25th Madurai Film Festival 20231-10 Dec / multiple venues, Madurai
Screening Schedule
LENS MEDIA CENTRE1-5 December; 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm
For students, teachers, filmmakers, journalists and critics only
1 December
I am not Afraid
Dir : Marita Mayer; 7 min; Norway; Animation films
During a game of hide and seek Vanja leaves the bright living room and enters a dimly lit courtyard, which has far too many dark corners, weird shadows and strange noises. To overcome the fear, Vanja turns into a dangerous tiger!
2 Chaak 435 Divas
Dir: Ganesh Rajkumar Dhotre; 30 min; Documentary; India
This film is a documentary about a girl who travels all over Maharashtra on a bicycle without money without any support ti spread awareness about conserving the environment, avoiding pollution and women empowerment. She journeyed a total of 17000 kilometers in 435 days.
The Long Road
Dir : Baylon Fonseca; 22.30 min; Documentary; India; Student film
Step onto a thought-provoking path of discovery in the compelling documentary "The Long Road," where the lines between "normal" and "abnormal," "abled" and "disabled" blur into insignificance. Directed with heartfelt curiosity, this documentary delves deep into the lives of individuals who have been blessed with unique abilities and challenges, inviting viewers to question society's perceptions of diversity.
Study
Dir : Abhilash Sunkesula; 17 min; Documentary; India
Numerous disciplines have emerged in the contemporary world. Yet, since the last few decades, students from Andhra Pradesh & Telangana have majorly chosen MPC (Maths, Physics, Chemistry) & BiPC (Biology, Physics, Chemistry) as their 11th & 12th study streams. Leading the students to only two professional career options which are Engineer & Doctor. The film finds all kinds of reasons existing for this scenario.
They are not meant to tell this story
Dir : Deepanwita Goswami ; 13.21 min; Documentary; India; Student film
It is one of the regular days in the life of one Santhal family where 3kg of rice yields up to 9 litres of handia approximately. It is mostly the womenfolk who participate in the making of this drink. The film addresses further points of the conflict in the intersection of culture and economics.
21…
Dir : Liya Hitesh; 19.48 min; Documentary; India
20th March 2020, India. Prime Minister has just announced a 21 day nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of Corona virus. The film is an observational account of a desolate film institute campus. The spaces which were once swarming with young film students are now empty and frozen. There is no sense of progress of time. The only things that have kept this space still alive are the wildlife and the animals on the campus. Delving between the boundaries of realism and magic realism, the film depicts obvious and mundane everyday life cycle of the campus over a period of 21 days through intriguing audio-visuals.
Somewhere Near and Far
Dir : Gurleen Grewal; 23 min; Documentary; India
Set in a newly constructed landscape of suburban Delhi, the filmmaker turns the camera inward to the space of her home. Through silences, whispered conversations, and objects, the film examines the complex nature of gender and family dynamics. The parents’ routines—shared and solitary— become gateways to explore their inner and outer lives, while also looking at the urban alienation that surrounds them.
Loo
Dir : Chanakya Vyas; 14.22 min; Short fiction; India
Struggling to find a place to pee, a domestic helper working in an apartment building decides to secretly use the toilet in the house where she works leading to the breaking of unsaid norms between her and the employer, as class bias comes to the fore.
2 December
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.
Aaha Nanna Maduve Ante!
Dir : Preeti Saga; 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?
Robin
Dir : Gagan Chirayu; 26.06; Short fiction; India
A prominent politician's house is robbed in Bangalore city. The police have started the investigation of the robbery and have started searching for the robbers. As Neha finishes her work and goes home, the police conduct their search. There is a mysterious bag inside Neha's car but the police did not notice it. Subsequently, the story unfolds with the arrival of unknown persons in Neha's house, intriguingly and secretly leading the narrative
Kameez
Dir : Dhrubajit Baishya; 19.59 min; Short fiction; India
This Summer is Waiting
Dir : Sowmya Mukhopadhyay; 14.45; Short fiction; India
It is summer in Kolkata, India. A man waits at a bus stop in the morning while a girl with a violin waits in the afternoon. One day their paths cross. A strange relationship unfolds as they begin exploring the quiet of the city.
Dava
Dir : Shashank Trivedi; 14.51; Short fiction; India
Mocked by a boy, chutki wants to show her father also cares for her but circumstances has something more planned for her family.
Sirithu Velicham (Ray of Hope)
Dir : Balaji SBR; 12.43 min; Short fiction; India
A man returns from his incarceration after 13 years. He goes to meet his beloved daughter. But the daughter amidst her wedding preparations sends him back.
Canvas
Dir : Sanjai Chandrasekaran; 18.40 min; Short fiction; India
This is the story of a Therukoothu artist, it depicts how he challenges his problems and what all he goes through behind the screen (offscreen) due to his challenging phase in life.
Koyta (Sickle)
Dir : Shaksham Vyas; 8.48 min; Short fiction; India
3rd December
Two One Two
Dir : Shira Avni; 4.10 min; Canada; Animation films
Two One Two, by award-winning filmmaker Shira Avni, combines shimmering clay on glass animation with personal archives in this deeply intimate, experimental animated documentary love letter to motherhood, parenting on the spectrum, and two headed monsters everywhere.
Cat’s Attic
Dir : Nundrisha Wakhloo, Daksh Punj; 24.56 min; Documentary; India
Brair Kani, or Cat's Attic, explores an ancestral house located in Srinagar, Kashmir. A document written by the filmmaker’s grandfather traces the history of the house to shed light on its changing ownership. Through architectural elements and objects with embedded histories, the house comes alive with stories.
January
Dir : Biswajit Das; 21.51 min; Documentary; India
January is a documentary film before and after their debut performance "Hei Heiya Hae Hou" by the Manipuri group Survivors in Guwahati in January 2023.
Lullaby of Wave
Dir : Ayon Pratim Saikia; 15.20 min; Documentary; India; Student film
This film is a part of the filmmakers’ journey towards understanding and accepting the sense of belonging respective of space and time. The search for identity through the mother's voice and the relation to the river, which guides the events that have followed and will continue to create in the future.
Vattam - The Holy Sin
Dir : Vivek K.A.; 28.20 min; India; Documentary
Cows are revered as sacred in Hinduism, practiced by nearly 80 percent of India's 1.3 billion people. Many states already prohibit cow slaughter. Though cow is worshiped as god in many parts of the country, for the percussion artists in God’s Own Country, the skin of the slaughtered cattle is a means of livelihood as chenda and other percussion instruments are made of the tanned skin of cattle.
Messi
Dir : Anilava Chatterjee; 22.24 min; Documentary; India
Does everyone's dream come true? No, it doesn't! But does that mean the race of life comes to an end? No, it doesn't. Instead, the race continues relentlessly. One after another, it challenges the hurdles. Is this race not like Messi’s?
Anney
Dir : Anandha Rajan Yavana Rajan; 8.47 min; Short fiction; India
At a village in Tamil Nadu, India - Two siblings Anandam & Selvam with differing interests (Love Vs Money) face each other at two moments; one in their childhood and at another peak moment after 38 years.
4th December
Lights
Dir: Jitka Nemikinsova; 8.26 min; Czech Republic; Animation films
Lightbulbs are throwing a party for growing up flames to welcome them in the system that will let them shine and protect them. But one flames likes to play with fire and rebels against the system.
Cake
Dir : Surya Ma Ve; 17.25 min; Short fiction; India
Prabhu, a poor labourer, wants to buy a birthday cake to fulfil his daughter's wish.
500th
Dir: Aritra Banerjee; 20 min; Short fiction; India
Ipshita was walking along the road alone at midnight. Suddenly she saw a bus-stop on the opposite lane of the Highway and decided to cross the road. She was about to collide with a truck, when a mysterious woman appeared out of nowhere and pulled her back to save her life.
Silence in the Library
Dir : Yang Zimik; 18.31 min; Short fiction; India / United States
Student protesters trapped inside their university library prepare for armed forces to inevitably break through the doors. The film follows two characters on either side of the conflict.
Diary of Hitler Kumar
Dir : Rohit Patidar; 7.48 min; Short fiction; India
A documentary about Hitler Kumar who is obsessed with killing mosquitoes.
A Tale of Two Indians
Dir : Raghav Parmer; 15.42 min; Short fiction; India
Two naive kids, unaffected by their distinct religions, come together to save a life. Meanwhile, in a parallel world, a communal riot breaks out between the same two communities where people are thirsty for each other’s blood.
Meenakshi
Dir : Umang Ritalal Sangani; 7.43 min; Short fiction; India
Meenakshi is judged as an adolescent girl for bleeding after her first periods, she is judged as a young woman for not wanting to have sex, she is judged as a young wife for wanting to learn music and then, when she is stripped of all desire and ambition, hence becoming conformed, she is judged for not having agency, for being ‘like a child’.
ATM Card
Dir : Rajit Chandan; 14.56 min; Short fiction; India
A struggling actor turns to a life of deceit, using his voice to exploit vulnerable seniors through ATM card scams. As his fraudulent actions lead to a heartbreaking breakup and a downward spiral into mental instability, he reaches the brink of despair.
Roads
Dir : Daanish Shastri; 21.43 min; Short fiction; India
Divya, an eleven year old girl in a quaint Himalayan village dreams of becoming an astronaut. Crucial to her dream is the new road that will connect her small hamlet to a larger town and a bigger school. The road is made but it doesn't even withstand one monsoon due to the inherent corruption of the system which lines the pockets of all those involved in the construction.
Two Worlds
Dir : Nithya Gopalakrishnan; 11.28 min; Short fiction; India
A young graduate, deep in debt, receives a call on a sunny and busy morning in Chennai. Assuring that he'd reach within 15 mins, he begins racing in his motorbike through the traffic, risking his life even!
Ek Photo Kheechoge?
Dir : Pratham Bhatia; 15 min; Short fiction; India
Amlan, a middle-aged photographer is on the lookout for a photograph and finds it hard to get through the day until he captures a snapshot of himself in an unexpected companion.
5 December
5 Grains
Dir: Uma Sharma; 3.31 min; India; Animation films
4 Daughter in Laws try to pass an exam involving 5 grains to get the bunch of the keys and become the owner of the house.
The Heaviest Order
Dir : Peter Boving; 10 min; Germany; Animation films
Greta Thunberg places a significant order at a bakery…
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.
My Dream is…
Dir: Riya Hayaran; 16.30 min; Documentary; India; Student film
This is a short documentary about the power of education, the accessibility of safe nurturing environments to little girls and how these spaces and opportunities shape their dreams in a society where many drop out by the 10th grade.
The Legacy from Beyond
Dir : Harsh Raj Gond; 26.21 min; Documentary; India
The Legacy from Beyond is a documentary provides an insightful exploration of Gond art and depicts the lives and struggles of Gond artists who are passionately keeping the Gond art form alive even today. Residing in Patangarh village, they carry forward this art legacy left by the legendary Gond tribal artist Late Shri Jangarh Singh Shyam.
I am Limited Edition
Dir : Suresh Menon; 38.38 min; Documentary; India
A young lady has been struggling with a rare disease - Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS) - for the past 14 years. For more than 9 years she was treated by several physicians but unfortunately, her condition only deteriorated. Even though she knows there is no complete cure for this disease, she is determined to walk again. She just wants to walk enough to at least do all the everyday mundane things by herself.
A Star is Born
Dir : Napoleon RZ Thanga; 27.44 min; Documentary; India
This is the story of that little girl named Esther Hnamte from a remote village in Mizoram, who became that singing sensation. It traces her life story through the lens of a camera.
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