FILM LINE UP FOR IFFB 2020
Aamis
Director- Bhaskar Hazarika / 107mins/ Assamese/ 2019
Nirmali, a married Paediatrician in her late 30s, leads a peaceful but joyless domestic existence in Guwahati, Assam. Her husband, a senior Doctor, spends most of his time doing relief work in surrounding areas, leaving her alone at home to take care of their son. One day, she meets Sumon, a young PhD student researching food habits in northeastern India, who warms up to her in a manner she seems unaccustomed to. Sumon believes that no food is taboo and Nirmali is drawn to the idea. The two quickly discover a shared taste in food as they explore their taste, their relationship takes a dark turn.
Cat Sticks
Director- Ronny Sen/ 90mins/ Bengali/ 2019
On a rainy night in Calcutta a group of desperate addicts chase brown sugar, but the permanent intoxication they seek proves elusive. Cat Sticks weaves their stories into a chiaroscuro, traverses with them through states high and low, spaces real and unreal. A relentless downpour plays backdrop to lives balanced on a precarious high. Some of them seek a release, while others do not seem to want the night to end.
Namdev Bhau
Dir: Dar Gai
Marathi/2018/85'
A 65 year old chauffeur, who is tired of the noises in the obstreperous Mumbai City life and has completely stopped speaking, decides to leave everything in search for 'Silent Valley' which boasts of a naturally occurring phenomena having almost a zero decibel sound level. On this journey he chances upon an exasperating 12-year old boy, who happens to be on his own solo expedition to the mystical "Red Castle".
Hellaro
Dir: Abhishek Shah
Gujarati/2019/120
In 1975, Manjhri, a young girl is married off to a small village in the middle of nowhere in the Rann of Kutch. There, she joins a group of women shackled by patriarchal mandates. Their only escape from the suppression is when they go out to fetch water every morning to a distant waterbody. Other than those few hours everyday, their lives are bound by the rules made by men which they have to abide by. One day, while on their way to fetch water, they find someone in the middle of the desert and their lives are changed forever.
Jallikattu
Dir:Lijo Jose Pellissery
2019/91/Malayalam
Set in a remote village in the hill ranges of Kerala, Jallikattu unfolds during the course of a day and night. The events are set off when a butcher’s buffalo breaks free and runs amok. The hunt gathers storm and the whole village gets into the act of hunting down the beast on the run. All the dark layers of collective unconscious – ferocity, greed, lust, distrust and vengeance lurching below the surface erupt into the open to culminate in horrendous crescendo of violence, where the boundaries merge.
Biriyani
Director: Saajin Babu/ Malyalam/ 120 minutes/ 2019
The movie follows Khadeeja, a married Muslim woman trapped by societal and religious norms. After being abandoned, she turns to sex work for financial and sexual freedom, but finds herself still unfulfilled. Seeking redemption, she decides to fight back against the forces that led to her misery. Set in rural Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the film portrays a conservative backdrop, without suggesting such stories are commonplace in these regions..
Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Jaa Riya Director- Anamika Haksar/ Hindi/ 121 minutes/ 2019
Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Jaa Riya Hoon follows four characters in Old Delhi: a pickpocket, a snack vendor, a labourer-activist, and a heritage walk conductor. Patru, the pickpocket, leads alternative walks showcasing the city's hidden side, landing him in trouble. As he conducts a final 'Dream Walk,' they explore the struggles of Old Delhi's migrant population. Fusing documentary realism with magic realism, the film celebrates the city's syncretic culture and the resilience of its marginalized people amidst urbanization.
Lihaaf
Director- Rahat Kazmi/ Hindi/ 85 minutes/ 2019
Lihaaf is adapted from Ismat Chughtai's 1942 story about Begum Jaan, a woman trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband, the Nawab, neglects her, seeking young boys instead. Begum's loneliness is alleviated by Rabbo, her masseuse, with whom she forms a physical relationship. A young Ismat, staying at Begum's house, discovers their secret, which traumatizes her. Years later, Ismat writes about it, leading to a controversial obscenity trial in which she defends her story. The film explores themes of same-sex love and freedom of speech, relevant to contemporary societal struggles.
Widow of Silence
Director- Praveen Morchale/ Urdu/ 85 minutes/ 2018
In a conflict ridden Kashmir, a Muslim half-widow, finds herself, her 11 year old daughter and ill mother-in-law in a crisis as she attempts to get her missing husband's death certificate from the Government. Now she will have to find the strength to come out of an unthinkable and absurd situation.
Lorni
Director- Wanphrang K Diengdoh/ Khasi/ 120 minutes/ 2019
Shem (Adil Hussain), an out of work, self styled detective with a sharp sense of the streets escapes the lethargy of small town Shillong when he is asked to investigate the disappearance of an object worthy of great cultural value. Navigating narrow streets and dark alleys, he embarks on an emotional and mental journey reflective of his reality and that of Shillong.
Aani Maani
Dir:Fahim Irshad
Hindi/2019/95'
Aani Maani’ is Fahim’s first feature film. It takes its name from a game played by small children in Uttar Pradesh in which they turn in circles while reciting the rhyme Aani Maani. The film tells the story of a kebab seller who struggles to fend for his family. A beef ban sends his world into a tailspin.
Aani Maani
Dir:Fahim Irshad
Hindi/2019/95'
Just Like That (Aise Hee) follows 74-year-old Mrs. Sharma, who, after her husband's death, defies societal expectations. Instead of living with her son, she chooses independence, opening a bank account, learning embroidery, and enjoying activities like watching movies and eating ice cream alone. Her rebellious acts, though small, shock her conservative community, including her own family, who view her behavior as selfish and strange. The film explores the fear and anger surrounding her desire for personal freedom and self-expression in her later years.
MCream
Dir: Agneya Singh
English,Hindi/ 2015/114'
Figs, a cynical rebel at Delhi University, struggles when his conservative parents plan his future and a shortage of hash disrupts his life. Joined by his best friend Maggie and her boyfriend Niz, they embark on a trek to the Himalayas in search of M Cream, a mythical form of hash. The journey, which also includes Niz's friend Jay, leads to chaotic encounters and forces them to confront uncomfortable truths about rebellion, making difficult choices along the way.
STUDENT FILMS AT IFFB 2020
Poetry of Whispers (Kaan phus phusot phus phusoni)
Dir: Maharshi Kashyap [SRFTI, Kolkata] Assamese/9'/2019
The emotionless life of the city is seen to make people mentally distant from each other even though they live in same space . Frustrated with his monotonous and melancholic life in a hostel located amidst a city, Biswa gets a call from his girlfriend Mukuta who has gone home which is in a village in Assam. Mukuta's mother is no more and her father lives alone at home when she is away. During the phone conversation, Biswa, realises the contrasting difference between Mukuta's relationship with her home and his own relationship with his city life. He finds it interesting enough to make a film out of it.
SandhyavelaDir: Ramana Dumpala [FTII,Pune]
Telugu/16'/2018
Lakshmi and Krishna are siblings who have made an arrangement of taking care of their bedridden Mother alternatively. Lakshmi being a single parent has a hard time managing her life between the mother and raising a child all alone while Krishna, who has his own family does not come on the said date to take his Mother, instead forestalls it. Stuck in her routine life once again, she slips between conscious and subconscious, until one day this mundanity perpetrates her to take her an action which coincides with Krishna’s arrival leaving Lakshmi in deep guilt and fear.
Bod jaat
Dir: Sourav Bhadra [Roopkala Kendra, Kolkata]
A man who belongs from the minority section of a village is utterly disturbed, petrified, and depressed by the situation of terror that prevails around him and his family due to the violence between the majority and the minority section of the society. His fear makes him question his own identity and prognosticate the future that throws him and his family into a disturbing profusion of unanswered questions about their own existence. The story is about how he is drawn at the edge of his patience and angst where he faces his fate and how he poetically reciprocates.
Bahar (The Flow)
Dir: Chahat Mansingka [ Whistling Woods International, Mumbai]
Malini is a 32 year old married woman from a small village called Majuli in Assam . She works as a spa therapist in a salon in Mumbai. She lives alone in a small one room house. Her husband is a forest guard back in the village. She has come to the city to procure money that she requires for the treatment of her mother-in-law. Unable to relate to the city and being far away , she yearns for her husband, home and nature. The film tracks the mundane city life of this woman which when juxtaposed with the images of nature creates a deeper experience of longing and solitude.
Mouna Aatam (The Silent Dance)
Dir: Sai Prawin Thanigachalam [National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
'Mouna Aattam' is a Tamil student short film that follows the life of a recently married woman as she finds herself in a strange new city, Ahmedabad, with her working migrant husband. With no knowledge of the local language and an inattentive husband, the homesick young woman finds comfort in a blossoming friendship with a local Tamil priest. When her husband finds out and confronts her, there is an unprecedented turn of events that decide the fate of their marriage.
Abey Ye Toh Kuch Bhi Nahin Hai (Tall Tales)
Dir: Ajay Singh Yadav [National Institute of Design,Ahmedabad
When a sixth standard school boy gets a chance to share a story with his friends, he rolls out the ultimate tall tale involving his family members and a local politician. His friends start pointing out loopholes in the story and start making changes in the story. When he tells the complete story, they dismiss it by calling it a fake one as all the other stories shared in the class. Although it is later revealed that the story is true.
Echoes from an Elegy
Dir: Ameya Gore [FTII, Pune]
"Echoes from an Elegy" explores the rapid transformation at FTII, capturing the shift from celluloid film to digital and the construction of new buildings amidst old heritage structures. Blending fiction and non-fiction, it uses multiple camera formats and archival footage of a past campus fire to portray the ecosystem of students, staff, dogs, and trees. In an era of distraction, the film reflects on what has been lost and whether we’ve forgotten how to mourn it.
Door Shaam Tak (Far In Night)
Dir: Syed Maisam Ali Shah[FTII, Pune]
A one day train journey of an adolescent boy with his football teammates and coach.
Aharor Duporiya (Memories of Summer)
Dir: Dhruba Jyoti Das [DBHRGFTI, Assam]
Assamese/8'/2019
An elderly couple lives a mundane life in a remote village of Assam. Their slow paced life is prevailed by a sense of absence and loneliness and their relationship lacks the youthfulness. One late summer noon, when the whole village is in deep slumber , the man watches the news of mass suicide of birds at Jatinga while the lady has a dream with the glimpse of gloomy past of Assam. Later, a monsoon wind blows and heralds a new season of change.
Bhumigat (Underground Tales)Dir: Pradyatan Bera [FTII, Pune, Hindi/27'/2017
Through faces and bodies of real life labourers emerges an epistolary account of a daily wage owner who suddenly finds himself out of work one day. As rampant industrialisation surges, a new class is born - a crowd of nomadic migrant workers whose lives are a series of transitions in search of work. Using folk tale and memory as tools of narration the film invites us to witness a rapidly changing world through their eyes. Delving upon universal themes of identity, memory, love, faith, loss of home and the eternal search for home - the film is a social commentary on the timeless master slave dialectic in the new, globalised world order.
Bhumigat (Underground Tales)Dir: Pradyatan Bera [FTII, Pune, Hindi/27'/2017
Through faces and bodies of real life labourers emerges an epistolary account of a daily wage owner who suddenly finds himself out of work one day. As rampant industrialisation surges, a new class is born - a crowd of nomadic migrant workers whose lives are a series of transitions in search of work. Using folk tale and memory as tools of narration the film invites us to witness a rapidly changing world through their eyes. Delving upon universal themes of identity, memory, love, faith, loss of home and the eternal search for home - the film is a social commentary on the timeless master slave dialectic in the new, globalised world order.
Three Two One 321
Dir: Himanshu Prajapati [FTII,Pune]
Hindi/Marathi/25'/2018
Wet Blue Tarpaulin
Dir: Anunay Barbhuiya [FTII,Pune]
Sylheti,Hindi,Marathi/25'/2019
Akam
Dir: Remya Rajeev [SRFTI, Kolkata, 4'/2018
Kathakali is something Mathu has been hearing since childhood from his grandmother's tales and father's childhood adventures. He never been to any performance yet. One fine summer day, his mother finally takes him to temple for one such performance. But what awaits there is beyond one's comprehension.
Eclipse
Dir: Jomy T Mani [KRNNIVSA, Kottayam
A man whose livelihood was agriculture loses his house and land in heavy monsoon and landslide. He is forced to relocate to his brother's house for the time being. Upon experiencing an unforeseen stark reality, The man's very own identity is at stake. Unable to cope with the things around him, He slips into a dissociative disorder. He re-configures his identity with that of his deceased father.
Ekaant
Dir: Sarthak Bhasin [FTII, Pune]
Hindi/25'/2019
Set in an unspecified time and space, the film’s protagonist seems to be the only living person in a completely devastated city. He goes about, struggling his way, negotiating the tough settings and trying to survive. When one fine day, out of nowhere, he happens to meet another person. Except that this person looks exactly like him.
