3 short films from Kolkata compete in Sri Lanka fest

KOLKATA: Sri Lanka’s severe economic crisis had led to various financial embargoes on hosting film festivals in 2022. The New Year has started on an optimistic note. After a year-long gap, the physical edition of the Jaffna International Cinema Festival is being held now.
Three short films from Kolkata — Shonali Biswas’s ‘A Rare Gift’, Bijoy Chowdhury’s ‘Undivided Solitude’ and Indira Dhar Mukherjee’s ‘Soch’ — are competing at the 8th edition of the festival in the war-ravaged city of the island nation.
This festival had an online edition during the pandemic in 2021. But the situation changed completely in 2022. Getting funds was extremely difficult when people hardly had basic amenities. “Perseverance and passion for the love of cinema helped them to brave all odds,” said festival advisor, Premendra Mazumder. Finally, the 8th edition is being hosted between January 2 and 8 with the aim to “celebrate independent cinema in the peninsula, which is recovering from the destruction caused by a 30-year-old armed conflict and war”. The organisers hope this festival will create a space for communities across borders to interact with each other through cinema.
‘A Rare Gift’ is a five-minute-long tender film without dialogues on the sibling bond between street dwellers. Issues like India’s gender inequality, domestic abuse of married women and their mental health issues are highlighted in ‘Soch’ starring Jaya Seal Ghosh. “I immensely support the initiative of the organisers to keep the love for art and films alive in people. I know they are going through a tough time but this kind of event will make them go on with life with positivity,” Seal Ghosh said.
Chowdhury’s ‘Undivided Solitude’ is about the insecurity of the aged during lockdown. “This film had received two awards at a cine competition organized by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) on the theme of challenges during Covid-19. All forms of art are the first to bear the brunt during a crisis. This positive attitude of the festival organisers is inspiring for directors like me who have to battle many challenges while making movies,” Chowdhury said.
The festival is also physically screening some interesting debut films. That includes Abhinandan Banerjee’s ‘Manikbabur Megh’. “There are some powerful debut films about Kashmir and Assam. Dhanjit Das’s Assamese film titled ‘Soul of Silence’, which is on the Bengali immigrant crisis in Assam, is competing. So is Prabhas Chandra’s ‘I Am Not The River Jhelum’ which focuses on Kashmir. In competition is Sunny Joseph’s ‘Salt of the Earth’. Joseph, who is known for having done the cinematography for Shaji N. Karun’s ‘Piravi’, made his directorial debut with this powerful film questioning religion,” Mazumder said, adding that Parambrata Chattopadhyay has played the lead role in Shabnam Ferdousi’s ‘Song of the Soul’ which is also in competition.