KOCHI: Kairali, Nila, and Sree Theatre looked serenely drenched in rain as the 16th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) commenced the fourth day with spectacularly crafted short films and documentaries.
A highlight of the day was the IndyAnima session by Shilpa Ranade along with fellow filmmakers. Shilpa had curated the Indian animation package comprising 18 animated shorts. Filmmakers such as Padmasree Murali, Tsering Lhanzes, and Fida Hameed were included in the package.
Another highlight was the Meet the Director programme featuring the maestro Anand Patwardhan, whose ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ is being screened at the festival. The acclaimed filmmaker feels the ‘censor board’ in India has changed since 2014 and his films, which always have battled odds, face a tougher challenge now. Argentinian filmmaker Maria Onis, whose film ‘Jorge Polaco’ is being screened, says there exists a similar state in her country too.
Of the films shown, Rakesh Sharma’s ‘Final Solution’ flashed boldly the message — ‘There are two solutions’. One of them is the Nazi solution: If you don’t like people, segregate them and kill them. They strut up and down. Proclaim that you are the salt of the earth’ — proving it amply wrong.
The documentary, devided into two parts, drives us back to the centrist perspective of the 2002 Gujarat riots. Part one: ‘Pride and Genocide’ and Part two: ‘The Hate Mandate’. Part one narrates the truth behind the pre-planned genocidal violence by the right-wing extremists.
The documentary talks through the perspective of eyewitnesses to the incident in Godhra, where 59 lost their lives on their way back from Ayodhya, leading to the eruption of violence in Gujarat, leaving over 2,500 people killed and over 250,000 displaced. Part two spoke about the rightist way of shifting the propaganda to their favour.
The film remained banned for several months yet it did not fail to amaze viewers through mediums like IDSFFK and YouTube. “Films like this should be made to make people understand the different angles of a story, but they also need to understand the fact that what they are seeing or listening to might not always be the truth,” says Priya Lohar, a delegate at IDSFFK.
Another film that caught the eye is ‘The Choice’, directed by Febin Martin, a story about a young couple about to begin fertility treatment as they were struggling to have a child. A big turn comes when the doctor calls with a positive note on the treatment, revealing that the wife is pregnant. It ends with the couple sitting at the hospital, leaving the viewers to come up with their own conclusion.
With two more days before the festival concludes, viewers are hoping for more treats from the makers of short films and documentaries as stated in the festival schedule.