Treat of quality cinema

The first Shimla International Film Festival gave a peep into socially
relevant cinema, writes Rajendra Rajan


The Little Terrorist is a powerful fiction of 15 minutes
The Little Terrorist is a powerful fiction of 15 minutes

THE cinema lovers of Shimla were treated to a bonanza of as many as 40 films at the First Shimla International Film Festival held recently. The three-day festival showcased award-winning documentary, animation and short films. The festival was organised by the Films Division of India, Mumbai, in collaboration with the Information and Public Relations Department of Himachal Pradesh.

The festival, which was the first of its kind in the state, exposed the audience to a variety of documentary films. Besides, some award-winning films of the Mumbai Film Festival, a couple of films on Himachal Pradesh were also exhibited at the newly renovated Gaiety Theatre.

Most of the films showcased were socially relevant, meaningful and depicted touching realities from our everyday lives. The Little Terrorist is a powerful fiction of 15 minutes, focussing on the mental trauma of Jamal, a child, who mistakenly crosses the border to fetch a cricket ball and lands in trouble. The film is set in Rajasthan. A schoolmaster Bhola rescues Jamal and tries to save him from Indian soldiers. He crosses the border with Jamal at night and takes him to his parents where he is beaten up by his mother since his head had been shaved off by Bhola to protect his identity. The Little Terrorist conveys the message that human values bind hearts of Hindu and Muslim communities despite all political animosity.

Way Back Home is the journey of director Supriyo Sen’s parents to their lost homeland in Bangladesh. The memories and historical consciousness perturb the couple deeply. The film has been shot clandestinely in Bangladesh and reminds one of the deep scars and agony, which the displaced and the migrated passed through.

Way Back Home is the journey of Supriyo Sen’s parents to their homeland in Bangladesh
Way Back Home is the journey of Supriyo Sen’s parents to their homeland in Bangladesh

Begum Akhtar portrays different aspects of the ghazal queen’s life
Begum Akhtar portrays different aspects
of the ghazal queen’s life

Rene Mohan Dass’s The Elephant Boy is a true story, featuring the boy who lived it. Rajesh Jai Kumar, a crippled beggar, tries to escape the city with the girl he loves. When things go wrong, a dream inspires him on an arduous journey to pray for a better life.

Produced by Anders Hosbro Ostergaard, a director from Denmark, Burma V. J. Reporting From a Closed Country pulls one into the heat of the Burma uprising in 2007 after decades of self-imposed silence. Burma created headlines across the globe when the Buddhist population in the country led a massive rebellion there. Foreign news crews were banned and Burma was closed to the outside world. Joshua, the protagonist of the film, puts on job his army of video warriors, who covertly film the abuses being carried out in their country. He, then, smuggles the footage across the border into Thailand. From there, he ships the footage to Norway, where it is broadcast back to Burma and the world via satellite. The film is a thriller but it is all the more scary because it based on a true story.

In Mandi Experience, Nishith Banerjee showcases the success story of Indo-German agriculture project in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. The film shows how a technique of farming by German scientists comes to the rescue of Mandi farmers, who had been facing the critical problem of land erosion.

Himachal Pradesh by K. L. Khandpur deals with the people and customs of Chamba, Mahasu, Sirmaur and Mandi districts of the hill state.

Begum Akhtar is a 16-minute short film produced by N. K. Issar, which portrays the different aspects of the ghazal queen.

For Whom the Jingle Bells Tolls is a film by Vivek Mohan, who hails from Shimla. It is a simple and poignant story set in Shimla, the summer capital of British India. In the film, which explores the reasons behind climate change, the filmmaker journeys back to his hometown to find whether it will be a white Christmas or not as it used to be when he was kid.

Another film by Vivek Mohan Spot The Difference was also screened during the festival. It is the story of two families living peacefully, who have come to Shimla to earn their bread and raise their kids. The conflict starts when labels like religion, region, colour, nationality, caste or creed are put on them.

In the animation section, scores of short films like Akbar, You Said It, The Thinker, The Balloon, The Last Drop, She Could Do You Proud, Education Only Her Future, And The Threads were exhibited. Films depicting the life and works of Rabindranath Tagore, Bhimsen Joshi, Sonal Mansingh and J. Krishnamurti were also liked by the audience. These biographical films were like jewels in the strong repository of more than 8,000 documentary films of the Films Division of India.





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