THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When cyclone Ockhi hit the shores of Kerala and Tamil Nadu two years ago, it claimed more than 400 lives. After the disaster, only few corpses were found and those undiscovered were declared dead by the state government.
Based on the backdrop is Prahas's film 'The Cyclone' which will be screened at the Focus category at the 12th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) which will begin this Friday.
A student of K R Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts, this is the Attingal native's second documentary. A film enthusiast, he says, "This is the first time my documentary has been selected for IDSFFK. This documentary was shot as part of a college project which had to be completed within four days in Thiruvananthapuram. While looking for a perfect theme, I happened to read about Lorence Bernard who was an Ockhi survivor. Hence the backdrop."
The 20-minute documentary was shot in Poonthura and Valiyathura. Prahas says, “Coincidentally I started shooting the documentary on the first commemoration day of the Ockhi tragedy. I wanted to portray all the incidents the fisherfolk went through during Ockhi and spoke to many environmentalist, and journalists. A newspaper report on Ockhi was the main inspiration behind the documentary.” The film features the challenges, misery and struggles faced by the fishermen community during the cyclone.
Besides documentaries, Prahas has directed more than 10 short films on different social issues. Highlighting the difference between documentaries and short films, the young director says, “Intense research goes into making a documentary.” The documentary also features an Ockhi survivor, a resident of Poonthura who lost four members of his family who went on to save more than 500 people during the Kerala floods. His first documentary titled 'Why does Marapatsutsa fly?' was rooted in Marapatsutsa, a favourite theme of Russian-based artist Sergei Vorzhev, which serves as a critical note to an art critic. Cinematography is done by Krishna Veni assisted by Ananda Krishnan and Ananda Padmanabhan.