Event Details

Short Film Screenings

An NCPA Presentation in collaboration with White Wall Screenings

iTALES
5 Filmmakers | 5 Films | 5 Minutes

This is an anthology of five short films by Indian women filmmakers. All the films have been entirely shot on iPhones with one month of production time after an edition of the Art of Filmmaking workshop conducted over Zoom, in which 29 women were mentored by Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf and the AR Rahman Foundation. These films were chosen as the top five out of all the submissions from that batch.

Shahtoot
Hindi Film with English Subtitles

Shahtoot is based on the real story of Mohammad Iqbal, a daily wage migrant labourer and his differently abled son. When a sudden nationwide lockdown is announced, father and son are forced to begin a treacherous journey of more than 250 miles on foot to their village in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Their story is representative of the stories of millions of migrant workers who, as the national lockdown was announced without warning in 2020, suffered and were forced to walk back home, with many dying on the way of hunger, thirst and road accidents.

Directed by Savita Singh
Producer: Vikram Turkhad, Manoj Singh & Savita Singh
Script/DOP: Savita Singh
Editor: Hemanti Sarkar
Cast: Farrukh Seyer & Vishal Prajapat

Why? Maa!
Hindi Film with English Subtitles

Saabir is a young, critically acclaimed writer, stuck on the last few pages of his forthcoming novel and indecisive about its end. Having lost both his parents, a vivid dream encounter with his mother makes him realise which path to choose. This story is a take on the conflict of choice between what this world has made him versus the values and belief system his mother has left behind.

Directed by Pooja Shyam Prabhat
Producer/Script: Pooja Shyam Prabhat
DOP: Urvi Desale
Editor: Sujit Kanojia
Cast: Pranjal Jain & Pooja Shyam Prabhat
Music: Osho Jain

Distorted Mirrors
Marathi Film with English Subtitles

The Lavani is an art form performed mainly by women. Today, it is most known and referred to by its erotic form, which has largely survived to this day. Performers across the board belong to the Kolhathi community. This story narrates the internal struggle of Lavani dancers between the illusory and real world. The women know for sure the hard realities of life but they still sketch fairy tales with their regular visitors who just come for entertainment, imagining that one day they will have a family with one of them. Sometimes they fall into their own trap and end up having children with one of these regular visitors, which makes their life much more complicated. Hope is the only driver which keeps their world alive.

Directed by Rajshri Deshpande
Producer: Rajshri Deshpande
DOP: Nirman Chowdhury
Editor: Nirman Chowdhury

Agamugam
Tamil Film with English Subtitles

A lonely woman poet who has been living hermit-like without any human contact finds herself at an unexpected turn of life faced with unexpected desires. The melodramatic style of the turn focuses more on unrecognised emotions and expands her life between reality and fantasy.

Directed by Kutti Revathi
Producer: Raja Narayanaswamy, Poet Amsavalli & Haja Mohideen
Script: Kutti Revathi
DOP: Raja Bhattacharjee
Editor: B. Lenin
Cast: Chrylsheelaa Christopher, Vamsi & Pappu

Spaces
Tamil Film with English Subtitles

Spaces is a five-minute film that was shot on an iPhone. It is a fun take on what happens in a house after the husband retires and the wife has to take on the extra burden of having an extra hand at home. The loving husband only tries to help, but things go downhill when the OCD-stricken wife is suddenly faced with the unrelenting company of her caring husband.

Directed by Madhumitha Venugopal
Producer: Madhumitha Venugopal
Script: Madhumithea Venugopal & Senthilnathan
DOP: VS Prabanchan
Editor: Rakesh Lenin & VS Prabanchan
Music: Saran Raghavan
Cast: Lizzie Antony, Cable Shankar & Sowmya

The film screenings will be followed by a discussion.

Admission on a first-come-first-served basis.  NCPA Members will get preferential seating till 6:20 pm.