Held since 2009, the Auroville Film Festival is a biennial event devoted to cinema, and stands as one of the highlights of Auroville’s cultural life. It aims to further the aspiration of human unity on which Auroville was founded, by connecting with people and cultures both within and beyond it.

Expressing the non-competitive spirit of Auroville and its aspiration for harmonious growth, winning filmmakers were awarded saplings ready to plant rather than trophies. Following the conclusion ceremony in which the jury’s selections were announced, the event ended on a joyful note with a lively concert by two Auroville groups – Sound Mirage and Ronny’s Band – who moved the audience to dance to classic rock and reggae anthems by artists such as the Rolling Stones, Bob Marley and Deep Purple.

For the International category of “films that develop the theme of human unity”, the judges accorded twin Wisdom Awards to ‘Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness’ by Frauke Sandig and Eric Black and to Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes. The documentaries, coming from Germany and India respectively, were noted as exploring the interconnectedness between all life forms, and the close ways in which humans are related to their environment.

Jury Awards were conferred on Elizabeth D Costa’s ‘Bangla Surf Girls’ and Anam Abbas’s ‘This Stained Dawn’, films featuring strong women struggling for emancipation and self-definition on the beaches of Bangladesh and in Pakistan’s maidans. The two films were inspiring for their depiction of the energy of a subcontinent’s youth striving for a better future.

The Cinema Paradiso Award for Human Unity went to Kaushal Oza’s ‘The Miniaturist of Junagadh’, a moody short starring unforgettable Naseeruddin Shah in an adaptation of Stefan Zweig’s acclaimed novella ‘The Invisible Collection’ to a household during the time of the 1947 partition. The brooding, poetic story was noted by the jury as leaving a sense of “Nambikai” – hope or trust in Tamil – in terms of the possibility for a meaningful human connection across cultural and religious lines.

The Auroville Film Festival is noted for shining a light on life in the international township itself as well as its bioregion, which encompasses a coastal area of northern Tamil Nadu and the city of Pondicherry. In the category of “films made by Aurovilians, bioregion residents and guests of Auroville”, the Cinema Paradiso Award was given to Sugumar Shanmugam for ‘Thirai Virutham’, an in-depth exploration of the folk performing art Therukkoothu practiced in the area since time immemorial.

Serena Aurora’s short, ‘When Goupi Met the Mother Mira Alfassa (Founder of Auroville) and Found Home’, earned the Jury Award for its heartwarming portrayal of an early Aurovilian. Comfortably seated in a lotus posture, French-born Goupi resembles a smooth-headed monk who, even into old age, remains as radiant as ever. A series of old photographs serve him to reflect on the remarkable encounters which surrounded his fateful journey from France to Pondicherry in 1966.

Meanwhile, the Wisdom Award went to Michèle Decoust’s documentary, ‘The Path of the 12 Petals: Shanta, an Initiatic Journey’, for its study of an Auroville artist’s journey of self-discovery in the light of Alfassa’s teachings and budding community. The Mongbra Award was accorded to Valentina Beatriz’s dance short, Fallin’, depicting the dynamic use of the body to illustrate the experience of falling in love.

The jury also favourably noted Saumya Srivastava’s ‘Kolam’, an experimental art film revealing Auroville’s hidden beauty via slow-motion photography, and Mélusine Schellenberger’s premiere, Meat the Vegan, a student film inquiring into an alternative dietary lifestyle.

The highlight of this year’s edition has been the Question and Answer sessions conducted in the afternoons with most participating filmmakers following the screening of their submissions. The directors appreciated the possibility to interact over conference call with fellow creators across the world, delving into their inspiration and creative process.

An independent event, the Auroville Film Festival prides itself on remaining non-commercial, and Auroville looks forward to continuing this tradition in its next edition to be scheduled for early 2026.

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by Daniel

International category of “films that develop the theme of human unity”

Wisdom Awards:

Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness by Frauke Sandig and Eric Black

All That Breathes by Shaunak Sen

Both the movies stand out for their brilliant expressions of the meaning of the connections between all forms of life which penetrate deeper into the layers of human unity. Though both the movies are documentaries, a very specific style of filmmaking adopted by the filmmakers helps bring the authenticity of the stories, people, context and so on. While the cinematography and background score of Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness takes us into the vastness of life, the film All that Breathes connects us with the nuances of life.

Jury Awards:

Bangla Surf Girls by Elizabeth D Costa

This Stained Dawn by Anam Abbas

These two documentaries, each lasting an hour and a half, complement each other in their expression of human unity. These two films speak to us of emancipation, emancipation of oneself but also emancipation of others. We have the right to see our aspirations implemented. When we saw these two films, one phrase came to mind: “Femmes d’avenir”. The women of the future. In both films, we see women standing up to win their freedom, their right to dream, to be inspired, to be creative.

Cinema Paradiso Award

The Miniaturist of Junagadh by Kaushal Oza

This fiction movie, through its brilliant acting, sharp and poetic script full of layers and metaphors, unraveled one’s perception and imagination. It took us on a journey back in time in a seamless and gentle way bringing us into the context of households during the 1947 partition. It left us with a message of faith and hope. Hope, that despite our differences, whether cultural, religious, and whichever other label or belief it may be, that we can connect through something deeper: through poetry, through art, through creation, through emotion, through our humanity. The word that sprang to mind was Nambikai (Hope/Trust in Tamil)

Category of “films made by Aurovilians, bioregion residents and guests of Auroville”:

Cinema Paradiso Award:

Thirai Virutham by Sugumar Shanmugam

For narrating his personal journey with the art that has a long history and his deep rooted passion for this art “Therukoothu”.

Wisdom Award:

The Path of the 12 Petals: Shanta, an Initiatic Journey by Michèle Decoust

For taking the audience on Shanta’s self exploratory journey that is never ending and filled with growth, learning, challenges and creativity.

Jury Award:

When Goupi Met the Mother Mira Alfassa (Founder of Auroville) and Found Home by Serena Aurora

For its simplicity and for capturing the quote of Lao Tzu, “Journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”.

Mongbra Award:

Fallin’ by Valentina Beatriz

For an aesthetically alluring dance short depicting the dynamic use of body, energy, space and time.

Jury Mentions:

Kolam by Saumya Srivastava

Meat the Vegan by Mélusine Schellenberger

We open with the film “Kolam”, which is resounding, except it has little to no sound. It is a visual escapade. From the opening shot, it is sharply searing and visually-appealing, in slow-motion, in fast-forward and in close-ups. Gives one a totally alternative perspective on the people, artifacts and places of Auroville. It also captures an essence that usual, more commonplace cinematography cannot encapsulate.

The look of curiosity in a child’s eyes, the warmth in a baby caressing a puppy, workers dyeing cloth blue, are given a hyperaware sentience, even, in this astounding film. And so, it is with all the beloved places we know in Auroville from Matrimandir to Savitri Bhavan and so forth.

In the filmmakers’ discussion, we had some rousing conversations. The first movie to come up was “The Cloud and the Man”. The producer and director unraveled the film for us, it’s about a middle-aged lonely man who falls in love with a cloud. He wants to have his own life in a very regulated life,. Sounds familiar? Well, yes, the best of us have had our backs-to-the-wall, in a society that constantly wants to define us, to label us, to make us what it wants to make of us, call it persona/personality—I don’t care. That much of our lives is spent in the futility of trying to find our own Selves, while society wants to farm us in narrow little plantations; economical, socio-cultural, even demographic. That we have to find love to escape the labeling, defining, whether the love be of a cloud, or nature itself. To fully give in and up oneself to something outside of ourselves. To be as the man, a total misfit. For some of us, the relationships of the narrow and confined, juss ain’t good ‘nuff.

What then constitutes an identity? I think, for any question of identity there must be not only personhood, but subjectivity and agency…all of which can be aroused through loving. We are all looking for our own cloud. I mean to love is to resuscitate, to invigorate, to expand, to burgeon. Dude, I want my cloud!

By Gautam Emani

The city of Buenos Aires has been summoned to court to respond to accusations of abusing someone’s rights. On Argentina’s other side, another city – Mendoza – also seems to overlook the fact that every person has the rights to freedom, a life free from torture, mistreatment or isolated captivity. This is because not every person is human – such is the case made on behalf of Sandra the orangutan and Cecilia the chimpanzee.

It would not be the first time that legal definitions of rights have been amended, argue the revolutionary lawyers. In the not so distant past, debates raged over womens’ rights to vote and own property, and whether visible minorities such as Native Americans were human or had souls. Those debates are now past controversy. Says one campaigner: “We are evolutionists and we will not stop until the last cage is empty.”

Held for decades in inadequate conditions in zoos, mammals such as the great apes, bears and many more show apathy and depression. Many are ill and overweight, and held in isolation, where the only social behaviour they exhibit is asking for food. Apes who are accustomed to trees as an essential part of their natural environment are kept in cages with artificial poles for fear that a real tree would be used to escape.

For Proyecto Gran Simio (Great Ape Project), expanding the legal definition of personhood is a means of providing dignified lives to great apes such as Sandra and Cecilia who, unable to return to their natural habitat, would be happier in spacious wildlife sanctuaries designed by animal welfare experts rather than businessmen. But animals should not be bred in zoos to begin with, and the activists aim to preserve the natural habitats of great apes from destruction – which would naturally have consequences for the legal rights of aboriginal peoples on their land, so often pillaged and encroached upon.

Will human unity remain restricted to Homo Sapiens, or can dignity and freedom be extended to nonhuman animals? This is the question posed by Persona (no) Humana.

The character Iniyan, in the film “Iniyan”is the narrator’s link, and so our link, to an ancient civilization, now submerged in the Indian Ocean. What makes this civilization crucial and important is that it encapsulates Auroville’s credo—a place of human unity, of complete unity in diversity.

The film is an allegory. The director leads us into the story by setting up Iniyan’s character and the culture he represents. He represents History before History. He is of the ‘Amman’: a fertility cult with an agricultural tradition. To follow them would be to understand the symbols, archetypes and rituals of the ancient civilization.

Iniyan is the guide, the link, to a civilization of which we do not even know the alphabet. “Precious earth-moments when even evolution holds its breath.” The remnant descendants of the civilization stand separate from cultural, religious and caste systems…they remain aloof from it.

So, it is alluded that we are taken on this journey…with “a spirit of adventure, which grows and builds…an alchemical vessel to liberate the molten gold in the cells of man and in the atoms of matter…a house of transformation.”

This brilliant adventure ends by coming back to the beginning, a trope for the cyclical nature of History, which is about the continent that is now submerged. And yet, it has found a new home in Auroville, a new home for human unity.

The filmmaker panel discussion in the evening was a splendid occurrence, because three seemingly disparate documentaries found a commonality. The first documentary, “12 Petals” was of the spiritual exploration to design the Matrimandir. The second “Solidarity Crime” was about migrants in Europe. The third one was “Judges Under Pressure” where the Polish government has been undermining judicial independence.

The spiritual and the political found an agreement, for shouldn’t the two go about improving the lives of those involved? That going inward, spiritually, is filling a need to create dynamic compassion, which is what providing humanitarian aid to migrants, and canvassing and organizing for judicial autonomy are about anyway?

Also, I found a dynamism in each of the speakers as personalities. Juan from “Solidarity Crime” had a chatty effervescent energy, Kacper of “Judges…” had an erudite charm, holding back just that tad bit, and Michele of “12 Petals” had a warmth, and a keen sense of tying up things together which I felt helped the audience (especially at the end) create a shared space. I mean, she was talking of synchronicities, so…

Today was the screening of what I felt was my favourite documentary so far: Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness. The premises were “What is life?”, “What is consciousness?”, “What does it mean to be aware of being aware?” The conversation, the multiple frames-of-reference, the perspectives were of a Mayan healer from Chiapas, Mexico; a plant expert from Sydney, Australia; a neuroscientist; A psychedelic assisted therapy researcher from John Hopkins (I actually almost participated with their psilocybin study in Baltimore), and a Buddhist monk.

I felt there was a general tendency to ask questions more than finding solutions, given the nature of consciousness as not only on the fringes and the frontier of science, but the fact that questions arise as problematics to further research in any scientific endeavour. Questions are more compelling than blunt answers, they elicit awe and wonder, as impetus and momentum to continue searching, seeking, and exploration.

The awe and wonder leaps off the bat immediately: how did single cellular organisms evolve into the complexity of all the life we see around us? The Mayan healer says it’s not just human’s that think, but there is an essence in everything you can feel but cannot grasp. Deep. The neuroscientist: to delve into synapses and wonder where consciousness is. In all the grey goo of the brain, where is love? Or anger? Or jealousy?

Consciousness is subjective experience. But what does it mean to be?

In Buddhist science enlightenment is the direct finding of consciousness as pure awareness. The monk says science approaches consciousness from the outward in. But consciousness manifested as internal clarity is the true awareness of it.

To show us that plants also have consciousness, the plant scientist uses a Pavlovian method. Instead of food and a bell for a dog we have a light and a fan for a plant, and remarkably the outcome is much the same.

This same woman talks of feeling—and dreaming—of shamanic guides, the Mayan healer tells us all plants are sacred and some are even teachers.

Now, to go to psychedelic research with psilocybin “magic” mushrooms. “Meditation is a way to consciousness, mushrooms the crash course.” With psilocybin, feelings of transcendence, interconnectedness, even a profound feeling of “home-coming” a “remembering” occurs, even a readiness to face death in cancer patients with a sense of something continuing beyond death. Psychedelics, just like in meditation, shuts down the Default Mode Network—the circuitry of ego and Self—creating a state of mystical consciousness. As the ego and Self dissolve, one becomes fully aware of being aware…like hearing music for the first time or life’s heartbeat.

The documentary then gets deep and heavy—everything is of the same essence—there is a certain panpsychism.

Max Plank the great physicist declared consciousness as fundamental. Which I read as consciousness is irreducible, all things arise in consciousness. Let me elucidate: information from outside, say light waves, hit our sense instruments, here retina, is conveyed through the visual nerve to the occipital lobe where the waves are decoded. Does it truly reveal the world, with quarks and probabilities? Or waves beyond the visual spectrum? That sight and the seen are a common hallucination endemic to human beings, because we all have the same basic neuroanatomy.

And so, we must begin to see consciousness as irreducibly fundamental. Without a consciousness being aware what exists?

It doesn’t matter if you see yourself as a drop in an ocean, or an ocean in a drop.

The talk with Earthling Kaushalya director of “Crater” and Elizabeth Costa director of “Bangla Surf Girls”, was an energetic discussion.

I have talked earlier of the grotesqueness and gruesomeness of “Crater” before. The discussion turned out to deem the protagonist “pathological”. I hope Krishna wouldn’t mind my paraphrasing (and butchering) her comment that the acting was so bad and cliched it worked! Ha! The grandma—who is transgender—was an attempt to signify gender fluidity I found out (You learn something new every day! Ha!) I also gathered something fundamental about the repetition of the images, memories and scenes—to me they were not just imaginary but hallucinatory. Like I said, comforting, discomforting, the film contained a bit of jumping around in a very short span.

The discussion on “Bangla Surf Girls” went the way I thought it would. The girls did carry the banner of freedom through surfing. What was refreshing was that the filmmakers deliberately chose not to make it about solely “coming from poverty in a developing country”.

By Gautam Emani

Every year, thousands of migrants attempt the perilous journey from Africa to Europe. After crossing the Sahara they climb the border fences of Morocco to reach Spain’s coastal enclaves, or pay smugglers to ferry them in ramshackle boats from Tunisia and Lybia across the Mediterranean to Sicily and beyond. Fines, imprisonment and the occasional beatings are the best response the powers that be can muster to their glaring human plight. Concerned by the large numbers of refugees who routinely drown at sea off Europe’s coasts, civilians across southern Europe take the initiative to help the refugees, Challenging their own punitive governments, these warriors draw penalties to themselves.

“Solidarity Crime” documents an array of individuals willing to look beyond national and racial divides and take risks for others; from a Spanish catholic priest speaking out against the brutal treatment of refugees in Morocco, to activists meeting boats at sea, to the residents of a near-deserted south Italian village which has welcomed the newcomers into their abundant empty housing. As politicians focus on the legality of the travellers’ status, one migrant soberly explains their situation. For the few who do complete the journey into Europe after working temporary jobs in North Africa to pay the smugglers, there is no legal inclusion on the other side but only years of hard labour on European farms, without the prospect of social acceptance.

Meanwhile, on Europe’s other end, a different drama is unfolding. “Judges Under Pressure” follows the lives of members of Poland’s jurists. Three decades after their country’s liberation from Communism, these members of the judiciary serve as citizens’ strongest line of defence against police repression, yet are completely alone in their verdicts and vulnerable to slander and intimidation.

When a new government determined to consolidate power enacts a Muzzle Law, establishing a disciplinary chamber to bring its judges’ verdicts in line with their own policies, the jurists resist. It can be all too easy for those in positions of power to cave in to harassment of their family members or to the threat of losing their immunity and being locked out of the courtrooms. Yet these judges stand their ground, making the case that such policies contradict Poland’s constitution as well as EU law. They strive to continue to be present for those protesters risking arrest as they march against new restrictive legislation, refusing to see their country once again collapse into dictatorship.

Whether it is solidarity on the streets and at sea for those less priveleged, or work in the courtrooms to defend constitutional rights, Europeans are on the move to defend their ideals of freedom and compassion as evidenced in these two international documentaries. It is a struggle with no end in sight, but the outcomes will surely determine the continent’s prospects for human unity and progress.

In the villages of northern Tamil Nadu, kids secretly sneak out of home – but it is not for smoking or mischief. They go to watch and perform in Therukkoothu, a traditional performance art of south India involving theatre, song and dance, and centring on the land’s ancient gods and mythology.

In the documentary film Thirai Virutham, Sugumar shares his lifelong interest in this art form, first sparked by his performer grandfather. From childhood, he is fascinated with Therukkoothu’s instruments and stock characters such as the Buffoon, Kattiakkaran and the Mahabharata’s emperor Duryodhana. Always having wanted to learn the art, he finally gets his chance at the age of 20 upon encountering a street theatre troupe. They teach him how to play the instruments, sing background vocals and finally to act. But family insist on a sensible trade, limiting his practice time to evenings as he finishes a Bachelor of Commerce.

Even so, it is fate that Sugumar’s heart is not in his new profession. Fortunately, nearby Pondicherry University offers a program in drama, and he takes the chance to pursue this passion, opening up a whole new world of costume design, new musical instruments and literature, highly trained teachers from different parts of Tamil Nadu and much more. His journey leads him to Auroville, where he contacts and gets involved in the Auroville theatre group – which soon feels like a new family.

But his extensive study of acting methods from around the world always leads our protagonist back to his childhood passion, helping him to contextualize and understand his own cultural background and acting gifts.

The Auroville Film Festival is unique in presenting stories from Auroville’s bioregion, the extensive coastal and rural area surrounding the township. Sugumar’s film will stay with me as an introduction to a world wholly unfamiliar yet very close, fostering cultural exchange and understanding.

I attended the panel discussion with Yael Bartana of “Two Minutes to Midnight” and Aman Mann of “All That Breathes”. Although, I didn’t watch “Two Midnights…” I found the premise of a world run by women to be compelling and alluring. As an associate Cristophe said, the movie was an experimental, theatrical performance—fictional but very real. The idea is that world has come to a stalemate because of nuclear weapons, and missiles represent toxic masculinity.

“All That Breathes” is about two brothers in New Delhi who save injured black kites and heal and tend to them in their makeshift basement hospital. When it came to Aman’s chance a lot of background information was revealed. I did watch “All That Breathes” and I was struck by the visually-vibrant camera work. Aman tells us as they searched for wildlife in New Delhi, they spent days on single shots. The opening scene of the rats near a street took four days to shoot. With such care and delicate precision, it’s no wonder that the imagery was beyond scintillating.

Apparently, none of the crew on “All That…” were wildlife experts. Shaunak Sen the director studied Human Geography at Cambridge in 2018…which made him curious to find out about the human and non-human interactions, especially with such a concentration of raptors in such a small area in Delhi. Aman goes on to say that the makeshift basement hospital the brothers set up for the kites was “incredibly cinematic” with its water-logged floor and metal-cutting machines. So, the film found itself become a story of brothers and black kites, with its human and non-human interactions in a mega-metropolis of a city. Although, in Delhi the wildlife remains almost invisible.

The film, Aman says, was done in a languid style with focus shifts, which Cristophe called “poetic”.

However, in the backdrop was the protests and violence in New Delhi around the CAA and NRC Bills which was intentionally not brought to the foreground, so as not to sensationalize the violence.

The last question asked of Yael is a good segue into “This Stained Dawn”. When asked about women on both sides of the Gaza-Israel conflict could open communication, Yael gave us a vociferous: Yes!

Now, “In This Stained Dawn” the voices of the feminist women in the Aurat (Women’s) March in Pakistan is vociferous, but the results are bittersweet. There is the triumphant raising of women’s voices and yet an oddly severe backlash from Pakistan’s extreme Far-Right. The women are only claiming bodily autonomy and safety from rape and molestation through the slogan of “My Body, My Choice”. The women also want the freedoms of merely leaving the home, be it to get an education, or to work. The backlash is startling. One man goes off on a feminist on Nation TV with a “Shut up, bitch”. The women marchers are met with cowardly counter-protesters who through stones at them and run away. Nevertheless, a revolution is a carnival for the oppressed, and these oppressed, marginalized women want a fair share of their own seemingly necessary rights, through singing, dancing, carrying placards and a little bit of street theatre.

By Gautam Emani

Sometimes we need to step outside our world for a clearer view, and this is exactly what two filmmakers do in “Auroville Exchange”. Hailing from two opposite ends of India, Auroville’s Serena Aurora and Lobsang from Zanskar Valley in Ladakh each explore one another’s world on their quest for sustainable living.

With diametrically opposite climates and very different languages and cultures, it can seem as if Ladakh and Auroville were in two separate countries. Faced with melting glaciers and a rapidly rising population, Zanskar Valley, traditionally sparsely populated and self-sufficient, is threatened by water scarcity. An energetic campaigner for sustainability, Lobsang’s search for solutions for his people leads him across the country to Auroville, where he meets remarkable leaders in ecological experimentation. Meanwhile, Serena from tropical coastal oasis Auroville journeys to an altitude of 5000 m in Ladakh, where she explores traditional Buddhist culture and the authenticity of a self-reliant life in the highlands, far away from the city buzz.

Comparing their experiences, both travellers discover a deep commitment to their respective societies, which are as resilient as their residents. Their conclusion: Zanskar valley and Auroville are both spiritual communities worthy of a future. In this thought-provoking short film, Serena shows how human unity can be found even in our differences by holding true to our shared aspirations for a harmonious existence.

by Daniel

The Auroville Film Festival 2024 promises to be an electrifying immersive experience, if we are to go by the jolly good show of the opening ceremony. It sizzled and popped. What josh! The most scintillating part was the Kalaripayattu performance. With swords, and shields and steel whips and spears, I thought someone would get hurt! There was a dancing to it, a whirling, a spiralling. But the artistes were deft and adept and showed a remarkable dexterity, and I will let you know: nobody was hurt, and nobody died! The degree of control with which the artistes commanded their deadly weapons was frighteningly amazing.

There was also a minimalist musical ensemble (I am afraid I do not know the technical term for the kind of music), which began hauntingly like a whisper, a dainty whistling, before it sprang into a rhythmic, thumping display that exulted our ears.

Finally, there was a fire-dancing performance by a woman, who made sure nothing, and I mean nothing, was burnt to a cinder.

The film that grasped me by the scruff was “All That Breathes” is a quaint (as in “unusually beautiful” not “old-fashioned”) quixotic tale. It’s spacetime-gravity is warped by beautiful philosophical and metaphysical speculations. Two brothers in the convoluted mega-metropolis of New Delhi, take care of the birds of prey, the black kites, which are essential to the ecosystem of Delhi, yet are being suffocated out of existence. In their aviary of a basement, a makeshift hospital is set up. The narrative contains the story of one brother’s dreams and aspirations since childhood of becoming an astronomer or geologist, till he makes it to the US for higher education. There are striking lines in this charming film like, for instance, on the profound reality of Darwinian evolution—how that over generations kites have altered themselves to fit in with the whole mess of a city that is Delhi. The images in this charming movie are visually-vibrant; it’s top-notch cinematography. The story is direct and told with candour and clarity of the kind that drags you into its narrative. Deep, explorative with sly, light humour, this is a jewel of a film.

Overall, the first day of the Festival was pregnantly expectant (as they say—I guess). It started with the right dazzling kind of ambience, through the Opening Ceremony, which drew the crowd in, to anticipate some sheer artistry, be it the Ceremony itself, the music, the food, and of course the films.

It is January 22nd, and the blowing of a conch marks the start of the 8th Auroville Film Festival at the Town Hall campus. The audience are treated to a concert by the Saragam drummers, a martial arts show by Kshetra Kalari demonstrating the use of swords, daggers, a spear and other weapons, and a fire baton performance by Aurovilian Monica. Soon, dinner is served to the music of The Trio Jazztified, a band of Auroville musicians.

All That Breathes

There is an old belief that feeding kites – a common predatory bird – purifies one’s karma. This informs the life journey of brothers Nadeem and Saud, as documented in the opening film by Shaunak Sen. The siblings have devoted the past 20 years to a wildlife rescue centre caring for injured birds. Kites have adapted to Delhi’s chaos, feasting at its gargantuan landfills and hunting from rooftops. But in this city where monkeys scale the jungle of electric cables and chimneys spew pollution into the air, more and more birds are falling from the sky.

The brothers, meanwhile, can not ignore the political turmoil and flooding which are the background for their noble pursuit. It is 2020, and hatred erupts into violent religious riots and arson in their city. Yet the duo continue washing birds behind their ears, in the way that a mother washes her children. Transcending the species barrier is not something they have to fake or try to achieve. The two spontaneously feel oneness with all that breathes.

Two Minutes to Midnight

Yael Bartana asks a simple question: What if women ruled the world? A fictional country elects an all-women government on a platform of disarmament and pacifism. But are they naïve? When the routine puerile bullying of familiar-sounding President Arnold Twittler, the leader of a large foreign nation, takes on the increasingly ominous tone of a serious nuclear threat, their high ideals are tested.

Female experts and leaders gather in Dr. Strangelove’s “War Room”, now transformed into a Peace Room to experiment with dispelling the horrors of Mutually Assured Destruction. President Fouéré is supported by a circle of women committed to a different path, but the difficult choice is hers alone to make.

Adithalam (Basic Education)

It’s all too easy for children from farming families to get discouraged from education, especially when faced with shaming and the lack of support from teachers and family. Yatra Srinivassan’s film dramatizes one such situation, focusing on Saraswathi, a 6th-grader still struggling with reading and writing.

Yet a caring teacher at the right time can make all the difference between despair and the willingness to persevere in the pursuit of a better life than one’s parents had. Science teacher Sumathi has what it takes to give Saraswathi confidence, becoming her greatest inspiration in this sweet affirmation of inclusion and social responsibility.

—

by Daniel

On DAY 1 January 22, Monday:

In the venue of Cinema Paradiso at 21:07 is Adithalam (“Basic Education”)

It’s a charming low-budget film. The most striking feature is its believability. There seems to be nothing fake or phony about the film, it comes across as genuine and authentic, from the acting to the simple plot to the reality of education in a small backward village.

The young girl who plays the protagonist Saraswathy steals the show. Saraswathy struggles with her studies—she is in the sixth standard and can’t even sign her own name. Dismissed from school by the Principal, the heart-warming turning point occurs when a dedicated teacher takes a personal interest in teaching Saraswathy. The film ends with Saraswathy not only taking part in an essay-writing competition, but winning it.

Zoom Details:

Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82715680700?pwd=8SGdaKQYy494hoGDXnP7YobNsb34WD.1

Meeting ID: 827 1568 0700

Passcode: 214005

We recommend updating your Zoom application to the latest version for the best experience. You can also chose “join meeting from your browser”. The room will be open 30 minutes prior to each discussion for any technical queries. You are more than welcome to share the invitation link with friends and colleagues and/or join other discussions as well.

Here is the detailed schedule of the 8th Auroville Film Festival 2024 film discussions.

The discussions will be hosted via Zoom and are scheduled for 23rd – 26th January 2024 from 17:00 – 18:00 IST, and 27th – 28th January from 15:30 – 16:30 IST.

You will find the recordings of each discussion below here…

We will have daily music concerts every day 6pm – 7.15pm.

Performing bands are Aurocats, Beginnings, Collective Song, Deep Dawn, Dog Days, Jazztified, Noizegate, Ronny’s Band, Sound Mirage and The Trio.

All performances will be live streamed and the recording will be available afterwards (see below):

DAY 1: https://bit.ly/TheTrio_Jazztified_AVFF

DAY 2 *: https://bit.ly/DeepDawn_AVFF

DAY 3: https://bit.ly/NoizeGate_AVFF

DAY 4: https://bit.ly/Aurocats_AVFF

DAY 5: https://bit.ly/Beginnings_AVFF

DAY 6: https://bit.ly/DogDays_AVFF

DAY 7: https://bit.ly/SoundMirage_RonnysBand_ComeTogetherAuroville_AVFF

* Deep Dawn is an experimental jazzy funky rocky hip-hop poppy loopy trippy international instadimensional jam collective born in Auroville, India.
https://www.instagram.com/thedeepdawn?igsh=bHloeGE0d2Y4NzM5

Vocals: Mal (aka Helicopter Man aka Perumal the Poet aka The Big Black)
https://www.instagram.com/yep.that.malcolm?igsh=MWZod251ZWc4MmdxMg==

Drums: Mehul (aka Mehul Oblongata aka Drum & Drummer)
https://www.instagram.com/galacticfalcon?igsh=MW52cXZ3dzdlajd4Nw==

Bass: Henrik (aka Henny on the Rocks aka The Low-down Dirty Bassist)
https://www.instagram.com/henrikdutz?igsh=NGF0eHM5d25mMmth

Keys: Santosh (aka Santocracy aka Santo Domingo aka The Rock-hard Pianist)
https://www.instagram.com/santoshathreya?igsh=MTRndHIzNmRrZHltZw==

Guitar: Edo (aka Fettuccine Alf Edo aka Drop-dead Edo aka Mr. Plays-hard-to-Guitar)
https://www.instagram.com/edo_ardo1986?igsh=MXg4NTJxejR1dnJkdw==

All films will be available to watch from January 22 – 28, 2024. All films are available for free. 

All films of the Auroville categories are available worldwide. Most films of the Human Unity category are available online (some films in this category will only be screened live in Auroville as the filmmakers did not give permission for online screening), some of which are accessible in India only.

How to use the online platform:

1. Go to https://app.entertainmentoxygen.com/festivals/aurovillefilmfestival

2. Click “Sign up/in” on top right, enter email, follow instructions for varification and return to https://app.entertainmentoxygen.com/festivals/aurovillefilmfestival

3. Click “Buy Tickets” and choose “All Access Pass – Free“

4. All films will only be available to watch from January 22 – 28, 2024.

Kino Kabaret is open to anybody ready to become a producer, writer, director, actor, cameraman, soundman, or editor for 2 days, even if you don’t have any clue how it could be. 

The 5^th Kino Kabaret will start on Thursday 25^th Jan 2024 at 4 pm at Le Morgan cafe’ and ends on Saturday 27^th Jan with the screening of the films.

If you want to participate, please send an email to kinoauroville@gmail.com.

All films must be between 30 seconds and 6 minutes long and contain the 3 beforehand chosen items (Prop, Sound Effect, Line of Dialogue)

All films must be uploaded by Saturday 27 Jan at 4pm, and will be screened at MMC, Cinema Paradiso, from 4.30 to 6pm

For any info you can write to kinoauroville@gmail.com

For general info: http://www.kinokabaret.org/

Good luck and have fun!!

Kino Kabaret Team (Julietta, Marco, Moghan)

click to download screening schedule as pdf

Induja Gandhiprasad

I, Induja Gandhiprasad, am from Tamil Nadu, India. Having had a deep rooted passion to work towards bringing positive changes in the society and environment, I was inspired by the ideals of Auroville. I have integrated myself into Auroville over the past 7 years and have been engaging in different activities. The experimental spirit of Auroville has been instrumental in boosting my confidence to engage in new things and discover myself. I am curious to learn about people’s connections with nature across different contexts. Because I believe that retaining, restoring and renewing those connections will bring answers to the biggest challenges that humanity faces today. My other interests are traveling, making new connections, exploring the depths of Tamil literature, and so on.

Jean Francois Claude

I have a background in social sciences and management. I have always sought to understand people, society and people in society. Very early on I became interested in cinema. I was involved in film clubs (as a teacher in a high school or as a volunteer in non-profit organizations or communities). Until recently, I was the administrator of a non-profit organization which promotes documentary cinema (production assistance, residencies for filmmakers, organization of public screenings). Since my arrival in Auroville, I have continued my anthropological photography activity. I am mainly interested in “people at work”. Beside my main activity as a French Teacher, I practice photography with Auroville units and in villages from the Auroville bio region. I make photo booklets that I offer to people I have worked with.

Jean Leduc-Corbet

I am Jean, I come from a French and Aurovillian background, many of you might know me as I grew up here. Spending almost 20 years of my life in Auroville. Only recently returning after having spent several years abroad travelling and collecting experiences. I am a passionate student in the arts of film and photography. The evolution of the tools and techniques for photography and film making is something I’m very interested in. I’m eager to learn about and use more of the old, and the new technologies as these evolve. However what lies at the heart of it for me is storytelling. Or how stories are crafted, captured, and shared through these means. With that being said, I look forward to seeing your stories and thank you for this opportunity. 

Jury for “categories of Auroville films“

Ezhil Mathy

From freedom comes learning is my core belief. I hail from a family of first generation learners and always stayed curious on life and learning. I have my masters in education and that has always been close to my heart . Like a spider web I see connections and I apply it to all that I do. I enjoy designing costumes; I have worked for the film Super Deluxe (Tamil film) and Modern Love Chennai (Amazon Prime) as producer and costume designer.

Premendra Mazumder

Premendra Mazumder is the Vice President of the Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI) and Secretary of the Asia-Pacific Section of the International Federation of Film Societies (IFFS). He has been writing on cinema for more than four decades and also edited many books and journals. He is the General Secretary of the India Chapter of International Federation of Film Critics: FIPRESCI. He edits a quarterly online film journal “E-CineIndia” and an annual printed journal “Cine-India”. He is working as the Advisor to many International Film Festivals in home & abroad and runs a couple of Festivals as its Chairman/ Program Director/ Coordinator. He has served as the Jury Member in thirty six International Film Festivals so far worldwide.

Sivakumar Mohanan

A graduate in Mathematics and an alumnus of Film and Television Institute of Tamilnadu in Direction and Screen play writing discipline; he has directed and produced over 120 films that include Corporate AV, Documentaries, Commercials, NGO films and short films. First senior producer in CDIT, Trivandurm between 1991 -94, during this period he has produced over dozen films on Popular Science and development issues. His films Sasthra Gauthagam, a science magazine program and Declining Birth rate – Lessons from Kerala won awards from Government of Kerala and later were shown in Tokyo film festival. His film: “Pesticide Trap who is trapped? Pest or Peasant” and “Nano Magic” were screened in Mumbai International film festival for shorts and documentaries (MIFF). He served as selection committee member for International Competition Section of MIFF 2012 and National Competition section of MIFF 2016. He has authored 6 books on cinema in Tamil. Worked as II unit director and an AD in two international productions; founder secretary of Chennai Film Society; involved in teaching and mentoring film direction and script writing students over the last ten years. He was a faculty and Head, Direction department for five years (2014 – 2019) at L V Prasad Film and TV Academy, Chennai. Currently a teacher and mentor for film students and regular visiting faculty at Loyola College, Chennai and BOFTA (Blue Ocean Film and Television Academy), Chennai, LV Prasad Film and TV academy, Chennai.

All That Breathes

2022, India, Documentary, Hindi (with English subtitles), 94 minutes

Screening on: Monday 22nd January, 19:30 – Cinema Paradiso

Trailer: https://youtu.be/fYiC8gdfdqk

In one of the world’s most populated cities, two brothers — Nadeem and Saud — devote their lives to the quixotic effort of protecting the black kite, a majestic bird of prey essential to the ecosystem of New Delhi that has been falling from the sky at alarming rates. Amid environmental toxicity and social unrest, the ‘kite brothers’ spend day and night caring for the creatures in their makeshift avian basement hospital. Director Shaunak Sen (Cities of Sleep) explores the connection between the kites and the brothers who help them return to the skies, offering a mesmerizing chronicle of inter-species coexistence.

Director: Shaunak Sen

Executive Producer: Sean B., Carroll David, Guy Elisco

Producer: Teddy Leifer, Aman Mann, Shaunak Sen

Associate Producer: Guy Horlock, Sam Stanley

Consulting Producer: Joshua Oppenheimer

Co-producer: Florrie Priest

Production Company: Rise Films

Assistant Camera: Sundarram Arjun, Raju Biswas, Salim Khan

Sound Recordist: Moinak Bose

Additional Sound Recordist: Prasenjit Das

Mix Stage Engineer: Simon Ellegaard

Associate Sound Effects Editor: Shashank Kothari

Audio Description Writer/Narrator: Ketan Majmudar

Additional Sound Recordist: Ramandeep Malhotra

Senior Sound Design Consultant: Susmit Nath

Additional Sound Recordist: Anurag Pant

Re-recording Mixer: Jacques Pedersen

Sound Designer / Sound Recordist: Niladri Shekhar Roy

Foley Artist and Editor: Yuki Shizuoka

Dialogue Editor: Seby Varghese

Editor: Charlotte Munch Bengtsen        

Co-Editor: Vedant Joshi

Associate Director: Rohan Ranganathan

Chief Assistant Director: Siraj Sharma

Second Unit Director, Assistant Director: Vedant Joshi 

Cast: Salik Rehman, Mohammad Saud, Nadeem Shehzad

Website: https://www.allthatbreathes.com/

Apnea

2023, Italy, Documentary, Italian (with English subtitles), 64 minutes

Screening on: Saturday 27nd January, 19:34 – Outdoor Venue

Trailer: https://youtu.be/BBclSuj8UuI

The voices of 14 migrants leaving their home, moving through Libya, and arriving in Italy after crossing the Mediterranean Sea merge into a single story, representing thousands of other narratives lost beneath the sea.

Director: Stefano Poggioni, Claudia Cataldi, Elena Poggioni

Producer: The Factory PRD

Production Company: The Factory PRD

Script: Stefano Poggioni, Claudia Cataldi, Elena Poggioni

Music: Giovanni Magaglio

Animation: Pietro Elisei

Website: http://www.thefactoryprd.it/

Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness

2021, Germany, Documentary, English, Nepali, Spanish (with English subtitles for Nepali and Spanish only), 102 minutes

Screening on: Thursday 25th January, 20:13 – Outdoor Venue

Trailer: https://youtu.be/aDHD7QhBtJ0

AWARE opens as a science film but emerges well beyond the explicable, ultimately leading one on a voyage upon the ocean of consciousness, a contemplative, sensual, cinematographic meditation. The networks of consciousness are reflected in ‘grand’ imagery revealing the vast interconnectedness of Nature – from the smallest organisms, to the world of plants and animals and on to the cosmos. It invites one to experience the awe and mystery of life as the researchers do, to dive in with them, returning to see the world anew, to review long-held beliefs and assumptions and initiate one’s own oceanic journey. Ultimately, to be aware one is aware. 

Director: Eric Black, Frauke Sandig

Producer: Frauke Sandig

Production Company: Umbrella Films

Script: Redaction by Nicole Baum

Cinematography: Eric Black

Sound Mixer: Martin Grube

Sound Designer: Niklas Kammertöns

Dialogue Editor: Thomas Wallmann

Musicians:  Causeyoufair, David Hykes, Zoe Keating, Jörg Seibold

Grader: Matthias Behrens

Supervising Editor: Sven Heußner

Editors: Rune Schweitzer, Franziska von Berlepsch

Cast: Richard Boothby, Mary Cosimano, Justine Fritz, Monica Gagliano, Roland Griffiths, Christof Koch, Josefa Kirvin Kulix, Matthieu Ricard, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

Website: https://aware-film.com/ ; https://umbrellafilms.org/

Bangla Surf Girls

2021, Bangladesh, Documentary, Bengali (with English subtitles), 86 minutes

Screening on: Wednesday 24th January, 20:27 – Outdoor Venue

Trailer: https://youtu.be/MQqy_xMsMpM

“Bangla Surf Girls” is an immersive documentary capturing the journey of young girls in a Bangladesh slum who join a local surf club to seek freedom from a life of hardship. The film showcases their struggles, triumphs, and determination, leading to an international competition in India, demonstrating the strength of community amidst poverty’s confines.

Director, Cinematography: Elizabeth D. Costa

Production Company: InSync Media

Producer: Elizabeth D. Costa, Lalita Krishna

Executive Producer: Vijay Vaidyanathan

Production Assistant: Md. Sukkur

Additional Camera: Hira Azad, Shahadat Hossain, Kenneth Woo

Camera Assistant: Jewel, Jishan, Md. Sukkur

GoPro Operator: Md. Mannan, Rammohan Paranjape, Md. Roshid, Md. Sagar, Md. Sukkur

Drone Operator: Joeri van der Well

Script: Lalita Krishna

Sound: Elizabeth D. Costa, Masrur Rahman

Additional Music: Lydia Ainsworth

Re-recording Mix Supervisor / Sound Designer: Grant Edmonds

Editing: Matthew E. Cohn, Jordan Kawai

Translations: Tanveer Abid, Mily Chowdhury, B.H. Jowal Chy, Sabiha Hosnine, Tanazzum Kaiser, Arafat bin Kashem,

Leonard Perera, Mahbubur Rahman, Zana Shammi

Location Production Accounts: Bridget D. Costa

Footage Organization, development Phase: Sagar Sarwer, Zana Shammi

Cast: Suma Akhtar, Ayesha Akter, Rifa Akter, Rashed Alam, Shobe Meheraz

Website: https://insyncmedia.ca/documentary/bangla-surf-girls/

Dagh Dagh Ujala (This Stained Dawn)

2021, Pakistan, Documentary, Urdu (with English subtitles), 90 minutes

Screening on: Tuesday 23rd January, 19:30 – Cinema Paradiso

Trailer: https://youtu.be/rGjSgwzDwQ0

Detailing the preparation of the multi-city Aurat March (Women’s March) in Pakistan, This Stained Dawn tells the story of a feminist movement asserting itself in the country’s urban spaces through the eyes of the march’s organizers.

Director & Producer: Anam Abbas

Producer: Other Memory Media

Cinematography: Roger Goula, Anam Abbas, Haya Fatima, Iqbal Gul, Nayani Tazeen, Bari Mahnoor Mahar, Sadia Khatri

Director of Photography: Anam Abbas, Ben Bernhard, Riju Das, Saumyananda Sahi

Editor: Omar Majeed

Online Editor: Darren Hinchy 

Colorist: Arlene Moelker, Mahak Gupta

Assistant Colorist: Prithvi Buddhavarapu, Aaryaman Kutty

Supervising Colorist: Sidharth Meer

Additional Editor: Ayelet Gil Efrat, Daphna Keenan, Michal Oppenheim, Walter Solon

Production Counsel: Dermot Desmond 

E&O Insurance: Paul Hillier 

Production Assistant: Krishna Khakhria

Science Editor: Aileen O’Hearn 

Post-Production: Sim Canada

Production Counsel: Russell Smith

Original Score: Rahema Alam

Vocals: Aliya Rasheed

Narrator: Kulsoom Aftab

Animation: Aziza Ahmad

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14663858/?ref_=tt_mv_close

Do Not Feed the Pigeons

2021,UK, Stop-Motion Animation, 9 minutes

Screening on: Friday 26nd January, 20:10 – Outdoor Venue

Trailer: https://youtu.be/0z9vfmOoy-E

At a desolate coach station during the wee hours, a group of weary and isolated travelers awaits the last coach. Amidst the cold and gloomy atmosphere, the resident pigeons orchestrate a magical connection among these individuals for a fleeting yet beautiful moment.

Director: Antonin Niclass

Producer: Jordi Morera

Writer: Vladimir Krasilnikov

Cinematography: Taylor Shulin

Animation: Shirel Lebovich, Ollie Griffiths

Sound Design: Joe De-Vine

Composer: Fabio Amurri

Editing: Lorene Dewett

Production Designer: Eve Finnie

Model Maker: Agatha Roudaut

Instagram: https://instagram.com/do_not_feed_the_pigeons_

Jhini Bini Chadariya (The Brittle Thread)

2021, India, Fiction, Hindi, Bhojpuri, Hebrew, English (with English subtitles), 97 minutes

Screening on: Saturday 27nd January, 20:15 – Cinema Paradiso

Trailer: https://youtu.be/-xdd0LjWdRA

The ancient city of Varanasi, India, serves as home to Rani, an orchestra dancer, and Shahdab, a traditional Muslim saree weaver. Rani, a strong-willed mother to her deaf daughter, and Shahdab, a shy weaver, encounter a new world through an Israeli backpacker, Adah. Rani’s complex relationship with her father, Baba, and Shahdab’s unlikely friendship with the traveler, pave the way for self-discovery in cultural and political identity.

Director: Ritesh Sharma

Producer: Visvesh Singh Sehrawat

Co-Producer: Abhinav Pareek, Sampat Singh Rathore, Ritesh Sharma

Line Producer: Vishwanath Tiwari

Production Company: Hardhyaan Films

Co-Production: Veda Film Factory

Screenplay and Dialogue: Ritesh Sharma

Cinematography and DOP: Priyashanker Ghosh

Sound Effects Editor: Rahul Gujar

Sound Recordist: Mangesh Jadhav

ADR Mixer, Sound Editor: Akshay Sathe

Sound Design and MIx: Piyush Shah

Boom Operator: Faeez Shaikh

Editor: Bhisma Pratim 

Color Grading: Shashank Jha

Associate Director: Ashish Kumar

Third Assistant Director: Vinod K Maurya

First Assistant Director: Rahul Raina

Second Assistant Director: Gaurav Singh

First Assistant Director: Vishwanath Tiwari

Colorist: Shashank Jha

Associate Writer: Shailendu Kumar

Festivals and Publicity: Chaitanya Tulsyan

Cast: Megha Mathur, Muzaffar Khan, Sivan Spector, Syed Iqbal Ahmed, Roopa Chaurasiya, Nishant Kumar, Shweta Nagar, Ashutosh Singh, Utkarsh Srivastava

Website: https://www.riteshsharmafilms.com/

Manikbabur Megh (The Cloud and the Man)

2021, India, Feature Film, Bengali (with English subtitles), 96 minutes

Screening on: Friday 26nd January, 20:30 – Outdoor Venue

Trailer: https://youtu.be/sCNg-To1On8

In artful black and white, “The Cloud and the Man” (Manikbabur Megh) delves into a surreal and philosophical exploration centered around a recently-bereaved middle-aged man and his unexpectedly intricate yet meaningful relationship with a cloud.

Director: Abhinandan Banerjee

Assistant Director: Susmita Biswas

First Assistant Director: Chandrika Chandran

Producer: Bauddhayan Mukherji, Monalisa Mukherji

Production Company: Little Lamb Films

Story, Screenplay: Abhinandan Banerjee 

Dialogue: Abhinandan Banerjee, Bauddhayan Mukherji

Cinematography: Anup Singh

Gaffer: Deepak Kanojiya

Assistant Camera: Atanu Mandal, Agnijita Mukherjee

Sound Editor: Muppala Kiran Kumar 

Re-recording Mixer / Sound Designer: Tenny 

Editor: Abhro Banerjee

Costume and Styling: Monalisa Mukherji

Cast: Chandan Sen, Debesh Roy Chowdhury, Bratya Basu, Nimai Ghosh, Arun Guhatharkurta

Website: https://mubi.com/en/in/films/the-cloud-the-man

Persona [no] Humana ([Non]-Human Person)

2022,Spain-Argentina, Documentary, Spanish (with English subtitles), 109 minutes

Screening on: Friday 26nd January, 20:08 – Cinema Paradiso

Trailer: https://youtu.be/Li2sLoKUABs

Sandra and Cecilia, two great apes living in terrible conditions in Argentine zoos, become the focus of a legal battle led by NGO Proyecto Gran Simio and a team of Argentine lawyers. The objective: to secure recognition of three fundamental rights for these apes—life, liberty, and freedom from torture. Against them stand zoo managers with ties to animal trafficking, driven by economic motives. Candela, a photojournalist, investigates to highlight the scientific and evolutionary similarities between humans and the apes.

Director: Alejandro Cuéllar, Rafa G. Sánchez

Executive Producer: Xavier Crespo

Production Company: DACSA Produccions

Script: Alejandro Cuéllar, Rafa G. Sánchez

Camera Operator: Juan Meseguer Navarro

Sound Mixer: Fabio Pécoro 

Sound Designer: José Serrador Villanueva 

Mixing Engineer: Tomás Santibañez Bustos 

Music Mastering: Pablo G. Schuller 

Score Mixer: Tom Bailey 

Score Engineer: Mat Bartram 

Score Coordinator: Ed Marquis 

Editor: Estefanía Mora

Production Secretary: Lucía Ros Serra

Unit Production Manager: Kate Brower

Second Unit Director: José María de Luxan

Cast: Candela Moreno

Website: https://www.agenciafreak.com/peliculas/persona-no-humana/

Sędziowie pod presją (Judges Under Pressure)

2022,Poland, Documentary, Polish (with English subtitles), 85 minutes

Screening on: Thursday 24nd January, 20:25 – Cinema Paradiso

Trailer: https://youtu.be/wPwhELBEBbM

They were taught to speak only through their decisions, maintain distance, and engage in public life with restraint. Yet, professional ethics demanded that they boldly defend judicial independence. Kacper Lisowski and Iwona Harris spotlight Polish judges who upheld ethics during the assault on free courts. Judges like Igor Tuleya, Waldemar Zurek, and Dorota Zabludowska emerged as judge-citizens defending independent courts alongside prosecutors, lawyers, and civil society.

Director, Script, Cinematography: Kacper Lisowski

Producer: Iwona Harris

Production Company: Lollipop Films

Editor: Bartosz Pietras, Marcin Sotysik

Website: http://judgesunderpressure.com/

Siege in the Air

2022, India, Documentary, Kashmiri (with English subtitles), 30 minutes

Screening on: Tuesday 23rd January, 21:15 – Cinema Paradiso

Trailer: https://youtu.be/qJYFwGgLfJo

“Siege in the Air” delves into the lives of women in Indian Administered Kashmir, unraveling the experiences of perpetual uncertainty and continuous lockdowns, especially focusing on the aftermath of the 2019 communication blockade post the abrogation of Article 370. It weaves together their memories to paint a vivid portrayal of life under such circumstances.

Director, Producer, Writer: Muntaha Amin

Production Company: Not specified

Cinematography: Ghania Siddique

Sound: Mohammad Fibin

Music: Reneesh Basheer, Vimal Nazar

Color: Thamjeedh

Solidarity Crime

2022, Switzerland-Spain-Argentina-Italy-France-Morocco, Documentary, Spanish, Italian, French, Arabic (with English subtitles), 54 minutes

Screening on: Thursday 25nd January, 19:30 – Cinema Paradiso

Trailer: https://youtu.be/AnDgAwAD8Us

Across Europe, civilians face severe penalties, including hefty fines and lengthy imprisonment, for providing humanitarian assistance at the continent’s borders. This documentary, filmed in fourteen cities across five countries, follows individuals committed to aiding refugees, highlighting the criminalization of humanitarianism and its impact on democratic EU values.

Director, Writer, Cinematography, Producers: Nicolás Braguinsky Cascini, Juan Pablo Aris Escarcena

Production Company: Mandorla Films

Sound Design: Wilmer

Design & Art: Agustin Merlo

Cast: José Antonio “Onio” Reina, Kristina Touzenis, Cédric Herrou, Bastien Stauffer-Cart, Abdul Jalil Isah, Vander & Farmarco, Ousmane Biaback Anoung, José Palazón, Esteban Velázquez, Omar Naji, Alikhali Leigh, Seikou Fofana, Faousto Melluso, Giovanni Maiolo, Luca Quirolo Palmas, Nino Trillo, Julia Melichar, Delia Bounuomo, Manuela Vanzonneveld, Ana Elena Altuna, Roberta Ferruti, Angela & Rosina, Insa Moussa Ba Sané, “Didi”, Ruby Katz

Website: https://facebook.com/SolidarityCrime/

The Great Indian Kitchen

2021, India, Feature Film, Malayalam (with English subtitles), 101 minutes

Screening on: Monday 22nd January, 20:17 – Outdoor Venue

Trailer: https://youtu.be/uydrNjJdE_I

Post her marriage, a woman endeavors to conform to society’s conventional expectations for married women. However, she gradually realizes that this prescribed life is not the one she desires.

Director: Jeo Baby

Associate Director: Swathi R

Production Company: RDC Media

Executive Producer: Omsaran

Producers: Durgaram Choudhary, Neel Choudhary

Script: Jeo Baby

Cinematography: Balasubramanyam

Sound Designer: A. SathishKumar

Editor: Leo John Paul

Cast: Yogi Babu, Kalairani, Poster Nandakumar, Mekha Rajan, Aishwarya Rajesh, Rahul Ravindran, Nimisha Sajayan, Sindhujaavijii, Suraj Venjaramoodu

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13299890/

The Miniaturist Of Junagadh

2022, India, Fiction, Hindi (with English subtitles), 30 minutes

Screening on: Friday 26nd January, 19:40 – Outdoor Venue

Trailer: https://youtu.be/6dsL5ZMIhcA

In 1947, the ramifications of Partition led an elderly artist, Husyn Naqqash, to sell his ancestral home in Western India and relocate with his family to Karachi, Pakistan. Kishorilal, the buyer of the house, discovers Husyn’s renowned stature as a miniature painter and the presence of a valuable collection. Intent on obtaining the collection, Kishorilal finds that there’s a secret surrounding it, kept not only from him but also from Husyn.

Director: Kaushal Oza

Producer: Girish Jotwani, Ashwani Sharma, Nachiket Waikar

Executive Producer: Charu Oza, Rajnikant Oza

Co-Producer: Ranjan Singh

Production Company: Luminoso Pictures

Script: Kaushal Oza

Continuity Department: Vishal Padwal

Script Supervisor: Archana Ghangrekar

Cinematography: Kumar Saurabh

First Assistant Camera: Shashwat Saxena

Second Assistant Camera: Saumya Joshi

Assistant Cinematographer: Prateek Lokhande

Assistant Cinematographer (Second Unit): Navgath Prakash

Sound Mixer: Pradyumna Chaware

Sound Designer: Bigyna Dahal

Boom Operator: Aliullah Khan

Music by: Nayantara Bhatkal, Aditya N., Chhavi Sodhani

Editor: Amit Malhotra

Subtitling Editor: Soham Hazra

Art Direction: Sanjeev Sharma        

Costume Design: Nivedita Das        

Construction Coordinator: Israr Ahmad

Graphic Designer: Siddhi Ashar

Assistant Art Director: Arvind Keshri   

Set Dresser: Anupam Sharma)

Props: Krishna Sharma

Set Designer: Kaushal Thakkar

Property Master: Kaushal Trivedi 

Assistant Costume Designer: Kishor Ojha   

Miniature: Ved Chandra Madesia 

Marketing Manager: Sagar Shah    

Production Design: Nitin Zihani Choudhary

Cast: Babar Imam, Kaushal Oza, Ashish Pandey, Aslam Parvez, Stefan Zweig, Naseeruddin Shah, Rasika Dugal, Raj Arjun, Padmavati Rao, Uday Chandra

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luminosopicturesindia/

Two Minutes To Midnight

2021, Germany-Netherlands, Fiction, English (with English subtitles), 48 minutes

Screening on: Monday 22nd January, 19:30 – Outdoor Venue

Trailer: https://youtu.be/MJG2hvh7uCA

What if women ruled the world? Yael Bartana stages the question in her performative ‘Two Minutes to Midnight’, where an all-women government of a fictitious country must take a stand on an imminent nuclear threat from a foreign nation.

Director: Yael Bartana

Producer: Yael Bartana, Naama Pyritz

Co-Producer: Zsuzsanna Kiràly

Post Production Producer: Anja Lindner

Executive Producer (Live Performance): Jo Paton

Production Company: Studio Bartana

Script: Alex Barrett

Co-writer: Yael Bartana

Cinematography: Uri Ackerman

Director of Photography: Agnesh Pakozdi, Matan Radin, Claudia Schröder, Sophie Winqvist

Sound Designer: Daniel Meir

Editor: Yael Bartana

Additional Editing: Ayelet Gil Efrat, Daphna Keenan, Michal Oppenheim, Walter Solon

Cast: Olwen Fouéré, Anat Saragusti, Samira Saraya, Jo Martin, Alix Wilton Regan

Website: www.yaelbartana.com

A MAATTRAM (A Change)

2023, 23 minutes, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Wednesday 24th January, 20:04 – Outdoor Venue

Trailer: https://youtu.be/eAiHxRYAgJo

How the lives of five different people intertwine and inadvertently change in a single day.

Director, Editor, Script: Yatra Srinivassan 

Cinematography: R. Rajaram

Producer: Saiharini Ramakrishnan, Ramki Seetharaman 

Production Company: HariRam Films in association with Yatra Talkies 

Music: Sada Sudarsanam 

Keyboard: Balaji Gopinath 

Sound Engineer: Gajapathy 

Story Discussion: Ramki Seetharaman, Yatra Srinivassan, Saiharini Ramakrishnan, Stalin Michael, Dennis James, and others

Co-Direction: Ramki Seetharaman 

Art Director: Danasu 

Title & VFX: S. Yuvasri 

Associate Director: G. Udhaicharan 

English Subtitles: Louise Robinson 

Production Support: S. Adhilakshmi, Dr. S. Priyadharashini, Vasantha 

Assistant Directors: J. Jayabharathi, E. Mathivannan 

Cinematography Assistant: HJ. Sanjay

Cast: R. Rajaram, C. Elumalai, V. Jayaraj, Ramalingam Thanikachalam, Ovyer VK. Durai,G. Udhaicharan, R. Raveena  and others

Contact: No. 2, 6th Cross, Bharathi Natar, Pondicherry, 605008 – Tamil Nadu,  India

Email: ramki.seetharaman(at)gmail.com

Website: https://www.yatraartsmedia.org/

Link: https://youtu.be/B5R2QvbS0b4

ADITHALAM (Basic Education)

2023, 37 minutes, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Monday 22th January, 21:07  – Cinema Paradiso

Trailer: https://youtu.be/-tJmwyvqPYY

This film emphasizes the importance of basic education for children. Saraswathi is a girl studying in the 6th standard at a government school. She has difficulties reading and writing in Tamil and English. Humiliated by the headmaster, she struggles to even write her name. With the help of Sumathi, the science teacher, Saraswathi gains newfound confidence and becomes the highest achiever in the school.

Director: Yatra Srinivassan 

Producer: EcoPro, Auroville 

Script and Editing: Yatra Srinivassan 

Cinematography: R. Rajaram

Assistant Cameraman: Bharathiraja 

Music & Special Effect: Gajaadhanu – PRG Studios 

Co-Directed and Story by: Ramki Seetharaman 

Art Direction: Dr. S. Priyadharshini, J. Jayabharathi, S. Yuvasri 

Associate Director: M K. LourduG 

Costumes and Makeup: S. Adhilakshmi, J. Jayabharathi 

English Subtitles: Louise Robinson 

Titles & Design: S. Yuvasri 

Production Support: S. Adhilakshmi, R. Tamizh Selvi, Vasantha, R. Ramachandiran, R. Santha 

Assistant Director: Bharathiraja Cast: Dr. S. Priyadharshini, R. Raveena, Yatra Srinivassan, Uvathi Priya, T. Nandagopal, and others 

Dubbing Artists: A. Rani, Oviya Priya, Durai Sree, Gowtham, Thamiz Iniyan, Harish, Yokesh, Balamurali, Anusri, Dhanuja, Sarvitha

Contact: No. 2, 6th Cross, Bharathi Natar, Pondicherry, 605008 – Tamil Nadu,  India

Email: lucasdl(at)auroville.org.in 

Website: https://ecopro.aurovilleconsulting.com/

Link: https://youtu.be/VNt5wa4pOEE

Auroville Exchange: Two filmmakers. Two perspectives. One goal.

2023, 15 minutes, English

Screening on: Tuesday 23th January, 21:00 – Cinema Paradiso

Trailer: https://youtu.be/lavuzyEl2AM

In 2021, an exchange program was initiated by Auroville, an experimental global township located in Southern India. The two participants for the exchange were Lobsang, an environmentalist and filmmaker from Zanskar Valley, Ladakh in the Himalayas, and Serena Aurora, a documentary filmmaker from Auroville. Through this program, Auroville aims to bring together people from different communities, cultures, and walks of life with Aurovillians. The goal is to acquaint them with the culture of Auroville and find a common ground to work towards and nurture human unity. It serves as a window through which an outsider can glimpse into Auroville and see what it offers the world. For an Aurovillian, it provides an opportunity to live in unique communities and regions, learn, and then enrich their own global community in Auroville. This is the first step, with many more to follow. To realize human unity, one needs to reach out, share experiences, absorb experiences, and grow together.

Director: Serena Aurora

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films 

Co-Producer: Auroville Learning Exchange

Script: Serena Aurora 

Cinematography: Serena Aurora, Aurovenkatesh, Marko, Waleed, Lobsang 

Audio Postproduction: Kardash, Serena Aurora 

Editing: Serena Aurora 

Additional Crew: Aurovenkatesh, Lobsang, Serena Aurora

Contact: Anitya Community Joy of Impermanence, Auroville, 605101 Tamil Nadu, India

Email: serena_aurora(at)auroville.org.in 

Website: http://auroraseyefilms.com/

Link: https://youtu.be/jII25meOkKI

Crater

2023, 34 minutes

Screening on: Wednesday 24th January, 21:11 – Cinema Paradiso

Trailer: https://youtu.be/Nb4KnTdJHI4

A performer caught in a vicious loop of a stereotype cast in the so-called real-world, comforts himself with the solace he receives from another caring soul in and out of reality, memories and imagination.

Director, Script, Editing: Earthling Koushalya

Production Company: Accessible Horizon Films

Producer: Stanzin Raghu, Iyarkaiyaar Ramesh

Cinematography: Maverick Dass, Auro Venkatesh

DI & Color: Acchor Labs

Audio: Maverick Dass

Sound Mastering: Acchor Studio

Music & Sound Design: Holger Jetter

Production Design: Earthling Koushalya, Barath, Maverick Dass

Location Support: Sou Sou Bee, Ezhilarasan Thara, Jeganathan, Radha Jeganathan

Production Support: Aravindan, Gopinath Ram, Stanzin Raghu, Madhu India, Anbumathi, Christina, Sasikanth Somu, Anand, Bharat, Mithran

Cast: Auro Venkatesh, Stanzin Raghu, Sonu Bharath, Arun, Sou Sou Bee, Gopi, Harish Uthaman, Asha Amma

Stills: Arun

Contact:No. 13, 8th Cross Tagore Nagar, Puducherry, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: acchorfilms(at)gmail.com

Website: http://www.accessiblehorizonfilms.com/

ENDANGERED CRAFT MELA AUROVILLE 2023
2023, 2 minutes, English

Screening on: Tuesday 23th January, 19:30 – Outdoor Venue

The Endangered Craft Mela is intended to be a gathering of local craftspeople and children from the Auroville bio-region schools, including outreach schools, after-school programs and children from under-served communities. The children and craftsmen create objects and projects which stimulate hands-on ingenuity and reconnect the children with local cultural traditions. A film by Nefertiti Chakrabarti in collaboration with Fertile community Auroville.

For more information on the upcoming mela, please visit – fertile.org.in

Director, Producer, Camera, Editor: Nefertiti Chakrabarti
Production Company: Jolchhobi
Sound: anonymous local musician

Contact: Centerfield, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: catchtitli(at)gmail.com

Website: http://jolchhobi.in/

Link: fertile.org.in/ecm

Fallin’

2021, 5 minutes, English

Screening on: Wednesday 24th January, 20:01 – Cinema Paradiso

Two dancers are simultaneously attracted to and repelled by each other, embodying the dynamic of addictive attachment and codependency, commonly categorized in modern culture as the experience of falling in love.

Director: Valentina Beatriz

Production Company: Ineffable Films 

Producer: Valentina Beatriz 

Script and Direction: Valentina Beatriz 

Choreography and Dance by: Gopal Dalami and Valentina Beatriz 

Cinematography: Hemanth Kumar 

Assistant Director: Sarine Arslanian 

Assistant Producer: Huong Pham 

DOP Assistant: Marko Bosco 

Lights / Electrician: Kshitij Bhatt 

Music “Fallin'” by: Alicia Keys 

Edited by: Valentina Beatriz 

Sound Post Production: Valentina Beatriz 

Color Post Production: Hemanth Kumar

Contact: Arati 2, Ground Floor, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: valentina.beatriz.s(at)gmail.com

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QdhSk115qo

Galaxy & Ganesha

2023, 4 minutes, English

Screening on: Thursday 25th January, 20:08 – Outdoor Venue

This film is a strong appeal for peace and human unity within the Auroville community. It shows that a paradox is possible by manifesting the Galaxy from the bark of a tree. Birgitta’s strong images give visual proof that all nature around us is animated and willing to cooperate with us. It is a message to humanity to raise awareness to honor nature and to protect the planet.

Director: Birgitta Volz

Production Company: Unity Pavilion 

Producer: Birgitta Volz 

Script: Birgitta Volz 

Cinematography: Gustavo Barbachano 

Sound: Gustavo Barbachano

Music “Innocence” by Suraj Nepal 

Editing: Gustavo Barbachano, Birgitta Volz 

Additional Crew: Jagan Loganathan, Devashish Diman

Contact: Kalabhumi, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Phone: +919442300574

Email: birgittavolz(at)hotmail.com

Website: www.birgittavolz.de

Link: https://youtu.be/xccOHzFslsk

In the Light of Sri Aurobindo – Plays and Savitri in Auroville

2023, 31 minutes, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Wednesday 24th January, 19:30 – Cinema Paradiso

This film documents the inner journey of individuals to understand and experience Sri Aurobindo through art, especially theater. It follows the journey of these plays over the last 20 years, along with the inner transformation of the individuals involved. The aim is to document both the outer and inner processes involved in creating these expressions of Sri Aurobindo, with the hope of inspiring others in discovering the unique material Sri Aurobindo offers.

Director: Madhusudan Agrawal

Production Company: MAM Movies

Producer, Cinematography, Sound, Editing: Madhusudan Agrawal

Concept: Aryamani & Madhusudan

Interviews with Aryamani, Aurelio, Michael, Srimoyi, Nidhish, Charu, Khushmita, Deven, Megha, Varun, Anandamayi, Joy, Patricia

Photos: Ireno Guerci, Edoardo Grassi, Manohar, Ashwin, Anonymous.

Video Footage : Manohar, Rakhal, Alessandra

Background Music : Joy

Address: Apt 13, Citadines, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: mammovies(at)gmail.com

Website: https://www.pilgrimstoryteller.com/sriaurobindo

Link: https://youtu.be/B0YL0QKdnk0

Iniyan

2022, 37 minutes, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Friday 26th January, 19:30 – Cinema Paradiso

This film is based on a legend written by Aurovilian Ruud Lohman, tells the story of an elderly Tamil man who traces his lineage back to Lemuria, an ancient island civilization that sank beneath the Indian Ocean thousands of years ago. Iniyan tells Ruud that he carries secrets from the past, awaiting a time when they can be linked to the future of humanity.

Director: Yatra Srinivassan

Production Company: Yatra Talkies & Svaram

Producer: Svaram

Cast: Thiru C. Elumalai, S. Athirathan, J. Ansika, Yatra Srinivassan, Uvathi Priya, and others.

Script, Editing, and Direction: Yatra Srinivassan 

Cinematography: R. Rajaram 

Sound: SFX & Sound Mixing by Gajaadhanu – PRG Studios, Music by Sunil Bhattacharya

Assistant Directors: J. Jayabharathi, D. Sasidaran 

Production Support: S. Adhilakshmi, Dr. S. Priyadharshini, S. Yuvasri 

English Subtitle: Louise Robinson

Contact: No. 2, 6th Cross, Bharathi Natar, Pondicherry, 605008 – Tamil Nadu,  India

Email: aurelio(at)auroville.org.in

Website: https://svaram.org/ ; https://www.yatraartsmedia.org/

ISLAND REVERIE
2023, 5 minutes, English

Screening on: Saturday 27th January, 20:09 – Cinema Paradiso

After several years, a young man returns to the very islands that shaped him, only to realize that a part of him never left.

Director, Script, Editing, Sound Design: Nefertiti Chakrabarti

Production Company: Jolchhobi

Producer: Arnav Kakar and Nefertiti Chakrabarti

Cinematography: 

On Land: Anhjin Kakar, Nirbhay Kuppu, Vikash Nowlakha

Underwater: Arnav Kakar, Nefertiti Chakrabarti

Sound: Pruthu Parab

Editing: Nefertiti Chakrabarti

Music and Mix: Pruthu Parab

Guitar: Ramanan Chandramouli

Voice: Zahan Kapoor

Sound Recordist: Zahaan Adenwala

Executive Producer: Mitali Kakar

Production Manager: Rupesh Salunkhe

Production Assistant: Varun Kakar

Drone: Milind Bhimrao Shirsat, Siddesh Chandrakant Gundye, Ovi Arun Hatkar

Accounts: Shanker Vithoba Mandve

Cast: Jonak Chakrabarti

Contact: Centerfield, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: catchtitli(at)gmail.com

Website: http://jolchhobi.in/

Link: jolchhobi.in/island-reverie

SEA CHANGE

2023, 3 minutes, English

Screening on: Monday 22nd January, 21:04 – Cinema Paradiso

The “Sea Change” programme is an educational initiative exploring the latest scientific findings on marine plastic pollution. This program offers interactive learning materials comprising games, experiments, and stories, empowering children to become proactive change-makers in preserving our oceans.

Director, Script, Editing, Voice Over, Cast: Nefertiti Chakrabarti

Production Company: Jolchhobi, WasteLess

Production Team: Nefertiti Chakrabarti, Ribhu Vohra, Savarigiri Moorthy (Dinigar), N. Sathiyamurthy

Cinematography: Nefertiti Chakrabarti, Mimi Chakrabarti, Arnav Kakar

Graphics: Neha Nagar, Impprintz

Color: Arnav Kakar  

Drone: The Drone Zone

Music: Palash Kothari (Hedrun)

Sound Mixing: NEPSOUND

Voiceover Recordist: Stefano and Zech

BTS: Ribhu Vohra, Neha Nagar

Contact: Centerfield, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: catchtitli(at)gmail.com; wasteless(at)auroville.org.in

Link: jolchhobi.in/sea-change ; wastelessindia.org/seachange

Website: http://jolchhobi.in; http://wastelessindia.org

SRI AUROBINDO & THE EARTH’S FUTURE – PART I: FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

2023, 144 minutes, English (with English Subtitles)

Screening on: Tuesday 23rd January, 19:32 – Outdoor Venue

This movie tells the extraordinary life of Sri Aurobindo, from his birth in 1872 till he came to Pondicherry in 1910. It covers his childhood in Calcutta, Darjeeling, and England, his life in Baroda after returning to India in 1893, his actions as a secret revolutionary leader, and his complete involvement in the Indian freedom struggle after the partition of Bengal in 1905. Sri Aurobindo, regarded as the first leader to advocate publicly for complete independence from British rule, was considered by Lord Minto, the Viceroy of India, as ‘the most dangerous man’ in the British Empire.

Director, Sound, Editing: Olivier Barot

Production Company: Andakosha Pictures (Auroville), Sri Aurobindo Trust (London)

Producer: Andakosha Pictures (Auroville), Sri Aurobindo Trust (London)

Written and realized by Olivier Barot with the help of Bob Zwicker and Christine Devine

Cinematography: Photography and documents related to Sri Aurobindo & his family: Courtesy Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives Pondicherry. Photography of Contemporary India, Indian Temples and Sculptures: Olivier Barot

Illustrations: India Letizia

Voice-over: Shrishti Dangi, Hamish Boyd, Aravinda Maheshwari

Contact: Olivier, Revelation, Auroville 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: olivier.barot(at)gmail.com

Link: https://youtu.be/47yhMAAjRyM

THE BLUE MARBLE

2023, 4 minutes, English

Screening on: Saturday 27th January, 19:30 – Outdoor Venue

The film follows the story of a girl who wants to inspire change and share the latest cutting-edge science on microplastic pollution. She finds change is difficult but in the end discovers the power of education. The film is specially made for the Sea Change Education Programme developed by WasteLess in Auroville and funded in part by the National Geographic Society.

Director, Cinematographer, Sound, Editing, Script: Jeremy Carroll

Production Company: WasteLess

Producer: Ribhu Vohra

Assistant Director: Ranjithoudea

Assistant Camera: Eshan Anderson

Assistant: Savarigiri Moorthy (Dinagar)

Cast: S. Yuvasri, Liladharan

Contact: WasteLess, RE-CENTRE, Auroville Service, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: ribhu(at)wastelessindia.org

Website: http://www.wastelessindia.org/

Link: https://youtu.be/08GjC5rkvas

THE BOTTLE’S JOURNEY

2022, 4 minutes

Screening on: Saturday 27th January, 19:30 – Cinema Paradiso

An educational film showing the journey of plastic waste from inland water bodies to the ocean.

Director, Producer, Script, Sound, Cinematography: Jonak Chakrabarti

Production Company: WasteLess

Production – Mimi Chakrabarti, Savarigiri Moorthy

Editing: Qudrat

Cast: K. Keerthana, S. Madhivathani, A. Rohit, N. Sathiyamurthy, Savarigiri Moorthy

Contact: Jonak Chakrabarti, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India 

Email: jonak.joey(at)gmail.com

Website: https://jonak.world

The Clean Up

2023, 9 minutes

Screening on: Wednesday 24th January, 21:02 – Cinema Paradiso

Is the clean-up of the mind the prerequisite for the clean-up of the room, or is it vice versa? It’s all about moving towards the guiding light of the divine.

Directors: Rupam Mishra and Pinar Ekinci

Production Company: Auroapaar 

Producer: Ashavari and Abhyuday (Auroapaar)

Script: Rupam and Pinar 

Cinematography: Archita Wadhwani 

Editing: Ved Murarka

Contact: Humanscape, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: rupammissra(at)gmail.com

Link: https://youtu.be/_10jpOZkqEg

THE CYCLES OF THE MIND

2023, 65 minutes, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Saturday 27th January, 20:50 – Outdoor Venue

The film made by Ilion-Auroville explores the influence of cosmic forces on the human brain and on the whole direction of our civilizations. It proves that humanity is going through cycles of change and development exhibiting different patterns depending on which force – separating or unifying – is predominant at a particular historical period. A fascinating journey through history and an answer to the question of what our immediate future is going to be like!

Director: Alexander Pereverzev

Production Company: Ilion-Auroville

Producer: Claude de Warren

Script: Based on the book “The Cycles of the mind throughout the history of humanity” by Claude de Warren

Cinematography: Piero Cefaloni

Original Score: Hartmut von Lieres 

Background Music: Hania Rani, Jesse Gallagher

Editing & Image Processing: Piero Cefaloni, Sanjay Mohanachandran

Script Consultant: Claude de Warren

Narrators: Miko Sloper, Asha Krishnan, Lakshmi Dhanaraj, Charles Atkinson, Malcolm Griot

Special Thanks for Assistance in Image and Video Selection: Elka Sinha

Contact: Ilion-Auroville, Savitri Bhavan, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: ilion(at)auroville.org.in

Website:https://www.greekmyths-interpretation.com

Link: https://www.youtube.com/atilion7264

The Galaxy Project

2023, 11 minutes, English

Screening on: Friday 26th January, 20:19 – Outdoor Venue

The first part of Birgitta’s Galaxy Project is an artistic feast of colors and sound projecting us into the universe. It is amazing to see the birth of Birgitta’s bark print images, their artistic completion, and their digital evolution into a fusion with the cosmic soundtrack by Caroline Cohen. It is followed by a fascinating explanation of how those magical bark prints manifest. Birgitta’s fractal deity images are quite unbelievable and suggest that nature is animated and willing to cooperate with us.

Director: Song-Wan Park

Production Company: Aurofilm 

Producer: Birgitta Volz 

Script: Birgitta Volz 

Cinematography: Song-Wan Park, Birgitta Volz 

Sound: Song-Wan Park

Original Music: Caroline Cohen 

Editing: Song-Wan Park, Birgitta Volz

Additional Crew: Damien Salens, Devashish Diman, The Drone Zone

Aurofilm Team: Surya, Susanna, Abhijit

Contact: Kalabhumi, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: aurofilmteam(at)gmail.com

Link: https://youtu.be/zT1rcPCu3Mo

The Path of the 12 Petals: Shanta, an Initiatic Journey

2023, 38 minutes, English

Screening on: Thursday 25th January, 19:30 – Outdoor Venue

Trailer: https://youtu.be/87ysyQxkskE

Responding to an inner call, Chantal Gowa (Shanta), arrived in Auroville in 1991, her son and her painter’s catalog under her arm: she was supposed to pass by for just a week. Three days later, she met Roger Anger, who, struck by her paintings, immediately asked her to work with him, first at the Matrimandir, then at the realization of the Petals. Realizing the twelve Petals then became Shanta’s mission. It would last thirteen years and revealed itself as a magnificent tool of evolution and transformation. After thirty years, Shanta tells us this story.

Director: Michèle Decoust

Production Company: French Pavilion 

Producers: Claude Jouen, Jean Pietri, Patricia Lachaud 

Script: Michèle Decoust, Alessandra Silver 

Cinematography: Alessandra Silver 

Music by Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy, Interpretation by Heinrich K. Weihrauch, Recording by Coriolan Weihrauch 

Editing: Alessandra Silver

Cast: Chantal Gowa (Shanta)

Contact: New Creation Community, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil nadu, India

Email: latarasque84(at)orange.fr

Website: https://auroville.org/page/french-pavilion

THE STORY OF MICROPLASTIC

2022, 3 minutes, English

Screening on: Saturday 27th January, 20:38 – Outdoor Venue

An educational film describing the formation of microplastics from plastic waste.

Director, Producer, Script: Jonak Chakrabarti

Production Company: WasteLess

Editing: Qudrat

Sound: Auroville Radio

Tamil Voice Over: Yatra Srinivassan

Animation: Suvajit Roy

Translation: Savarigiri Moorthy

English Voice Over: Manas Chakrabarti

Contact: Jonak Chakrabarti, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: jonak.joey(at)gmail.com

Website: https://jonak.world

THIRAI VIRUTHAM (Curtain Poesy)

56 minutes, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Wednesday 24th January, 20:06 – Cinema Paradiso

The documentary film Thirai Virutham delves into Therukkoothu, the folk performing art that thrives in Southern India, especially in North Tamil Nadu. Sugumar Shanmugam, a research scholar from a Therukkoothu family background, compares Western Acting Theories and Acting Strategies in Therukkoothu using his experiences and explorations.

Director, Script: Sugumar Shanmugam

Editor, Audio Mixing: Dheeparajan S.A.

Funded by India Foundation for the Arts

Cinematography: Gowtham Abi

Camera Assistants: Vishal.M, Anif

Other Cameramen: Aravind, Kannan, Mohan, Jackie Sheraf, Kavin

Drone Camera: Black Nerve Studios

Music Design, Sound Mastering: Suren Sekaran

Singer & Music Composer: Dr. P. Samanaraja

Live Sound: Naru Parai Isai

Sound: Sandeep Kumar

Title Kootthu Song Singers: Dr. P. Murugavel, Suren Sekaran, Azhagar

Production Manager: V. Bremnath

Production Coordinators: Satheesh, Vinoth

Key Cast: Sugumar Shanmugam and others

Contact: Department of Performing Arts, Pondicherry University 605014 – Puducherry, India

Email: pondicherrytheatreartsacademy(at)gmail.com

Turning Waste into Money in the Himalayas

2023, 8 minutes, English

Screening on: Saturday 27th January, 20:41 – Outdoor Venue

Can we look at waste not as waste but as something useful? In this video, we try to explore that path with Rohit Joshi. As the population and tourism grow in the Himalayas, the problem of waste is exploding. Additionally, the number of military personnel has increased manyfold due to troubles at the border. Sustainable solutions for waste management are the need of the hour. This film depicts some solutions found in the Himalayas which can easily be replicated anyplace where there is a culture of use-and-throw rather than repair and reuse. The only way forward is to create value from waste to motivate people to do the right thing by recycling. Making recycling sustainable and profitable, economically and for planet Earth…

Director: Serena Aurora

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films 

Producer: Serena Aurora 

Script: Serena Aurora 

Cinematography: Serena Aurora, Waleed, Digonta Bordolai 

Sound: Kardash 

Music: Onyx Music – Arise; Ben Winwood – Tibet; Mystic Flute – Enchanting Rain 

Editing: Francis Tessier 

Additional Crew: Aurovenkatesh 

Starring: Rohit Joshi

Contact: Anitya Community Joy of Impermanence, Auroville, 605101 Tamil Nadu, India

Email: serena_aurora(at)auroville.org.in

Website: http://auroraseyefilms.com/

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2VBkoDIE3g

When Goupi Met the Mother Mirra Alfassa and Found Home

2023, 6 minutes, English

Screening on: Saturday 27th January, 20:02 – Cinema Paradiso

In this video, Goupi tells his story about how he met the Mother in the early 1960s. Mirra Alfassa, who founded Auroville in her later years, was a spiritual guru, recognized by Sri Aurobindo as the Mother and became the mother of Auroville. As a young Parisian, Goupi was in search of spirituality and yoga, which led him to the Mother’s son in Paris and then ultimately to Mother in Auroville. In 1966, he came for a two-month visit to Sri Aurobindo’s Ashram, and then to Auroville, and never left. He had found his spiritual home.

Director: Serena Aurora

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films 

Producer: Serena Aurora 

Script: Serena Aurora 

Cast: Goupi 

Color Grade: Aurovenkatesh 

Cinematography: Aurovenkatesh & Serena Aurora 

Sound & Audio Post Production: Kardash 

Editing: Serena Aurora 

Additional Crew: Christine Roland, Jean Louis

Contact: Anitya Community Joy of Impermanence, Auroville, 605101 Tamil Nadu, India

Email: serena_aurora(at)auroville.org.in

Website: http://auroraseyefioms.com/

Link: https://youtu.be/VkBdoXrdM14

Official Selection in the category “films made about Auroville”

KOLAM
2023, 28 minutes, English

Screening on: Saturday 27th January, 19:37 – Cinema Paradiso

Kolam is an experimental art film directed by Saumya Srivastava. This film reveals the hidden pearls of Auroville, an international township which aspires to embody human unity. Prepare to be captivated by a contemplative journey, as Kolam aims to capture the quintessence of Auroville. Immerse yourself in the beauty of Auroville as you are guided to unexpected places through a captivating non-verbal narrative. 

Director: Saumya Srivastava

Production Company: Blue Drop Pictures

Executive Producer: Seshadri Venkatesan

Writer: Saumya Srivastava

Cinematographer: Seshadri Venkatesan

Assistant Cinematographer: Vishal Nair

Music Composer: Pranjal Gupta

Editor: Emanuel Savio, Rajat Kumar, Rohan Kapoor 

Assistant Editor: Aman Thakkar

Technical Head: Abhishek Kanjilal

Contact: Blue Drop Pictures, D 291, Defence Colony, 110024 – New Delhi, India

Email: saumya(at)bluedroppictures.com

Website: http://www.bluedroppictures.com/kolam

Official Selection in the category “films made by students of Auroville or the bioregion”

MEAT THE VEGAN

2023, 34 minutes, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Wednesday 24thJanuary, 19:30- Outdoor Venue

The film is about Veganism and explores the differences in everyone’s eating preferences. The story is told through an exchange between a couple of friends meeting after a long time by means of sharing interviews conducted by a Vegan Aurovilian through her journey of adopting Veganism.

Director: Mélusine Schellenberger

Production Company: Aurofilm Productions

Producer: Surya C. Rimaux

Script: Snehal D Roy

Cinematography: Gustavo Barbachano, Damien Salens

Sound: Gustavo Barbachano

Editing: Damien Salens

Creative Director: Abhijit Roy

Production Assistant: Abhijit

Mentorship: Damien

Cast: Rotem Abady, Shaily Shah, Prerana Das

Shot in: Marc’s Coffee and Aurofilm Studio

Contact: Kalabhumi, Auroville, 605101 – Tamil Nadu, India

Email: luluschellen(at)gmail.com

Website: https://auroville.org/page/Aurofilm

Entries for the international category of “Films that develop the theme of human unity” are to be submitted via FilmFreeway.

Films for the three local categories

“Films made by Aurovilians, bioregion residents or guests of Auroville“,

“Films made about Auroville / bioregion”

and “Films made by students of Auroville / bioregion”

are to be entered using the submission form on this website.

Thursday, 10 February, 8.00 pm

• 48 Athisayam (Lockdown) – Specical Motivation Award
• En Udambu (My Body) – Jury Award
• Pre-Monsoon – Mongbra Award

Thursday, 17 February, 8.00 pm

• Conversations on Death – Wisdom Award
• Baluji – Jury Award

Thursday, 24 February, 8.00 pm

• Learning from the Intangible – Cinema Paradiso Award

Thursday, 3 March, 8.00 pm

• A letter from India – Wisdom Award
• White Eye – Cinema Paradiso Award
• In your Eyes – Cinema Paradiso Award

Watch videos with the two juries announcing the awards in the respective categories as well as short award acceptance video messages by the winning filmmakers below:

International category of “films that develop the theme of human unity”:

Wisdom Award

A Letter From India by Naveed Mulki & Shaktiraj Singh Jadeja

A small diverse village of 30000 in southwest India demonstrates its ability to live a harmonious existence. The film is shot in b&w with soft gentle awareness that brings a rich vibration to the viewers.

Cinema Paradiso Awards

In Your Eyes by Barak Heymann

A reflection of real, authentic, spontaneous ‘human unity’ is inevitably the internet, the world wide web, so to say… where all identities mingle, they can relate to each other, have access to each other… without judgement there can be understanding and acceptance. The ‘Web Stars’ or the internet influencers are in that sense true icons of human unity… as beautifully portrayed in the film ‘In Your Eyes’… In Israel, those from social margins, outside the mainstream, find a ground, a voice and a huge following, they find love and connection.

White Eye by Tomer Shushan

A young Israeli man comes across his stolen bicycle. Seeking justice he contacts the authorities. What develops changes his perception dramatically, compassion comes to the foreground too late.

Jury Award

Baluji by Marie-Cécile Embleton

If there is an inspiration, a lesson in indefatigable spirit, it is in the film ‘Baluji’… ‘Baluji’ also takes us into a sweet journey of love and dedication, the kind of love that we cross our fingers for! A story of truly empowering companionship and collaboration, we all yearn for. And of course music, its practice and pursuit and that can heal, connect and liberate!

Category of “films made by Aurovilians, bioregion residents and guests of Auroville”:

Cinema Paradiso Award

Learning from the Intangible by Alessandra Silver

The Cinema Paradisio award under the category of Auroville films at the 2022 Auroville Film Festival is given to ‘Learning from the Intangible’ by Alessandra Silver. It is a film that truly captures the essence of an Aurovillian educational experience for children, creating space and opportunities to learn and expand their knowledge and experiential horizons. The “Free Progress” pedagogy and curriculum are embedded in a value system that enables “integral education” grounded in reality, culture, and virtues essential for the sustenance of the human and ecological spirit. The voices of parents and children in Auroville make the “intangible” actually “tangible”, and the film becomes a medium of inspiring educators and parents to engage with a process that will build a generation of citizens who would actualise “the psychic being”. The film is shot and edited to make for lived storytelling. As India moves forward to implement the New Education Policy 2020, this documentary can sensitise and inspire educational policymaking and practice to transform education. The words “nothing can be taught” stay with you beyond the 85-minute film.

Wisdom Award

Conversations on Death by Serena Aurora

The Wisdom award under the category of Auroville films at the 2022 Auroville Film Festival is given to ‘Conversations on Death’ with Aurovilians by Serena Aurora and Danielle de Diesbach. A thought-provoking exposition, the film reflects on the meaning of death, and ‘death in Auroville’. A wide gamut of ideas is brought forth including the conquest of death “where each cell of our body will have to become conscious.” Pithy words by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother punctuate Danielle de Diesbach’s exploration as she sets out to interview Aurovillians, young and old. The perspectives of the interviewees along with the meditative words and music offer an understanding that frees you from the fear and apprehension of death. “The material or physical causes of death are not its sole or its true cause: its true inmost reason is the spiritual necessity for the evolution of a new being.” The film is aurally and visually orchestrated with substance and meaning, drawing ‘Death’, typically considered a ‘dark’ subject, into the light.

Jury Award

En Udambu (My Body) by Earthling Koushalya

The Jury award under the category of Auroville films at the 2022 Auroville Film Festival is given to ‘En Udambu (My Body)’ by Earthling Koushalya. A socially sensitive film on the use of online social media as a medium of sexual violence against women, this is a powerful representation of women reclaiming their bodies as their own, against this violation. The protagonist uses the same online space to challenge the male toxic behaviour that violates her privacy, with a counter-strategy in which her body becomes a weapon of resistance and breaks the barriers of social stigma and shame that she is threatened by. The private and public lens on ‘My Body’ merge in the depiction of love and pride that a woman has for her body, against the fear she is expected to live with, to protect her body. Subtle lighting and music combine to bring the actors’ narrative alive, with scope for more.

Mongbra Award

Pre-Monsoon by Jonak Chakrabarti

The Mongbra award under the category of Auroville films at the 2022 Auroville Film Festival is given to ‘Pre-Monsoon’ by Jonak Chakrabarti. A fun film with a youthful perspective… sometimes abstract, sometimes real…in Auroville. Awarded for its creative and experimental take on memories and growing up, relationships with the self and others, friendships and dreams… magnifying life with curiosity and love. A scientist, a detective and an experiment in an unsuspecting town, truly this is what an Aurovillian journey can be. Free of any ‘isms’, finding your own paths with freedom and a spirit of unlearning and being one with nature and its surprises. The scripting, camerawork and editing make the film engaging, but warrant a shorter and tighter film.

Special Motivation Award

Lockdown – 48 Athisayam by Yatra Srinivassan

Special Motivation award under the category of Auroville films at the 2022 Auroville Film Festival goes to ‘Lockdown – 48 Athisayam’ by Yatra Srinivassan. A satirical take on life within four walls, this film calls for public viewing on a significant day to day experience with male alcoholism and marital relations. This short film uses language and actions to open a window into the reality of life on the peripheries of Auroville.

MMC/CP and AVFF would like to THANK the following groups and people who each contributed importantly to the event.

We very much hope to be able to schedule the festival after lockdown restrictions are lifted. We were really happy that we were able to organise the online film festival platform with the support of Shift72, who came on as a partner with a heavily discounted package, and AVI USA who funded it.

Partners of AVFF are:
ACUR Management, Anveshan, Auroville Consulting, Auroville Outreach Media, Auroville Radio, AVI Germany, AVI USA, brainfever media productions, Budget Coordination Committee, Centre d’Art, Green Move, Marc’s Café Store, Miniature, Moveable Sound, Naturellement, Right Path Café, SAIIER, Sharnga Guesthouse, Solitude Farm, Tanto, Tube Thambi Auroville

African Film Festival New York, Cineuropa, Dharamshala International Film Festival, European Film Festival, Goethe Institut Max Mueller Bhavan, Kriti Film Club, New York Indian Film Festival, Shift72, South Asian Short Film Festival, Tamilnadu Film Festival

The people behind are:
Aashay, Alex, Amando, Aneeta, Anne, Anushka, Aparna, Aurolice, Binu Kumar, Christoph, Christophe, Clemens, Daljeet, Daniel, Dhani, Edo, Era, Gali, Gerhard, Henrik, Hubert, Jeanluc, Jill, Jurriaan, Kavita, Kirtana, Krishna, Kshitij, Laxmanan, Lijun, Luca, Mahatma, Malcolm, Marco F, Marco S, Marie-Pierre, Masha, Matilde, Matt, Mehul, Moghan, Philippe, Pooja, Rakhal, Rando, Raul, Ray, Rena, Riju, Rolf, Sacha, Sasikant, Shakti, Silvia, Stefania, Stefano, Suresh, Surya, Susana, Suzie, Swaha, Tom, Valentina

The bands are:
Bulletproof Funk, Last Minute, NoizeGate, Swaha Blues Band, The Dream

The judges are:
Aanchal, Francis, Premendra, Radhika, Richa, Simona

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!
From:
MMC/Cinema Paradiso team
AVFF team

Dear Cinestaan editors, thank you very much for this feature on your platform!

https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2022/jan/21/32965/auroville-film-festival-showcasing-over-70-films-online

Thank you! to our 972 viewers after the first three days of our festival.

This is an overwhelming response. You can still “buy” films for free on https://auroville.shift72.com until Sunday, January 23. Once “bought”, you have time until February 8 to watch them.

Keep checking back as more recordings will be added as they become available!

Daljeet Wadhwa, co-director of this year’s Auroville Film Festival officially opens the festival!

Watch the films for free on https://auroville.shift72.com

This year the accompanying live concerts by Aurovilian musicians took place as live streams on this page. Recordings of each stream are still available below.

The program:

Tuesday, January 18, 18.30 – 20.00 IST: NoizeGate

Wednesday, January 19, 18.30 – 20.00 IST: (Dusha cancelled) Last Minute

Thursday, January 20, 18.30 – 20.00 IST: Bulletproof Funk

Friday, January 21, 18.30 – 20.00 IST: (H&M Duo / DJS Trio cancelled) The Dream

Saturday, January 22, 18.30 – 20.00 IST: Swaha Blues Band (/ ADR Trio cancelled)

Marco, the artistic director of the festival, introduces the award trophies, this year made by Aurovilian ceramic artist Rakhee Kane.

And, as in all the previous editions, we have the MongBra challenge trophy, a brass sculpture made by Johnny depicting a Mongoose and a Cobra, which is being return to us in every next edition.

January 18-23, 2022

The 2022 Auroville Film Festival will be an online edition. This allows us to continue enjoying great movies, while reaching the many people who cannot travel to Auroville during the pandemic.

This year we feature films in two categories. The international category of films that develop the theme of human unity contains 35 films from 18 different countries. The Aurovilians category has 36 films from 14 Aurovilians and residents of the bioregion, including one student. These give a taste of the creative life in the Auroville area.

As of January 2022, the world has been living with the new Covid reality for nearly two years. At times it seemed like we could still hold a physical event at Town Hall as in previous years, but the new Omicron wave, and resulting lockdown restrictions, have made a physical event impossible.

Thanks to the financial support of AVI-USA we have partnered with Shift72, a major online film festival platform, to bring the event online at auroville.shift72.com. As in previous years, all films are completely free. Most films in the human unity category, and all those made by Aurovilians and bioregion residents, can be accessed from around the world. The works of those creators who have not given worldwide streaming permission, are only available within India.

How to use the Shift72 platform:

1. Go to https://auroville.shift72.com

2. Click “Create Account” on top right and enter email and password (only need to do this once, subsequently click “Log In“))

3. Choose the film(s) you want to watch and click “Buy $0.00” for each film

4. All “bought” films appear in your Library (top right, under your account symbol)

5. All films will only be available to watch from January 18 onwards.

6. You can “buy” films until January 23.

7. Once you “bought” films and they appear in your library you have time until February 8 to watch them.

Music Events

The Auroville musicians have always supported the Auroville Film Festival, creating the vibrant ambience that our audiences loved in every edition. This year, respecting lockdown protocols, live music will be streamed online from Auroville every day of the festival from 18.30 to 20.00 IST.

Look for us on FB and Instagram for the latest information about the films, interviews with the filmmakers, the daily line-up of musicians and live concert streaming links.

For further information, contact:

aurovillefilmfestival [at] auroville.org.in

c/o MMC/Cinema Paradiso (A City Service of Auroville), Town Hall, Auroville, TN 605010, India

Thanks to Luca for this beautiful trailer to our Auroville Film Festival 2022. Music by Dhani. Mastering by Stefano.