 1997, Tom R. disappears. 23 years later, a film crew tries to solve this mystery.

The Hook You Will Not Bite
Dir: José David Apel; 29:50 mins; Spanish with English subtitles; 2021; Argentina; doc

In the banks of the Victoria River, a fish merchant buys the product of the humble fishermen who inhabit the islands of the province of Entre Ríos (Argentina). In exchange for their fishing, he offers them a small amount of food in return.

Jacaranda
Dir: Austin Spies; 120 mins; English with English subtitles; 2020-2021; United States of America; doc

Shot on the iPhone during the Covid-19 pandemic, Jacaranda captures the very brief yearly bloom of a special purple tree in Los Angeles, presented alongside the experience of three different individuals, during the summer of 2020.

23rd Madurai Film Festival 2021 : International Short fiction

23rd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2021

International Short Fiction

Jadzia
Dir: KK Araujo, Ariane Porto, 19:58 min; German/Portuguese with English subtitles; 2020; Brazil; Short Fiction

Poetic narrative of Jadzia's look at her prison in the Nazi concentration camp in Ravensbruck. The film is sensitive throughout an attempt to reconstruct its struggle for life in a humane and welcoming way.

Fall Of The Ibis King
Dir: Mikai Geronimo, Josh O'Caoimh; 9:42 min; English; 2021; Ireland; Animation/Experimental

The antagonist of a dark opera becomes increasingly unsettled following the unlikely return of the former lead actor.

This Is Not A War
Dir: Irina Valts, Evgeniya Lazarenkova; 11:58 min; Russian with English subtitles; 2021; Russia; Short Fiction

How different the expression of the sympathies of teenagers and children can be. During the preparation of the holiday "Victory Day" the true relationship between kids is being revealed.

Under The Dark Clouds
Dir: Kangmin Lim; 3.27 min; Silent; 2020; USA; Animation/Experimental

Under the Dark Clouds is a 2D mixed-media fantasy animation about visiting a dream world. It uses digitally hand-drawn character animation with watercolor stop-motion and crayon drawings as a background. This film addresses the idea of self-acceptance, and how dreams reflect our unconsciousness.

Inga
Director- Olga Gagarina; 14 minutes 7 seconds; Russian with English subtitles; 2022

Inga, who had two loans and a young husband, really needs a job as a restaurant manager. Her natural shyness, as well as the negative attitude of the restaurant owner, who considers all women to be “chicks”, prevent her from showing her true self and talent in the interview. But then the Waiter brings her an envelope with the mysterious title “The Egyptian Story”.

Naida
Director- Yuri Sholin; 20 minutes; Russian with English subtitles; 2021

The only friend of the stern, scorched by the war in Afghanistan, guard Sergei who has lost the meaning of life after the loss of his family, is the dog Naida. But he will soon face a difficult choice. 

Wild Roses of the Barksoon Gorg
Director- Pavel Bykovchenko; 10 minutes 17 seconds; No dialogue; 2021

A young horseman, driving along the mountain paths, draws his attention to a strange scarf lying in the water. He does not even suspect how his fate will turn out in the future, for he is now unwillingly bound by this scarf.

Before We Leave 

Director- Natalia Gurkina; 9 minutes 24 seconds; Russian with English subtitles; 2021

A story about the memory of the dead, about life after death and about love after leaving forever. The family packs for the moving. Mother is nostalgic sorting stuff out, the son is indifferent as he throws his stuff into a bag, the father tries to sneak out to meet his friends. Only the youngest daughter cannot find her deal, but she is soon to face the reality that she really lives in.

Like in the movies
Director- Maria Ivanova; 13 minutes 4 seconds; Russian with English subtitles; 2021

After finding several dead bodies in a hotel room, the maid behaves very strangely. She photographs the details of the murders and sends them to someone, signing each one with the name of a famous movie. All the characters are from completely different social classes and clearly demonstrate a person’s indifference to each other because of society’s assessment of their importance. But the main question is who will eventually get the right to live.

Friend
Director- Andrey Svetlov; 20 minutes 30 seconds; Russian with English subtitles; 2021

A film about two warring school students; one of them dreams of a new smartphone, the other of a simple friendship. By chance, they find themselves in a common predicament from which they will have to get out. It’s a rich, day-long story spiced with chases, childish adventurism, and light humour. 

Shadows of your childhood
Director- Mikhail Gorobchuk; 21 minutes 23 seconds; Russian with English subtitles; 2020

Our house becomes shrouded in the silence of night. It grows long shadows accentuated by the random sparks of the kerosene lamp. For little Stesha, the darkness becomes a way into another world that is both frightening and fascinating. Fragments of elusive memories, voices and shimmers of light- these are the flickering sensations of childhood, and they stay with us forever. 

Saving Kolobok
Director- Zhanna Shmakova; 10 minutes 1 second; Russian with English subtitles; 2022

The theatre director I.P. Kolobkov is accused of staging a protest performance in a children's theater. Major Zaytsev tries to detain Kolobkov during the performance. The major's son is in the audience, therefore, to go on stage and catch Kolobok, he and other police officers are forced to put on bunny masks. Kolobok makes the police sing and dance until his girlfriend Lisa appears on the stage and turns out to be the initiator of the allegations.

Forget me not
Director- Lea Gygli; 13 minutes 3 seconds; Swiss German with English subtitles; 2021

Yuna is looking for her friend Moana and finds answers to her questions. Between memories and longing, Yuna experiences an insight through which she can find peace with her loss.

Copi
Director- Andre Gevaerd; 18 minutes 47 seconds; Portuguese, Spanish with English subtitles; 2020

Renê, 35-year-old, is a Brazilian night hotel receptionist and complements his income with side jobs to pay for his 6-year-old son's pension. Copi, 41-year-old, is an amateur, Argentinian artist who makes her living out of Balneário Camboriú night life as a travestite. Their path intersects and…

Perm
Dir: Shekh al Mamun; 30.00mins; Korean with English subtitles; 2021; South Korea; SF

‘Nisha’, who comes from Bangladesh, lives in a rural village in Korea with her mother-in-law and her husband, Byeong-shik. She loves riding her bike to go study Hangeul and wants to become more independent. However, her mother-in-law hopes that Nisha will have a child soon and devote herself to the family. One day, during a jesa ceremony, the uncle keeps telling her that she has to become more Korean and pressures her to quickly have a baby.

Karl
Dir: Ilya Yakovlevich Noyabrev; 19:37 mins; Russian with English subtitles; 2021; Ukraine; SF

Karl greets the day in the library of his family castle. Having found the right page in the right book at the right time he gets up and heads for the bedchamber, wherein the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra is reclining on the bed. Sun-colored clothes successfully highlight the bronze color of her skin, sweet bliss spread across her body, indicating her readiness to heed Karl. A spoken word artist at the Regional Philharmonic, he wakes up on a grey autumn morning, trying to grasp moments of a magical dream.

DOCTOR
Dir: Alexander Solovyov;05:38 mins; Russian with English subtitles;2021; Russian Federation; SF

A film about a doctor who was fighting against coronavirus but got infected himself. The main character is based on the memories of doctors and patients whose voices we hear in the background. 

GREENHOUSE
Dir: Andrey Lukyanov; 11:52 mins; Russian with English subtitles; 2021; Russian Federation; SF

The scientist Vasily Sokolov raises his family from the dead, and along with them — resurrects all of his family’s old bickerings.

Barrio Frontera
Dir: Reed Purvis; 18:00 mins; Spanish with English subtitles; 2021; United States;SF;

A teenage girl from a poor rural village in northern Argentina moves to Buenos Aires to pursue a life with more opportunities and the hopes of helping her family back home. Sharing a small room in a large informal settlement with her older cousin's family, she must quickly adapt to this radically different urban environment.

Dir: Zhdan Tikhonov; 18:12 mins; Russian with English subtitles; 2021; Russian Federation; SF
Ivan Alekseevich, a high-ranking official, dies and finds himself in the house of his childhood, where he began his life and meets a strange character resembling an angel. Together they try to look at the life of the protagonist from a different angle and evaluate his actions.

MAVKA
Dir: Anastasia Ledkova; 15:00 mins; Russian with English subtitles; 2021; Russian Federation; SF
After the tragic loss of a mother, her son and husband are about to leave the hometown to start over. But their plans are disrupted when the son meets a mysterious girl by the riverside.

HOME
Dir: Yang Yang; 16:59 mins; Chinese with English subtitles; 2021; China; SF

In an ancient courtyard in China's western Henan province, a little girl named Xiao Witnessed her parents arguing and her father running away from home. Fueled by her hatred for her mother, Xiao deliberately causes trouble and becomes more rebellious until she meets Wang Hao, a painter. By a strange combination of circumstances, Xiao finds out her mother's secret: after her father leaves, she falls ill in hospital, but her mother chooses to accompany her father...... Later, Xiao also picks up a paintbrush and felt the happiness of home.

THE MERCENARY
Dir: Elena Vorobyova; 08:17 mins; Russian with English subtitles; 2021; Russian Federation; SF

Former soldier who became a mercenary in a distant African country at a foreign war, realizes that he went too far, and lost everything that was dear to him. But it is too late to change.

23rd Madurai Film Festival 2021 : Director's Cut - curated by Amudhan R.P.

23rd Madurai Film Festival 2021 : Director’s Cut - curated by Amudhan R.P.

1) Sugar School (Dir : Dhananjay Bhawalekar; 37 min 24 sec; Documentary; India; Director’s Cut)

Dnyanu belongs to a family of Sugarcane cutting laborers. to deal with the hand to mouth situation, the only means is to work in the sugar cane fields, traveling for days, migrating with sugar cane workers, instability deprives Dnyanu from education. will Dnyanu stay away from school to work as a farmhand? or will he find a new path to go to school?

2) Insects to Infinity - Sublime Journey of Jayaram (Dir : Mayan @ Mahesh Yoganand; 50 min; Documentary; India; Director’s Cut)

This exclusive full length Documentary film in English explores the life and works of the Master Nature photographer, Mr.K. Jayaram, an internationally acclaimed Nature photographer living in Coimbatore.

3) Happiness Class (Dir : Samina Mishra; 51 min; Documentary; India; Director’s Cut)

Happiness Class is a journey through the unique and fascinating world of children: their preoccupations, their worries, and most importantly, their idea of happiness. Set in the context of an experimental happiness curriculum inspired by the ideas of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and included as part of formal pedagogy in the schools run by the Delhi government, Happiness Class explores this landscape in schools and diverse neighbourhoods, with resident and refugee families, across the metropolis of New Delhi.

4) Scapegoat (Dir: Tathagatha Ghosh; 25 min; Short fiction; India; Director’s Cut)

A young firebrand woman decides to stand up against the patriarchy and hate politics that has begun to infiltrate her rural Bengali village and threatens to destroy her way of life.

5) The Icon and The Iconoclast (Dir: Vilasini Ramani; 18 min 24 sec; Short fiction; India; Director’s Cut)

This period short film is based on a conversation that reportedly happened between Periyar E.V. Ramasamy and Mahatma Gandhi in the year 1927. Over this conversation, Periyar, a rationalist anti-caste leader from South India and the key figure of the Dravidian Movement, and Mahatma Gandhi, the well-known pacifist leader of the Indian Independence Movement, discuss their views on religion. The film also shows how two thinkers with radically different views on religion could nevertheless have a respectful dialogue with each other.

6) Adhichanallur Thamirabarani Civilisation (Dir: RR Srinivasan; 122 min; Documentary; India; Director’s Cut)

Āticcanallūr, the first site to be excavated in India in 1876, is a small town on the banks of River Tāmirabaraṇi near Tirunelveli. Indus Valley was excavated only later. This civilization which was believed to be of the Iron Age previously is now proved to be of Chalcolithic, of a period between 3000 and 5000 B.C..

OSL (Optically Simulated Luminiscence) tests indicate a period, the upper level of which must be between 1500 and 2700 BC. Carbon testing has shown the period to be 905 and 696 BC. This is the oldest period of civilisation in Tamil Nadu according to the material evidences unearned until now. The archaeological excavations in this place clearly point to a life before the Aryan invasion into India.

7) Hope on Paper (Dir : KP Sasi; 7 min 31 sec; Short / Music / Experimental film; India; Director's Cut)

The struggle of the Adivasis for the community rights over the forests began during the British colonial rule in India. Hundreds of such struggles have been recorded from different parts in Indian history. The British colonial forces suppressed most of such struggles with their military strength. A lot of blood of the Adivsis were shed in the forests in India in that process. The British enacted the first laws over forests which gave them power over the forests. During the post colonial rule in independent India, the same process continued. Many struggles of the Adivasis on the forest rights emerged during this period also. Many groups, movements, activists and intellectuals were involved.

As a result, the Government of india was forced to enact a law called Forest Rights Act (FRA) in India allowing community rights and individual rights for the Adivasis and Other Forest Dwellers over the forests. It has been proven beyond doubt that the implementation of this law has been extremely poor. It has been felt that there should be more awareness on the benefits of this law. 

This film is made to bring out awareness on this law. 

A series of posters on the main content of the law was designed by Achu Sheela and K.P. Sasi. The posters were inaugurated by the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri Arjun Munda who belongs to the Adivasi community in Jharkhand, at a function organized by AIFFRS (a national network for forest rights in India). These posters were converted into an experimental short film where no camerawork was involved. All the instruments used in the music of the film are made from bamboo.

23rd Madurai Film Festival : Retrospective II - Nina Sabnani

23rd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2021 

Retrospective II : Nina Sabnani 

Films by Nina Sabnani

Nina Sabnani is an artist and storyteller who uses film, illustration and writing to tell her stories. Graduating from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Vadodara she received a master's degree in film from Syracuse University, NY, which she pursued as a Fulbright Fellow. Her doctoral thesis on the Kaavad tradition has been published in a book; Kaavad Tradition of Rajasthan, a portable pilgrimage.

Nina's research interests include exploring the dynamics between words and images in storytelling. Her work in film and illustrated books seeks to bring together animation and ethnography. Her award-winning films include Mukand and Riaz, Tanko Bole Chhe (The Stitches Speak) and Baat Wahi Hai. Her film Hum Chitra Banate Hain made in collaboration with the Bhil artist Sher Singh from Madhya Pradesh, received the national award (Rajat Kamal) for the best animation film from the President of India at the 64th National Awards for 2016. In 2018 she received the lifetime achievement award for Illustration from Tata Trusts at the Tata Lit Live Festival in Mumbai. In 2021 she received The Legend of Indian Animation award from Toonz Media Group. 

Currently, she is Chair of Immersive Learning at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art Design and Technology.

23rd Madurai Film Festival 2021 : Student Films - curated by Swarnavel Easwaran

23rd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 

Student Films from USA :  Curated by Prof Dr Swarnavel Eswaran, Michigan University, USA

Venue: Department of Communications, Madurai Kamaraj University
Date/Time: Friday, 10th December: 2 – 5 p.m.

“Through a rigorous curriculum, using state of the art gear and facilities, our department advances 'learning by doing' while grounding our students in the fundamentals of storytelling. Collaborative, hands-on exercises and projects are complemented by courses in film studies. These film study courses range widely, covering a spectrum of important genres, directors, movements, and topics drawn from American as well as international film history”  - Prof. and Chair Annette Danto, School of Cinema, Brooklyn College, USA.

Films from the University of Southern California:

Unmothered (Dir. Urvashi Patania)
For Rosa (Dir. Kathryn Boyd-Batstone)
A Conversation (Dir. Jingyi Shao)

Films from Brooklyn College (CUNY):

1.Between Me and Him (Dir. Alaa Seoudy) 

2.Saigon: Organized Chaos (Dir. Brian Kaspiev) 

3.We Should Talk (Dir. Joshua Deveaux)
4. Self Portraits: Directors Milton Fernandez, Alexa Whyte (Woman of Color), Maya Kirsch, Joseph Edelheit (Silence), and Anslem (Glitch)

Films from Michigan State University:

1.What Happened to Henry? (Dir. Andrew Acciaioli) 

2. Rise (Dir. Hannah Byrd)
3. Drawing the Line (Dir. Evan Kutz)

We are grateful to Prof. Priya Jaikumar, Prof. Annette Danto, Prof. Vinit Parmar, Senior Director Sandrine Cassidy, Prof. John Valadez, and Prof. Johannes Bauer. 

Our thanks to the Young Filmmakers.

Swarnavel Eswaran is a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India and the prestigious film studies program at the University of Iowa. He is an accomplished filmmaker and his documentaries include Tsunami: Waves from the Deep (2018), Hmong Memories at the Crossroad (2016), Migrations of Islam (2014), and Unfinished Journey: A City in Transition (2012). He is currently a professor in film studies and film production in the Department of English and the School of Journalism at Michigan State University His fiction feature Kattumaram (Catamaran, 2019), a collaboration with Tamil’s cinema’s leading director, Mysskin, is currently on the film festival circuit.

23rd Madurai Film Festival 2021 : Filmmaker in Focus - Abeer Khan

23rd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2021

Filmmaker in Focus : Abeer Khan 

Abeer Khan is a self-taught Filmmaker and Photographer based in Mumbai. Over the years she has gained proficiency in her profession through reading, researching and developing her skills for Direction, Editing, Cinematography, and Photography. Most of her films are a result of her functioning as a ‘one woman crew’. Her work is involved with the inner world of her characters. As she says, “Through Filmmaking and Photography, I try to bring out the inner churning of the character’s mind. In my work, space is a crucial element. I find it immensely interesting to observe the function of the characters in their spaces and create a world of their own.”

Her films Makaan , Far from the Madding Crowd, Free Housing Free T.B, and Child Lock have
been showcased at Chennai International Film festival, VAICA, Hers is us, Prithvi Vikalp, Harkat Arts, and Madurai Film festival. Abeer likes to spend her leisure time sculpting, and cypher solving. Her work has been published in National Geographic, HomeGrown, Midday, Platform magazine, Better Photography, and Scroll.

List of films :

Makaan, 4 mins:25 secs
Far from the Madding Crowd 17:25
Free Housing Free T.B, and 4 mins 36 secs
Child Lock 2 mins 13 secs
22nd Floor, Alta Monte - 1 min 34 secs
Wading - 3 Mins 11 secs
Father, Dean Martin & Good times - 4 mins 11 secs
Dopehar - 6 mins 2 secs
Fever Dream - 3 mins 20 sec
Dad recites poetry 2 mins 15 secs


Films that have spoken to Abeer Khan
The chorus - Abbas Kiarostami
Bread and the alley Abbas Kiarostami
The Telephone - Star Bestseller Dir- Shabnam Shukhdev
Zhang Yimou – En regardant le film (Movie Night)
One fine day - Takeshi Kitano
Oh Willy
Chekov Dir - Jack Dumpy
My stuffed Granny -
A mighty nice man
Paper Memories - Written and Directed by Theo Putzu
3x3 -
Piano
Fish - Heather Young
Normal Appearances -
Ballonfest
Slapper
An Afternoon Class

Email id: abeerconnect@gmail.com

Website: www.abeerkhan.com

23rd Madurai Film Festival 2021 : Retrospective 1 - Tarun Bhartiya

23rd Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2021

Retrospective 1 : Tarun Bhartiya 

LIST OF FILMS

Tarun Bhartiya is a documentary imagemaker, Hindi poet and political activist based in Shillong, Khasi Hills, India.

Tarun Bhartiya’s films include “Brief Life of Insects” (2015, Mumbai International Film Festival, Best Sound Award), “The Last Train in Nepal” (2015, BBC4, RTSYorkshire award for Best Director, Factual), “When the Hens Crow” (2013), “Darjeeling Himalayan Railway” (Royal Television Society Award, Best documentary series 2010), Tourist Information for Shillong (2007) as well as music videos for several Shillong bands.

As an editor he has worked on notable films with film-makers like Vasudha Joshi (Girl Song, 2003; Songlines, 2010, and Cancer Katha, Special Jury Award, National Awards 2012), “Red Ant Dream” (Editor & Co-Writer, Sanjay Kak, 2014), “Jashn-e-Azadi” (Sanjay Kak 2007) and “In Camera” (Ranjan Palit 2010, National Award for Best Editing, Since Retuned in protest against Hindutva Fascist state policies).

For his work on Indian Hill Railways, he was also nominated for The Guild of Television Camerapersons of UK award for best camera work.

His photographs and image essays have been published in magazines and as covers of many books. His most recent work “Niam/Faith/Hynniewtrep : 100 Unaddressed Picture Postcards from Khasi-Jaintia Hills” was part of Diffusion : Welsh International Festival of Photography commissioned by Chennai Photo Biennale and Diffusion for Imagining the Nation State Grant. He is working a photobook NIAMBOOK supported by India Foundation for the Arts.

His poems and their translations have appeared in various anthologies including Dancing Earth: Contemporary poetry from North East India (Penguin), Das Baras – Hindi Kavita Ayodhya ke Baad (SAHMAT).

He was a founder member of alt-space, an independent cultural and political space in Shillong, and is a member of Thma U Rangli Juki (TUR), a progressive people’s group in Meghalaya and Workers Power of Meghalaya.

He is a member and commissioning editor of Three Essays Collective, a small independent publisher.

He is a research Consultant and founder member of The Northeast India Audio Visual Archive, St. Anthony’s College, Shillong.

He helped curate, Rustle of Spring/Whiff of Gunpowder, A programme of Films from Northeast India at Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Japan

He is a founder member of Raiot Collective which publishes Raiot, www.raiot.in

Film Festival on Justice, Peace and Harmony

National Solidarity Forum
presents
Film Festival on Justice, Peace and Harmony

24 Aug 6 am to  26 Aug  6 am 2021; for 48 hours

Curated by Amudhan R.P.
Coordinated by KP Sasi

List of films :

1) I am Bonnie
Dir: Farha Katun, Satarupa Santra, Saurabh Kanti Dutta; 45 min; Bengali with English subtitles; Documentary; India 

Bonnie (33) is again on the run. He has been on the run from his family and sports fraternity since failing 'sex test' before the Bangkok Asian Games, 1998.

2) We Have Not Come Here to Die
Dir : Deepa Dhanraj; 100 min; English subtitles, Documentary; India.

On January 17th 2016 a Dalit, Phd research scholar, and activist Rohith Vemula unable to bear the persecution from a partisan University administration and dominant caste Hindu supremacists hung himself in one of the most prestigious universities in India. His suicide note, which argued against the “value of a man being reduced to his immediate identity” galvanized student politics in India.

Over the last year thousands of students all over the country have broken the silence around their experiences of caste discrimination in Universities and have started a powerful anti-caste movement. The film attempts to track this historic movement that is changing the conversation on caste in India.

3) A Foreigner in My Home Land
Dir: Nishajyothi Sharma; 55 min

Nepalis (Gorkhas) of Assam are not foreigners or outsiders, except for a few who may have migrated to Assam (India) post 1971. However, the prevalent sentiment among the Assamese masses is quite contrary to what history says and the Assam Accord of 1985 has agreed to.

Through this self-reflexive film, the filmmaker (who herself is an Asameli Nepali/Gorkha) explores the notion of identity of the community in Assam.

4) Scratches on Stone
Dir: Amit Mahanti; 62 min; Ao, Chen, Nagamese, English; 2018

Zubeni grew up in the 1980s-90s in the midst of a 50-year war for Naga independence. She says its traces still exist today – in her memories, in the photographs she takes, in herself. Elsewhere in Nagaland, 98-year old Cheno Khuzuthrupa remembers the war through a wooden engraving outside his house, while Shoupa and Zubeni talk about an Austrian ethnologist’s photography in the area in the 1930s. Meanwhile, Zubeni’s niece, Hannah will turn 3 in a few months, and Zubeni has been wondering how to capture her image.

In Nagaland, the past lingers on, framed through photographs, casting shadows over the present. ‘Scratches on Stone’ is an exploration of the textures and residue of violence in Nagaland – through Zubeni’s personal experiences; through people and images that remind us of the political violence that the place has been through; and the legacy of the anthropological photographic tradition that has always foregrounded the idea of ‘violence’ among the Naga people.

5) The Battle of Bhima Koregaon - an unending journey
Dir: Somnath Waghmare; 49 min; Marathi, Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2016

History speaks about great wars fought, brave warriors and clever kings and emperors. What history doesn't do is justice to the wars, warriors and leaders of the oppressed. This documentary is about the 500 Mahar soldiers (the untouchables) who offered to fight alongside their countrymen, against the colonisers. Rejected by the ruling class they joined forces with the colonisers and fought in the 'Bhima Koregaon Battle', defeating the Brahminical rule of the Peshwas. Just as history did, so do the media and ruling class today conveniently forget to acknowledge them.

On the 1st of January, every year, 20 lakh (2 million) people gather at Bhima-Koregaon, Pune, Maharashtra to commemorate that battle. No national or local media covers the largest annual gathering in the region. The documentary captures the history of Bhima Koregaon and its relevance to contemporary Dalit issues and politics in the country. It tells the history of the Bahujans through the coverage of the events of this gathering.

6) The Color of My Home
Dir : Sanjay Barnela & Farah Naqvi; 48 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles

Violent winds of hate carrying human beings like so much debris - this is what is called internal displacement. A reality for hundreds and thousands across the globe, and for many Indians. These are the people the world calls IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in dispassionate officialese. What is lost when people attack you and your home, forcing you to flee? What is the human cost that violent displacement extracts for generations? When the media has left, and public attention gone, forgotten uprooted lives still need to be rebuilt. But can they? Be really rebuilt? What does ‘rehabilitation’ mean? A new roof over ones head? Or, monetary compensation given by the State? Is the home that was lost ever regained?

'The Colour of My Home' follows a group of people, violently displaced after ‘riots’ in the North Indian town of Muzaffarnagar in 2013, seeking answers to these questions.

7) Cotton for My Shroud
Dir: Nandan Saxena, Kavita Bahl; 72 min; English, Marathi with English subtitles

'Cotton for my shroud' is an investigation into the failure of Bt. Cotton crop in India. Empty promises, escalating costs, dwindling yields and depressed cotton prices played havoc. Since 1995, a quarter of a million Indian farmers have committed suicide - the largest wave of recorded suicides in human history.

The Majority of them were cotton farmers from Vidarbha. While the state and the media label these deaths as suicide, the cotton fields of Vidarbha remain a mute witness to genocide.

8) 21 Hours
Dir : Sunitha C.V.; 28 min; Malayalam with Eng subtitles; 2020

This documentary film records the life of Rajamma, a woman fish vendor in Trivandrum, Kerala, who travels daily to Thoothukudy harbour 200 km away to procure fish and sell it back in her hometown. It highlights the struggle and strength of unorganised working women, who survive because of sheer grit, in spite of overwhelming odds.

Write up about the filmmaker : Sunitha studied Electronic Journalism at the Press Club Institute of Journalism, Trivandrum. Later she learned acting for films at the Prague Film School. She worked as journalist and program producer for various Television Channels in Malayalam before she moved into films as an actor, casting director and Executive Producer. 21 Hours is her first independent documentary.

9) Songs of our Soil
Dir: Aditi Maddali; 52 min; Telugu with Eng subtitles; 2019

Uyyala songs are an agricultural tradition rooted in the political expression of women in Telangana. Through these oral traditions, Songs of our Soil traces the histories of resistance and memories of disillusionment experienced by women across political assertions in the region.

From women’s participation in the historical Telangana People’s Movement to the demands of justice from the contemporary Mallana Sagar Irrigation project, this film attempts to complicate the relationship between memory, history, and cultural production in women's political journeys.

This project is made possible with a grant from India Foundation for the Arts under the Arts Research programme, with support from Titan Company Ltd.

10) Naachi Se Baanchi
Dir: Meghnath & Biju Toppo

In his lifetime itself Dr. Ram Dayal Munda has become a symbol of indigenous cultural reawakening.

Born in an Adivasi Family of Tamar in Jharkhand he went for his higher studies in The United States of America. Later, he taught at the University of Minnesota. He came back to India to teach at Tribal and Regional Language Department of Ranchi University and subsequently became the Vice Chancellor of

the same University. Ram DayalMunda was the leading intellectual who has contributed to Jharkhand movement immensely.

Dr. Munda has represented Adivasi voices in Rajya Shabha and United Nations. He has been awarded with Sahitya Academy Award and Padmashree in 2009.

He passed away on 30th September 2011.

11) Red Data Book : An Appendix
Dir: Pradeep Dipu & Sreemith 72 min; Malayalam with Eng subtitles; 2014; Documentary

The film is a layered examination of the factors, both contemporary and historical, that have led the Adivasi (tribal) communities of Attappady (Kerala, South India) to the verge of extinction. The film focuses on the phenomenon of rising infant mortality to probe the entire range of underlying factors.

Is it mainly due to malnutrition, as the State claims? Is it their exclusion from the fruits of so-called development? Is it their refusal to 'modernise'? Or is it our inability to comprehend and preserve their centuries-old harmonious way of life? Have our prescriptive interventions helped? Or have they caused great harm?

The film attempts to understand the gamut of 'alienations' responsible - social, cultural, economic and political while gently posing the core question: Is it they who are alienated from the onward march of progress or is it us who are alienated, blinded by the discourse of modernity?

12) Ammi
Dir : Sunil Kumar; 90 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2018; Documentary

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words - and never stops - at all..." ~ Emily Dickinson.

Four years of hope…. Four years of waiting in vain.

Ammi, still waits for her son to walk through the doors; she will never lose hope. This is one woman's fight for justice to be seen.

Battered by the police, having been told by the myriad government agencies, investigating her son's disappearance, that there was nothing to be found, no evidence to suggest anyone in particular was involved, she still stands with conviction.

Since Najeeb went missing on 15, October 2016 from the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus, New Delhi, there has been no progress in the investigations of the various agencies investigating the disappearance.

The agencies' initial suspects, the ABVP - a right wing youth organisation were the initial prime suspects in his disappearance. But it seems that it is just as easy as that to make someone disappear when the perpetrators are the youth wing of a right wing organisation in the time of a right wing government.

13) 18 Feet
Dir: Renjit Kuzhur; 77 min; Malayalam with English subtitles; Documentary

Karinthalakoottam is an indigenous band that propagates the music of soul to connect people with a sense of historic resolution. 18 feet symbolizes the holy distance dalits, the downtrodden, were to ensure for the sanctity of upper castes.

P R Remesh, a city public-bus conductor, is the man behind the exuberant squad that drums empathy for all in denial of historic untouchability attached to the disused community.The troop is the vanguard in redefining the identity of people who are battered by senseless incorrectness through centuries. The downtown Kerala band rekindles the sense of sanity for all with a massage of love and harmony.

14) Voices From the Ruins – Kandhamal In Search of Justice
Dir: K.P. Sasi, 95 min; with English subtitles; Documentary

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FILM

The state of Orissa was born in 1936 as a result of the social reform movement initiated by Madhusoodhan Das, who was called `The Father of Orissa’. Madhusoodhan Das was a converted Christian. Kandhamal District in Orissa is mainly inhabited by Adivasis and Dalits and among them a large population are Christians. The biggest violence on the Adivasi Christians and Dalit Christians took place in 2008. The survivors of Kandhamal violence are still struggling against the improper compensation, improper rehabilitation and improper justice delivery systems. This film brings out the concerns of the survivors, through their own voices as well concerned sections, analysing the historical roots of violence, the impact of violence on various sections of the communities and the struggle for justice by the survivors of Kandhamal violence. 

15) Tin Satyi … (In Fact …)

Dir : Debalina; 51 min; Bengali with Eng subtitles; 2018

Tin Satyi…(In Fact…) captures the essence of three different life-stories that are defying the hetero-patriarchal norms of society at every breath. Aimed at understanding philosophies of non-conforming desires, the film also depicts ripples created by these lives in the society.