2nd Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2014
5, 6, 7 Feb; 10 am to 7 pm; University of Madras
Jointly organized by MARUPAKKAM,
Padapetti
and
Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Madras
Schedule:
10 am Inauguration
10:30 At the ball of fortune
Dir: Denis Kurochka ; 08 mins 40 secs; Silent; 2012; Russia
A family is on the beach; there are others too. But others are tourists.
10:45 The Boy And The Parrot
Dir: Sagar Shriskar; 8mins 23 secs; English; 2013; India
The Boy and the Parrot is a story about a boy who had a parrot as a pet. He loved him very much and would often invite his friends over so that they could all play with it. He would feed his pet all its favorite food, like chilies and guavas, until one day his father freed the parrot of its cage.
11:00 Saknoia (The river flows)
Dir: Kanjan Kishore Nath; 13mins; Assamese; 2013; India
Haridhan earns his livelihood by catching fish in the river with the help of his small boat. His son Akan also helps him. A rich village leader wants to grab Haridhan’s boat. But Haridhan refuses.
11:20 Kanche Aur Postcards / Marbles and Postcards
Dir: Ridham Janve; 29 mins 55secs; Hindi; 2013; India
Kanche aur Postcard is an everyday, lighthearted story of a schoolboy wanting and being denied a game of marbles while on vacation. Seen through the young protagonist’s eyes, though, it is a story full of drama; with deeply felt rejections, difficult choices and unfortunate compromises.
12:00 Mi ojo derecho (My right eye (the apple of my eyes)
Dir: Joseco de linares; 13 mins; Spanish; Spain
Zurdo maintained a special relationship with his grandmother. Since he went away to study they have lost contact. On the last day of summer Zurdo decides to visit her with the intuition that he might not see her again.
12:15 Sorry to Interrupt
Dir: Dravid M. Lorenz ; 13mins; German; 2012; Germany
The Berlin Underground has just pulled out as a voice resounds: “Dear ladies and gentlemen, excuse me for interrupting…” Everybody is watching the homeless woman selling a well-known street newspaper. But what does SHE actually see?
12:35 Ball N Beautiful
Dir: Chida Bora; 14:48mins: Documentary: Assamese; 2011; India
The “Ball n Beautiful” is an unusual story of few girls from Rani, a village in Kamrup district of North-east India who have formed a women football team in this ironical cricket crazy nation patriarchal society.
1:00 Lunch break
2:00 pm Ek Kulta Ek Raja- The Only King
Dir: Junaid Imam; 17 mins 25 secs; Marathi; 2013; India
Bali, the farmer, dreams of a day when the bankers are requesting him to take a loan from their banks, the money lenders are pleading to take the money from them, the dalals are fighting to buy the yield from him, the government officer is treating him like a king and he along with his family living a luxurious life. But, what he actually faced that day was something very different.
2:30 pm Welcome to Bavaria
Dir: Matthias Kobmehi; 11 mins 21 secs; German; 2012; Germany
In the Bavarian mountains the border was closed to prevent illegal immigration. One evening an unexpected encounter takes place at the border control, which drives clumsy Bernie to resort to unconventional means.
2:50 Dreieinhalb / Three and A Half
Dir: Elisa Unger; 20 min; German; 2012; Germany
The house Martin inherited in Transylvania turns out to be a worthless old shack. The money he borrowed for the journey is almost gone. The strange food and the ancient VW camper slowly drive him mad. His bad luck continues when the hitchhiker Klara suddenly occupies his back seat. With her chaotic, bubbly personality and her ever smiling face she puts him through a number of unwelcome adventures and some unpleasant experiences.
3:30 Allah is Great
Dir: Andrea Lannetta; 25 mins 04secs; English/Hindi; 2012
Frank Asmas, a Danish Engineer, is leaving a Wind Farm located in a remote Indian village. He has to reach Nairobi, where he must attend an important conference. When he is ready to leave, he learns that the official car designated to take him to the airport, has not come due to political protests in the region.
4:00 Tea break
4:15 Jacobo
Dir: David Del Aguila; 13 mins 37 secs; Spanish; 2012; Spain
Jacobo must take the most difficult decision of his life.
4:35 Farooq versus The State
Dir: Anjali Montero and K.P. Jayasankar: 25mins: Documentary:Hindi, English; 2012: India
Hari Masjid, Wadala, Mumbai, was at the scene of a brutal police attack on January 10, 1993. Though Farooq Mhapkar was one of the casualties of indiscriminate police firing, he was charged as a rioter. Farooq versus The State is the story of Farooq's protracted legal battle against an unyielding State in pursuit of justice. Through this case, the film seeks to explore how justice was delayed and denied to the victims and survivors of the 1992-93 communal violence.
5:15 Sama – Muslim Mystic Music of India
Dir: Shazia Khan: 52mins: Documentary: Multiple Indian regional Languages; 2013; India
SAMA is the story of Indian Islamic Music, born out of a union of Indian and Islamic traditions, more than a thousand years ago. It explores the intermingling of these, in both form and content, to become a truly magnificent sound.
6:30 Domoj / Home
Dir: Simona Feldman; 9mins; German/Russian; 2013; Germany
Juri is growing up under deprived circumstances in a small village in the former CCCP. When his father moves to Germany to earn money for his family he hast to come to grips with a life without a father.
6:45 Feedback and discussion
Day 2: 6 February
10 am Alegria do lar/ The Joy of a Home
Dir: Ana Isabel Martins; 20 mins; Portuguese; 2013; Portugal
My grandparents José and Justina Moreira are an elderly couple who have lived together for 50 years. He likes to be in the backyard taking care of the vegetables, giving corn to the chickens and reading. She prepares the meals, cleans the house and makes the arrangements of the family's clothes. Their home is the place where they spend more time together, where they share frustrations and where they keep the memories of their life. “The Joy of a Home” is a portrait of the people who raised me up to 5 years old and the house where I built my main foundations. Right now I'm 23 and I still like to visit my grandparents.
10:25 Die Schaukel Des Sargmachers / The Swing of The Coffin Maker
Dir: Elmar Imanov; 29 mins 58secs; German; 2012; Germany
Azerbaijan. Yagub lives with his adult son, Musa in a small house in a desolate place. They lead a solitary life. Musa, mentally disabled and limited in his motor skills, assists his father with his work. Yagub is a carpenter and earns his money especially with coffins, which he carpenters for Georgians and Russians. Whenever being confronted with the clumsiness of his son he often reacts indignantly. When Musa is diagnosed with a deadly illness, the emotional numbing of the father slowly dissolves as he tries to make the last days of his son as enjoyable as possible – until Sabir delivers a surprising message.
11:00 No Problem! – six months with the Barefoot grandmamas
Dir: Yasmin Kidwai; 56 mins 14 secs; English and Hindi; 2012; India
The film, No Problem! - Six Months with the Barefoot Grandmamas is about the rural solar electrification project run by the Barefoot College in the village of Tilonia in the state of Rajasthan, India, where numerous illiterate rural women from all over the world, particularly Africa, are being trained as solar engineers.
12:15 Every Silence Another Doubt
Dir: Vivek Asri; 19 mins 40 secs; Hindi; 2013; India
‘Every Silence Another Doubt’ talks about a childless couple. And in India, being childless is a big taboo. Women have to suffer even if the problem lies with the man. This film depicts the story of a childless couple where husband is infertile and wife is fit.
12:45 Ein Augenblick in Mir / In The Nick of Time
Dir: David M. Lorenz; 13 mins; German; 2011; Germany
Arne wants to kill himself. But once he is standing on the chair with the rope around his neck, he suddenly discovers a small child staring at him from the window of the building across the street.
01 pm Lunch break
2:00 Bumpy Night
Dir: Julie Kreuzer; 30 mins; German; 2012; Germany
When Jonas, an actor, encounters his ex-boyfriend Anton at a party, he struggles to keep his composure. But for Jonas, a young man who can’t differentiate between the stage and real life, the performance he puts on soon spirals out of his control.
2:45 The Discarded
Dir: Juan Antono Delicado & David Elicado; 11 mins 36 secs; Spanish; 2013; Spain
"The Discarded" tells the story of three people living on the edge in a country where economic crisis and unemployment are the main problems.
3:00 In Zukunft / In Future
Dir: Darja Pilz; 64mins; Russian; 2013; Germany
The small village Future lies nestled somewhere in the middle of the Russian taiga. Forgotten by their country, its dwellers are fighting the harsh Russian winter and are defying the demise of their home. While the rest of the country is enthusiastic about the current presidential election, the prospects for Future could be a lot better.
4:00 Tea break
4:15 Scattered Windows, Connected Doors
Dir; Ms. Roohi Dixit and Ms. Ziba Bhagwagar: 75mins: Documentary: English: 2013 India
Scattered Windows, Connected Doors is a film about women from urban India. Eight women. Eight stories. An inspiring documentary capturing the thoughts and choices of these women living in urban India.
5:45 Achttausend / Eight Thousand
Dir: Simon-Niklas Scheuring; 19 mins; German; 2013; Germany
Jens and his girlfriend, Nessi live in a run-down cellar flat. One night, when he comes home with his face beaten bloody, both of them are aware that they had no more money and they start to argue.
6:10 Take back the fight
Dir: Sujatha Subramanian, Shruthi Ravi, likokba, Mrinal singh: 27mins 43sec; Documentary: English: 2013: India
‘Look alert, don't look like an easy target! Deesha's martial art classes equip young girls to handle threatening situations that arise in the outside world and within their families. Tanvi's identity straddles the worlds of an everyday college student and a learner of martial arts. In doing so, she stands out amongst her peers as someone who brings knowledge of the latter to the former.
6:45 Feedback and discussion
Day 3
7 Feb 2014
10 am Flash point
Dir: Mridula chari, Francis Lohrii, Gursimran Khamba, Shivani Gupta.: 19mins 20 sec Documentary: English: 2013: India
Mohammed Ali Road and Mahim were among the more affected areas
during the riots of 1992-1993. Twenty years later, this film takes the lens back to those areas to map the middle classes of those areas. Their lives, though not tangibly afflicted, were nonetheless transformed by that time enough to reflect in their attitudes towards communalism today. Prominent writer and journalist Dilip D'souza, draws these narratives together as we try to make sense of stereotypes that persist even today.
10: 30 A Little Revolution – A Story of Suicides and Dreams
Dir: Harpreet Kaur: 60mins: Documentry: English & Panjabi: 2009; India & USA
A Little Revolution - A Story of Suicides and Dreams, follows the
remarkable journey of filmmaker Harpreet Kaur, who travels from the rural villages of Panjab to the capital of India with children of farmers, who've committed suicide.
11:45 Radiation Stories Part III: KOODANKULAM
Dir: Amudhan R.P.; 70 min; 2012; Tamil with English subtitles; Documentary
The people’s movement against Koodankulam nuclear plant at Tirunelveli district, south Tamilnadu, is a 20 plus years old story. Post Fukushima saw the movement gaining momentum in and around Koodankulam and Idinthakarai villages when the nuclear authorities ran a test run at the plant that brought out inland farmers, workers, small traders and lower middle salaried people who for the first time joined the poor local fishing community in the struggle to stop the plant. While the Government of India and its embedded media malign the people’s struggle as anti progress, the film captures the point of view of the protesters reflecting its local, indigenous, independent, non violent and democratic ethos. Some may say the film is one sided: so be it.
1:00 Lunch break
2:00 Crushed Willi
Dirs: Volker Heymann; 05 mins 49 secs; German; 2013; Germany
Willi Huber, 62 years old, hates computers. After being fired he finds a job as a waiter in a modern café. Though having a hard time serving the young people, he saves a guest's life by applying a laptop in an unusual way.
2:10 Dragon High School
Dir: Lola Parra; 08 mins 30 secs; Spanish; 2013; Spain
Edgar’s parents accompany him on his first day of high school. At the door, they find other parents in a peculiar hopeless situation.
2:20 Ein Augenblick in Mir / In The Nick of Time
Dir: David M. Lorenz; 13 mins; German; 2011; Germany
Arne wants to kill himself. But once he is standing on the chair with the rope around his neck, he suddenly discovers a small child staring at him from the window of the building across the street.
2:35 Espana Different
Dir: Salvdor Guerra; 04 mins; Spanish; 2013; Spain
Two guys cross their ways and their lives. One small decision can make us a hero or a villain.
2:40 Casa Luz / House of Light
Dir: Towanda Films / Navina Khatib; 64 mins; Spanish; 2013; Germany
The documentary film "Casa Luz" gives an insight into the everyday life of Peruvian orphans. A life full of poverty, loss and grief – a path they did not choose – and yet they still manage to find their way.
3:45 Rab da vasta…
Dir: Chakravarty devulapalii; 10mins 45secs; Punjabi; 2013; India
Must you kill in order to live? When a non- typical customer walks in and demands a shave, a small time barber with a traumatic past deliberates and faces an epiphany of sorts.
4:00 Tea break
4:15 Don’t be our fathers
Dir: Rupesh Kumar; 30 mins; Malayalam; 2013; India
Don’t be our fathers, the documentary is an attempt to capture the lives of the people of Peringeel, a predominanly dalit village, in Kannoor district Kerala. It tries to explore how the people in Peringeel determine their own life in the contemporary world confronting the patronizing efforts of the dominant political parties and communities.
5:00 Good girls don’t Dance
Dir: Padmalatha Ravi: 14mins 29sec: Documentary: English, Kannada, Tamil and hindi: 2013: India
This is a documentary that questions the notions that shape the society's reaction to sexual harassment, molestation and rape. It tries to understand the notion of good girls and bad girls that forms the basis for this reaction. The film uses interview format.
5:30 Closing ceremony
Curated by
Amudhan R.P.
amudhan.rp@gmail.com
91 86952 79353
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