17th
Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2015
Organized
by MARUPAKKAM
Screening
Schedule
Around 50 films are
scheduled in 5 venues under the following sections:
1) Films from India
2) International Films 3) Retrospective : Films by B.Lenin 4) International
animation films : curated by Trotsky Maruthu 5) Films from North East India :
curated by Hoabam Paban Kumar 6) Films from Australia : curated by Shweta
Kishore
The Venues:
1) Gandhi Museum Dec
6-10; 6 -9pm
2) Department of
Folkore and Culture Studies, Madurai Kamraj University, Palkalai Nagari Dec 7;
10 am to 5 pm
3) International
Study Centre, Lady Doak College Dec 8; 10 am to 5 pm
4) LENS, Loyola ITI,
Arasadi Dec 9; 10 am to 5 pm
5) Department of
Visual Communication, American College Dec 10; 10 am to 5 pm
Venue
01 : Gandhi Museum
6 pm – 9 pm
1) Life in Metaphors: A Portrait of Girish Kasaravalli
Dir: O.P.Srivastava; 84 min; Kannada & English;
Documentary; 2015
The film tries to
explore “Cinema “ – the need, the art, the craft, the language, the grammar and its
purpose through the eyes of Master filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli.
2) Animation films by
Svankmayer : curated by Trotsky Maruthu
3) Freedom Stories
Dir: Steve Thomas; 99 min; English; Australia;
Documentary; 2015; Films from Australia – curated by Shweta Kishore
Freedom Stories is a documentary project exploring the contribution being made to Australian society by former asylum seekers who arrived by boat around 2001 – the year of political controversy over the MV Tampa, the Pacific solution, the children overboard affair and the SIEV X disaster.
Freedom Stories is a documentary project exploring the contribution being made to Australian society by former asylum seekers who arrived by boat around 2001 – the year of political controversy over the MV Tampa, the Pacific solution, the children overboard affair and the SIEV X disaster.
They
found themselves in indefinite mandatory detention in remote places such as
Woomera or Nauru and then placed on temporary protection visas (TPVs), which
extended their uncertainty. It has taken much resilience and many years for
them to build secure lives, become Australian citizens and start contributing
to their new country.
Venue
01 : Gandhi Museum
Day
02: 7 Dec 2105; 6 pm – 9pm
1) Culprit
Dir: B.Lenin; 28 min; Tamil ; Short film; Retrospective
2) Animation films by
Tesuku Osamu : curated by Trotsky Maruthu
3) The Street
Musicians
Dir: Kirill Burdov;
25 min; Russian; Documentary; 2015; Russia
Each one on the way
home, descending into a pedestrian subway, notices people playing musical
instruments. But not everyone knows what makes them take such a step – to go
down to the dungeons of the city. What a plight it is to be a street musician?
What are the rules and regulations of this sub culture?
4)
The Hungry Tide
Dir
Tom Zubrycki; 89 min; English; Documentary; Films from Australia - curated by Shweta Kishore
As
part of her work for a non-government organization, Maria Tiimon, who lives in
Australia, promotes awareness of the consequences of climate change.
"People experience the impacts of global warming but they don't know what
causes it," she explains. It turns that global warming also affects Maria
personally: she was born in Kiribati, which scientists believe will be one of
the first countries to disappear beneath the waves as a result of global
warming.
Venue
01 : Gandhi Museum
Day
03 : 8 Dec 2105; 6 pm – 9pm
1) Abnormal Behavior
Dir: Evgeniya
Tamakhina ; 26 min; Russian, English; Short film; 2015; Russia – Thailand
A mental health
doctor goes off on a journey to Thailand with his girlfriend. They live with
her friends. She enjoys the vacation and he works at his dissertation in
psychiatry. People around him seem to him no less sick than in the nuthouse,
until he falls in strange circumstances…
2) At the Edge of
Europe
Dir: Mauel Bernardo
Cabral; 59 min; Portuguese; Documentary; 2014; Portugal
A documentary about
the most peripheral of the already ultra-peripheral region of the Azores; the
film allows the Florentines, native and adopted to tell their story, giving
with sincere strokes, its version of being islet on the island, with all that
it contain.
3)
The Trial
Dir:
Joan Robinson; 52 min; English; 2009; Films from Australia – curated by Shweta
Kishore
In
February 2008 twelve Muslim men went on trial in Melbourne for terrorism
offences. The trial ran for nine months, heard 482 secretly taped conversations
and presented 66,000 pages of evidence. With unique access to Greg Barns, one
of the key defence barristers, and Omar Merhi, the brother of the youngest
accused, The Trial takes us inside one of the biggest court cases in
Australia’s history. A trial where there is more at stake than just the fate of
the accused.
Venue
01 : Gandhi Museum
Day
04 : 9 Dec 2105; 6 pm – 9 pm
1) Knock Out
Dir: B.Lenin; 19 min;
Tamil; Short film; Retrospective
2) Lohit Diary
Dir: Ramachandra PN;
76 min; English, Hindi, Mishimi and Assamese; Documentary; 2015; Films Division
Amidst rampant opium
cultivation in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh in North East India, Basamlu Kisikro
engages opium growers into shifting to green tea, Tewa Manpoong supports fellow
addicts into rehabilitation and Uncle Moosa spreads the joy of reading amongst
children
3)
Welcome to Australia
Dir:
John Pilger; 50 min; English; Documentary; 1999; Films from Australia – curated
by Shweta Kishore
The
Australian heroine from start, when she carried the Olympic torch into the
stadium, to finish, as she crossed the line to take 400m gold, was the
indigenous athlete Cathy Freeman. Against the will of many of her still
oppressed people, she came to represent the symbol, albeit shallow, of
reconciliation between White and Aboriginal Australia. But the frenzy of flames
and fireworks surrounding the Games blinded the rest of the world to the darker
side of a land down under.
Venue
01 : Gandhi Museum
Day
05 : 10 Dec 2015; 6 pm – 9pm
1) Nafir
Dir: Roy Dipankar; 30 min; Music documentary;
English; 2015
Nima Lavafpour is a traveling musician from Iran and
shares a deep bond with India. On one visit to India, he gets to rediscover a
memoir after 8 years. This sparks an infectious wave of creativity in his life
and others around. The film is a musical exploration, reminding us of an
age-long spiritual and cultural bond between India and Iran.
2) Our Metropolis
Bangalore is being refashioned as a 'world-class'
metropolis. Livelihoods and homes make way for flyovers, glitzy malls and a
shiny Metro. Threatened with violent transformation of their city, residents
confront the authorities. Beneath the State's ideal of a 'global city' lurks
the intent to clear a pasture for big business.
Venue
02 : Department of Folklore and Culture Studies, Madurai Kamaraj University,
Palkalai Nagar
7
Dec; 2015
10 am
1) Muzaffar Nagar Baaqi Hai (Muzaffarnagar Eventually)
Dir: Nakul Singh Sawhney; 136 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2014
Dir: Nakul Singh Sawhney; 136 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2014
Sawhney’s
136-minute long documentary is set in the aftermath of the communal riots that
broke out in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli in Uttar Pradesh in August and September
two years ago. Sawhney travelled to the western Uttar Pradesh districts soon
after the riots, which killed over 60 Muslims and Hindus and drove several
Muslim survivors out of their homes and into refugee camps. He interviews
survivors, local residents, and activists and leaders of all hues to understand
the conditions that contributed to the situation.
2 pm
2) Jews Step Forward
Dir: Marjorie Wright;
112 min; English; Documentary; USA; 2015
The film traces a
path grounded in Jewish identity, which ultimately separates personal
conscience from a socialized mythology loyal to Israel. Having moved
beyond self censorship, despite institutional power and social censure, they
recognize that, just as the American Jewish community helped create the
foundation for Israel’s evolution, so must it address the unvarnished truth today.
3) That Year When
Noacha Died : Films from North East India – curated by Hoabam Paban Kumar
The
video documents the mundane life in a community locality called Manipuri Basti
in Guwahati city. A person is confined in a concrete space. He observes mundane
days and nights coming and going. Heavy cloud brings rain in the locality and
soon winter falls. Neighborhood lady ponders over her life and daily duty. That
year in summer a young led Naocha died in the locality. The community is
traditional on the other hand the sound and pressure of urbanization is growing
rapidly at far.
Venue
: 3 Lady Dock College, Madurai
8
Dec 2015
10 am to 1 pm
1)Blessed Africa
Dir: Aminata Embalo;
52 min; Portuguese; Documentary; 2014; Portugal
Quintino Na Pana is a
29 years old man from Guinea, with five children. Teacher of physical education
at the secondary and a college student, he suffers with the repeated delays of
his payment. Still Quinn continued with his dream: to pedal more than 1000 kms
to Mauritania under the theme “Blessed Africa”.
2)Moving in Circles
Dir: Maxim Dashkin;
14 min; Russian; Short film; 2015; Russia
Maria lives with her
husband at the military base and dreams of getting out from the bad living
conditions. The husband does not share Maria’s dreams. Maria decides to accept
the offer of another officer.
3) Utanjali
Ujantali is a remote
village in Bangladesh. A little girl who was born and brought up in this
village, was compelled to leave along with her father during the partition of
Bengal. But she has been carrying the sweet memories of her village all along.
When she revisits her village after a long time, her memories still are fresh.
4) Playgrounds
Dir: Pallavi MD &
Shamik Sen Gupta; 18 min; Short film; Hindi, Kannada & Tamil; 2014
In a dusty suburban street, children play hide ’n’
seek in the dusk. 3 year old Murli hides somewhere no one can find him and
falls asleep. When he wakes up he is in a different neighbourhood where an
angry bearded man is shouting at everyone. But Murli can’t understand a single
word of what the man is saying. He just wants to go home to his mother.
Venue : 3 Lady Doak College,
Madurai
8 Dec 2015
2 pm to 5 pm
1) Caste on the Menu Card
Dir: Ananyaa Gaur, Anurup
Khillare, Atul Anand, Reetika Revathy Subramanian and
Vaseem Chaudhar; 21 min; Hindi & English; Documentary; 2015
Vaseem Chaudhar; 21 min; Hindi & English; Documentary; 2015
Caste on the Menu Card is a film made by students of the School
of Media and Cultural Studies
at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS),
focuses on beef-eating practices in Mumbai. It portrays the prevalence of caste
differentiation in food choices of people in Mumbai, how it causes exclusion,
and touches upon concerns related to livelihood, social inclusion and human
rights.
2) First Cry
Dir : T.G.Ajay; 52 min; Documentary; Chhatisgarhi,
Bengali & Hindi; 2014
In 1981, under the
leadership of Shankar Guha Niyogy of the Chhattisgarh Mazdoor Shramik Sangh,
the mine workers of Bhillai Steel Plant in Dalli Rajhara, in Chhatisgarh,
India, acted on a need sorely felt by them, to have a hospital that would not
turn them away, to cater only to the middle class. Over 10,000 workers donated
their wages and built Shahid hospital, brick by brick, with their own hands.
The workers invited doctors like Dr. Binayak Sen, Dr Saibal Jana and others to
join and they themselves trained as auxiliary staff to assist them.
3) God on the Edge
Dir: Ashok Patel; 46 min; Documentary; Bengali &
English; 2014
Abandoning his family more than once, 60 year old
Mohammed Jaan Baksh, the 'Elephant Keeper', has dedicated his life to serving
elephants. The film is about his bitter-sweet relationship with 'Shivprasad',
the elephant with whom his journey began at the age of twelve.
Venue
4; LENS
9
Dec; 10 am – 5 pm
1) The Invented
People
Dir: Juan Meseguer
Navarro; 71 min; Portuguese, Spanish, Cape Verde; Documentary; 2015; Spain and
Cape Verde
In 1984, a group of
young Cape Verdeans decided to create the “Bias das Gatas” festivl on the
island of San Vicente, Cape Verde. What they could not imagine was that 30
years later this festival would be a reference to the island and one of the
most important annual events in the country. Its music brings echoes of an
invented people.
2) What the Fields Remember
Dir: Subasri Krishnan; 52 min; Documentary;
Assamese; 2015
On 18th February 1983, around 1800
Muslims were killed in Nellie and surrounding village in Assam, in one morning.
No one was ever prosecuted and the incident remains in the annals of India’s
violent history. The film revisits the event and explores how the survivors
remember the violence 32 years later, and how do the spaces that have witnessed
this violence continue to mark people’s relationship to history and memory.
Post Lunch : 2 pm – 5
pm
1) Gorbatov
Dir: Nikita
Ordinskiy; 25 min; Russian; Short film; 2015; Russia
This is a tragicomedy
about a former mayor of a small provincial city who took up a struggle against
a young official from the new administration for the last material symbol of
his past success – an old billboard.
2)Rebalda
Dir: Elena Otrepyeva;
33 min; Russian; Documentary; 2014; Russia
Ex –convict tries to
start a new life with his family on a remote island in the labor to get
seaweed. Surrounded by forest and sea together with companions in misfortune,
they live in their “concentrated” world according to their rules. Challenging
the system and society, they prove that they are able to preserve human
dignity, ingenuousness, kindness and faith in people despite the twists and
turns of life.
3) The Ukranians
Dir: Leonid Kanter,
Ivan Yasniy; 86 min; Ukranian; Documentary; 2015; Ukraine
This is a story of
creating a new Ukranian army. This film is about the battle between Ukrainian
army and the Russian army over the Donetsk International Airport, which lasted
over 242 days. It is about heroic defense by volunteering patriots of Ukraine
against a full fledged professional army of Russia.
4) Tradition
Dir: Dmitry Golubov;
24 min; Russian; Short film; 2015; Russia
A provincial police
station has a tradition to trespass in the house of their offender. An intern
must go through this baptism of fire.
5) Rong Kuchak (The
Echoes)
Dir : Dominic Sangma
; 30 min; Garo language; 2014; Short film; Films from North East India –
curated Hoabam Paban Kumar
Through Ianche, a Garo poet, the
film tries to understand what it feels to be a poet without a written Language.
Once this saddening truth is felt and understood in its entirety can you write
again?
Venue
5; The American College, Madurai
10
Dec 2015
10 am to 1 pm
1)3 Minitos
Dir: Juanma Avifue; 6
min; Spanish; Short film; 2015; Spain
2012; economic crisis
flood south of Europe, many people have sunk in due to corruption in banking,
too much of expenses and as a consequence, and emotional decline. Julian, our
main character, is one of such victims and the police have just arrived to
inquire about the mess he has made.
2) 600$
Dir: Oriol Cardus; 18
min; Spanish; Short film; 2014; Spain
Julian, a hired
killer with many jobs behind him, is forced, due to an unexpected request, to
rethink his life and the value it gives to the lives of others.
3)Ayer
Two couples discuss
political issues during a dinner in a fancy restaurant.
4)Cello Nightmare
Dir: Marie Reich; 7 min; No language; Music video;
2015; Germany
Two musicians have a
concert in the evening. But will they make it?
5) Mottukka
Dir: B.Lenin; 50 min; Tamil; Short film; Retrospective
6) Yaadhum
Dir: Kombai S.Anwar;
57 min; Tamil; Documentary
A Tamil Muslim man’s
journey to trace his history and cultural roots across south India.
2 pm to 5 pm
1) Jagadish Bhai – A
life in Progress
Life and journey of a
security guard and an ex Border Security Force personnel Jagadish Bhai, is told
through his daily chores of protecting one of the premier educational
institutions in India.
2) Spaces Between
Dir: Roohi Dixit and
Ziba Bhagwagar; 43 min; English; Documentary; 2013
Spaces Between is a poetic interpretation of
the performance artist Nikhil Chopra’s fifty hour long performance confined in
a room on the banks of a river. The film follows the artist Nikhil Chopra’s
journey as he performs La Perle Noir II: Aspinwall for the Kochi-Muziris
Biennale held in the State of Kerala in the South of India.
3) Dollar City
Dir: Amudhan R.P.; 72
min; Tamil with Eng sub; Documentary; 2015
Tirupur, a south
Indian city which is known as Dollar City for its export oriented garment
industry is a perfect example for display and implementation of Gramsci’s
manufacture of consent. There is a consensus between workers, trade unions and
factory owners to run the industry at any cost, compromising on workers’ rights
and environment protection laws. The film tries to record this notorious camaraderie.
We welcome you all!
Amudhan R.P.
Festival Director
Madurai Film Festival 2015
86952 79353; 99406 42044
amudhan.rp@gmail.com