What will People Say (Rafina Khatun) India

29 January, 2025 imagineindia 1 Comment

What will People Say
Rafina Khatun
India. 2024. 40 min

Gulnaaz remains committed to using community radio to shed light on injustices and oppressions faced by marginalised communities, despite constant scrutiny and control by her family and community. Through her empathetic storytelling, she brings attention to untold narratives and advocates for unity and harmony. Amidst her fight for social change, Gulnaaz grapples with her own struggles for freedom and autonomy. This is the story of a young Muslim woman dreaming differently in a patriarchal society determined to silence her.

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NEWS, Women,s voices

Sepideh Abdolvahab, Jury at Imagineindia

28 January, 2025 imagineindia Leave a comment

Sepideh has incorporated as Jury Member for Best Editing Award.

Sepideh Abdolvahab is an Iranian-born film editor based in the
United States. She comes from a prominent filmmaking family: her
mother, Haydeh Safiyari, is an internationally acclaimed editor
with two Oscar-winning films and a member of the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, while her father, Mohsen
Abdolvahab, is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and
screenwriter recognized with honors such as the Silver Wolf Award
at Amsterdam and the Asia Pacific Screen Award.

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Sin categoría

The First Film (Piyush Thakur) India

27 January, 2025 imagineindia 1 Comment

The First Film
Piyush Thakur
India. 2023. 19 min

Drama

Human Rights

In a small town in 1960s India, deep-rooted in orthodox traditions, cinema is believed to corrupt young minds, and women are forbidden to watch films. Devi, a 14-year-old girl, is obsessed with films and dreams of watching one in a theater. Her neighbor, Mohan, a 14-year-old mute cinephile boy, narrates stories from his favorite films to her at night. When an unforeseen incident shakes their world, Devi has one last chance to pursue her dream. The First Film celebrates friendship, courage, and the magic of cinema.

PIYUSH THAKUR

Piyush Thakur is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). His student short film The Real Millionaire was nominated for the International Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and traveled globally to more than 75 film festivals, winning multiple awards. He was selected from India for the International Student Film Camp in Serbia.

After FTII, he worked as an assistant director to Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the film Bajirao Mastani. He was also selected for the Kyoto Filmmakers Lab in Japan and Platform Busan at the Busan International Film Festival.

His latest short film, The First Film, had its world premiere at the Festival de Cortos de Bogotá – BOGOSHORTS in Colombia and was recognized as a ‘Short Film Market Pick’ by the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and ‘Film Bazaar Recommends’ by NFDC Doc Film Bazaar. It won The German Star of India – Audience Award at the Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart and Best Short Narrative International Award at the Nepal Human Rights International Film Festival.

DIRECTOR´S NOTE

The period from the early 1950s is considered the ‘Golden Age’ of Indian Cinema. Movie theaters were flooded with iconic hits, and the newly Independent nation was discovering new fantasies through films. I have been inspired by many stories told by my grandparents, who, like me, were obsessed with films. The magic of being transported to another world and experiencing it up close has always excited me, both as an audience member and a storyteller. I began to ponder: How far would a cinephile go to watch a special film?

The First Film is about recreating the magic of watching films, an emotion that binds us all.

PRESS KIT

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thakurtalkies@gmail.com

Short Films Section, Women,s voices

Catharsis (Valeria Popova) Russia

25 January, 2025 imagineindia 1 Comment

Catharsis
Valeria Popova
Russia. 2024. 21 min

Drama

Fate

After the next cancellation of his performance, an old Actor makes s decision to die. Having met with a young untalented Colleague at the poster of his native theater, the Actor is convinced of the correctness of his decision. He gets on a strange bus, in which he meets a woman, who becomes a “victim” of the acting of her new acquaintance.

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- Official Section -

Norah (Tawfik Alzaidi) Saudi Arabia

23 January, 2025 imagineindia 2 Comments

Norah
Tawfik Alzaidi
Saudi Arabia. 2023. 95 min

Drama

Thriller

Set in a small remote Saudi Arabian village, in the 90s when artistic expression was banned, NORAH is a story about the basic human need to communicate through art, in all its forms.
Nader, a new schoolteacher and an artist in secret, arrives at the village and meets Norah, a young woman who ignites the creativity inside him and inspires him to paint again. At great risk, they develop a delicate connection and a quiet bond. Nader enlightens Norah on the wider world outside of her tiny community and she realises she must leave, to find a place where she can be free to express her artistic self.

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Short Films Section, Women,s voices

Give a Way (Maria Melenevskaya) Russia

22 January, 2025 imagineindia 1 Comment

Give a Way
Maria Melenevskaya
Russia. 2024. 22 min

Comedy

An intelligent woman, a seller in a second-hand bookstore, unconflicted and comfortable. It seems that she has long forgotten about herself and will endlessly tolerate, forgive and adjust. On a narrow road, her car can not separate with the car of a man who never backs up. What will she do? Will she give way or will she finally assert her rights?

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Blog, Women,s voices

Ann Hui, A career spanning independent cinema to the mainstream

20 January, 2025 imagineindia Leave a comment

Anyone trying to slot Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui into a particular genre will be at a loss, for all through her 45 year-long career, she has moved easily between varied spaces, from independent cinema to the mainstream, from personal films to a bit of action too. For that matter, she has made a horror film too. Ask her about it and the 77-year old, who was conferred with the 29th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK)‘s Lifetime achievement award, says with disarming candour that she was just trying to see what she was good at.

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- Official Section -

When the Walnut Leaves turn Yellow! (Mehmet A. Konar) Turkey

18 January, 2025 imagineindia 1 Comment

When the Walnut Leaves turn Yellow!
Mehmet Ali Konar
Turkey. 2024. 103 min

Family

Drama

Social

In southeastern Turkey, Kurds who want to live their lives in peace are squeezed between the harassment of Turkish military patrols and the demands of the PKK guerrillas, all while land and pasture are scarce. Ciwan is the village chief, a righteous and humble family man. Day in and day out, he rushes through his village duties and tending to his livestock. Two steps behind him is his 14-year-old son Feyzi, wondering why he has to learn everything right now. What he doesn’t know is that his father is seriously ill and time is running out. Mehmet Ali Konar effectively combines harsh realism with magic in his third film about an ever-vulnerable ethnic group, also delivering a heartwarming father-son portrait.

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NEWS, Women,s voices

Ana Vico, Jury for Best Short Film at Imagineindia

15 January, 2025 imagineindia Leave a comment

Ana Vico was born in Huelma, a small town in Andalucía (Spain). At 18, she moved to Madrid to study Audiovisual Communication at the Complutense University. Very interested in intimate cinema, she shot a couple of short films of this style with her group of friends from college, both with a very limited budget. After finishing her degree, she began the Directing Diploma at ECAM to continue learning and developing her films. “Un amor” is her Diploma Graduation short film, which was selected at this festival, Imagine India International Film Festival.

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Short Films Section, Women,s voices

Thimea (Susana Fialho Mota) Spain

15 January, 2025 imagineindia Leave a comment

Thimea
Susana Fialho Mota
Spain. 2024. 15 min

Dream

Childhood

Set in a dreamlike, colorful, precious and imaginative world, the script tells the story of the magical life of Thimea, a girl who works in a flower shop and that until then,her life has been marked by her difficult childhood in an orphanage.
As a child, in that place of confinement and loneliness, Thimea discovers an artwork that will changeher life forever. The colors, the light, the joy of a painting that will have a healing power over her.

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