My Father,s Doctor Danish Renzu India. 2022. 17 min
My Father’s Doctor is a story of an unrequited love between an unlikely pair, the unexpected loss of it, and how one tries looking for hope while suffering. Every few days, Roohi hums Raj Begum’s songs outside of her houseboat, waiting for someone. Kabir arrives on a shikara and Roohi takes him in. Kabir has been Abbu’s (Roohi’s father) doctor for so long now that he’s treated like a son. One day, while preparing to leave, Kabir is stopped by Roohi, who hands him a flower – her expression of love. Kabir is taken aback a little.
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).
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.
Belonging to an isolated fishing community of the Loktak lake, Chaoren makes the best use of his exclusive existence by excelling in school. When the canoe he uses every day to attend school has to be sold off because of his father’s illness, his spirit is not dampened. He beats the long distance from his shanty floating hut to his school by swimming his way through. But when the Government issues an eviction notice demanding Chaoren’s family to leave their home, his dreams are left with an angst of a displaced person.
ROMI MEITEI
Romi Meitei is prolific filmmaker who has given several box-office hits. Besides notching up commercial successes, his films have been screened in prestigious film festival including IFFI, MIFF,IFFK and others. He is recipent of prestigeous FIPRESCI and NETPAC award. He has also received several Manipur State Film Awards. He is the Chairman of Mami Thawan Foundation which aims to render services for the welfare of Manipur.
DIRECTOR,S NOTE
Globalisation cannot be interrupted by anyone and is renewing itself everyday. For a developing nation like ours, this is necessary. But advancement and growth in the name of globalisation does rise a concern in our minds if this is harming mother nature and affecting our habitats ? Development induced displacement has impacted many levels of community based society like ours. The kitle and kin of displaced communities that once co-existed with nature for their livelihood are now faced with a big dilema and left wandering like flocks of birds migrating for their survival and identities. The sight of this unstable livelihood is overwhemling and I, as a human, would wish that development of any kind would have the sensibility to protect the essence of communities like ours and coexist sustainably with natural habitats.
AWARDS
Best Feature Film at MSFA 22, Manipur/India
Best Art Director at MSFA 22 Manipur/India
Best Child Artiste at MSFA 22 Manipur/India
Best Editor at MSFA 22 Manipur/India
Best Sound Design at MSFA 22 Manipur/India
FIPRESCI Award for the Best International Film at 27IFFK, Kerala/India
NETPAC Jury Special Mention at 27IFFK, Kerala/India
Best Director Award at Sailadhar Film Awards, Assam/India
Best Cinematography Award at Sailadhar Awards, Assam/India
Best Child Artiste Award at Sailadhar Awards, Assam/India
“Mein, Mehmood” (I am, Mehmood) is a film that is dedicated to the life of hardworking immigrants all over the world. The film traces the life of Mehmood, a simple middle-aged immigrant from the Indian subcontinent who has left immigrated to Middle East to provide a better life for his family. A tele-caller with a tourism company that is badly hit by the pandemic, Mehmood, struggles to meet monthly sales targets. His inability in speaking the English language limits his ability to converse with potential clients, thus putting his job in jeopardy. Back in a village in his country of origin, his wife waits for him to send across money for their daughter’s education.
PRATAYA SAHA
Prataya Saha is a multiple award winning independent filmmaker, Tedx performer, theatre director & photographer based out of India and UAE. Prataya’s directorial debut was ‘Anna’s Weekend’ in 2016. Since then, he has made 12 short films with his films selected in 100+ film festivals around the world, winning around 26 awards, including the prestigious New York Asian Film Festival, Oaxaca Film Fest, IFFSA Toronto, VSAFF Vancouver, Cardiff International Film Festival, Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Oscar Qualifying festivals like Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, Bengaluru International Film Festival, etc.
DIRECTOR,S NOTE
Growing up in the 90s in India was like being in a potpourri of different cultures. The advent of cable TV brought the entire world to the living room for most people who could afford a TV. Slowly, watching western pop culture, songs, sports and educational programmes largely promulgated in the English language became an integral part of life. Little did I realize then, that this was not so for a huge number of people and the answer lay in the socioeconomic divisions in a still-developing country of the size of a subcontinent.
The Dance of Ali and Zin Mehmet Ali Konar Turkey. 2021. 78 min
The story is set in a tiny Kurdish village. Isa’s younger brother ismurdered and brought back to his hometown. Two weeks after the funeral, his mother Zîn dreams of giving a wedding celebration for her deceased son. This strange idea sparks off a host of contradictory feelings within her, and between her and Isa and family members, who are still reeling from the trauma and grief of losing a brother. The family gradually proceed into a grey area in their relationship. These ordinary people find themselves living in a psychological minefield wrestling on the planes between logic, norms, emotions and irrationality.
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.
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.
Deepa Mehta is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker whose work is internationally renowned. Her emotionally resonating, award-winning films have played every major film festival, and been sold and distributed around the globe. Her fiction films include the Elemental Trilogy: Earth, Fire, and the Best Foreign Language Oscar nominee, Water; Bollywood/Hollywood, Heaven on Earth, the epic adaptation of Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie’s three-time Booker Prize winning novel; Beeba Boys, Anatomy of Violence, and most recently the award-winning Funny Boy, which was nominated for several Canadian Screen Awards and won for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score. The film also picked up Best Picture and Best Supporting Performance Female at the 2021 Leo Awards.
A Tale of Two Sisters Akram Khan Bangladesh. 2022. 99 min
Rahela and Saleha are two sisters, married to two brothers Sabar and Jabar. Soon Rahela gives birth to Rahelillah and Saleha’s son is called Shaheb Ali. In 1971, during the Liberation War of Bangladesh against Pakistan, Rahelillah follows his conservative uncle, Jabar, who supports Pakistan while Shaheb joins the Liberation Force following his progressive uncle Sabar. The house turns into a battlefield but whose side should Rahela and Saleha take?