THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For many film aspirants, short films are baby steps towards their dream of big screens. One platform that showcases such artistic creations is the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) organised by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
The 14th edition of the IDSFFK has kicked off in the capital city with a lineup of 260 shorts and documentaries. However, the present edition has turned out to be a special fete showcasing stories told by women for women.
A total of 109 films are by women filmmakers. Seventeen international non-fiction movies, 12 long documentaries, four competition short fiction and seven international fiction are by women directors, apart from the special category iTales, which features shorts by five filmmakers.
The event is also honouring veteran independent documentary filmmaker, editor and curator Reena Mohan with Lifetime Achievement Award. “There is a visible presence of women as delegates this year. As Covid has become negligible, the event has more public participation compared to last year,” says H Shaji, deputy director of the festival, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
Chennai-based filmmaker Madhumitha Venugopal is excited to make her debut at IDSFFK in the category iTales that features shorts shot using iPhones. The filmmaker in her 20s was mentored by Iranian Filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaff in collaboration with A R Rahman Foundation along with others in the category. Madhumitha’s work, Spaces, was a fun take when a husband retires and begins to stay at home during the day.
“It was a learning experience, especially editing, making a storyboard for a five-minute video. This will help us as filmmakers in future. And screening my work in a venue like IDSFFK gives more confidence to become creative,” says Madhumitha.
Though not as vast, many documentaries and short fiction too discussed women. The Hindi long-documentary Fatima by Sourabh Kanti Dutta and Marathi short fiction Fish by Phulawa Khamkar show the survival of women.
When Fatima escapes from the red-light area and tries to start a new life, other women defame her.
Things are different with young widow Ketaki in Fish. Her old mother-in-law, who is also a widow, allows her to find a new life and cherish it. The two films depict the plight of women though the approach is different.
“Women should come to the forefront to deal with their plights and stand for each other when a crisis happens. It is the only way to make a space in society for us,” Phulawa says. Radhika Murthy, director of the short film How Was The Date?’says it gives her pleasure to see more women participating in the fest. “However, only one-fourth of the subjects of the films have dealt with women’s topics and it is time to change this approach,” she says.
“These fests are a space to discuss and screen topics related to women. People discussing my film and engaging in Q&A sessions have given me the motivation to direct a feature film one day,” she says.
‘Special honour as a technician’
Being the fourth woman in the history of IDSFFK to bag the Lifetime Achievement Award, independent documentary filmmaker Reena Mohan says it is a motivation for women filmmakers. “It will give them wings to dream about art and explore the technical sides more. The film industry must become more women-friendly. Though women are active on screen, there must be more power on the technical side too. This will help break the male dominance in the sector and the stereotypes about women. More women technicians such as voice recorders and producers must come up. This will also help in making women-centric films too,” she says.