Aslan, a former hangman, left his home in fear of retaliation from the families of the criminals he killed and moved to a remote village far into the north-western mountains of Iran. A physically crooked old man, his arrival at the village 45 years ago has since brought the life of its inhabitants to a halt; the men have all continued to age but have yet to die. Aslan, at the age of 100, is one of many centenarians in the village and like the others, he is tired of living. As they lament over not having married, not having any children, the local undertaker going out of business and generally being tired of life, word of their situation has spread to other villages and attracted others looking to extend their own lifespans.
REZA JAMALI
Born in Ardebil, Iran in 1978, Reza Jamali is a filmmaking graduate. He has made many short films which have been screened at national and international film festivals and have won many awards. Old Man Never Dies is his debut feature film.
The Sky is Partly Cloudy
Joydeep Mukherjee
India. 2020. 105 min
The film connects apparently disconnected stories of two men whohave lost their way of life as a consequence of unexpected lockout or closure of factory. Rasomoy Bagchi used to work in a Jute mill as a labor until his factory announces an unexpected Lockout. Life of Rasomoy, his wife and daughter was shattered all of a sudden. Another story unfolds 7-8 years later. Anirban Sarkar a brilliant student of University has to leave his study midway to search a job to support his family when his father’s factory declares lockout and he becomes jobless. Despite of being capable he fails to secure a respectable job for himself due to corrupted political system. Then suddenly one day Rasomoy and Anirban two perplexed men come across in a bus.
JOYDEEP MUKHERJEE
Joydeep Mukherjee is an independent film maker and screenwriter from Kolkata, India. He completed his Masters in Business Management from University of Calcutta, India. Presently, he is a Guest Lecturer and Doctoral Researcher in University of Calcutta. He studied film making from Chitrabani, Kolkata. He directed two short films ‘Education Opens the Door’ and ‘A Pair of Shoes’ which were critically acclaimed in many film festivals. ‘Akash Ongshoto Meghla’ (The Sky is Partly Cloudy) is his debut feature film. He also penned the screenplay for the film.
14 AUGUST 2018. The aged couple; Marykkutty teacher and Narayanan who has fully succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease are all set to fly to the US to visit their relatives there. The sudden floods that submerged the roads force them to return home from their travel to the airport. This is their story of survival in the disaster that happen in Kerala 2018.
JAYARAJ
Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj, is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry. He is the founder of the Birds Club International and is actively involved in philanthropic work. Jayaraj is a recipient of the Crystal Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Golden Peacock award at the IFFI, the Golden Crow Pheasant award at the IFFK, the FIPRESCI Award from the International Federation of Film Critics, the Don Quijote Award from the International Federation of Film Societies, The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) award and a special mention award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. He is also a 7 time recipient of the National Film Award and several Kerala State Film Awards. His notable films include Desadanam (1996), Kaliyattam (1997), Karunam (2000), Shantham (2001), Daivanamathil (2005), Vellapokkathil (2007), Ottaal (2015), Veeram (2017) and Bhayanakam (2018).
A period drama, the film is based on Ismat Chugtai‘s most celebrated story “Lihaaf” (published 1942). The film inter weaves the plot of same sex relationship between Begum and her masseuse and the trial that Ismat underwent after being slapped with a case of obscenity on publishing the story. The film raises themes of homosexuality and freedom of speech that our society is grappling with even today.
RAHAT KAZMI
Rahat Kazmi was born at a small village called Pamrote, a town Surankote, district Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir state of Indian side on 23rd July 1980. He belongs to a family of sufi poets and spiritual personalities in the state. His grandfather (mother’s father) late Walayat Ali Shah Bukhari was a sufi poet, a spiritual personality and a great socialist. Rahat started writing poetry in his grandfather’s guidance and the later stared writing stories also. Rahat’s flair for Urdu poetry and storytelling brought him in film line. Rahat started his career by writing and directing for local doordarshan channel of Jammu and later he shifted to Mumbai and started a serial “Tamanna” in 2002-3 for DD Metro. Later Rahat joined ETV Urdu channel and worked as in house director for almost three years and directed almost 300 episodes of different programmes for ETV URDU channel. Rahat Kazmi started his film career as writer and director with his debut feature film title “DEKH RE DEKH” (2009).
Josef, Born in Grace
Susant Misra
India. 2019. 100 min
“Joseph: Born in Grace” is an adaptation of a short story “Joseph” written by Umakanta Mahapatra and is set in the foothills of the Himalayas between 1960 and 1980 in India. Father O’ Hara (Victor Banaerjee), a missionary doctor with the help of his caretaker Maularam (Sudarshan Juyal), raises an orphan baby Joseph (Hitesh Bisht). While still a young boy, Joseph is sent to Dehradun for his studies and vocational training. Joseph (Subrat Dutta) returns back with a reputation as a great cook as well as his love for alcohol. Film explores in its unfolding of time, the different paths that Father O’ Hara, Joseph and Maularam take in their respective journeys for spiritual fulfillment through memories. Through static mis-en-scenes, the narrative of the film reflects the all-encompassing nature of time, pre-empting and repeating itself in allegorical hues.
SUSANT MISRA
While he was studying at FTII his diploma film Nischal Badal was screened at the competitive section of Oberhausen Film Festival in Germany. After completing his diploma, in 1993 he directed his first feature film Indradhanur Chaai that won him the Grand Prix at the Sochi International Film Festival in Russia and was official selection in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1995. Biswaprakash was his second film that was also screened at several international festivals and won Silver Lotus for Best Oriya Film in the National Film Awards in 2000. Dharini is his third feature film that was made both in Hindi and Oria. He also made three documentaries, Dhenkanal – A Multifaceted Paradise, Samarpanam on the eminent Bharat Natyam dancer Malavika Sarukkai and Pearls of Wisdom on Oriya Literature for the Children’s Film Society, India.
Ea, Ma, Yau
Lijo Jose Pellissery
India. 2018. 120 min
Set amidst the Latin Catholic community in Chellanam beach near Kochi in Kerala, the film revolves around the death of Vavachan, a master mason, who comes home after a lapse of time, and suddenly meets withhis death. Before his death, he shares with his son Eeshi, memories about the burial of his father and in turn, his own desire to be buried decently. Eeshi readily promises him a grand burial. After Vavachan’s sudden and shocking departure, Eeshi earnestly arranges for his father’s funeral; he wants it to be performed with due respect, with all the usual rituals, colorful paraphernalia and celebrations that go with it. But this simple gesture of love and respect of a son for his father, meets with unpredictable obstacles and unseemly reactions from different quarters. over everything. With this intense, emotional core, the film journeys into the complex web of human emotions.
LIJO JOSE PELLISSERY
Lijo Jose Pellissery, son of late Malayalam actor Jose Pellessery, has directed five films Nayakan (2010), City of God (2011), Amen (2013), Double Barrel (2015), and Angamaly Diaries (2017).
Spring follows Winter
Liu Junfeng
China. 2019. 90 min
An elderly man living in a poor rural village comes across a bag full of cash on the street. He returns the bag to its owner but soon realizes that he’d given the bag to the wrong person. Burdened with guilt and responsibility to find the bag and return it to its rightful owner, he wanders through different villages, looking for the person who took the bag full of money. The old man’s good intentions to help a stranger ends up causing trouble for his family and the people around him. Contrasted with the elderly man’s goodness of heart, the reactions of his family members, the victim, and the perpetrator show how selfish humans can be. The story of this film is based on an actual incident that happened to the director’s grandfather.
LIU JUNFENG
LIU Junfeng, born in Handan, Hebei Province, China Graduated from Hebei Normal University, Beijing Film Academy. His short films Secret ofXiaoshan (2015), Love Letter (2017) won awards in China and Cannes film festivals.
In an age where, being oblivious to your true self has increasingly become a reality for many, such a path to self-discovery can lead to feelings of loneliness, confusion, fear and doubt.
Artistically inclined villager Avdhut Kale struggles to find his place in the metropolis of Pune. Working as a reporter for the local newspaper, he is stuck with helping his colleague write the horoscope section or trying to meet the demands of his editor who wants to publish factual but sensational news.
“Radius — Trijya” traces the journey of Avdhut, from his hometown inrural India and how he faces the reality of his own dreams and aspirations about life in a large city. It takes us through the challenges of today’s modern way of life and the compromises one inevitably makes along the way to find peace and a place we can call our own.
AKSHAY INDIKAR
The Indian filmmaker comes from a nomadic family and studied at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. His directing debut Trijya premiered at the 2019 Shanghai International Film Festival where it was nominated in the categories of Best Film, Best Director and Best Cinematographer in the Asian New Talent Award. The film went on to screen at numerous international festivals. He is currently developing his next feature film, Chronicle of Space.
Khanaur (Bitter Chestnut)
Gurvinder Singh
India. 2019. 100 min
Seventeen-year-old Kishan, a good boy from a village in the Himalayas, helps his grandma and mother, listens to his father and earns some extra money working in a restaurant for tourists. But he feels the call of the big, wide world. He knows that moving to the big city is not without risks from the stories of prison and abuse he hears from returning friends. Kishan’s family try to talk him out of his plans. His father’s carpentry workshop offers a secure, albeit predictable, life.
Bitter Chestnut is an intimate, authentic coming-of-age story, thanks largely to working with local, non-professional actors. At the same time, the film depicts migration to thecities – an existential threat to traditional village communities. Despite the call of adventure, Kishan is still deeply rooted in his village, and this becomes ever clearer as the seasons slide by almost unnoticed. His life is like the fruit of the bitter chestnut tree from the title; according to tradition, it has to be washed for seven days in succession before being edible.
GURVINDER SINGH
Gurvinder Singh is an Indian film director. He is best known for his Punjabi language films Anhe Ghore Da Daan, and Chauthi Koot (The Fourth Direction) which premiered at Venice and Cannes Film Festival respectively. Gurvinder is an alumnus of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune from where he studied film-making and graduated in 2001. He travelled extensively through Punjab between 2002 and 2006, living and traveling with folk itinerants, documenting folk ballads and oral narratives. It led to his first documentary ‘Pala’. He continued to make short experimental works and documenting arts/artists for the next few years. In 2005 he was invited by avant-garde Indian filmmaker Mani Kaul to be his teaching assistant for a master-class at FTII, which led to a close association with the filmmaker who became his mentor. He translated and published a book of conversations of Udayan Vajpeyi withMani Kaul, titled ‘Uncloven Space’. His latest film is ‘Infiltrator’ starring Veer Rajwant Singh which is a 15-minute short story in an international omnibus called ‘In the same garden’.
One Man Dies a Million Times
Jessica Oreck
USA. 2019. 92 min
Caught in the grip of a war-torn Russian winter, the city is starving to death. Despite their hunger, Alyssa and Maksim heroically work to preserve the treasures of the world’s most important seed bank – treasures that hold the key to the future of their country’s food supply – even though its sustenance could mean their survival. Partdocumentary, part fiction, One Man Dies a Million Times isn’t just about romance or war or food security, it’s about fighting for what you believe in, fighting for the ones you love, and fighting for your own survival.
JESSICA ORECK
Jessica Oreck makes projects across mediums in an effort to re-inspire a sense of wonder about the world of the every-day.
She’s made several feature films, Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo (2009), Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys (2013), and The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga (2014)), that have been shown around the world. Her latest feature, a non-fiction/fiction hybrid, One Man Dies a Million Times premiered at SXSW 2019.
Jessica also works in paper-based animation, creating educational content for TED and other online networks (Mysteries of Vernacular (2011), In a Moment of Vision (2017), Memoirs of Vegetation (2020) and The State Name Project (2020)).
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