Two film festivals to check out in Mumbai this weekend

A still from the indie film Pedro

Indie is the way

Pick from a series of films by talented Indian independent filmmakers that cover a range of issues from regional cinema to village power dynamics and forest laws.

>> Dhuin: A small-town theatre actor aspires to make it big in the city of dreams. However, the road isn't easy. With a family under a financial crisis on the one hand and his own desires on the other, what decisions does Pankaj have to make? Dhuin is a 50-minute tender portrayal by Achal Mishra of an everyday India striving to make ends meet, while precariously holding on to their dreams. Written in Maithili and Hindi, what makes the film special is the challenge it poses to a monolithic depiction of Bihar in cinema. Silence and poignancy dominate it.

>> Pedro: An electrician, Pedro, guards the farmland of his landlord Hegde. One day he finds his dog dead. It had consumed poison that was meant for a wild boar. When Pedro promises to kill the boar to keep the land safe, he accidentally shoots Hegde's cow. The consequences of his action are visible. Pedro feels alienated from the village and we witness the power dynamics at various stages during the film. Having shot it in his hometown in Uttara Kannada, Natesh Hegde turns the forest land into a character of its own.

>> The Road to Kuthriyar: Director Bharat Mirle's feature (below) follows Dhruv, a wildlife researcher, who befriends a local tribesman, Dorai, while conducting a survey at the Kodaikanal Sanctuary. Dhruv finds out during the survey that Dorai and his community's reality is rather bleak. They are fighting forest laws and poverty, among other things. The film adopts a documentary-style narration. While some parts are from actual interviews, Mirle finds moments to include storytelling and fiction into the film, describing the project as a "docu-fiction feature".

On May 25 and May 26. at G5A Warehouse, Mahalaxmi West. log on to insider.in

Animation all the way

Enjoy Keyframed, a showcase of animated shorts from students of IDC Mumbai, NID Ahmedabad, NID Bhopal and UID Gandhinagar.

>> Pandari - New Tidings: In Tejaswat Kadam's episodic short, the audience is transported into the world of Anga, where the protagonist Pandari and her little brother Kuho live and, so do legends and myths. Amid celebrations for the annual silk route festival in the grand city of Eyriya, the old king is being kicked out, and the coronation of the new queen is taking place. But what if the old king doesn't want to give up his power? Inspired by cultural sites like Mumbai, Pune and Khajuraho, Kadam's visuals of an imagined city are stunning and the clothing and armoury of the characters worth stopping by for.

>> Phool Dei: Phool Dei is a harvest festival celebrated in several parts of Uttarakhand like Garhwal and Kumaon. In this short by Kartik Mahajan, a young protagonist goes about collecting flowers in her town during the festival. However, things soon take a turn when her town becomes a ghost town. Mahajan's short, through a subtle palette that reflects soft innocence, focuses on the relationship
between the protagonist and her brother.

>> Mundu and the Malayali: a fictional docu‘Mundu'ary: The connection between a community of Malayalis and the mundu, a garment wrapped around one's waist, is tight. In a fun animation, through minimal sketches, Rahul Dileep explores how the two are bound together from birth to death. The short was the animator's graduation project while he studied at IDC School of Design in the city.

On May 25; all day at Harkat Studios, Aram Nagar, Versova.
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