Monthly Archives: March 2023

- Official Section -

In the Form of Love (Siavash Asadi) Iran. Official Section

In the Form of Love
Siavash Asadi
Iran. 2023. 123 min

This is the story of a mother want to save her daughter’s reputation in a small village. On the heels of an unexpected trauma, Forough and her 16-year-old daughter, Atieh, go to Rassoul’s house , an old friend of Atieh’s dead father.
In the full throes of adolescent puberty and yearning for love, Kamran, Rassoul’s 14-year- old son, is instinctively drawn to Atieh. Little does he know that his father has hatched a plan that will shatter their lives.

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Documentary Section, Women,s voices

Under the Sky of Damascus (Heba Khaled, Talal Derki, Ali Wajeeh) Denmark

Under the Sky of Damascus
Heba Khaled, Talal Derki, Ali Wajeeh
Denmark. 2023. 88 min

A tight-knit group of young Syrian women embark upon on a radical project: producing a play that lays bare the culture of misogyny and sexual abuse that has blighted the lives of females in their country for generations. Farah, Eliana, Inana, Souhir and Grace want to blow the whistle on women’s oppression, though they know their production will make it even harder for them to get work. Collaborating with exiled Syrian filmmakers Heba Khaled (making her feature debut) and Talal Derki (the Oscar-nominated OF FATHERS AND SONS)—and Ali Wajeeh on the ground in Damascus—the women fan out through the war-weary city to gather individual stories that will form the basis of their play. They record testimonies from across the socio-economic spectrum, from actresses to factory workers to stay-at-home mothers. What emerges are variations of the same harrowing tale: stories of abuse, blackmail and even imprisonment at hands of husbands, brothers, fathers, employers and powerful officials who wield unchecked patriarchal power to keep them trapped without access to justice.

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Short Films Section

Clinton (Prithviraj Das Gupta) India

Clinton
Prithviraj Das Gupta
India. 2021. 28 min

On one winter Sunday, all the students of a boarding school in Kalimpong, go for a school outing. Clinton has to stay back along with the other punished students because he is too embarrassed to admit that he has no pocket money. He hasn’t eaten anything since morning and he is hungry. He goes to the canteen and asks for half a plate of momos. But the canteen owner refuses to give him food since his father hasn’t paid the dues for the last six months. Clinton tries all possible ways to get something to eat, but he fails and feels helpless.
At that point, Roxy, the class bully, tries to take advantage of the situation and threatens Clinton to give his hard earned cricket champion trophy. Clinton refuses as his love for the trophy is immense, but Roxy won’t stop tormenting him. Eventually, Clinton reaches his tipping point and fights back and escapes. Although he manages to escape, his hunger has grown and become unbearable. This is when he meets Dichen Palden, the new girl.

PRITHVIRAJ DAS GUPTA

Prithviraj Das Gupta is an Indian filmmaker. A graduate from Delhi University, he was instrumental in setting up the film making society, ‘First Cut’ in the campus. He started making documentaries when he associated with India Tribal Care operating in Northeast India. His films delve into the socio-economic tapestry of the Indian life.
“GREEN BLACKBERRIES” is his first mid length feature film as a director and writer. The film has been named in the list of the best children’s films of 2020 by Kidz Cinema, helmed by UNESCO and was showcased at Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) and 51st International Film Festival of India in Indian Panorama Section. It won the special mention award at Art House Asia 2021. The film has been acquired by the popular American Media company Soleil Space.
He has made 6 short films, 2 feature films and directed several digital films and branded content for clients like Star Sports, Sterling Holidays, ICICI Bank, Ceat Tyres, TVS, 99 Pancakes. He has also produced Promotional films & trailers for OTTs like Docubay, Zee-5, Epic On, Amazon Prime, Jio Studios, Hotstar.

POSTER

CONTACT

ankitbagchi88@gmail.com

Sin categoría

Kargo (T.M Malones) Philippines

Kargo
T.M Malones
Philippines. 2022. 80 min

A woman relieves the heavy burden from her past when she finally exacts revenge on the man who murdered her entire family.
When her entire family perished in a motorcycle accident at a rough highway in Maasin, Iloilo, Sara crashed into a deep depression, which was gradually replaced with an overpowering need to avenge them. Believing that her husband and daughter were murdered, she searches for the man who killed her entire family to find some closure. But at the end of her journey, she untangles something she did not quite expect – a discovery that could profoundly change her entire life.

T. M MALONES

TM MALONES finished his Diploma degree in Filmmaking at the International Academy of Film and Television (IAFT) in Cebu.

His film SALVI: Ang Pagpadayon debuted in the New Breed Category in the 2013 Sineng Pambansa National Film Festival: All-Masters Edition. For the film Baconaua (directed by Joseph Israel Laban), he received Best in Cinematography from the Young Critics Circle in the Circle Citations (2017) and the Cinemalaya Film Festival (2017).

He also received nominations for Baconaua in the Asean International Film Festival (2019); and garnered the Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography at the 66th FAMAS (2018) and at the 41st Gawad Urian (2018). His short film Bawod won Best Screenplay at the Cinemalaya (2017), and was nominated for Best Short Film in 41st Gawad Urian.

DIRECTOR,S NOTE

Being present in a tragic accident involving a person’s life made me think how fragile our existence can be. In a single moment, everything could end and be lost forever. And all the people involved, whether the victim or culprit, face a complete turning point in their lives.
The film revolves around this inevitable point, tied by a single event, two people standing on both ends of a spectrum, the unsuspecting culprit and the unforgiving victim in the search for their own kind of retribution.
Born out of a short film concept confronting a past traumatic experience, Kargo became a feature film about living and redemption. This film is a story of one of countless fellow Filipinos that I would like to tell. As someone from a small town in a region far from the capital, I wanted to show these stories born from our place.

PRESS KIT

POSTER

CONTACT

ignatiusfilms@yahoo.ca

Documentary Section, Women,s voices

And Still I Sing (Fazila Amiri) Canada, Afghanistan

And Still I Sing
Fazila Amiri
Canada, Afghanistan. 2022. 89 min

DESPITE DEATH THREATS, THREE FEMALE AFGHAN SINGERS FIGHT FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS THROUGH MUSIC.

Afghanistan’s controversial pop star and activist Aryana Sayeed mentors hopeful contestants on the hit singing TV series Afghan Star.

For 13 straight seasons, the show has featured only male winners. In 2019, this was about to change. Female singers Zahra Elham and Sadiqa Madadgar are on the verge of success as their hopes and dreams of becoming national singers begin to turn into reality.

Their lives are turned upside down when the Taliban return to power, reversing twenty years of progress for women’s rights. Amidst the fear caused by the fall of the Afghan government, each woman must make a harrowing escape from Kabul into exile while the US fully evacuates.

And I Still Sing is the first feature film by award-winning Afghan Canadian writer and director, Fazila Amiri. Amiri is an alumni of the 2021 Cannes Docs, 2020 Hot Docs Accelerator Lab and 2019 RIDM Talent Lab.

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Short Films Section, Women,s voices

Leber (Shervineh Didaneh) Iran

Leber
Shervineh Didaneh
Iran. 2023. 20 min

Yaghma is afflicted by Leber (Leber is a Hereditary optical disease that all children inherit from the mother) and is getting more blurred day by day and she is on the verge of absolute blindness. She hides her disease from her husband because she believes in miracle and her hopes for getting better, but When immigrating to Germany, she realized that she will soon lose her sight and she spent her remaining days in doubt about telling or not telling the truth to her love.

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- Official Section -, Women,s voices

B32 to 44 (Shruthi Sharanyam) India. Official Section

B32 to 44
Shruthi Sharanyam
India. 2023. 110 min

B 32″ to 44″ takes a comprehensive look at the social, cultural and the political relevance of “Breast”, a significant part of female anatomy, in the context of a southern India city, which has yet to embrace the change and the progressive thinking. B 32″ to 44″ revolves around 6 women hailing from different social strata of Kochi, a southern Indian city and how “breast”, a body part, which has been a source of fascination, controversy and symbolism, becomes pivotal in deciding the course of their lives.

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- Official Section -

Whispering Mountains (Jagath Manuwarna) Sri Lanka. Official Section

Whispering Mountains
Jagath Manuwarna
Sri Lanka. 2022. 87 min

A virus is spreading across Sri Lanka, reportedly causing young people to commit suicide. The Disease Control Unit promises containment of this terrifying pandemic by any means necessary, citing supernatural forces that only ancient healing rituals can vanquish. As parents mourn the deaths and disappearances of their children, government henchmen prepare the bodies and the remaining living prisoners for a cleansing of disturbing proportions.

NETPAC award for Best Asian Feature Film at IFF of Rotterdam.

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