21st Madurai Film Festival 2019 : Filmmaker in Focus - K R Manoj

21st Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2019

6 - 10 Dec, multiple venues - Madurai

Organised by MARUPAKKAM

Filmmaker in Focus - K R Manoj

K R Manoj is an independent filmmaker and screenwriter, whose passion for cinema evolved with his engagements with the Film Society Movement in Kerala. He is the former editor of the film studies journal Drisyathalam and one of the founder curators of the digital video festival SiGNS.

His films include Agni, 16 MM: Memories, Movement and a Machine, A Pestering Journey, Kanyaka Talkies, Kesari and Work of Fire.

Winner of many awards, including the National Film Award, International Critics Prize, Kerala State Film Award, Vasudha Award, IDPA Award for Excellence and the Delhi Chief Minister's Environmental Conservation Award, Manoj is the Co-Founder of the independent production house, Tropical Cinema.

Films to be shown :

1) 16 mm - memories, movement and a machine
Dir: K R Manoj; 40 min; 2007

'16mm...' tries to trace back the trajectory of film society movement in Keralam and its relationship with a machine - 16mm film projector. Now abandoned as an obsolete technology, 16mm projection was the soul and source of the movement at the time and still burrs on in the minds of a generation of cineastes. A journey through the images that try to capture the enigma of the cultural interface produced by a post independent cultural movement.

2) A Pestering Journey
Dir : K R Manoj; 66 min; 2011

‘A Pestering Journey’ unravels the many interwoven layers of culture and agriculture and foregrounds the logic of green revolution.

Taking a pestering turn, the journey blurs the boundaries of nature and culture, of self and other, of life and death and many other comfortable binaries we inhabit. It tries to ask how much regard for life a culture should have to ponder over the question, what a pest is.

In an atypical move, it challenges and changes the idioms of pesticide and genocide and reveals the claims over knowledge and expertise, which pushes a pesticide like Endosulfan to a dubious position between poison and medicine.

3) Kesari
Dir: K R Manoj; 77 min; 2016

'Kesari' tries to map the life and work of Kesari Balakrishna Pillai (1889 -1960), who has contributed significantly in shaping Modern Kerala. The work contextualizes the intellectual life of Kesari Balakrishna Pillai and critically engages with his radical interventions which are placed itself against both colonialism and narrow renditions of nationalism. The documentary follows the temporal and spatial axis provided by Kesari’s large corpus of writing and foregrounds its potential to displace modern linear time. 'Kesari' provides a panoramic view of the thought constellation of this unconventional thinker where his seemingly disconnected domains of intellectual activity in Political Philosophy, Art History, Literature, History and Geography fall in place and contribute to the project of human emancipation.

4) Work of Fire
Dir: K R Manoj; 53 min; 2019

Work of Fire takes a look at the varying vicissitudes of the Indian fireworks industry, while trying to ask a question: why do we need fireworks? In its movement from the grimy firework production centres in Sivakshi, to moments of festivities, the Documentary addresses the human desire to create the spectacular against the ordinary.

21st Madurai Film Festival 2019 : Films from India

21st Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2019

6-10 Dec; Multiple Venues - Madurai

Organised by MARUPAKKAM

Films from India

1) The Outside In
Dir: Hansa Thapliyal; 25 min; English; 2019



Francoise Bosteels has worked as a nurse. Milan Khanolkar trained as an artist. What is about making and sharing dolls that has meant so much to each? What new paths have the dolls made and cleared? What ambiguities have they been able to express?

2) If She Built a Country
Dir: Maheen Mirza and Rinchin; 60 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2018

As mines & power plants appear and grow in monstrous proportions around them, rural, adivasi women from the villages of Raigarh, Chhattisgarh critique the grand plan of development of the country. Many of them have been cheated of their land and compensation, their relationship with the forest & environment severed. As they grapple with all this, they seek justice for themselves & their communities and share their thoughts about how a country should be.

3) Are You Going to School Today?
Dir: Anupama Srinavasan; 60 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2018



The film takes us to rural schools in the predominantly tribal district of Dungarpur in southern Rajasthan. Children come from difficult contexts with very limited material resources, absentee fathers and younger siblings to attend to. How do teachers respond to this situation? How do they bring children to school and create an environment in which they are motivated to learn?

4) Coral Woman

Dir: Priya Thuvassery; 52 min; Tamil & English; 2018

This will be a filmmaker's journey with Uma, a certified scuba diver, exploring the underwater world & the threat to coral reefs of Gulf of Mannar, India.Born in a traditional family in Tamil Nadu 53 years old Uma, a homemaker, has been trying to bring attention to this alarming environmental issue through her paintings. It is, in fact, these corals that inspired Uma to learn how to swim, dive & paint in her 50s.

5) I am not a Witch
Dir: Somnath Waghmare; 15 min; Marathi with Eng subtitles; 2019



I am not a Witch ' is the story of one landless-homeless old Tribal women from Nandurbar District Maharashtra, India.how women in Nandurbar are accused of being a witch and stormed out of their own home & village. A story of real life victim Kamalabai Pavara gives us real facts . and it also concludes interview of this district journalist, Student, Social Activist & District Superintendent of Police.

6) Janani's Juliet
Dir: Pankaj Rishi Kumar; 53 min; Tamil with Eng subtitles; 2019



Kausalya lost her husband (Shankar), when they were attacked by her own family. They had married against their families wishes. Deeply disturbed by a spate of honour killings in India, Indianostrum, a Pondicherry based theatre group sets out to introspect the implications of caste, class and gender. They adapt Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. What emerges in the process is a critical reflection and commentary of the contemporary Indian society where love struggles to survive.

7) Kachichinuthu
Dir: Khanjan Kishore Nath; 15 min; Karbi with Eng subtitles; 2019; Short fiction

Lonsing, a school boy lives in a hilly village with his parents. Every day, he carries the Tiffin for his father who is a farmer. One day he finds a small bag on the hilly road side that creates new bonding until a terrible incident takes place.

8) Kaggantu
Dir: Ujjwal Utkarsh; 20 min; Kannada with Eng subtitles; 2019



The Bangalore garment industry which works as the outsourced factories for a lot of multinational brands hire around 5 lakh women workers. The film revolves around two such women's lives and the problems they face due to lack of adequate facilities at the factories.

9) Scratches on Stone
Dir: Amit Mahanti; 62 min; Ao, Chen, Nagamese, English; 2018



It has been cease - fire in Nagaland, Northeast India since 1997 after an almost 50 year war between India and militants fighting for independence. But the past lingers on, framed through photographs, casting shadows over the present.

10) Songs of our Soil
Dir: Aditi Maddali; 52 min; Telugu with Eng subfiles; 2019



Uyyala songs are an agricultural tradition rooted in the political expression of women in Telagana. Through these oral traditions, Songs of our Soil traces the history of their resistance and memories of disillusionment.

11) Swimming through the Darkness
Dir: Supriyo Sen; 76 min; Bengali with Eng subtitles; 2018



Hailed from a poor family, blind boy Kanai Chakraborty chooses the daring life of a swimmer than becoming a singer and begging for living. But his success in the sport couldn’t ensure him a job. Even at the age of 40, he has to continue swimming to retain a respectable identity.

12) The Last Run
Dir: Anirban Dutta; 37 min; Bangla with Eng subtitles; 2019



The film is about a Postal Runner, a person who runs or walks from one place to another carrying mail bags. The Runner used to be held in high regard, but he is a mere relic now, an extra - departmental employee. A glorious past is withering away in a fast - changing world with improvements in modes of communication.

13) Ammi
Dir : Sunil Kumar; 90 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2018



This is one woman's two-year fight for justice. Battered by the police, having been told by the myriad government agencies, investigating her son's disappearance, that there are no leads, she still stands with conviction.

14) Recasting Selves
Dir: Lalit Vachani; 80 min; English and Malayalam with English subtitles; 2019



Set at CREST (the Centre for Research and Education for Social Transformation) in Kozhikode, Kerala - the film documents the 'soft skills' training of Dalit and Adivasi post-graduate students in a sensitive and nurturing campus environment as preparation for their employment in the new Indian economy.

15) Lynch Nation
Dir: Shaheen Ahmed & Ashfaque EJ; 43 min; Hindi with English subtitles; 2018



A relentless journey across India listening to heart-wrenching stories of mob lynching that have torn apart families and shaken the entire nation.

The film documents seven incidents of mob lynching by traveling through the personal spaces of the victims, and recording the testimonies of their families and survivors.

16) My Caste
Dir: Amudhan R.P.; 78 min; Tamil; 2019



When did I hear / see / observe / experience caste first time?
What have I gained because of my case identity?
What do I with that identity?
Can I introspect about caste? Am I ready? How much? How honestly?


17) MANZILEIN (OM)
Dir : Rajat Zamde; 8:45 min; Hindi with English subtitles; 2019; Documentary

Omprakash Pandey,16 is a school going boy, who plays a variety of sports like wrestling, kabaddi, karate, kickboxing MELJOL. Also, he graduated from this course last year and now works for MELJOL as an outreach worker. The aim of the documentary is to show why MELJOL is important for them and what role it has played in their lives.

18) RAMAT
Dir :Hitarsh Desai; 7:20 ; 2019; Hindi with English subtitle; 2019; Short fiction

10 year olds Daksh & Pacchu are best friends. But their friendship is such that at one moment they are at loggerheads and while in the next they are the best of friends.

Things escalate to such an extent that it becomes unsafe for both of them. Will they end their friendship? Will they patch up and become best friends again? Is there an end to all of this?

21st Madurai Film Festival 2019 : Homage - Manjira Datta

21st Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2019

6-10 Dec, Multiple Venues, Madurai

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.