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.