More than 10 filmmakers at 8th CIDSFF 2020

More than 10 filmmakers at 8th CIDSFF 2020!

We will have the pleasure and honor of having more than 10 filmmakers presenting their films at 8th Chennai International Documentary Short Film Festival 2020.

Uma Chakaravarthy, the veteran feminist historian and filmmaker started the curtain raiser screenings with her film 'Darbar E Watan' on 9th February @ Goethe-institut, Chennai.

Amudhan Ramalingam Pushpam will present his film 'My Caste' on 15th Feb @ 5.30 pm as part of curtain raiser screenings at Periyar Thidal.

Anna Bohlmark will screen her film 'Big Social Nomad' on 17th Feb @ 5.30 pm as part of curtain raiser screenings at Discovery Book Palace.

Ramdas Kadavallur will present his film 'Mannu' on 19th Feb at 2 pm @ Loyola College.

Swati Dandekar will present her film 'Neeli Raag' on 19th Feb at 5.30 pm @ Goethe Institut, Chennai.

Shanmuganathan will present his film 'Devaradiyar in Sadhir – The Life and Art of Muthukannammal' on 20th Feb @ 1.30 pm @ Ethiraj College, Chennai

Rajula Shah will start her 'Filmmaker in Focus' screenings with her film 'Word within the Word' on 20th Feb @ 11.15 am @ Goethe Institut, Chennai.

Ranjan Palit will start his 'Retrospective' with his film 'In Camera' on 20th Feb @ 6.15 pm @ Goethe Institut, Chennai.

Sandeep Ravindranath will present his film 'Diary of an Outsider' on 21st Feb @ 1 pm @ Women's Christian College.

Anupama Srinivasan will present her film 'Are You Going to School Today?' on 21st Feb @ 3.30 p @ Goethe Institut, Chennai.

Anirban Dutta will present his film 'The Last Run' on 21st Feb @ 5.30 pm @ Goethe Institut, Chennai.

Amit Mahanti will present his film 'Scratches on Stone' on 22nd Feb @ 3.30 pm @ Goethe Institut, Chennai.

Hansa Thapliyal will present her film 'The Outside In' on 23rd Feb @ 11.35 @ Goethe Institut, Chennai.

We will have Tamil films presented by Ulaga Cinema Bhaskaran and Student films presented by Nilita Vachani on 23rd Feb @ 2 pm - 5 pm. We expect a few filmmakers to present their films (yet to be confirmed).

Nilita Vachani

Ulaga Cinema Bhaskaran

See you friends!

8th CIDSFF : Screening Schedule

8th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival : Screening Schedule* 

*subject to changes

Summary:

Dates: 19-23 February 2020

Sections :

1) Indian films

2) International films

3) Contemporary German films

4) Retrospective # 1 - Andres Veiel

5) Retrospective # 2 - Ranjan Palit

6) Filmmaker in Focus - Rajula Shah

7) Homage - Manjira Datta

8) Tamil films

Venues:
1) Dept of Visual Communication, Loyola College / 19 Feb

2) Dept of Journalism (PG), Ethiraj College / 20 Feb

3) Dept of Communication (PG), Women's Christian College / 21 Feb

4) Dept of Social Work, Loyola College / 21 Feb

5)Max Mueller Bhavan / 19-23 Feb

Detailed Schedule:

1)  Dept of Visual Communication, Loyola College : 19 Feb

2 pm : Mannu

(Dir: Ramdas Kadavallur; 113 min; India; Doc)

2) Department of Journalism, Ethiraj College : 20th Feb

1.30 to 4.30 pm

Devaradiyar in Sadhir – The Life and Art of Muthukannammal
(Dir:Shanmuganathan; 66 min; India; Doc)
Never Give Up
(Dir: Jonathan Schornig; 16 min; Malta; Doc)
Cuban Canvas
(Dir: Kavery Kaul; 14 min; Cuba, United States; Doc)
Kaggantu
(Dir: Ujjwal Utkarsh; 20 min; India; Doc)
Deep Roots
(Dir: Luc Godonou Dossou; 15 min; Swtizerland, Thailand, Phillipines, Guadeloupe; Doc)

3) Women's Christian College : 21 Feb

1 pm to 5:30 pm

Diary of an Outsider
Dir: Sandeep Ravindranath; 14 min; Hindi, English; USA and India; Short fiction

German Short films

Am Cu Ce – Pride
(Dir: Hannah Weissenborn; 19 min; Germany; fiction)
Halmaspiel (Chinese Checkers)
(Dir: Betina Kuntzsch; 15 min; Germany;Animation)
Fest
(Dir: Nikita Diakur; 3 min; Germany; animation)
Carlotta's Face
 (Dir: Frédéric Schuld,V Riedl; 5 min; Germany; Animation)
Tracing Addai
 (Dir: Esther Niemeier; 30 min; Germany; Animation)
Biotope
(Dir: Paul Scholten; 12 min; Germany; Doc)
Neko No Hi (Cat Days)
(Dir: Jon Frickey; 11 min; Germany; Animation)

Ranjan Palit Retrospective

For Maya
(Dir: Vasudha Joshi; Camera : Ranjan Palit; 40 min; Retro; India; Doc)
Voices from Baliapal
(Dir : Vasudha Joshi and Ranjan Palit; 40 min; Retro; India; Doc)


4) Department of Social Work, Loyola College : 21 Feb

a still from 'Aayi Gayi' by Anandana Kapur

1:30 pm to 4.30 pm

Aayi Gayi
(Dir: Anandana Kapur; 72 min; India; Doc)
Actually She is My Little Brother
(Dir: Lena Lobers & Carina Nickel; 39 min; Germany; Doc)
World Taxi
(Dir: Philipp Majer; 82 min; Germany; Doc)
Big Social Nomad
(Dir: Anna Bohlmark; 25 min; Sweden / India; Doc)
Stekenjokk and the Guardians of the Eggs
(Dir: Per Bifrost, Alexander Rynéus; 29 min; Sweden; Doc)

5) Screenings at Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Chennai

19th Feb

a still from 'Neeli Raag' by Swati Dandekar

10 am : Inauguration

11 am

People of the Wasteland
(Dir: Heba Khaled; 21 min; Turkey; Doc)
Janani's Juliet
(Dir: Pankaj Rishi Kumar; 53 min; India; Doc)
Invisible
(Dir: Shirin Barghnavard; 27 min; Iran, Germany; Doc)

2 pm to 5 pm

The Kick
(Dir: Andres Veiel; 82 min; Retro; Doc)
The Quiet Rebel
(Dir: Carole Cassier; 48 min; France; Doc)
Rishte
(Dir: Manjira Datta; 25 min; Homage; Doc)

5.30 pm to 8.30 pm

Neeli Raag
(Dir: Swati Dandekar; 85 min; India; Doc)
Mission Life Line
(Dir: Markus Weinberg; 67 min; Germany; Cont.German films; Doc)


20th Feb

a still from 'Katha Loknath' by Rajula Shah

10 am to 1 pm

In My Skin
(Dir: Anna-Sophia Richard; 72 min; Germany; Cont. German films; Doc)
Word within the Word
(Dir : Rajula Shah; 74 min; Filmmaker in Focus; India; Doc)

2 pm to 5 pm

February 27th
(Dir: Marie-Therese Jakoubek; 43 min; Algeria, Democratic Arab Republic of Sahara; Doc)
Black Box BRD
(Dir: Andres Veiel; 100 min; Germany; Retro; Doc)

5.30 pm to 8.30 pm

Katha Loknath
(Dir: Rajula Shah; 43 min; Filmmaker in Focus; India; Fiction)
In Camera
(Dir:Ranjan Palit; 77 min; Retro; India; Doc)

21 Feb

a still from 'The Last Run' by Anirban Dutta

10 am to 1 pm

BEUYS
(Dir: Andres Veiel; 107 min; Germany; Retro; Doc)
Jumbled Cans
(Dir:Rajula Shah; 23 min; Filmmaker in Focus; India; Fiction)
Night Longer than Sleep
(Dir: Arghya Basu; 6 min; India; Poetry video)
Of Exiles and Kingdom
(Dir: Arghya Basu; 26 min; India; Doc)

2 pm to 5 pm

Recasting Selves
(Dir: Lalit Vachani; 80 min; India; Doc)
Are You Going to School Today?
(Dir: Anupama Srinavasan; 60 min; India; Doc)

5.30 pm to 8.30 pm

The Last Run
(Dir: Anirban Dutta; 37 min; India; Doc)
A Night of Prophecy
(Dir: Amar Kanwar; Camera: Ranjan Palit; 77 min; Retro; India; Doc)

22 Feb

10 am to 1 pm

BREAKING BARRIERS: The Casteless Collective
(Dir: Maja Meiners; 69 min; Germany / India; Doc)
Starting with Fragments
(Dir: Omar Shalash, Robert Dobe; 80 min; Germany, Syria; Doc)
The Man who Looked Beyond the Horizon
(Dir: Martijn Blekendaal; 28 min; The Netherlands; Doc)

2 pm to 5 pm

The War in Me
(Dir: Sebastian Hienzel; 83 min; Germany / Switzerland; Cont.German films; Doc)
Scratches on Stone
(Dir: Amit Mahanti; 62 min; India; Doc)

5.30 pm to 8.30 pm : The Lord of the Orphans
(Dir: Ranjan Palit; 150 min; Retro; India; Doc / fiction)

23 Feb

10 am to 1 pm

A Place to Live
(Dir: Sanjiv Shah; 92 min; India; Doc)
The Outside In
(Dir: Hansa Thapliyal; 25 min; India; Doc)
Sacrifice of Babulal Bhuiya
(Dir :Manjira Datta; 64 min; India; Homage; Doc)

2 pm to 5 pm

2 pm Tamil short films (curated by Ulaga Cinema Bhaskaran)

4.30 pm Student films from Asian College of Journalism

5.30 pm to 8.30 pm

Closing ceremony

Closing film:
The Little Death
(Dir: Annie Gisler; 61 min; Switzerland; Doc)

8th CIDSFF 2020 : Curtain Raiser Screenings

8th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020

Screening Schedule (subject to changes)

Curtain Raiser Screenings

9 Feb; 5.30 pm @ Goethe-Institut

Darbar – e- Watan

(Dir: Uma Chakaravarthy; 48 min; India; Doc)

15 Feb: 5.30 pm @ Periyar Thidal 

My Caste (En Saathi)
(Dir: Amudhan R.P.; 78 min; India; Doc)

16 Feb: 5.30 pm @ Panuval Book Store

Olowe and I
(Dir: Christina Ruloff; 14 min; Switzerland; Doc)

Actually She is My Little Brother
(Dir: Lena Lobers & Carina Nickel; 39 min; Germany; Doc)

World Taxi
(Dir: Philipp Majer; 82 min; Germany; Doc)

The Olden Heralds
(Dir: Luis Alejandro Yero; 23 min; Cuba; Doc)

17 Feb: 5.30 pm @ Discovery Book Palace

Deep Roots
(Dir: Luc Godonou Dossou; 15 min; Swtizerland, Thailand, Phillipines, Guadeloupe; Doc)

Big Social Nomad

(Dir: Anna Bohlmark; 25 min; Sweden / India; Doc)

The Last of His Kind
(Dir: Jánik von Wilmsdorff; 11 min; Germany; Doc)

Kaggantu
(Dir: Ujjwal Utkarsh; 20 min; India; Doc)

We welcome you all! Entry free!

8th CIDSFF 2020 : Contemporary German Documentary and Short Films

8th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020

A still from 'The Kick' by Andres Veiel

Contemporary German Documentaries:

IN MY SKIN
Dir: Anna-Sophia Richard | 2018 | 72min. | German with English subtitles
Why do women stay in violent relationships even when they have beenabused for a long time?

We experience the daily lives of three women with different backgrounds asthe camera takes on their point of view. We hear their thoughts and sufferwith them as they struggle to become more independent and break free.Based on true events, all voice-over texts were taken from interviews withthe portrayed women.


MISSION LIFELINE
Dir: Markus Weinberg | 2019 | 67min. | German, English

Their purpose: to save refugees from drowning. For this, Axel Steier and his team from the Dresden sea-rescue NGO "Mission Lifeline" have worked tirelessly for years to collect donations. Together with two Spanish NGO's, they finally manage to buy their own ship and set off to the Mediterranean. In his hometown Dresden, Axel's idea finds many friends but just as many enemies. And then, the truth at sea – oil leakage, refugee boats sinking before their eyes, even gunfire by Libyan militia. For two years, we accompanied Axel and his team with our camera – even onto the ship just off the Libyan coast, where the struggle to save people from certain death ultimately also turns into a fight for the European idea.

WAR IN ME
Dir: von Sebastian Heinzel | 2019 | 83min. | German, Russian

"How much soldier is still alive in me?", Sebastian Heinzel asks himself when he learns from theWehrmacht archives that his grandfather fought in Russia during the Second World War. GrandpaHans didn't mention this mission in his family until his death. Inspired by the discoveries thefilmmaker travels to the places where his grandfather was stationed as a soldier. He encountersunexpected connections to his own life and to his war dreams, which have been haunting him fordecades. Sebastian involves his father in his confrontation, which brings the two closer togetherand breaks the silence that also shaped his father. The film shows how knots in one's own familyhistory can be loosened and how changes can be made.

With the help of scientists, therapists and authors, the director explores how far-reaching collectiveevents such as flight, expulsion and genocide reach into the second and third generations. Newresearch from epigenetics indicates that enormous stress experiences change the genetic makeup.These are groundbreaking insights that make it clear what inheritance the descendants carryon their shoulders - often without being aware of it.

Against the background of the global refugee crisis and international tensions, the film tells of thelong-term consequences of the war and our task to deal with it in order to make healing andreconciliation possible.

Contemporary German Short Films:

SHORT EXPORT 2019 - EDITION 14

Already in its fourteenth edition SHORT EXPORT 2019 – MADE IN GERMANY travels the world with a selection of current German short films. The cooperation between AG Kurzfilm, German Films, Goethe-Institut Lyon, Kurz Film Agentur Hamburg and the International Short Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand resulted in yet another wonderfully colorful short film programme.

SHORT EXPORT 2019 – MADE IN GERMANY presents seven entertaining films that illustrate the German short film scene's vast artistic and stylistic variety. The films selected for this edition wittily tell about identity, searching and finding.

Total Duration: 95 min

FILM DETAILS

BIOTOPE
Paul Scholten | documentary | 12'

Life in Neuperlach, a Munich suburb, is tranquil. It is a safe neighbourhood where people know and greet each other. Everybody has their own backyard; single car garages line the narrow footpaths and everything is nicely groomed. However, this peaceful existence has been troubled for some time now: refugees are set to move in next door. Some of the residents are worried that their peace will be disturbed, so they are putting up a noise protection wall.

NEKO NO HI (CAT DAYS)
Jon Frickey | animation | 11'
Little Jiro feels sick. His father takes him to see the doctor. She diagnoses a harmless condition, but it shakes the boy's identity to its core.

TRACING ADDAI
Esther Niemeier | animated documentary | 30'
A true story about a war and the tragic impact it has on the lives of three people.

The story of a young man who leaves his life behind in Germany and sets off to help people. In 2013, Addai joins a Salafist group in Syria. A few years later his mother meets Ilias, a returnee from Syria. Their personal stories paint a clearer picture of Addai’s story.

AM CU CE - MEIN GANZER STOLZ
Hannah Weissenborn | fiction | 19'
Romanian trucker Stancu has given his nephew Dragan a second driver card which enables him to stretch his legal driving time. But when Dragan falls into microsleep at the wheel and almost causes an accident, Stancu suddenly feels responsible.

HALMASPIEL (CHINESE CHECKERS)
BetinaKuntzsch | animated documentary | 15'
The film uses animated objects discovered in the family archives to recount the life of my mother. It is a 20th century biography: growing up in the Nazi era, teenage years in post-war Germany, the building of the Wall and life in the GDR and then reunified Germany. It is a story of escaping and adapting, challenging and conforming.

FEST
Nikita Diakur | experimental animation | 3'
Footage from a suburban block party. Rave, drone, BBQ and ice cream. Then a stunt. Youtube inspired and simulated.

CARLOTTA'S FACE
FrédéricSchuld, Valentin Riedl | animated documentary | 5'
As a child, Carlotta didn’t expect the people around her to have faces. She doesn’t even recognize her own face. Years later, she learns about a rare, untreatable deficiency in her brain. In the end, it is art that gives her the chance to finally recognize herself.

8th Chennai Film Festival 2020 : Student films from Asian College of Journalism

8th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020

Student films from Asian College of Journalism

1) Woman Descending A Staircase
Dir: Greeshma Rai; 1 min; 2018; Doc

Access for the disabled doesn’t exist in India. Able bodied people don't even
realize this disparity in everyday life.

2) POSTER BOYS
Dir: Cibe Chakravarthy.T.S.; 1 min; 2019; Doc

Poster boys work in the dead of night with blazing speed, gluing
together lifesize portraits with home-made porridge gruel.

3) Thaayi (The Mother)
Dir:Nitin Krishna Padindala; 1 min; 2017; Doc

Even in her somnambulent state, the mother shields her child
during a rickety ride on the night bus.

4) PHOTOGRAPHERS
Dir: Jacob B Jacob, Jasmin Jose; 1 min; 2019; Doc

The moment is what it is all about, and the movement within the
moment describes what happens.

5) FOOTBOARD
Dir:Srijith R; 1 min; 2019; Doc

Footboard travel, in overcrowded trains and buses in India is not just a matter of grabbing a
foothold to get somewhere on time- it’s also a form of high adrenalin adventure-seeking for the young who battle high-winds, obstacles and extreme motion along the way.

8th Chennai Film Festival 2020 : Tamil films

8th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020

Tamil films : curated by Ulaga Cinema Bhaskaran

List of films

1) Legally Raped
Dir: Charulatha B Rangarajan; 14.56 min

LR revolves around a woman getting out of an abusive marriage & how she deals with it emotionally!

2) Chinnanchiru Kiliye
Dir: Na Ram; 6.48 min

3) Thedal
Dir:Vignesh Paramasivam; 14.28 min

Journey of photographer searching for a water ends up in finding Meaning of Life.

4) Pesaatha Pechellam
Dir: Jai Lakshmi; 7.38 min

Not every topic can be openly discussed. The film is about one of such stories.

5) Dreams
Dir: Athithya Kanagarajan; 10 min

Dilip, a paper boy of twelve wants to invite Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam to his

school Annual Day celebration. Kalam Sir accepts his invitation. What happens

then is the rest of the story.

6) Naandudami
Dir: SPP Bhaskaran; 27 min

The 2000 year old “Thirukkural” framed to structure the moral of the society

is also taught at these schools. Yet , why is this peculiar boy’s moral compass broken?

This short film travels by sowing this question.

7) Oruvanukku Oruthi
Dir: Vimal Santiagu: 17:37 min

A young man and woman, who are uninterested in the idea of arranged marriage are forced to

meet each other by their parents. They succumb to the pressure and meet hesitantly. While

they are both eagerly waiting to reject the other person, they surprisingly strike an engaging

conversation about life, love and themselves.

8) Sinam
Dir: Ananthamoorthy; 20 min

The call is unsuspecting and it piques the interest of a documentary

film-maker, when the caller identifies her as a prostitute.

9) Devaradiyar in Sadir : The Life and Art of Muthukannammal
Dir: S Shanmuganathan; 66:44 min; Documentary

8th Chennai Film Festival : Retrospective 2 - Ranjan Palit

8th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020
Retrospective # 2 : Ranjan Palit, cinematographer / filmmaker

Films to be screened :

In Camera
dir ranjan palit ,77 min produced by psbt ,2009

A long documentary where dir cameraman ranjan palit reflects on the ethics of shooting the documentary, after 25 years of shooting and directing the same

Main award at kerala 3rd int docu fest, best experimental film award in vibgyor, 2 national awards

Voices from baliapal
dir by vasudha joshi and ranjan palit, produced by vector productions, 40 min .1988

The film is about the nonviolent protest of 70000 farmers and fisher folk against the setting up of a missile base in baliapal, the most fertile part of coastal Orissa

Won the golden conch BIFF 1990 audience award, freiburg int film festival and national award for best film on social issues

A Night of Prophecy
dir by amar kanwar, cam ranjan palit.

produced by documenta and amar kanwar films, 2002 ,77 min

a documentary on protest songs and poetry across the indian subcontinent

FOR MAYA
dir vasudha joshi cam ranjan palit 1997 40 min .produced by the foundation for universal responsibility of his holiness the dalai llama

a film where vasudha joshi turns the camera on 4 generations of her family..

anandalok award 1998

The Lord of the Orphans

dir by ranjan palit and produced by ranjan palit and jar pictures and presented by vishal bhardwaj-150 min; 2019

my debut fiction feature film is a kind of autobiopic where in the first half, i follow the story of a family(mine) reeling under a 100 year old curse, and in the 2nd half ,tell the story of my own life as a loser in love, being healed by the documentary

8th Chennai Film Festival 2020 : Retro 01 - Andres Veiel

8th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020

Retrospective : 01 - Andres Veiel



Andres Veiel was born in Stuttgart in 1959. In addition to his psychology studies, he completed directorial and dramaturgy training at the KünstlerhausBethanien under the Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowskiat the end of the 1980s. His play Der Kick was shown at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin and at the Theater Basel.

Films to be screened:

BLACK BOX BRD
Director: Andres Veiel, colour, 100 min., 2000

An exploration of two contrarian, but equally radical lives that both found violent endings: Alfred Herrhausen, CEO of Deutsche Bank, died in 1989 in a bomb attack apparently carried out by the RAF (Rote ArmeeFraktion). Four years later, the presumed RAF terrorist Wolfgang Grams was supposed to be arrested on the Bad Kleinen train station; he died after a shoot-out under circumstances that have never been finally ascertained.

THE KICK
Dir: Andres Veiel, colour, 82 min., 2006 

On the night of 13 July 2000 brothers Marco and Marcel Schönfeld, together with their friend Sebastian Fink, violently attacked and killed 16-year-old MarinusSchöberl. Documentary maker Andres Veiel carried out extensive research for the play he wrote about the case which took place in Uckermark, a district of Berlin. The film is based on and takes its name from the play.

BEUYS
Dir.: Andres Veiel;107 min; 2017



Few 20th century German creative artists were as controversial as performance artist, sculptor, graphic artist, art theorist and occasional Professor Joseph Beuys (1921 – 1986). His work addressed a new, expanded concept of art, including the political shaping of society. Andres Veiel’s documentary embarks upon an extensive hunt for clues, bringing to light a host of unknown archive material and allowing contemporary witnesses like Klaus Staeck the opportunity to talk. What emerges is a collage of visual and audio documents providing viewers with access to Beuys’ complex work.

8th Chennai Film Festival 2020 : Homage - Manjira Datta

8th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020

19-23 Feb, Goethe-Institut, Chennai

Homage : Manjira Datta





Manjira Datta, an independent documentary filmmaker from Delhi passed away on 26 Aug 2019.

Manjira's award winning films focus on environment, rural and industrial labour, labour in the entertainment sector, politics, agrarian technology, and discrimination against women among others. She also conceptualized and was a line producer for a twenty-six-part drama serial on Adult Education for UNICEF and Directorate of Adult Education. She was a director and producer for BBC2, Channel 4 (UK), ARD Germany, One World Broadcasting Group, UNDP & TVE, Mayavision (London), MacArthur Foundation (Chicago), Commonwealth of Learning (Canada), UNIFEM and Tata Steel and other State Government Departments in India.

Films :

Sacrifice of Babulal Bhuiya
Dir :Manjira Datta; 64 min; 1988




A thousand Indians drag a meager living from the black swamp where ash and fumes from the power station corrupt the air as surely as the coal dirt blights the land. Nothing grows in Mailagora which means the place of dirt.
Manjira Datta's painful and poetic film is a portrait of the undead and an investigation of the murder of local martyr...Babulal, who was shot dead by industrial security guards employed by owners of the coal washery. The guards are accused of running a protection racket among the slurry-sifters, of harassing the women and attacking the men... Explanations of the incident differ....Babulal was killed...
So, Babulal becomes a hero, his ashes scattered on the coal black river. His concrete monument painted a blood red...

Rishte
Dir: Manjira Datta; 25 min; 1994

In India the fate of a woman is often determined by the size of the dowry she brings to her marital home. A woman is considered worthless if she does not bear a male child. Female foeticide is a common practice in India. A daughter is viewed as a socio-economic burden as she leaves her parental home with capital (dowry). She seldom has the option to return to her parental home if she is tortured in her marital home. Society prefers a woman's death to her divorce.

The film unpeels layers of the many-headed evil patriarchy in Indian society as it explores the factors that lead to the death of Lali Devi, an educated and capable woman, and her two girls.