VHS
Alexander Markin
Russia. 2022. 12 min

End of summer 1991. USSR. Yura works at a factory and dreams of escaping to America. His son’s dream is the whole family to be together at nights. Both desires can come true if a VHS appears in the family.

ALEXANDER MARKIN

Journalist and director. Has been working in a video production teams, and also in social projects organizing art festivals and events in support of charitable foundations. In 2022 he graduated from the Moscow Film School, directing department (workshop of Alexey Popogrebsky and Pavel Bardin). VHS is his graduation film.

POSTER

CONTACT

yulia@festagent.com

Andaja
Tharindu Ramanayaka
Sri Lanka. 2022. 40 min

After the civil war in Sri Lanka, an ex Sinhalese soldier returns home with a Tamil guerrilla woman who was gang raped by him and his mates. The traumatized girl finds different ways to take revenge but things get brutal when she gets pregnant.

THARINDU RAMANAYAKA

Tharindu Ramanayaka, an independent filmmaker, writer and an actor from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Although he is from Sri Lanka, He moved to India to study Drama and Theater for his graduation. From childhood, he had the desire to tell stories to people and this drove him to pursue theater. But soon he realized films were a better medium to express himself. After securing a scholarship, he stayed back in India to pursue Film Direction and Screenplay writing at the reputed Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. He started watching more films and learning the history of film and started experimenting with the form, especially with surrealistic images. soon realized that he had found ultimate medium to talk about stories that he has always wanted to tell, derived from the folk tales and Buddhist tales from his region.

Tharindu has more than 8 years of experience in the world of films. He has made short films, documentaries and music videos. Some of them are “MANDALA”, “KRIMIKOSH”, “ANDAJA” and “WEEPING ANGEL.” His films have been screened at many film festivals across the world & Won Several Awards too.

DIRECTOR,S NOTE

The film is based in rural Sri Lanka with the recently finished ethnic war in the backdrop which had started in the early 80s. The Tamil people who were the minority experienced suppression by the Singhalese. In 2009, the war ended after around 25 years, causing huge casualties to both the communities and major destruction of the country’s environment and well being. In 71, Sri Lanka saw the JVP insurrection. In 83, the ethnic war kicked off between the Tamils and the Sinhalese people. In 87-89, there was a second JVP insurrection. In 2004, Tsunami lashed the shores of the eastern coastline, causing massive destruction of lives and property. Quite recently, an explosion rocked a Catholic church on Easter morning claiming the lives of around 300 people.

The people live in uncertainty. They don’t know when it would be their turn to go. Their lives are comparable to those of chickens, who only live till they are chopped down for food. Such continuous acts of disaster, man-made or natural, had broken the people and had traumatized them for life. Their moral beliefs have changed. Continued exposure to violence had turned them violent. This change in mindset has affected the society at large. This story is a depiction of how that violence creeps into the family and destroys it bit by bit, devastating it’s members and their relationships with each other.

POSTER

CONTACT

thrstv11@gmail.com

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

Boy,s Things
Raquel Colera
Spain. 2022. 14 min

The 90’s. Summer begins in a rural town. Marta, a happy and innocent 12-year-old girl, enjoys playing football with her friends, riding a bike and building the same hut every year. Everything in her world is perfect, but Marta is different from the other girls in the village: besides being the leader of her gang of friends, she is the only girl in the group. Although gender has never been an obstacle in their friendship, this is about to change: Loren, a 16-year-old boy, arrives in town and approaches Marta’s friends, changing their gaze towards her. Loren has come to stay, and with him puberty and gender roles. Will Marta lose her innocence and accept the rules of her new world?

RAQUEL COLERA

Raquel Colera has a degree in Audiovisual Communication. She has worked in the film industry as a Producer and Production Manager for almost 20 years. Throughout her professional career, she has collaborated with directors such as Rodrigo Rodero (El idioma imposible), Ramón Salazar (10,000 Nights Nowhere) or Inés París (Manzanas, pollos y quimeras).
She has recently redirected her career towards screenwriting and directing: during 2021 she co-directed the fiction short film “Medina Querida”, which was awarded Best Short Film at the 16th EIMA Marathon of the Medina del Campo Film Festival and selected at FICAB 2021 in Argentina. She has also written and directed this fiction short film “Boys’ things” (2022). At the same time, she is developing the feature film of the same name, her first fiction project as screenwriter and director.

POSTER

CONTACT

distribucion@ecam.es

Other Ray
Jaydip Mukherjee
India. 2022. 34 min

OTHER RAY documents the amazing ability of Satyajit Ray to communicate through an array of artistic platforms like a polyglot. Beside his acclaimed stature as a Filmmaker, he had been an Illustrator, a Calligrapher, a Musician and an Author of extraordinary capacity rendering his films a feast of diverse art forms, seamlessly merging to embellish the stories that he narrated. Like every ace narrator, he spoke his own story through his variegated works spread over a bewildering variety of media. Yet the narrations were inevitably illuminated by his interpretation of colliding values without blurring his own sympathy and ethical coordinate. Much of his moral landscape had been inherited from his ancestors who had had seminal contributions in the reimagining of middle class Bengali identity through the lens of humanists. He had picked up the rest from a variety of cultural ambiance and people whom he met in his formative age.
OTHER RAY deals with both the incubation as well as the splendid flowering of Satyajit Ray not merely as a Filmmaker ranking among the immortals of world cinema but all the other notes as well that had blended in him to create an aesthetic symphony, with few peers, if any.

JAYDIP MUKHERJEE

JAYDIP MUKKHERJEE is a renowned filmmaker, have been making documentaries and other genres of films for the last 35 years. His films have been selected thrice in the Indian Panorama in IFFIs, won UN-FAO Awards including his films’ participations in many important foreign film festivals over the years. His retrospective of films was organized at the White Chapel Art Gallery in London and by the Films Division, Ministry of I & B, Government of India at Nandan, Kolkata. His impotant documentaries include GAGANENDRANATH, STRINGS OF MELODIES : Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, PATHER PANCHALI: A LIVING RESONANCE, MILES TO GO (on marginalized child labourers) (for PSBT), BEGUMA PARVEEN SULTANA : The Queen of Melody (for Films Division), THOSE VILLAGES BREATHE HOCKEY (On Tribal hockey in India) (For Films Division), COLOURS OF DREAMS ( On Tagore’s Paintings), JAMINI RAY (For DDII, International Chanel), ART & ARTISTS OF SANTINIKETAN ( for DD BHARATI- 5 episodes), NABANEETA DEV SEN (For Sahitya Akademi), SHALOM : The Peace (On the Jewish Community of Kolkata) , OTHER RAY : Art of Satyajit Ray and so on. He has made films for Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of I & B, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of HRD, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Doordarshan National and DD Bharti, UGC-EMRC St. Xaviers’ College, Vidyasagar University etc. He is the media consultant to Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (North Bengal Agricultural University) and a Guest Faculty in the Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, SRCMU, Jhargram. He is a regular article contributor on Cinema in leading Bengali dailies and periodicals. His publications include FILM-er PATHHSHALA : PRAK-CINEMAY SATYAJIT & CINEMANAMA (both in Bengali).

POSTER

CONTACT

jaydip63@gmail.com

Naanera
Deepankar Prakash
India. 2021. 116 min

After the death of his father, Manish’s uncles start taking his life,s decisions. His journey leads him to a questionable point when he begins a secret love affair with a cousin and the family finds itself in the midst of another death.

DEEPANKAR PRAKASH

Deepankar Prakash is an Indian film director and screenwriter. Deepankar made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed film Mooso – The Mouse. He has also made a Hotstar Quix Original web-series called Crime Next Door. As a filmmaker, he is known for his award winning short films such as Masakkali, Kaagpanth, Podarok and Naked Voice.

ARTICLE

Latika Padgaonkar: Naanera

POSTER

CONTACT

deepankarprakashdirector@gmail.com

The night of the 21st
Omer Sterenberg
Israel. 2022. 14 min

Three childhood friends from a kibbutz represent the strengths and the fissures in Israeli society. They are reunited for a night of fun and exuberance which turns into a reckoning as each of them has taken a different path. And each has to deal with the tension and the love they feel for one another.

OMER STERENBERG

Born in 1992. His first short film, Listening In, participated in dozens of international film festivals, including Berlin Film Festival 2020 and won several prizes in others.

CONTACT

festivals@jsfs.co.il

Ordinary
Gil Fermon
Israel. 2022. 22 min

Squad commander Noah is two days before his discharge. In the meantime, the military routine continues as he and his soldiers patrol the border. Unexpectedly a young Palestinian boy crosses the border fence, is caught and Noah comes face to face with someone who, like himself, just wants to get home.

GIL FERMON

Born in 1988 in Israel and grew up in Jerusalem. holds a B.A. degree in Humanities Arts from Tel Aviv University and is currently studying for a master’s degree in philosophy at Tel Aviv University. He practices meditation. Worked as an Assistant director and producer for several short films and music videos, a photographer for documentary productions and as a freelance editor.

POSTER

CONTACT

festivals@jsfs.co.il

BEST FILM

1 – Neighbours (Mano Khalil) Switzerland

2 – Amira (Mohamed Diab) Egypt

2 – Eternally Younger Than Those Idiots (Ryohei Yoshino) Japan

BEST DIRECTOR

1 – Mohamed Diab. Amira (Mohamed Diab) Egypt

2 – Deepa Mehta. Funny Boy (Deepa Mehta) Canada

2 – Ryohei Yoshino. Eternally Younger Than Those Idiots (Ryohei Yoshino) Japan

BEST ACTRESS

1 – Saba Mubarak / Tara Abboud. Amira (Mohamed Diab) Egypt

2 – Yui Sakuma. Eternally Younger Than Those Idiots (Ryohei Yoshino) Japan

2 – Zhang Zimu. The Coffin Painter (Da Fei) China

BEST ACTOR

1 – Lopsang. The Coffin Painter (Da Fei) China

1 – Li Jiu Xiao. Streetwise (Jiazuo Na) China

BEST SCRIPT

1 – Mano Khalil. Neighbours (Mano Khalil) Switzerland

2 – Na Jiazuo. Streetwise (Jiazuo Na) China

BEST DOP

1 – Satya Nagpaul. Crescent Night (Gurvinder Singh) India

2 – Ahmed Gabr. Amira (Mohamed Diab) Egypt

BEST MUSIC

1 – Mario Batkovic. Neighbours (Mano Khalil) Switzerland

2 – Xiao Bohan. The Coffin Painter (Da Fei) China

BEST SOUND DESIGN

1 – 2000 Songs of Farida (Yolkin Tuychiev) Uzbekistan

BEST EDITING

1 – Neighbours (Mano Khalil) Switzerland

2 – Funny Boy (Deepa Mehta) Canada

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1 – Eternally Younger Than Those Idiots (Ryohei Yoshino) Japan

2 – Amira (Mohamed Diab) Egypt

BEST DOCUMENTARY

1 – Reconstruction of Occupation (Jan Sikl) Czech Republic, Slovakia

2 – My Childhood My Country (Phil Grabsky, Shoaib Sharifi) Great Britain

LIFE AWARD

1 – The Portraits (Bijukumar Damodaran) India

2 – Oliver Black (Tawfik Baba) Morocco

2 – Red Pomegranate (Sharipa Urazbayeva) Kazakhstan

BEST SHORT FILM

1 – Lili Alone (Zou Jing) China

2 – A World Free of Crisis (Ted Hardy-Carnac) France

BEST POSTER

1 – Funny Boy (Deepa Mehta) Canada

2 – Tree Full of Parrots (Jayaraj) India

BEST SPANISH SHORT FILM

1 – On The Second Floor (Marco Araujo) Spain

BEST STUDENT FILM

Bablu Babylon Se (Abhijeet Sarthi) SRFTI. India

SPECIAL MENTIONS TO CHILD ACTORS

Tree Full of Parrots (Jayaraj) India

Neighbours (Mano Khalil) Switzerland

BEST SOUTH ASIAN FEATURE FILM

• Dostojee (Prasun Chatterjee) India

BEST SOUTH ASIAN DOCUMENTARY

• Kekee Manzil (Behroze Gandhy, Dilesh Korya) India, United Kingdom

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

• Ángela Molina (Spain)

RECOGNITION TO AN INSTITUTION

• SRFTI (India)