A Match
Jayant Somalkar
India. 2023. 104 min

In rural India, a determined young girl, Savita, yearns for education and a bright future. However, as her farmer parents anxiously struggle to find a suitable match for her, societal expectations place immense pressure on her to prioritize marriage over personal aspirations.
Facing countless rejections from suitors, she must navigate a world where the pursuit of marriage overshadows the very sustenance of life. Shot with non-actors from the village, A Match is the director’s debut feature film.

The Core
Jeo Baby
India. 2023. 114 min

The Core unveils the captivating narrative of Mathew and Omana, a seemingly harmonious couple residing in the serene village of Teekoy in the Kottayam district of Kerala. Mathew Devassy, a retired Co-operative bank secretary with a stellar reputation in the community, reluctantly steps into the realm of politics to contest a Panchayath by-election, upon his party’s request. However, shockingly, just two days after submitting his nomination, Omana files for divorce, plunging their relationship into turmoil.

Kaleidoscope Now
Anjan Dutt
India. 2023. 90 min

A film based on true events. A film made to celebrate the birth anniversary of the legendary filmmaker Mrinal Sen. Anjan Dutt, the popular actor, singer and filmmaker started his career with Mrinal Sen. This film is about their first experience and the shooting of Mrinal Sen’s film Chaalchitra. A comedy about a 26 year old Ranjan Dutt (Anjan Dutt) who is selected by a 57-year-old great filmmaker Kunal Sen ( Mrinal Sen) and their friendship. A film about the making of a film and how Ranjan Dutt slowly gets to understand his city Kolkata and through various funny and emotional sequences grows up to realise his future. A story about how a filmmaker changes his hero’s understanding of life. How the filmmaker changes his perception of the city. How an actor finds his roots. A very funny, yet very emotional film.

Privacy
Sudeep Kanwal
India. 2023. 85 min

PRIVACY is a social thriller set in and out of Mumbai slums. It follows the story of Roopali, who works at the Mumbai surveillance command and control center as an operator. While being ambitious, she constantly fights her own guilt and resists her dark past. Things start to get complicated when Roopali ignores protocol and begins to investigate a robbery/murder that takes place on her watch.

Munnel (Sand)
Visakesa Chandrasekaram
Sri Lanka. 2023. 102 min

Rudran, an ex-Tamil militant returns home from military detention, looking for his lover Vaani who had disappeared during the war. Rudran’s mother, Sellamma who is gifted with a ‘boon’ of soothsaying, tells the locals whether their kith and kin are alive or dead, but she refuses to say the same about Vaani. While men and women defeated in the war find solace in massive Hindu temples, Rudran initially refuses to pray, but later in an act of desperation, he joins a month-long pilgrimage seeking help from God Ayyappa, hoping to unite with his lover.

RK/Rkay
Rajat Kapoor
India. 2022. 95 min

RK is a filmmaker, making a new film, in which he also plays the lead character of Mahboob. It,s a quaint film, like a tribute to the cinema of the sixties. People close to him are not really sure why RK wants to make this film.

Edit begins and RK has a sinking feeling that this film is not going to come together, that this time he has really screwed up. His nightmares warn him of an impending disaster. Sure enough, one afternoon RK gets a call from the edit room- something terrible has happened. Mahboob has run away, run out of the film.
Nobody can really understand why would he leave, where would he go. But he is not there anymore in the rushes- missing from the film negative as well.

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.