Friday, December 9, 2011

13th Madurai Film Festivals: The Awards!

13th Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2011

Winners of Sarat Chandran Memorial Awards:

1) The Monologue
Director: Suresh George; Duration: 29:08; Original Language: Tamil & English

Short synopsis: The Monologue is all about exploring an illusive state of mind inside a thriving young man who bleeds inside each second to make it big as an actor someday, with hopes as string attached.

2) Thuyaram Padintha Karaikal
Director: J.D.Imaya Varman; Duration: 93 Min.; Original Language:Tamil

Short synopsis: The film narrates the miseries of the Indian Tamil fishermen who are affected by Sri Lankan Navy.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

13th Madurai Film Festival 2011: Screening Schedule

13th Madurai International Documentary and Short film Festival 2011: Screening Schedule

7 December 2011, The Madura College, Madurai

Screen 01

10:00 am Inauguration of the festival
10:30 Inauguration of the exhibition
11:00 Inaugural film: Pestering Journey; 66’; doc; S.I. NON COMP
12:15 The Monologue; 29:08; short; S.I.COMP
12:50 A Small Hope; 6 min; Music Video
1:00 Lunch break

2:00 Interaction with writers
4:00 ALGO QUEDA (SOME THING REMAINS) 16:00; Short; Spain
4:20 IE NOUVEAU; 12.28, Short; Germany
4:40 GYPSY; 14:00, Short; Bulgaria
5:00 STANKA GOES HOME; 15:00, Short; Bulgaria
5:20 KIYUMI’S POETRY & SAYURU’S EMBROIDERY 30'Short Japan
6:00 Cotton for My Shroud; 81 min; Doc; Rest of India
7:30 IF; 17 min; Short film; Rest of India

Screen 02

12:00 pm THE LIGHTNING TESTIMONIES; 117 min; Retrospective
3:00 A SEASON OUTSIDE; 30 min; Retrospective
3:30 TO REMEMBER; 8 min; Retrospective
3:40 A NIGHT OF PROPHECY; 77 min; Retrospective
5:00 THE MANY FACES OF MADNESS; 19 min; Retrospective
5:20 BAPHLIMALI 173; 28 min; Retrospective
6:00 FREEDOM; 58 min; Retrospective

13th Madurai Film Festival 2011: Screening Schedule
8 December 2011

Screen 01

10:00 am Beyond the Hustle and Bustle; 28 min; Doc; South India; Non comp
10:30 Dilli ; 22 min; Doc; Rest of India
11:00 Bahadur: the accidental brave; 64 min; Docu; Rest of India
12:10 ACERCADACANA: THE SUGAR CANE HEDGE; 20:00, Doc; Brazil
12:35 A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH; 09:20; Doc; Turkey
12:50 CONCEALED voice for life ; 04:00; English
1:00 Lunch break

2:00 Demonstration of painting; discussion with artists
4:00 Kelaai Draupathi; 1:54:00; Doc; Tamil
6:00 Student films from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

Screen 02

10:00 Far from the Mainstream; 14 min; Docu; Rest of India
10:20 Partners of Crime; 94 min; Docu; Rest of India
12:00 17th August; 64 min; Doc; Russia; Under Construction
1:10 Lunch break
2:00 Anti-nuclear films on Koodankulam, Kalpakkam, Manavalakurichi
Tamil; unfinished and finished documentaries
Screen 03

10:00 Shwet; 29 min; 2010; short film; Rest of India
10:30 IF; 17 min; Short film; Rest of India
10:50 Vidrohi; 44 min; Documentary; Rest of India
11:30 Qasba Sanskriti: Amroha; 40 min; Documentary; Rest of India
12:15 The Sore Thumb; 13 min 29 sec; Short film: Rest of India
12:30 FIGURES OF THOUGHT, 33 min, Docu; India; Under Construction
1:00 Lunch break
2:00 THE 4TH REVOLUTION Energy Autonomy; 83 min, 2010, Germany
3:30 WORKERS - ROUTES OF THE GLOBALIZATION, 52 min, 2010, Italy
4:30 My Camera and Tsunami; 90 minutes; Docu; S.I. Non competition
6:00 CAPITAL; 20:00, Short film; Spain
6:25 Mrs. CARELLA PRAYS; 15:45, Short film; U.K.
6:45 URBAN TUNDRA; 15:00, Short film; Estonia
7:00 LEGAL ILLEGAL; 25:00; Short film; Germany

13th Madurai Film Festival 2011: Screening Schedule
9 December 2011

Screen 01

10 a.m. DHARAVI: SLUM FOR SALE; 79 min, Docu; Switzerland
11:15 CEVDET BEY’IN KARANFILI; 14:45 min; Short; Turkey
11:35 MULTECI (REFUGEE); 25:00; Short; Turkey
12:00 IKI KAPI (TWO DOORS); 14:30; Short; Turkey
12:20 HAVVALAR VE ELMALAR; 17:00; Short; Turkey
12:45 ABSTRECT? ; 03:30; Short; Russia
1:00 Lunch break

2:00 Cotton for My Shroud; 81 min; Docu; Rest of India
3:30 Inside Out; 26 min; 2010; Docu; Rest of India
4:00 closing ceremony
5:00 Thodarum Neethi Kolaihal; 124 min; Tamil; Non competition; Docu

Screen 2
10 a.m. onwards Films from south India: competition films

Screen: 3

10 a m Dubus; 04:09; short film; Russia
10:10 OPERATION, DREAM AND REDEMPTION OF A MEEK WOMAN.; 25:00,
Short film; Italy
10:40 LES RIDEAUX ROUGES (LAS TELAS ROJAS); 34:00, Spain
11:15 LA ORQUESTA DE LAS MARIPOSAS; 16 min; Spain
11 :30 FABRICA DE MUNECAS (DOOLS FACTORY) ; 11:00, Spain
11:45 DIA DE REVANCHA (DAY OF REVENGE) ; 17:00, Spain
11:55 ERROR 0036; 12:00, Spain
12:10 AMBITION; 21 min; Russia
12:35 THE KNOT; 10:00, Russia
12:45 THE BLUE BONE; 18:00, Russia
1:00 Lunch break

2:00 DOG’S PATIENCE; 20:00, Russia
2:25 I REGRET; 15:00, Russia
2:40 IN ICEDORA’S DANCE; 16:00, Russia
3:00 EFECTO DMINO; 27:50, Spain
3:30 LIN; 25:00, English

Monday, December 5, 2011

13th Madurai Film Festival: List 06

13th Madurai Film Festival
Under Construction Films: Films distributed by Magic Lantern Foundation, New Delhi

1) 17 AUGUST
Directed by: ALEXANDER GUTMAN; English (subtitled), 64 min, 2009, Russia
The first prison in Russia for those sentenced to life terms. A single cell. “Prisoner Boris Bezotechestvo. Life sentence. Article 102. Triple murder.” Communing with a God who is indifferent to his fate. He prays, but is NOT A BELIEVER. His words filled the air of the cell. He talks and listens to himself. The space within the cell consumes him. His world is four walls and the view from the window. The prison physically thrusts the prisoner into TIME. A long succession of days and nights allotted to him, after which comes “hell” or “heaven”.

2) DHARAVI: SLUM FOR SALE
Directed by: LUTZ KONERMANN; English (subtitled), 79 min, 2009, Switzerland
At the heart of the continuously growing metropolis of Mumbai lies Dharavi, the largest slum in India. Close to a million immigrants from all over the country live and work here, contributing a vital share to the city's economy. This former marshland has now turned into prime real estate as Mukesh Mehta, urban planner and consultant to the government’s Dharavi Redevelopment Project, attempts to usher in a new twist in Mumbai's slum rehabilitation policies. In the wake of this impending destruction, the film questions the very nature and benefit of development, as it follows the struggle between tradition and modernity. It is the fight of the underprivileged to defend their homes and livelihoods against mounting pressures of globalisation.

3) FIGURES OF THOUGHT
Directed by: ARUN KHOPKAR; English, 33 min, 1990, India
A film about three of India’s leading visual artists, Bhupen Khakar, Nalini Malani and Vivan Sundaram. The film takes, as its point of departure, a glass mural on which all three artists were working, then zeros in on each of them. It links them to their physical and mental worlds through cinematic devices like associative sounds, variable light and montage. Compositionally, the visuals aim to match with the styles of each artist, as well as the larger narrative traditions of India.

4) THE 4TH REVOLUTION Energy Autonomy
Directed by: CARL-A. FECHNER; English (subtitled), 83 min, 2010, Germany
Possibly the most inspirational, solutions-based environmental film out there, the documentary travels the world to examine best practices on four continents - that put much of the rest of the world to shame. We get quality time with impressive people doing good work that we can all learn from. They join others in making a convincing case that, in less than 30 years, the world could derive 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources. Changing our reliance on fossil fuels could not only slow climate change, but also promote sustainable economic development and social justice around the globe.

5) WORKERS - ROUTES OF THE GLOBALIZATION
Directed by: TOMMASO D’ELIA; English (subtitled), 52 min, 2010, Italy
Safety is our motto. This is the sign towering over the entrance to the port of Alang. With its 127 shipyards, Alang in Gujarat is the world’s largest ship breaking port. Here, every day, around 80,000 workers strip down the metal carcasses of massive vessels. Often using their bare hands or rudimentary tools. Always without the support of medical services. Asbestos, dioxins, exhausted oils: many of the ships arriving here contain toxic or radioactive substances. Accidents are a daily occurrence, with about 300 deaths a year. Our journey among Indian workers begins here and continues in the cotton and sugarcane fields of Gujarat, among the peasants of Bengal forced by violence and murder to sell their lands to Western multinationals. The workers voices are intertwined with the ones of trade union leaders and authoritative intellectuals.

13th Madurai Film Festival: List 05

13th Madurai Film Festival
Student films from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad: Curated by Arun Gupta

Films:

1) VERANDAH : Direction: Anoodha Kunnath

A young girl, brought up away from Kerala (her birthplace), grapples with her relationship to her mother tongue. She is prone to imagination and constantly tries to personify the elusive language. By trying to give it a face, she hopes to come to terms with the fact that it has made her stand out from the people she wanted to be a part of.

She visits Kerala for her vacations and when her uncle tells her of a long ago incident, she weaves stories in her mind from the characters he talks of. Her isolation and loneliness reflects in the characters she interacts with and imagines.

2) ‘A dream called America’; Direction: Anoop Sathyan; Duration: 24 Min

It is a documentary made on Shahbaz, a 15 year old boy from Gujarat, India. He is the third among the five children of his father Aftab who makes a living by repairing cycles on a footpath. Shahbaz had studied in the US for a year on a scholarship, where he was hosted by an American couple. The one year he spent in US changed his attitude as he experienced a very comfortable and carefree life than his real home. After reaching India, he badly wants to go back and settle in US, leaving his parents in a dilemma.

3) “KEY”: Direction: Bharat Parmar; Duration: 28 min

Loosing keys must be common experience of all of us. This is what this film is trying to capture. It tells different stories of loosing keys and finding a way out. It explores the nature of helplessness and extreme dependence in emergencies.
All the stories revolve around one key maker who makes duplicate keys in emergencies.


4) 7th Sense: Director: Farooq Mohamed; Duration: 33: 26

Who is really blind? The film sets out to explore the lives of Mancharam - a physiotherapist, LC - a worker in an incense stick factory, Subhash - a liftman & Laxman - a petty shop owner-all residents of a hostel for the blind. Away from their actual home, they bring in togetherness with like people in their new one is this Hostel which provides shelter for these four and more.

5) CIPHER: Director: George K Antoney; Runtime: 23m 30s

The film is a suspense drama involving 5 different stories from different stratas of the society. Shiva inherits a “mysterious suitcase” after his father’s death. Guna, a thief who turned into an actor gets his first dialogue scene ever. Vikram, a driver who is desperately in need of money to repay his loan is ready to do anything to get that money. Kishan, a crippled cobbler is in a self destructive mode as he is frustrated with life and to add salt to wound, Johnson an annoying kid keeps irritating him. Rayudu a Business man also has his eye on the mysterious suitcase. These seemingly disconnected lives are crisscrossed by the path of the suitcase putting them through the darkest moments of their lives.

6) Sultangunj: Direction: Hari Udayakumar; Duration: 15mins

A riot hit town, Sutangunj which is no more a place to live in or trusted in. Two friends accused of a crime, Mani & Selvan. A victimized father and daughter, Khalid & Sakina. All of them are on a run to their only hope of escape, reaching the highway on Sunrise. At the crossroads, choices were to be made, relations to be chosen, face betrayal, hatred, love and finally, meet the wrath of their own destiny as they continue fighting the other worldly evils.

7) ‘Budhan Diaries’ by K. Harish Singh; Duration: 24 min

Budhan theatre is a theatre group based in Chharanagar in Ahmedabad, India. What makes this group different from other theatre groups is the fact that it is run by ‘Chharas’. Chharas are a tribe which were regarded as ‘Born Criminals’ by the British and later they were given the status of a DNT (Denotified and Notorious Tribe), because of their involvement in theft, liquor making and other such crimes. The film follows three members of the theatre group talking and getting to know more about the theatre group. This film is a journey which the director takes to know more about the group’s functioning in the community. It gets into questions and answers of Budhan theatre’s existence.

8) Poka: Direction: Ishanee Sarkar

Sumon is a little boy who is kept imprisoned in his room by a woman who could be his mother. His reality and nightmares are intermingle and makes us question what is really happening. The film is a non-liner mood piece and is open to different interpretations.

9) THE OCEAN: Direction: Malhar Salil; Duration: 27:53 min

This is a story about an educated (but preoccupied in chores) ,house-wife Saroj. She argues with her son Manna about the beauty in alphabets he is unable to comprehend. It is a story about Manna's father who talks about the problem of a livelihood, but is not able to reciprocate or understand the real deal in his own life. Manna craves to !nd the pearl for his mother...he does not know what a "Pearl" is? A !sher boy is lost in fables about his Mamu's Hero-isms and the lake.

Mamu talks about the wonderous lake of Bhopal. Everyone has their take on life. This is a !lm about two metaphors, the metaphor of the Sea (samudra) and the Pearl (moti). They metaphorically create endless angles in the story.

10) 'The Creeper, the alien & other stories' : Direction: Sandhya Ramachandran

'The Creeper, the alien & other stories' is a fascinating journey through the collection of objects of one man. Ashish Lakhia- documentary filmmaker, writer and artist- has been collecting quirky odds and ends for a really long time. His collection through the ages has built up to fill his entire house, so much so that, he doesn't know what to do with it now. Amidst rotting newspapers and fading paints, bizarre and beautiful objects pop up- full of stories behind them, tales as fantastic as the man that owns them!

13th Madurai Film Festival : List 05

Amar Kawar Retrospective:
Films by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Amar Kanwar from New Delhi

THE LIGHTNING TESTIMONIES
113 minutes, 2007
Why is one image different from the other? Why does an image seem to contain many secrets? What can release them so as to suddenly connect with many unknown lives. The Lightning Testimonies reflects upon a history of conflict in the Indian subcontinent through experiences of sexual violence. As the film explores this violence, there emerge multiple submerged narratives, sometimes in people, images and memories, and at other times in objects from nature and everyday life that stand as silent but surviving witnesses. In all narratives the body becomes central - as a site for honour, hatred and humiliation and also for dignity and protest.

TRILOGY 01
A SEASON OUTSIDE
30 minutes 1997
There is perhaps, no border outpost in the world quite like Wagah, where this film begins its exploration. An outpost where every evening people are drawn to a thin white line… and probably anyone in the eye of a conflict could find themselves here. A Season Outside is a personal and philosophical journey through past generations, conflicting positions, borders and time zones.

TO REMEMBER
Silent, 8 minutes 2003
Gandhi was born on the 2nd of October 1869 in the state of Gujarat. He was assassinated on 30th January 1948 in New Delhi. This short silent film is a homage to Gandhi, it is about his assassination and the massacres that happened just a few months ago .To Remember is about a gallery and the smell of death.

A NIGHT OF PROPHECY
77 minutes 2002
Is it possible to understand the passage of time through poetry? And if that were so even for one special moment then would it be possible to see the future? The film travels in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland and Kashmir trying to understand the past, the severity of conflict and the cycles of change. Through poetry you suddenly see where each and all the territories are heading to, where you belong and where to intervene, if you want to. The different poetic narratives merge together, allowing us to see a more universal language of symbols and meanings. The moment when this merger in the mind takes place is the simple moment of prophecy.

Trilogy 02
THE MANY FACES OF MADNESS Duration: 19 minutes, Language: English 2000.
The Many Faces of Madness is a short film that emerges from the reality of ecological destruction and the appropriation of the commons in India.

BAPHLIMALI 173 Duration: 28 minutes; Language: Available in English, Hindi and Oriya versions; 2001
Baphlimali 173 is a film about the resistance movement of the Kashipur tribals in South Orissa against bauxite mining and aluminum companies. It is a film about globalisation and tribal consciousness, a brief glimpse into an 8 year long struggle that is pushing out powerful Indian and international companies from the tribal lands in the Eastern Ghats in Orissa, India.

FREEDOM/ AZADI Duration: 58 minutes, Language: English /Hindi 2002.
FREEDOM is a documentary film about nature and captivity, about working people resisting an onslaught on their livelihoods, about democracy, profit and the sound of the rain. From the British colonial empire to the globalisation of today, from the anti mining tribal resistance in Kashipur and Gandhmardhan in Orissa, the mass movements in Chattisgarh to the coastal communities in their struggle againt big ports and industrial parks in Kutch and Umbergaon, - the film FREEDOM documents and presents insights into many different peoples struggles in India.

13th Madurai Film Festival : List 04

13th Madurai Film Festival
International films

B9) ALGO QUEDA (SOME THING REMAINS)
Director: Ana Lorenz, Duration: 16:00, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: Something remains talks about the arduous task carried out by caregivers of Alzheimer patients, about their dedication, their selfless sacrifice expecting nothing in return, when only the worst of endings is yet to come.

B10) IE NOUVEAU
Director: Elias Dellers, Saladin Dellers , Duration: 12.28, Original Language: French, Swiss-German
Short synopsis: Manuel is in a new town, in a new school and has people around him with a different language. It’s not easy for him to settle in, till he meets another boy from his class.

B12) GYPSY
Director : Maya Vitkova, Duration: 14:00, Original Language: Bulgarian
Short synopsis : 8 year-old Daria thinks she hears a mouse in the middle of the night. But when she wakes up her father for help, bigger family problems come to light.

B13) STANKA GOES HOME
Director : Maya Vitkova, Duration: 15:00, Original Language: Bulgarian
Short synopsis: When Mrs. Stanka Atanasova, an elderly and sick woman, enters her block of flats, she discovers that the elevator is out of order. Stanka must use the stairs to get to the ninth floor, and what for most of us is a simple task, becomes a challenge for her.

B14) KIYUMI’S POETRY AND SAYURU’S EMBROIDERY
Director : Satoru sugita, Duration:30:00, Original Language: Japanese
Short synopsis: Kiyumi says that for her, writing poems is like “placing fallen leaves on withered branches.” She says she places words “as if gently returning the leaves to their original place without ever watering them and expecting them to bloom.” Every time Kiyumi writes one poem, her friend Sayuru embroiders one leaf on a book cover that she will use to cover Kiyumi’s rainbow colored book of poetry.

B15) CONCEALED voice for life
Director: Baheerathy K. Stalin, Duration: 04:00, Original Language: English
Short synopsis: Prohibition of voice will conceal an existence.

B16) ACERCADACANA: THE SUGAR CANE HEDGE
Director: Felipe Peres Calheiros, Duration:20:00, Original Language: Portuguese
Short synopsis: In 90’s decade, with the enhancement of ethanol and expansion of sugar cane plantation, fifteen thousand families were forced to leave their farms in the countryside of Pernambuco,. Maria Francisca, however, decided to resist.

B18) A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
Director : Mehmet Basak, Duration: 09:20, Original Language: Turkish
Short synopsis : Serkan is in an extraordinary hurry and clocks out. Meanwhile, people are waiting for the funeral ceremony of a woman. On his way to his destination, Serkan receives some very important news.

B19) CEVDET BEY’IN KARANFILI (Mr. CEVDET’S CARNATION)
Director : Selin Togay, Duration: 14:45, Original Language: Turkish
Short synopsis : Cevdet is the crazy man of the down. He fall in love with a plastic manqueen. But something goes in wrong way. And one day, he sees his lover with another man.

B20) MULTECI (REFUGEE)
Director : Nail Pelivan, Duration: 25:00, Original Language: Turkish
Short synopsis : Hasan and Riza are two buddies. They live in Ayvalik, by the five-star hotels and yachts without a penny in their pockets. In order to reach the life they envy, the piece of land across the sea catches their eyes; Mytilene… Mytilene is the gate to Europe, and to open that gate one has to pay a price. The price is heavy, but the die is once cast.

B21) IKI KAPI ( TWO DOORS)
Director : Nail pelivan, Duration: 14:30, Original Language: Turkish
Short synopsis: Mrs Ayse waits near her son, Omer. Although his brain has already died, she doesn’t accept his complete death through euthanasia or letting his organs’ donation. Ali is one of the male nurses in the nurses in the hospital. Patients like him and he likes them too. He is a good man. His daughter, Sanem, has a kidney disease waiting for transplantation. Omer and Sanem stay in the same room. The room has two doors.

B22) HAVVALAR VE ELMALAR
Director : Mehmet Bahadir Er, Duration: 17:00, Original Language: Turkish-Franch
Short synopsis: Two young friends working in a tourist area harass a French Girl who comes to their shop late at night. One of the young men goes too far and because of his malapropos attitude, they face an unexpected reaction from her. Emre and Murat will have to account their morality in a night in which they become culprits.

B25) CAPITAL
Director: Gaizka Urresti, Duration: 20:00, Original Language: Spain
Short synopsis: The power of money has never been so big, brash and selfish everyone from their own servants to the highest level of state.

B28) Mrs. CARELLA PRAYS
Director: Nour Wazzi, Duration: 15:45, Original Language: English
Short synopsis: A veiled Arab woman, steeped in tradition, journeys to London to visit her estranged daughter only to find her living with her black boyfriend.

B29) URBAN TUNDRA
Director: Robi Uppin, Maria Kivirand, Duration: 15:00, Original Language: Estonia
Short synopsis: “Urban Tundra” is an observing documentary about homelesness and faith. A very big snowstorm named “Monica” hits Tallinn, Estonia in December 2010 and the filmcrew visited a oupkichen dedicated to people in need. The film tries to observe the activities during Christmas holiday and document how people in need are coping with the ongoing storm.

B30) LEGAL ILLEGAL
Director: Eileen Byme, Duration: 25:00, Original Language: German , English
Short synopsis: The film tells the story of Kicki, a law student and former dedicated political activist. The day before she is due to sit her final exams, she bumps into her ex-boyfriend, Elias, who is still an activist. She offers him a place to sleep. When she wakes up the next morning, she finds a Kurdish illegal refugee lying asleep in her kitchen. Elias runs off and leaves her alone with the stranger.

B31) ABSTRECT?
Director: Alexei Dmitriev, Duration: 03:30,
Short synopsis: An unhurried film dealing with the notion of the abstract.

B32) Dubus
Director: Alexei Dmitriev, Duration: 04:09,
Short synopsis: A slow dance of the classical cinema to the music of Zelany Rashoho.

B33 ) OPPRATION, DREAM AND REDEMPTION OF A MEEK WOMAN.
Director: Gabriele Lenzi, Duration: 25:00, Original Language: Italian
Short synopsis: Two men and a woman are living in misery, exiled to the foundations of an antique building. The women regularly mistreated and humiliated by the men, one night finds an answer to her miserable life, thanks to the worlds of her old, dead mother.

B37) LES RIDEAUX ROUGES ( LAS TELAS ROJAS )
Director: Alain Deymier, Duration: 34:00, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: An Oedipus without a complex; Joes, a young man and an orphan, and pablo, a boy of13 , flee the city, under thder theat and condemned to drift. Jose, who has to solve the mystery of his identity-who am i? Who is my mother? Is going to have to enter the adult world and set off to find his destiny though a long, soltary dialogue with nature and the rhythms of the world. A film that provides a contemporary vision of an ancestral myth.

B38) LA ORQUESTA DE LAS MARIPOSAS
Director: Isabel Soria, Duration: 16:00, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: Federico is a lonely and withering orchestra conductor. He is unable to conduct an imaginary orchestra without the instruments sounding out of time and out of tune, until some unexpected and suprising performers turn up to help him.

B39) FABRICA DE MUNECAS (DOOLS FACTORY)
Director: Ainhoa Menendez, Duration: 11:00, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: Anna works in a factory. Her whole life she revolves around performing mechanical motions to put the dolls eyes. But a small change at her work changed her life forever.

B40) DIA DE REVANCHA (DAY OF REVENGE)
Director: Alf Moraleja, Duration: 17:00, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: In an office stuck in time, two time-worn military leaders meet to risk the world on several games: chess, darts and dominoes, which metaphorically represent the three great wars of the first half of the 20th century. During their meeting the maid who serves them shows herself to be an accomplice to both of them. The farce the veterans hide breaks out an unexpected ending.

B41) ERROR 0036
Director: Raul Fernandez, Duration: 12:00, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: It’s the year 2057 in Maduid. Technology provides humans with a life full of comforts and – without errors? Jorge Arellano, a normal guy, will find himself trapped in his security. How will a man used to machines solving all his problems react to his situation?

B42) AMBITION
Director: Aynur Askarov, Duration: 21:00, Original Language: Bashkirian (Russian)
Short synopsis: The main event in this village is a weekly film show at the local recreation center. The main character is a passionate fan of Indian films. But it’s not that easy to get through to the screening of your favorite film.

B44) THE KNOT
Director: Kuzma Vostrikov, Duration: 10:00, Original Language: Russian
Short synopsis: It is a film-metaphor. Before we thought that being man born in the totalitarian USSR is something one should be proud of. And now look what is there left of us in the new Russia. Can a man lead a normal life doubting in his country and in his past?

B47) THE BLUE BONE
Director: Kuzma Vostrikov, Duration: 18:00, Original Language: Russian
Short synopsis: Incurable disease of Sergey marks out real characters of all members of his family, His son Pavel doesn’t know how to get closer to his father and tell about his feelings.

B49) DOG’S PATIENCE
Director: Tatiana Ishina, Duration: 20:00, Original Language: Russian
Short synopsis: ‘Dog’s patience’ is a comedy. This is a story about a painter, who was successful, but suddenly his paintings stopped sailing. He started drinking hard. His pet – a dog – changes his temper and the painter becomes a normal man again.

B51) I REGRET
Director: Tatiana Ishina, Duration: 15:00, Original Language: Russian
Short synopsis: ‘I Regret’ is a drama about complicated relationship of a mother and a daughter. The daughter returned home only after the dad’s death, and for the first time had a frank conversation with her mother.

B52) IN ICEDORA’S DANCE
Director: Tatiana Ishina, Duration: 16:00, Original Language: Russian
Short synopsis: “Icedora In Dance” is a parable about features of love of women at different ages, which is expressed in a dance.

B54) EFECTO DMINO
Director: Gabriel Gauchet, Duration: 27:50, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: Nighttime in a quarter of Havana. A couple of men are playing a game of dominos while the women pass the time gossiping. Out of the blue, a man finds the granddaughter of Mercedes and Ramon at a park close by. It looks like she’s been raped. The situation escalates, as chauvinist tendencies are incited to the point that a culprit must be found at any cost.

B56) LIN
Director: Piers Thompson, Duration: 25:00, Original Language: English
Short synopsis: A women arrives in an unknown country at day break. She appears to be running away from her past.

B57) MWANSA THE GREAT
Director: Rodolfo Herrero, Duration: 08:00, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: The story of 8 year-old boy who aspires to be a hero and embarks upon a journey to prove his greatness-with unexpected consequences. A moving insight into childhood where fantasy jostles with reality as a young boy’s imagination transforms and empowers everyday life.

B58) BITTER FURURE
Director: Rodolfo Herrero, Duration: 08:00, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: MarĂ­a thinks, she has found a real love, but she needs to consult a terrorist.

B59) AT THE NEXT STOP
Director: Luis Francisco Perez, Duration: 18:89, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: Javi wants to have a girlfriend, but he doesn’t find the right girl. One day he finds a planner, and he realizes that her owner could be the woman he is looking for.

B60) WHO IS FLORINDA BOLKAN?
Director: Ruban Torrejon, Duration: 07:42, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: On holiday in Venice, a young couple tries in vain to recapture the spirit of their relationship.

B61) BONSAI
Director: Oscar Martin, Duration: 14:32,
Short synopsis: The tree is a bridge between earth and sky, between human and divine.One who can keep a tree in a bowl, has the immortality assured. So is the art of Bonsai.

B62) THE DESCENT
Director: Daniel Romero, Duration: 14:04, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: After running out of fuel, Blanca and Susana are forced to walk across adesert road. Depletion end, stifling heat and a demanding context affect your relationship and awaken their spirit of survival.

B64) EIGHT
Director: Raul Cerezo, Duration: 13:07, Original Language: ---
Short synopsis: At 8 years old, will, discipline and personality of a child begin to take shape, and the distinction between good and evil starts to be defined.

B65) I HATE YOU
Director: Rafa Rojas-Diez, Duration: 06:00, Original Language:Spanish
Short synopsis: Sometimes it is not easy to talk about certain things with the one you love the most. There is a very thin line between love and hate. Hate and love are two sides of the same coin.

B66) MANDATORY DIRECTION
Director: Juan Carlos Guerra, Duration: 14:54, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: Ernesto is one of the elements of a complex and dangerous plan that is about to fail, what leads him and his companions to a delicate position. Along with Rosi and Andrey, he decides to disappear from the city that very night.

B67) AL QUEDAAL ALANDALUS
Director: Enrique Bocanegra, Duration: 09:00, Original Language: Spanish
Short synopsis: An anonymous video posted to the U.S military base in Rota (Cadiz) triggers all alarms. In the video a young masked, spokesman of Al Qaeda Al Andalus, an Al-Qaeda cell in Spain, threatens to undermine the U.S military stationed in Spain.

13th Madurai Film Festival : List 03

13th Madurai Film Festival 2011
Films from Rest of India

A1. A Small Hope
Director: Abivyakthi Media for Development; 6 min; 2011; Hindi with English subtitles; Music Video; Rest of India; Mini DV
Nasik is a sacred place. Burial of funeral ash, prayers and its similar deeds people offer gold, silver and coins at Ramkund, one of the banks of river Godavari. Children daily from flying flocks of migrant communities pick up the same offering diving into the spoiled river water and struggle to make a living for themselves.

A2. Shwet
Director: Kanchan Ghosh; 29 min; 2010; Hindi/English subtitles; short film; Rest of India; HD Cam
Shwet looks at quantifiable and unquantifiable nature of pain. The pain of Mahadev, unable to support his family is clear and understandable. Rishi, a middle aged disillusioned filmmaker trapped in his isolation personifies this.

A3. Dilli
Director: Sushmit Ghosh & Rintu Thomas; 22 min; HD
A4. Partners of Crime
Director: Paromita Vohra; 94 min; 2011; Hindi & English; documentary; Rest of India; HDV
Partners in Crime takes you on a rollicking trip through the grey worlds of copy right, art and the market in a story about love, money and crime.

A5. Far from the Mainstream
Director: Patdeep Chaudari; 14 min; 2011; Hindi; Documentary; Rest of India
Sanjharis of Maharashtra, known as Neharryahs at West Bengal sweep and collect small particles of gold and silver from heap of dust, fallen in front of jewellery shops, from the shirts and feet of goldsmiths.

A6. Inside Out
Director: Shilpi Gulati & Divya Cowasji; 26 min; 2010; English, Hindi; documentary; Rest of India; DV
The film “Inside Out” was born out of the angst that even in the 21st century, in a city as liberal and safe as Mumbai, women’s access to public space is limited and largely relegated to the sphere of purposefulness.

A7. Cotton for My Shroud
Director: Nandan Saxena & Kavita Bahl; 81 min; 2011; Hindi, Marathi, English; Documentary; Rest of India; HD
Since 1995, a quarter of a million Indian farmers have committed suicide – the largest wave of recorded suicides in human history. Most of them were cotton farmers from Vidharba in Maharashtra.

A8. IF
Director: Khanjan Kishore Nath; 17 min; 2010; Hindi; Short film; Rest of India; HD
All alone in this world an old man during his regular visit to the nearby bus stop he meets a kid… despite of their generation gap they became good friends.

A9. Vidrohi
Director: Niting K Pamnani; 44 min; 2011; Hindi; Documentary; Rest of India
This film was meant to be on poetry but transcended to a narrative of a person who lives in poetry. Through his poems, Ramashankar Vidrohi, an unknown, undocumented poet holds a mirror to his people yet his verses nurture many innocent dreams.

A10. Sona Gaha Pinjra (The Golden Cage)
Director: Biju Toppu; 20 min; 2010; Kurukh (Jarkhand); Short film; Rest of Inda
The Golden Cage, is short fiction film made on the Nawakhani (harvesting festival), which is celebrated with great traditional fervor among Kurukh indigenous people of Jharkhand.

A11. Qasba Sanskriti: Amroha
Director: Yousuf Saeed; 40 min; 2011; Urdu/Hindi; Documentary; Rest of India; DVCam
This documentary film explores the material culture, performing arts and crafts of Amroha, a small town near Delhi in north India.

A12. The Sore Thumb
Director: Ahona Datta Gupta; 13 min 29 sec; 2011; English, Hindi, Gujarti; Short film: Rest of India; 7D
After a decade a wanted criminal has been caught. He is not a murderer but someone who likes to chop off his victims’ fingers after having irrelevant bets with them.

13th Madurai Film Festival 2011- list 02

13th Madurai Film Festival 2011
South India – Non Competition

1a. Beyond the Hustle and Bustle
Director: Mustafa Desamangalam; Duration: 28 min.; Original Language: Malayalam;
Short synopsis: This is a short journey with patients and their families who are with life- limiting disease. It reveals various social problems which is our society really facing.

2a. My Camera and Tsunami
Director: R.V.Ramani; Duration: 90 minutes; Original Language : English, Tamil, Bengali (with Eng. Subtitles)
Short synopsis: The film shares special moments that the filmmaker experienced with his camera, a special bonding over a period of 4 years, in terms of creating cinematic imagery, relating, exploring, seeking and interpreting notions of his reality.

3a. Pestering Journey
Dir:KR Manoj; 66 Minutes; 2010; English, Malayalam, Hindi, Punjabi, Tulu
A voyage through two similar pesticide tragedies in post independent India, Pestering Journey interrogates the legitimate forms and technologies of killing available in a culture. In an atypical move it challenges and changes the idioms of pesticide and genocide. It is a journey which takes a pestering turn and blurs the boundaries of nature and culture, of self and other, of life and death and many other comfortable binaries.

4a. Thodarum Neethi Kolaihal (Continuing Judicial Murders)
Director: Amudhan R.P.; Duration: 124 minutes; Tamil; 2011
Short synopsis:
When the state or a ruler decides to kill (punish) some one or a group of people in the name of justice and law does the state or a ruler become a killer again to compensate a crime? Does a civil society need these killing machines to maintain law and order? And who gets killed by these mechanisms anyway? Why does India still refuse to abolish capital punishment when it has other methods to annihilate its internal and external enemies? The questions continue.

13th Madurai Film Festival 2011 - final list of films 01

13th Madurai Film Festival 2011
Films from South India – Competition for SARAT CHANDRAN MEMORIAL AWARD

1.POOCHANDI
Director: Simon George; Duration: 10.30; Original Language: Tamil
Short synopsis: It is a short film about runaway children.

2.HOPE
Director: Abhijit Purohit; Duration: 14.58; Original Language: Kannada
Short synopsis: Hope is the story if kitty, a boy who has been waiting for success for a long time. Due to lack of opportunities kitty decides to kill himself.

3. DYING STREET HORSES
Director: M. Nehru; Duration: 36 Min.; Original Language: Tamil
Short synopsis: In a highly desensitized medium like cinema, trying to evoke pain just showing the daily suffering of a few miserable lives was an ordeal.

4. EPPATIKI PASIVALLE (CHILDREN FOREVER)
Director: V. Sundar raja; Duration: 05.30; Original Language:Telugu
Short synopsis: A film about mentally retarded kids, which proves that with proper training, we can make these kids to grow and live on their own.

5. BHAGYA
Director: K.Prakash Suvarna; Duration: 60 min.; Original Language: Tulu
Short synopsis: Bhagya is a film about an aggrieved fisherwoman, whose dreams to settle down as a housewife in life never realizes. This film is based on the true life story of illiterate fisherwomen.

6. THE SOUL OF VIBRANT SHADOWS
Director: Upendra.K.R; Duration: 44 Min.; Original Language: Tamil and Malayalam
Short synopsis: It is a documentary movie about Annamala pulavar, a puppeteer, philosopher and a scholar of Tholpavakoothu. This film can give you insight into his work.

7. TEARS OF SHORES ( Thuyaram Padintha Karaikal)
Director: J.D.Imaya Varman; Duration: 93 Min.; Original Language:Tamil
Short synopsis: The film narrates the miseries of the Indian Tamil fishermen who are affected by Sri Lankan Navy.

8. SABDA REKHA - A VOICE PROOF
Director: Nirmal.S; Duration: 14 Min.; Original Language: Malayalam
Short synopsis: Seyathalavi musaliyar is waiting by the road for his son Aslam who is returning home after being abroad for a long time.

9. VIDHAYA
Director: Ananth Shine; Duration: 29.35 sec; Original Language: Kannada
Short synopsis: All of humanity belongs to one caste.

10. KIKI
Director: Pavel Nava Geethan; Duration: 16 min; Original Language: Tamil
Short synopsis: Story about lost childhood, children as domestic workers.

11. NADAIMEDAI (PLATFORM)
Director: K.Jayamurugan; Duration: 9.45 Min; Original Language : Tamil
Short synopsis: This film is about a journey of a highly paid U.S return software engineer who accidentally did a shoe repair job at a railway station in India.

12. GREEN GANESH FESTIVAL
Director: Raviraj Chandrakant Naik; Duration: 24.25 min.; Original Language: English
Short synopsis: The film is about adopting eco-friendly methods of idol making during Ganesh festival considering water pollution caused by plaster of Paris idols and toxic paints.

13. BAHADUR- THE ACCIDENTAL BRAVE
Director: Aditya Seth; Duration:65 min; Original Language: Nepalese
Short synopsis: Nepali migrant male workers in Mumbai are affected with HIV AIDS .

14. NODIGAL (SECONDS)
Director: D.Abijith; Duration: 8.26sec; Original Language : Tamil
Short synopsis: “Speed thrills, but kills “, do not accept a bribe; a wicked man accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the course of JUSTICE.

15. A FIRED SOUL
Director: M. Aravid kumar; Duration: 60 min.; Original Language : English
Short synopsis: A contemporary shadow puppetry show on Gandhi as a fired soul, takes the young narrator into a quest to explorer a fired soul Gandhian for his apprehensions and finally ends up surprisingly self-revised.

16. BRIAN’S GANDHI
Director: Ram I. Saravanan; Duration: 10.28 sec; Original Language: Tamil & English
Short synopsis: Brian and his daughter Joan, on a trip to India, spot a broken statue of Gandhi at a road side waste paper mart. They decide to act.

17. The Monologue
Director: Suresh George; Duration: 29:08; Original Language: Tamil & English
Short synopsis: The Monologue is all about exploring an illusive state of mind inside a thriving young man who bleeds inside each second to make it big as an actor someday, with hopes as string attached.

18. KELADI DRAUPATHI
Director: Sashikanth Anathachari; Duration: 1:54:00; Original Language: Tamil & English
Short synopsis: Every year in over 200 villages in Tamilnadu, the Mahabharatha is celebrated as a festival. Draupadi is seen as the protagonist of the epic, and the epic is performed so that Draupadi can hear story again.

19. KAITHADI
Director: M.Ganesan; Duration: 8 min 20 Sec; Original Language: Tamil
Short synopsis: Awareness about environment.

20. Securing Livelihoods: Director: A.Selvam; Duration: 13 min; English
Documentary about differently abled women proving their capability of being no lees than any human being.

21. Navilavathu Natpu: Director: G.S.Karthick; Tamil
The short film is about ragging among college students.

22. Endemic : Director: Niranjanah, Jithin Thomas, Reshma Emmathy, Mohammed Sameer; 7:15 min; Mute film
A satire film on corruption in south India.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

13th Madurai Film Festival 2011

13th Madurai International Documentary & Short Film Festival 2011

Jointly organised by MARUPAKKAM
& Media Research Centre, Department of Philosophy, Madura College, Madurai
7, 8, 9 December 2011; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Film sections:
1) Competition for Sarat Chandran Memorial Award for south Indian Films
2) Non competition for films from India
3) Non competition for International films
4) Retrospective: Films by Amar Kanwar
5) Country package: films from Switzerland -curated by Paul Lee
6) Under Construction: films distributed by Magic Lantern Foundation, New Delhi
7) Student films from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad curated by Arun Gupta

Parallel cultural events:
Painting and photography exhibition
Interaction with film makers and writers
Theatre performance

1) Sarat Chandran Memorial Award for south Indian short films and documentaries:
· Films dealing with people’s struggles and human rights issues can be sent under this category.
· Films on south India - Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Pondicherry -(can be about who ever lives/what ever happens in south India), films about south Indians (whereever they are) and films by south Indians (about anything/anybody, where ever they live) can be sent!
· Short films should be less than 45 minutes; No restriction on duration for documentaries
· First prize: Rs.25,000/- Second prize: Rs.10,000/- (common for short films and documentaries. i.e., no separate prizes for short films and documentaries)
· Entry fee: Rs.500/- to be sent as demand draft in favour of R.Amudhan payable at Madurai.
· Last date to send entries: 1 December2011.
· Check list: filled entry form, demand draft, 2 DVD copies and publicity material in both hard and soft copy formats.
· Final selected list of films will be announced on 5December 2011.


2) Non competition for short films and documentaries from India and International films:
· Short Films and documentaries can be on any theme and any style
· Short films should be less than 45 minutes
· No restriction on duration for documentaries
· No entry fee
· Last date to send entries: 1 November 2011.
· Check list: filled entry form, 2 DVD copies and publicity material in both hard and soft copy formats.
· Final selected list of films will be announced on 1 December 2011.

Entry forms are available at http://www.marupakkamfilms.blogspot.com/
Entries to be sent to: MARUPAKKAM
A 9/4 K.K.Nagar, Madurai 625 020 India. Ph: 86952 79353; 93444 79353

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

13th Madurai Film Festival 2011

13th Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2011

Hot news!
1) We will have films by Amar Kanwar under the RETROSPECTIVE section
2) Country Package will be a collection films from Switzerland

amudhan rp
festival director