Saturday, December 5, 2015

17th Madurai Film Festival 2015 : Screening Schedule

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
Day 01 : 6 Dec 2015

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.

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
Dir : Gautam Sonti & Usha Rao; 87 min; Documentary; Kannada, Hindi, English; 2014



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
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
Dir: Som; 27 min; Bengali; Short film; 2014



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
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
Dir: Rodrigo Ruiz – Gallardon; 9 min; Spanish; Short film; 2015; Spain



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
Dir: Shasi Ghosh Gupta; 23 min; Hindi; Documentary; 2015


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

Thursday, December 3, 2015

17வது மதுà®°ை சர்வதேச ஆவணப்பட & குà®±ுà®®்படவிà®´ா 2015

17வது மதுà®°ை சர்வதேச ஆவணப்பட & குà®±ுà®®்படவிà®´ா 2015

6-10 டிசம்பர்; பல்வேà®±ு இடங்களில்; காலை 10 மணி à®®ுதல் இரவு 10 மணி வரை
ஓவியக் கண்காட்சி, கவிதை & கதை வாசிப்பு, கலந்துà®°ையாடல், திà®°ையிடல்

மதுà®°ை ஓவியர்களின் ஓவியக் கண்காட்சி தொடக்கவிà®´ா : 6 டிசம்பர்; காலை 10 மணி
கதை,கவிதை வாசிப்பு, கலந்துà®°ையாடல் : 6 டிசம்பர்; பிà®±்பகல் 2 மணி
திà®°ையிடல் தொடக்கவிà®´ா: 6 டிசம்பர்; à®®ாலை 5 மணி



தொடக்கத் திà®°ைப்படம் :Life in Metaphors – a portrait of Girish Kasaravalli”
இயக்கம் : ஓ.பி.ஸ்à®°ிவாஸ்தவா

மதுà®°ை ஓவியர்களின் ஓவியக் கண்காட்சி : காந்தி à®®ியூசியம் : டிசம்பர் 6-10; காலை 10 à®®ுதல் à®®ாலை 5 மணி வரை
திà®°ையிடல் : பல்வேà®±ு à®…à®°à®™்குகளில் ; டிசம்பர் 6-10 வரை



 à®¤ிà®°ையிடல் விபரம்:

à®…à®°à®™்கு 01 : காந்தி à®®ியூசியம் : டிசம்பர் 6-10; à®®ாலை 6 à®®ுதல் 9 வரை
à®…à®°à®™்கு 02 : மதுà®°ை காமராசர் பல்கலைக் கழகம்; டிசம்பர் 7; காலை 10 மணி à®®ுதல் à®®ாலை 5 மணி வரை

à®…à®°à®™்கு 03: லேடி டோக் கல்லூà®°ி; டிசம்பர் 8; காலை 10 மணி à®®ுதல் à®®ாலை 5 மணி வரை
à®…à®°à®™்கு 04 : லென்ஸ் (லயோலா ஊடகத்துà®±ை) அரசரடி; காலை 10 மணி à®®ுதல் à®®ாலை 5 மணி வரை
à®…à®°à®™்கு 05:  à®…à®®ெà®°ிக்கன் கல்லூà®°ி, காலை 10 மணி வரை à®®ாலை 5 மணி வரை


50க்குà®®் à®®ேà®±்பட்ட படங்கள் கீà®´்வருà®®் பிà®°ிவுகளின் கீà®´் திà®°ையிடப்படுà®®்:

1) இந்தியப் படங்கள் 2) சர்வதேசப் படங்கள் 3) à®°ெட்à®°ோஸ்பெக்டிவ் : பி.லெனின் இயக்கிய படங்கள் 4) ட்à®°ாட்ஸ்கி மருது தொகுத்தளித்த அனிà®®ேசன் படங்கள் 5) ஸ்வேதா கிà®·ோà®°் தொகுத்தளித்த ஆஸ்த்à®°ேலியப் படங்கள் 6) பாபன் குà®®ாà®°் தொகுத்தளித்த வடகிழக்கு இந்தியப் படங்கள்

à®…à®®ைப்பு : மறுபக்கம்

Ph: 86952 79353; 99406 42044; amudhan.rp@gmail.com; www.maduraifilmfest.blogspot.com

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

17th Madurai Film Festival 2015: International films

17th Madurai Film Festival 2015

17th Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2015

List of selected films :

International films



1)      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?

2)      Abnormal Behavior
Dir: Evgeniya Tamakhina ; 26 min; Russian, English; Short film; 2015; RussiaThailand

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…

3)      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.

4)      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.

5)      Beyond
Dir: Yuriy Kalyuzhniy; 10 min; Russian; Documentary; 2015; Russia

There are places where people live very differently. They are beyond the hustle and endless planning; beyond the rest of the world and time. This story is about such people.

6)      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.

7)      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”.

8)      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.

9)      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.

10)  Two Days
Dir: Ruslan Ganushchak; 21 min; Ukarnian; Documentary; 2014; Ukraine

The film is dedicated to cherished memory of warriors that were killed in fights for independent Ukraine in Donbas. The film tells events of Illovoysk tragedy in the end of Aug 2014.

11)  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.

12)  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.

13)  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?

14)  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.

15)  Muse
Dir: Sergey Burov; 18 min; Russian; Short film; 2015; Russia

Young artist got a unique chance to show his paintings at the Biennale among the other famous artists. The problem is simple, the pictures have not been painted and the Biennale will be tomorrow.

16)  Four Postcards to Marta
Dir: Hernan Talavera; 10 min; English; Documentary; 2015; Spain



I have here a small film; it’s made from a few filmed post cards.

17)  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.

18)  Rupestre
Dir: Enrique Diego; 7 min; Spanish; Animation; 2015; Spain


A wild horse meets a boy coming from the Paleolithic. A bond of curiosity will grow between them, bud old fears, inherited from millennia, will awaken too.

19)  Ayer
Dir: Rodrigo Ruiz – Gallardon; 9 min; Spanish; Short film; 2015; Spain



Two couples discuss political issues during a dinner in a fancy restaurant.

20)  Deber (Duty)
Dir: Angel Manzano; 15 min; Spanish; 2015; Short film; Spain



Sonsoles since childhood is fascinated by magic. So when the illusionist John Mistery invites her to join in a hypnosis show, she could not be happier.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Films from Australia : Curated by Shweta Kishore

17th Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2015

Films from Australia : curated by Shweta Kishore

1. Freedom Stories (99 min, 2015) Director: Steve Thomas


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.

2. The Hungry Tide (89 min, 2011) Director: Tom Zubrycki


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. Its population of 105,000 lives six feet above sea level, and scattered over 33 islands in the Pacific Ocean. Kiribati is steadily being swallowed up by the rising sea level; trees, roads, whole villages are disappearing beneath the waves. Mass migration seems to be the only long-term solution. In 2009, while preparing for the climate conference in Copenhagen, Maria receives some bad news from home: her father is gravely ill. Zubrycki follows Maria during a long period in which there is a lot at stake for her, both in personal and professional terms. The filmmaker watches Maria's transformation from a shy young woman into a powerful lady who doesn't hesitate to push her urgent cause in front of his camera. Through Maria's story, Zubrycki tackles a theme that in time will affect many people all over the world.

3. The Trial (52 min, 2009) Director: Joan Robinson

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 defense 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.

4.Welcome to Australia (50 min. 1999) Director: John Pilger

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.

In 1999, John Pilger returned home to find that the elaborate preparations for the Games overshadowed a hidden world where Aborigines continue to live in Third World conditions. He revealed that some of the greatest sportsmen and women in the world were in fact Aboriginal. Many of them, like blacks in South Africa under Apartheid, were until recently denied a place in their country's Olympic teams.

He also found that the Australian Government was in the process of overturning the landmark legislation of 1992 which finally recognized Aborigines as people with common law rights before the English colonized the country. 'Welcome to Australia: The Secret Shame Behind the Sydney Olympics' was the third film Pilger made on the Aboriginal struggle alongside fellow Australian, Alan Lowery.