
IFFB
With increased polarisation and a focus on partisan film making, it is a surprise that independent films are being made although the ecosystem is under increased strain. The effort in this edition is to look at films touching on issues from across the sub-continent. The screenings are a mix of interesting debuts and experienced film makers working in the regional film industry, some of them nudging the space to become pandyaa films. The challenges of pandyaa films can be explored in our opening day special screening. We are screening Subas Das’s Odia film “Eka Eka” which has not been screened before in our town.
Focus of the festival is on young film makers working in diverse areas of the country – from Kashmir to the North-east. There are debut films from diverse areas - Nainital, Darbhanga, Baroda - the films from these areas are interesting debuts (Opium, Bahadur, Mithya, Follower, It’s all in your Head, Kayo Kayo Colour, Jhilli, Water Station, Whispers of Fire & Water), which have been recognised in international film festivals and won accolades for its treatment and presentation of stories rooted in their respective milieu(s). Water Station is a debut by noted theatre director Abhishek Majumdar, an adaptation of Japanese playwright Ota Shogo’s eponymous play. Ishaan Ghosh’s “Jhilli” is an examination of the discards of human society set in Asia’s biggest dump yard. Aman Sachdeva’s “Opium” takes a look at religion in contemporary times through an anthology. Diwa Shah’s “Opium” is set in Nainital during the pandemic looking at a Nepali porter’s life. Lubdhak Chatterjee’s “Whispers of Fire & Water” is set in Jharia mines examining the dystopic landscape emanating from economic development practices. Shahrukhkhan Chavada’s “Kayo Kayo Colour” looks at everyday struggles of a muslim family in an Ahmedabad neighbourhood. Harshad Nalawade’s “Follower” looks at modern day extremist journalistic practices set in Belgaum.
Retrospective Mani Kaul
Dhrupad
Mani Kaul
Hindi
72
|
1983

The film explores Dhrupad music through the practice of Dagar Family - Fariduddin & Zia Mohiuddin Dagar.
Mati Manas
Mani Kaul
Hindi
92
|
1985

The film examines the art of Pottery in India.it documents the craft tradition of rural Indian Potters.
Dhuvidha
Mani Kaul
Hindi
82
|
1973

A girl Lachhi, is married to a merchant's son, Kishanlal. He brings her to his village but leaves her immediately to go
Siddheswari
Mani Kaul
Hindi
123
|
1989

The film explores the life of Siddheshwari Devi, a classical singer from Varanasi.
Nazar
Mani Kaul
Hindi
84
|
1991

After his wife's death, the husband recalls their first meeting and marriage. She was much younger than him. She used to pawn some things to an antique shop to make a little money. The husband is increasingly intrigued by her mind-set. As things develop, he finds out that she was an orphan living with two aunts. The film explores their complex life in a manner unusual for Indian cinema.
Ashad Ka Ek din
Mani Kaul
Hindi
114
|
1971

A literary film based on a play with in three acts, Ashad Ka Ek Din portrays the love of Mallika and Kalidasa, the renowned Sanskrit poet and dramatist. Vilom, a friend to both and interested in Mallika, is a passive onlooker for the first two acts. Kalidasa leaves his verdant mountain valley home for the splendour of far-off Ujjain where he wins fame. The action of the film/play is rooted in the village to which Kalidasa returns years later and finds Mallika married to Vilom and the mother of his child. Mallika sacrificed her love so that the poet could pursue his muse.
The Cloud Door
Mani Kaul
Hindi
29
|
1994

An experimental film that tells the story of a clever, erotic parrot in a palace, an affair between a princess and her lover, and a bird's escape leading to their reunion. The film features a fragmented narrative, stunning visuals, and a magic realist tone to explore themes of freedom, sensuality, and the intersection of tradition and modernity. Cloud Door has been adapted from three sources:
From Bhasa's Sanskrit play "Aimaraka" (5th-7th centuries) Malik Mohammed Jayasi's Sufi epic love poem "Padmavat" (13th century) and from an erotic Indian tale called "Suksaptiti" (writer unknown)
Uski Roti
Mani Kaul
Hindi
110
|
1969

A desolate bus-stop on a highway… figure of a village woman - Balo, waiting to deliver a meal to Sucha Singh, the husband, a bus driver. He expects the traditional duties of an average Indian rural wife. Balo in turn accepts her husband's independent lifestyle. Balo hurries to the bus-stop. She is late delivering the meal, trying to save her younger sister, Jinda, from being seduced by the village rake.
Feature Films
Bahadur
Diwa Shah
Hindi/Pahadi/Nepali
83
|
2023
Having a singular and opportune sociopolitical vision, 'Bahadur- The Brave' dwells into an exciting local story about the Nepalese migrant porters with universal scope, centred around an honest and touching friendship.

Nimtoh
Saurav Rai
Nepali
89
|
2019
Ten years old Tashi and his old grandma are the caretakers of a cardamom orchard belonging to a landlord. The little boy shares a close relationship with the landlady. However, he is scared of her husband because of his coldness towards him. The news of the landlord’s son’s marriage makes Tashi excited. He is entrusted with the task of distributing the wedding invitations around the village. The landlord is at loggerheads with his son over his sudden decision to get married. On the wedding day Tashi gets entangled in an incident to which he may or he may not be involved.

Opium
Aman Sachdeva
Hindi
77
|
2022
An anthology feature of five stories stringed together with the theme of religion.

Dhuin
Achal Mishra
Hindi
50
|
2023
Pankaj is a small-town theatre actor with dreams of making it big in Mumbai. But faced with obligations to his family, which is under a deep financial strain post the lockdown, he is forced to weigh his dreams and make a choice.

Joseph's Son
Haobam Paban Kumar
Manipuri
90
|
2023
Joseph, a musician reluctantly sets out on the long journey to look for his missing son. As he travels, his fear grows deeper : a fear born of constant conflict - past and present - to which a personal fear is added.

A Lullaby for the Yellow Roses
Rahul Roy
Hindi
18
|
2021
A short film by director Rahul Roye about a working-class migrant couple who, after losing their daughter to a customary practice, become estranged by grief. The synopsis follows the pair as they navigate their pain and, in doing so, find comfort in each other.
My Mother's Girlfriend
Arun Fulara
Marathi
15
|
2020
Renuka and Sadiya, two working-class women in love with each other, enjoy their day out celebrating RENUKA's
birthday. After a fun-filled day, they head home to spend the night together. But unknown to them, Renuka’s son,
Mangesh, is around. He sees them together. The film is the story of what happens when these two relationships collide.
Water Station
Abhishek Majumdar
No Language
80
|
2023
How do we maintain dignity in the face of adversity? Movement, sound, and silence paint a vivid journey of migration and the act of leaving home, not as a choice, but in desperation.‘The Water Station’ is a film adaptation by playwright, director, and NYU Abu Dhabi professor Abhishek Majumdar of a play by Japanese playwright Ōta Shōgo, written in 1981. It is about our experience of the world and how it is shaped by what we have to leave behind, who we can leave with, and what happens when we meet others in our journeys. Inspired by Ōta Shōgo’s childhood experiences of walking long distances with other refugees as his family migrated from China to Japan, the piece - having no spoken words - foregrounds ‘slowness’ and ‘quietude’ and was crafted through movement, sound, and silence across space and landscape.

Kaathal
Jeo Baby
Malayalam
114
|
2023
The film is set in a village Teekoy in the hilly parts of Kottayam. Matthew, a retired worker of a Cooperative Bank lives with his wife Omana and father Devassy. The film explores their conjugal life after Omana files for a separation from Matthew.

It's All In Your Head
Dhruv Solanki
Hindi/English
83
|
2023
It's all in your head focuses on one day in the life of six siblings, rural but americanised, living in Vadodara. It is an attempt to take an honest look at the inner working of the mind and lives of the Indian middle - class youth in the internet age.

Whispers of Fire and Water
Lubdhak Chatterjee
Bangla
84
|
2023
Whispers of Fire & Water, directed by debutant Lubdhak Chatterjee, is about a journey plagued by depleting natural resources and delineated by two elements – fire and water.

Eka Eka
Subas Das
Odia
134
|
2011
A film about being alone in the world and a search for what it means to be a good human being, in the meandering flow of life in its ordinary everydayness. This is the story of Om, a filmmaker who strives to bridge the gulf between his art and life by finding a common basis for both in responsibility and concern for the other. In the process he must confront his own inner exile and contradictions, memory and longing, and the nature of human relationships. Like the waves of the sea, the ebb and flow of life continues and through it the film essays a journey and a quest.

A Ride in the Rain
Utsab Ray
Hindi
25
|
2023
Three strangers find themselves sharing a taxi ride. As the journey unfolds, these individuals-a Bihari imigrant taxi driver and two passengers including a young writer-are brought together by fate, leading to a moment of intersection in their lives.
Shera
Arun Fulara
Kumaoni
20
|
2022
MONU’s (11) obsession with sighting SHERA, the elusive leopard living in the forest around his remote Himalayan village, is tested when his parents decide to migrate to the city. As the day of departure nears, MONU grows despondent but his friend RAJU is determined to help fulfill his wish.
Sikaisal
Bobby Sarma Baruah
Tiwa
104
|
2023
The path to knowledge shown by Maheshwar Patar, becomes a beacon in Ulukunchi, his determination to educate his people makes way to his dream and purpose in life.

Gorai Phakhri
Rajni Basumatary
Bodo
96
|
2023
Set in the foothills of Bodoland in Northeast India, the story explores the lives of women in a patriarchal society recovering from decades of armed conflict. Their experiences of repression and fighting back are interwoven.

Follower
Harshad Nalawade
Hindi
100
|
2023
In a small town riddled with territorial dispute, a radicalized journalist, believes in exposing the atrocities committed against his community. But his beliefs are based on half-truths propagated by an extremist leader.

Mithya
Sumanth Bhat
Kannada
98
|
2023
Mithya is a journey along-side Mithun, a 11 year old, who is coming to terms with the loss of his parents. We walk in step with his tottering feet, as they search for solid ground. Can a new house be home, can friendships be forged again or is it all just a search for something long gone!

Nothing Grows Under The Pine
Sachin Rana
Garhwali
32
|
2023
The film explores the stifling impact of caste and gender prejudice on women in rural Uttarakhand. The narrative unfolds through the intertwined fates of two sisters as their family arranges a marriage for one of them.
Bablu Babylon Se
Abhijeet Sarthi
Hindi
40
|
2021
In a parallel world, the dystopian "Authority" has privatized all farming and plantation activities, effectively banning citizens from growing their own food. The mega-corporation Babylon owns all the trees and plants and produces seedless fruits, ensuring its control over all agricultural resources. The story follows a lonely old man and corporate employee who crosses paths with a group of rebels during his final assignment.
Special Focus
Joram
Devashish Makhija
Hindi
119
|
2023

A desperate man and his infant daughter fleeing a system that want them crushed at any cost, a cop giving unwilling chase, and a bereaved mother seeking ruthless vengeance, collide in a tense, breathless survival thriller across a brutal landscape of devastated forests, blind greed, rebellion, and the bloody aftershocks of ‘development’.
Thuramukham
Rajeev Ravi
Malayalam
174
|
2023

Two brothers are on opposing sides in the epic struggle of day labourers against dock bosses in 1940s Southern India.
Jhilli
Ishaan Ghose
Bangla
93
|
2022

When Bokul realizes that most of his friends are leaving him behind in the rubble of discards, he decides to change his life.
Kayo Kayo Colour?
Shahrukhkhan Chavada
Hindi
96
|
2023

Set in Kalupur, a neighbourhood in the old city of Ahmedabad, India, this slice-of-life film follows the daily life of Razzak and his family through an observational lens.
Razzak, an unemployed father of two, endeavours to own an auto-rickshaw for business while his daughter, Ruba, is introduced to an interesting drink worth 100 rupees that she can't afford. Through a series of everyday events, the film uncovers the family’s struggles, interpersonal conflicts, joys, and ways of life as they navigate through the intertwined yet unassuming layers of social and political influence.
The family is caught off guard as an unexpected move threatens their fate and alters life as they know it.
Family
Don Palathara
Malayalam
111
|
2023

Sony, a catholic man from rural central Kerala, India, comes across as a good-hearted leader. However, lurking behind his public persona is an entirely different character. Even as his family members become aware of his deeds, they are silenced by the system, which mindfully and actively protects men, their delinquencies, and secrets. The family thus becomes a sturdy closet, where skeletons of the past are kept unseen by the outside world. The film tries to understand how the family system operates like mafia when it comes to the crimes from within.
Jigarthanda Double X
Karthik Subbaraj
Tamil
172
|
2023

A notorious gangster is incited to transform into a film hero and opts for a filmmaker. Before long, their project descends into an emotionally tumultuous adventure, a scenario they had never anticipated.

