Indian short film Pilibhit has been selected for the Cerdanya Film Festival in Spain, where it will be screened on August 11. Additionally, the film will be screened online at the Bronzelens Film Festival of Atlanta, USA.
Pilibhit stars actor Raj Arjun as a flute-maker named Siraj. Heavily impoverished, Siraj lives with his family at the edge of a forest filled with maneating tigers. His crippling poverty and a series of tragedies force him to take a drastic decision that threatens his values and may snatch away a loved one. Inspired by real stories, Pilibhit addresses the man-animal conflict along the India-Nepal border.
Pilibhit is directed by firsttime filmmakers Ashutosh Chaturvedi and Pankaj Mavchi. The film was shot in and around Pilibhit, a flutemaking district near Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. It was previously selected for the Oscarqualifying Cinelebu 2021 festival in Chile and other festivals around the globe.
Speaking about the film, lead actor Raj Arjun (Secret Superstar, Natkhat) shared, “Most of the film takes place in daytime and December winters allowed us daylight only till 5.00pm. In just two days, we shot across all real locations, which were far away from each other. I would give full attention while performing a scene and then move to another, as our demanding schedule was taking us. But at the end of the shoot, I knew in my heart that we have created something special.”