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.

22nd Madurai Film Festival 2020 : Day 5, 10 Dec, Screening Schedule

22nd Madurai International Documentry and Short Film Festival 2020

Day 5, 10 December : Screening Schedule 

12 am to 12 am 


1) In Search of Our Lost Rice Seeds
Dir: Suma Josson; 40 min; English; 2013; Doc; India; Retro I

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FILM

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

2) Niyamgiri, you are still alive
Dir: Suma Josson; 16 min; Odia with Eng subtitles; 2010; Doc; India; Retro I

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FILM

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.

3) Stalking Chernobyl: Exploration After Apocalypse
Dir: Iara Lee; 58.17 min; English / Ukrainian / Russian with Eng subtitles; Ukraine/Slovakia/USA/Bulgaria; 2020; Doc

 Exploration After Apocalypse, a documentary from Cultures of Resistance Films, examines the underground culture of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Three decades after the world's most infamous nuclear disaster, wildlife has returned in the absence of human settlements. Meanwhile, illegal hiking adventurers known as 'stalkers', extreme sports aficionados, artists, and tour companies have begun to explore anew the ghostly, post- apocalyptic landscape. 

4) From Trash to Treasure: turning negatives into positives
Dir: Iara Lee; 20 min; English; USA/Lesotho/Bulgaria; 2020; Doc

In Lesotho—a highland country surrounded by South Africa—an artist named Nthabiseng TeReo Mohanela takes discarded materials and transforms them into unique clothing and accessories. Teaching young people the benefits of recycling and re-creation, she calls her project “From Trash to Treasure.” 

5) Stop Acid Attack
Dir: Farha Khatun; 1.33 min; No dialogue; 2019 ; Doc

The film depicts how a beautiful life can end with the heinous act of throwing acid on somebody.

6) Chal Ga Heera
Dir: Manasi, Prakriti, Prashant, Sreya, Tanushree; 13.10 min; Hindi and Marathi with Eng subtitles; 2019 ; Doc

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FILM

The film based in Mankhurd follows the journey of two women – Ajuma Bi Shaikh (Khala) and Ratna Mane along with the efforts by the women of the community. Patra Chawl, Transit Camp and Bheem Nagar are settlements based in Mumbai’s M-Ward, and are always at the risk of demolition. The women of the community have brought their own issues to the fore, and make attempts to address these through a union or sangathan that has been formed by their collective efforts.

7) Tabdeeli
Dir: Anmol Saini, Anna Binu, Rishika Revo, Sankarsan Behera, Vyshakh Balachandran; 24 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2019 ; Doc

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FILM

Tabdeeli, which means transformation, showcases the journey of two women community leaders working towards eradicating the social evil of domestic violence against women and girls. Working with CORO (Committee for Resource Organisation), Kausar Parveen and Sadiqa Shaikh have been engaged with the predominantly Muslim community residing in Kamla Raman Nagar of Baiganwadi area in Mumbai. Through their tireless approach of rescue, counselling and rehabilitation for survivors and their families; they have not just helped women within the community but also themselves.

8) Zindabad
Dir: Kavya, Srishti, Lavanya, Apoorva, Ajay; 14.21 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2019 ; Doc

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FILM

Zindabad traces the Jeevan Bachao Andolan through the eyes of Anita Dhole, a former resident of Vidyavhar and one of the leading figures in the movement. After their houses were demolished by the BMC, Anita along with other residents was rehabilitated to Mahul. Located in close proximity to a large complex of chemical factories, residents of Mahul have been facing serious health concerns resulting in over 88 deaths in the past 5 years. Protesting against the violation of their basic rights Anita has been living on the footpath opposite the original site of demolition for over 365 days.

9) An Inconvenient Development
Dir: Ajay, Anagha, Kavya, Prakriti, Sreya; 17.01 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2020 ; Doc

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FILM

The land that Aarey forest stands on has been contested for a long time through various forms of reclamation, occupation and land use change.The most recent dialogue surrounding Aarey is one of urban protest – following the axing of more than 2000 trees by the MMRCL for the construction of a Metro car shed at Aarey. The film explores ideas surrounding the invisibilisation of the lives of indigenous people, and the unchecked dominance of urbanity and urban development.

10) Love in Bombay
Dir: Anmol Saini, Isha Srivastava, Priya Singh, Priyanshu Pandey, Rishika Revo, Vishruti Saraf; 23 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2020 ; Doc

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FILM

Love in Bombay, as the title says, explores the existence of romantic love in the metropolitan city of Mumbai. This city of dreams, as it is famously called, is known for its larger-than-life depiction of romance in Bollywood and for its high-rise buildings that define the city as a progressive metropolitan. But in this beautiful city that never sleeps, one that has space for all, does love stand a chance to exist? Are the people of aamchi Mumbai free to love and express their love romantically?

11 Ivanova igra
Dir: Tomislav Zaja; 52 min; Croatian with Eng subtitles; Croatia; 2020 ; Doc

IVAN’S GAME is a biographical documentary which covers the life story of one of the greatest Croatian football players of all time: Ivan Gudelj. The film follows Ivan’s meteoric rise and the tragic end of his career at the height of his fame when he got ill from hepatitis B virus that nearly killed him. It is a story of an exceptional man who lost everything because of the illness, but eventually won his life’s game.

12) Sikhirini Mwsanai (Dance of the Butterfly)
Dir. Subasri Krishnan; 65 min; Bodo, Hindi and English with Eng subtitles; India; 2019 ; Doc

Sikhirni Mwsanai, literally, dance of the butterfly in Bodo, expresses the delicate almost fragile rhythms of traditional Bodo music and dance. The film traces the journey of "Sifung Harimu Afad" a cultural troupe of young adult Bodos as they rediscover those rhythms in their efforts to revive live music and dance performance in Chirang district, Assam. Using traditional musical instruments like the Kham, Serja and Sifung, the group attempts to foreground Bodo identity through disappearing cultural forms. 

13) Bamboo Ballads
Dir: Sajid Naduthody; 29.49 min; Malayalam with Eng subtitles; 2020 ; Doc

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It is the story of a school student Naina Febin who uses music to conserve her favorite plant, Bamboo. She plants bamboo saplings in every available space. She distributes bamboo saplings to the families in her neighborhood. Naina is writing a book on bamboo. She has formed a bamboo music band that uses instruments only made out of bamboo.

14) Far from the Madding Crowd
Dir: Abeer Khan; 17.31 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles ; Doc

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It revolves around a mad-man and his life in Mumbai rains. The title is based on Thomas Hardy's novel - Far from the Madding Crowd. It's an illustration depicting that sanity is subjective. It is about people who are mad enough to live by themselves in this congested world.

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

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.


16) Kadachit
Dir : Suraj Shelar; 16.43 min; Marathi with Eng subtitles; India; 2019 ; Short film 

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.


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

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. 

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

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. 

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

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...

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

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

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

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. 

25) Tooth
Dir: Siman Lyashenko; 7.58 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020; Short film

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. 

26) Talent
Dir: Oleg Ageychev; 9.57 min; Russian with Eng subtitles; Russia; 2020; Short film

 

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

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

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? 

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

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

29) Vaavtal (Whirlwind)
Dir: Suraj Uddhav Madhale; 15.29 min; Marathi with Eng subtitles; 2019

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Akshay is a simple middle-class person who has recently started working as a driver at an industrialist. Akshay’s boss likes to display his luxury possessions and hence sends Akshay to the new client with his BMW car.Akshay finishes the work & on the way back decides to visit his grandma - who lives in a nearby village.

His mind gets nostalgic by the villageous environment And Grandma too is very happy to see him. While they are engaged in talking, a girl comes running and informs him about the scratch made by a kid on the car. Akshay can’t afford to repair it, but can’t lose the job also. Then starts his struggle to collect money for repairing. He tries his best and somehow manages to collect some amount. But scratch doesn’t get repaired.Within a day his life gets deformed.

‘Vavtaal’ is a story how the life of an ordinary worker can get into a tangle by a small problem.

30) VALAN (A TURN)
Dir : Kaushikkumar Kiranbhai Garasiya; 12.38 min; Marathi with Eng subtitles; 2019

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This film is about how an incident turns a tempo driver’s life and he needs to take another turn to bring his life back on track.

Anil a hardworking tempo driver is satisfied with his life and lives happily with his supportive wife and 10 years old daughter. He goes to Pune city everyday for transport work, also teaches his daughter in a city english medium school. One day while traveling to Pune city for work, an incident occurs on a turn and it takes his life upside down.

The whole film revolves around the fear and guilt that Anil goes through.

31)The Woods are calling
Dir :Teenaa Kaur; IDPA

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Metha, along with other tribal hunters in a remote village of Khonoma in Nagaland, gives up hunting so as to save the forest and an endangered bird “Blyth’s Tragopan”. 

32) True Colours
Dir : Vijay S. Jodha

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True Colours is a film that shatters almost every stereotype about physical limits and disability. It features some of the world's most accomplished and inspiring performing artists, who happened to be differently abled. This includes Aliènette Coldfire (finalist France Has Got Talent), India’s classical dance troupe We Are One, Australian crooner Tony Dee – the voice of We're The Superhumans campaign for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, and Drake Music Scotland’s Digital Orchestra – the world's first disabled youth orchestra. This French-Japanese-Indian film project was filmed in Singapore with artists from two dozen countries. 

33) POOP ON POVERTY
Dir : Vijay S. Jodha

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Executive produced by Oscar™ Award winners Don Edkins and Nick Fraser, POOP ON POVERTY is India’s most widely screened and awarded documentary film. Broadcast on 70 stations and in over 200 film festivals worldwide, the film has received over 60 honours including 15 best film/best director awards in eleven countries. Set on the edge of the Thar Desert and in the middle of the world’s biggest camel fair, this film looks at the underbelly of one of world’s most popular tourist destinations. The film highlights a challenge faced by some two billion people on our planet every single day. It is also a tribute to human ingenuity and a sound environmental practice.

34) BASTION OF THE GIANTS
Dir: Sumesh Lekhi; 81 min; English; IDPA

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The film project Bastion of the Giants, entailed years of research by Brave Age’s research team, observing and filming Asian Elephant behaviour in India’s stunning wild jungles, especially at the World Heritage Site-Kaziranga National Park, which is set amidst one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots and holding tremendous  faunal  and  floral  wealth.  The  park  was  established  in  1908,  primarily  to  protect  the  One-horned Indian Rhinoceros, whose numbers had come down to less than 100 a century back. Today with strict  protection  Indian  Rhinos  now  number  more  than  2500  at  Kaziranga  National  Park,  a  park  that occupies an area of 640 square kilometres and is in need of desperate expansion. 

The  film’s  director  Sumesh  Lekhi  along  with  his  crew  spent  days  and  nights  with  villagers  in  Indian villages flanking these Ancient Elephant jungles-understanding how their daily lives are affected and how they have to work along with the forest department and its guards to keep elephants away from their crops and homes. Many of the villages and crop plantations stand on original forest lands.

The  project  explores  the  lives  of  these  giants  and  their  family groups and being a keystone species-the large role they play in shaping their habitat. Even while bringing out  the  man-elephant  conflict,  Sumesh  Lekhi  wanted  to  present  the  magnificent  side  of  how  wildlife actually  is  if  left  alone  in  their  natural  environment  and  how  the  lives  of  different  species  are  inter connected. There still is hope for our wildlife and forests, but that will take great human leadership.

Sections :

1) Indian films
2) International films
3) Retro I - Suma Josson
4) Retro II - Sanjay Shah
5) Filmmaker in Focus - Sandhya Kumar
6) Films from Tamilnadu
7) Director's Cut
8) Student films

9) Films from IDPA