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.