Thousand Rupees Biriani Nasrina Khan India. 2023. 15 min
Thousand Rupees Biriani is about the pain of a mother which she is going through after the rape of her kid. The film revolves around a Muslim farmer family based in an Indian Village. The family includes Yasmin-the mother, her husband Habib and their 3 children Matin, Amina and Sakina. The film begins with Yasmin, who is making arrangements for cooking Biriani after waking up in the morning. The cooking costs her a thousand rupees. After finishing the cooking, Yasmin sends the first serving of the biriani to their neighbour, Abbas. The narrative of the film slowly unwraps the reason for Yasmin’s strange behavioural pattern post-rape of Sakina, the youngest kid of the family.
Stone Turtle Woo Ming Jin Malaysia, Indonesia. 2022. 91 min
Zahara, a stateless refugee, lives on a small remote island in Malaysia, where she makes a living selling turtle eggs. One day, Samad, claiming to be a university researcher, visits the island, wanting to employ Zahara to show him around. As the day goes on, Zahara and Samad become entangled in a dangerous dance of duplicity and deception. Mixing social drama with genre tropes of action, horror, and animation, Stone Turtle takes us on an emotional journey to the unexpected.
Palestine 87 Bilal Al Khatib Palestine. 2022. 14 min
During the First Intifada, Atef is chased by the Israeli army and finds himself trapped in an entrance of a house. The owner, an old lady, hides him in her bath. Atef is surprised that there is another person inside, who helps him not to be arrested.
I am Zainab Entezar, a graduate of journalism، I’m master in public managment . My main activities have been in the field of writing and cinema, which has resulted in a story book and writing several screenplays and directing in cinema. I wrote and directed short film , “The Mosque for rent”, “The House”, “Lack” and “Bicycle” and also acted in this film. I write two novels(A man ware gentle like dad.), (Yusra.)
The Secrets of Radha Subarna Thapa Nepal. 2022. 95 min
Radha, a young pregnant woman from a village in Nepal, embarks on a journey to find her husband, a migrant worker in Doha, who’s gone missing, but discovers instead an intriguing web of lies, deceit and fraud behind his disappearance and of many others.
The Cranes are Flying Mikhail Kalatozov Russia. 1957. 96 min
This landmark film by the virtuosic Mikhail Kalatozov was heralded as a revelation in the post-Stalin Soviet Union and the international cinema community alike. It tells the story of Veronica (Tatiana Samoilova) and Boris (Alexei Batalov), a couple who are blissfully in love until World War II tears them apart. With Boris at the front, Veronica must try to ward off spiritual numbness and defend herself from the increasingly forceful advances of her beau’s draft-dodging cousin. Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, The Cranes Are Flying is a superbly crafted drama with impassioned performances and viscerally emotional, gravity-defying cinematography by Kalatozov’s regular collaborator Sergei Urusevsky.
MIKHAIL KALATOZOV
Mikhail Kalatozov was born on December 28, 1903 in Tiflis, Russian Empire [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Vernye druz’ya (1954) and Zagovor obrechyonnykh (1950). He died on March 27, 1973 in Moscow. In 1934-1936 was a general director of film concern Sakhkinmretsvi. In 1936 left Georgia. Born in the same town as the genius Sergei Parajanov. Was appointed Deputy Minister for Film in the 1950s. Was censured by the Soviet government for ‘negativism’ and forced to do administrative work for seven years (1932-1939), before being allowed to resume his directing career. In the Georgian film industry as actor, cameraman and editor from 1923, graduating to directing in 1928. Spent eighteen months in Los Angeles during World War II on a diplomatic assignment. This allowed him to watch Hollywood films unavailable in the USSR.
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.
Technology expansion caused the old typewriter loses his traditional job. Now he is unemployed, he has no choice but to change in order to continue living in this modern world. And it makes his problems worse.
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.
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.
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