25th Madurai Film Festival 2023 - Lady Doak College

 25th Madurai Film Festival 2023
Screening Schedule 

 Lady Doak College; 5, 6 December


Jointly organised by 
Centre for Women's Studies[UGC Supported], Centre for Communication & 
Multi Media and the Audio Visual Club, Lady Doak College
and 
MARUPAKKAM

5 December

9.30 am 


From the Shadows 

Dir : Miriam Chandy Menacherry; 76.09 min; Documentary; India 



From the Shadows uses the imagery of public art to delve into missing narratives. Paint cans and stencils in hand, Leena Kejriwal relentlessly sprays splattered walls with a girl’s shadow #missing #everyeightminutes, a haunting reminder that girls disappear at a staggering pace. The narrative starts from her terrace overlooking Asia’s largest red-light district and into the world’s largest delta, quick sands of missing cases.


11.15 am Tea break


11.30 am 


Casteless Collective - Prologue

Dir: Monesh Kumar; 96 min; India; Documentary


The documentary chronicles the story of Indian most Revolutionary political musical outfit The Casteless Collective from its inception and through the release of their debut album “Magizhchi” (which means Joy) in 2019.


1 pm Lunch break


2 pm 


Perumbakkam

Dir : Sanjay Ridhwan; 10 min; India; Documentary


A detailed study on the dark side of the urban housing development’s eviction process and horrors of basic human living standards in the slum clearance housing board of ‘PERUMBAKKAM’


6 December


9 am : Inauguration 


9.30 am 


On Mothers and Daughters in Times of Injustice

Dir : Talia Jawitz; 28.48 min; Documentary; South Africa



Through old letters, Merle revisits her past as an anti-Apartheid activist, which fractured her relationship with her mother forever. At the same time, she faces her privilege in today's South Africa and her relationship with her own daughter.


10 am


Submerged 

Dir : Iqbal Hussain; 25 min; Documentary; India 




Kotmir, a village in the Dharaji Panchayat, was under the submergence area of the Omkareswar Dam built in the Narmada River. But many of the people from Kotmir had refused to leave the village due to unsettled compensation packages and they lived a subsistence life as migrant labourers in the cities. When they were forced to return home during the country wide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, these migrant labourers faced a unique situation. 


10.25 am  Tea break


10.35 am 


Taanaa-baanaa 

Dir : Shubhangi Bansai; 19.25 min; Documentary; India 



Set in one of the last surviving weavers’ colonies of Delhi, the film follows the journey of a thread while intricately weaving the rhythms of the space with the conversations of the people who inhabit it. 


Interaction with Shubhangi Bansai, filmmaker


11.10 am 


The Last Journey 

Dir : Suraj Gunjal; 21 min; Documentary; India 



Praful (52) is a coffin-maker and has a very conventional run of the mill attitude towards his unconventional work; working for the dead. Delivering coffins, crosses, dead bodies on order while juggling between mortuaries, houses and cemeteries, his life gets weaved with the stories of the dead ones. 


Interaction with Ashutosh Kumar (The Last Journey)


11.40 am 


Untold Story of Fatma Kayaci 

Dir: Orhan Tekeoglu; 40 min; Documentary; Turkey


Year 1985. Everybody talks about 16-year old Ali Kayacı who died by falling into the fire, while staying with his aunt on the mountain pasture of 2000 metres. Ali’s step mother, their neighbour Aunt Emine say that the kid falling victim to this accident was because of Fatma Kayacı’s neglect.After this painful incident, when Fatma Kayacı hears about the accusations from her relatives and neighbors, she resents them tremendously and leaves her village not to see anyone from the relatives again.


Akanska on the Planet Blarg

Dir: Apoorva Rege; 4.50 min; India; Animation films




‘Akanksha on the Planet Blarg’ follows a young Indian girl’s struggles with cultural identity and alienation during a regular school day, as she writes and illustrates a story of her own to cope.



12.30 pm : Lunch break


1.30 pm 


Aaha Nanna Maduve Ante!

Dir : Preeti Sagar; 28 min; Short fiction; India


Sinchana, a 20-something in Bangalore, does not have life figured out. Her father is mean, getting permission to step out of the house is a chore, her love life is weird, and her best friend is always pushing her to be… better.


With her father continuing to push marriage down her throat, Sinchana heads out in the city one day and finds out that there really are only two options. One, do something. Two, have life do something to you. Which one will she choose?


Interaction with Preeti Sagar, filmmaker


Echelon Threads

Dir : Achin Phulre; 17.40 min; Documentary; India


Experience life on the rugged Changthang plateau, where each day is a symphony of tradition and survival. Witness as dawn unveils the delicate art of combing pashmina wool from goats, followed by men guiding herds to graze at 5400m. Women masterfully weave sheep wool into carpets and garments. Pashmina, sold to co-ops and buyers, carries dreams. Amidst breathtaking altitudes, resilience, and rich meals, this documentary paints a vivid portrait of a timeless community crafting its destiny.


Interaction with Achin Phulre


2.40 pm 


Balloon Underwater 

Dir : Sivakumar K; 22 min; Documentary; India 



Balloons fly, balloons float but they never submerge until the pressure is more than their buoyancy. This documentary is about a physically challenged woman trying to remain afloat despite her social, economic, and cultural pressures with nothing but her unnaturally positive attitude. 


Hottebaka

Dir : Vishnu Tenkayala; 19.19 min; Short fiction; India



'Hottebāka' meaning gluttony, follows the journey of a young, small town woman who moves to Bangalore to pursue her dreams of becoming an actor in the film industry. She manages to secure a position in a film but is asked to lose some weight for the role.


And I call him my father 

Dir : Hanna P A; 17 min; Documentary; India 



Since 2016, Musthafa has been restoring a piece of degraded mining land tucked away in a village of Kerala into a greenland of his mind. The land then witnessed substantial changes which has since then been known as Greenara. Six years later, His daughter retraces the steps of his journey developing the land. 


Pehla Anda

Dir : Vritti Bhardwaj, Koshika; 11.28 min; Short film; India; Student film



The story revolves around a family of a 10 years old girl named Bhoori who gets her first period, and her mother, the only female in the house, not being home. Knowing nothing about it, she comes to the conclusion that she might die and makes different conclusions in her head to its reasoning.


Rider Rukmani 

Dir : Guhan S; 19 min; Short film; India; Student film



During her trip, Rukmani (A solo woman traveller) meets a man who sticks cinema posters on walls. They travel together to watch a movie. The man is not allowed inside the multiplex as he is wearing a Lungi.



6 December : Screen 2


9.30 am 


Bonded

Dir: Shobhit Jain; 56:19; India; Documentary



The film takes an ethnographic look into the life of a bonded labourer in a remote tribal village in central India.


10.45 am Tea break


11.00 am 


Hailstorm

Dir: Shobhit Jain; 01:01:43; India; Documentary



A freak hailstorm sets off a series of events in the life of farmers unfolding the vulnerability and precarious situation of those on the margin.


Water Mill at Badi

Dir : Khabu; 35 min; Documentary; China



Yongzhonglamu decided to fulfill her 96-year-old mother's wish to pass on their love to the children with her own hands and in her own way. 


With her hard work and the inherited skills, she saved enough money to change phones and complete the repair of the water mill, sending love to the children in this way.


A Candid Conversation about Butterflies 

Dir : Nisam Asaf K J; 7.35 min; Documentary; India 




Bhagyaraj, a wildlife watcher at the Parambikkulam Tiger Reserve, talks about his passion for learning about butterflies among a few other things about forest and nature. 






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