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