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.

At the same time, our online streaming on Shift72 will still happen as planned. Viewers around the world will have free access to most of the films at: https://auroville.shift72.com/

We are now focusing on making it the best possible online event.

Stay tuned for announcements of special online events during the festival week January 18 – 23, 2022.

Notes regarding the online platform:

All films will be available to watch from January 18, 2022 onwards. All films are available for free (click “Buy $0.00”). There are two categories:

1. international category of films that develop the theme of human unity

2. films by Aurovilians / bioregion residents / guests of Auroville

35 films of the Human Unity category are available online (5 films in this category will only be screened live in Auroville as the filmmakers did not give permission for online screening). Most films are available worldwide, a few are available in India only.

Notes regarding the online platform:

All films will be available to watch from January 18, 2022 onwards. All films are available for free (click “Buy $0.00”). There are two categories:

1. international category of films that develop the theme of human unity

2. films by Aurovilians / bioregion residents / guests of Auroville

35 films of the Human Unity category are available online (5 films in this category will only be screened live in Auroville as the filmmakers did not give permission for online screening). Most films are available worldwide, a few are available in India only.

Francis Neemberry

In 2005, with my partner Doris, I started making videos under the name of Auroville Video Productions. For over thirteen years we made a number of documentaries on Auroville and large amount of interviews with Aurovilians about their experiences living in Auroville.

Richa Hushing

Alumna of Film and Television Institute of India, Richa Hushing is a documentary filmmaker. Her documentaries are often character portraits; and portraits of indigenous cultures and communities in liminal states. She is the co-director of Auroville Film Institute – Auroville Timelines.

Simona Savardi

I am Aurovilian since 2015 but I have been coming to Auroville since 2007 to visit my sister who had just moved here.
Over the years I have done multiple things in Auroville, in recent years I do therapeutic massages (Shiatsu and Ayurvedic). I like films of real stories, documentaries that testify the different realities that belong to our planet. I have been following the Auroville Film Festival for many years and I am honored to be part of the jury 2022.

Aanchal Kapur

Aanchal Kapur has over thirty years of work experience as a gender and development trainer, documentation & communication specialist. She is the founder of Kriti: a development praxis and communication team, Kriti Film Club and Gestures. Since March 2020, she has been curating & organizing issue-based film festivals on Doculive.

Premendra Mazumder

Premendra Mazumder is the Vice President of Federation of Film Societies of India, Asia-Pacific Secretary of the International Federation of Film Societies and General Secretary of the India Chapter of International Federation of Film Critics: FIPRESCI. He writes on cinema, edits the quarterly online film journal “E-CineIndia” and annual printed journal “CineIndia”. He works as the Advisor to many International Film Festivals and runs some Festivals as Chairman/ Program Director/ Coordinator. He has served as Juror in more than thirty International Film Festivals worldwide.

Radhika Khanna 

Dr. Radhika Khanna teaches in the School of Media and Communication, Pondicherry University and heads the Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMRC), Puducherry.
An alumna of AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia with a specialisation in filmmaking and research in the pedagogy of cinema, she has been a Theatre-in-Education (TIE) facilitator and a freelance media professional since 1992. In academia since 2005, she has engaged learners with issues of gender, education and environment, especially through documentary films, journalism and theatre. She has recently developed a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Photojournalism with 50 video lessons for GoI’s free e-learning portal, SWAYAM.

ARAMBH (THE BEGINNING)

2019, India, Hindi, 21min

Screening: Tuesday 18^th Jan, 21:37hrs – Cinema Paradiso

Aarambh (The Beginning) tells a universal story about one of humanity’s fundamental questions: What happens after death? The question is asked by many philosophers, theologians and the like, but in Aarambh the audience is following a child’s search for the answer.

Director, Writer: Sandeep Kumar Verma

Producer: distribucion [at] promofest.org

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm0tAsWAHco

Project Website: http://www.promofest.org/films/aarambh

A LETTER FROM INDIA

2019, India, Documentary, English, 11min 55sec

Screening: Sunday 23^rd Jan, 20:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

In Mattancherry, a place that is 5sq.km give or take and a stone’s throw away from Fort Kochi in Kerala, live 39 communities from all around the country and a few from across the high seas, who have resided together, side by side, for over 500 years. They came here for different reasons, in different times, but they all stayed for the collective reality that was far better than any dream could convey. This is the story of Mattancherry, a place where the idea of India comes alive like no place else. This is a story told through the eyes of a photographer who has been documenting these communities for the past two years.

Directors: Naveed Mulki, Shaktiraj Singh Jadeja

Writer: Naveed Mulki

Cast: Biju Ibrahim

Contact: naveed.mulki [at] gmail.com

AMUKA

2021, Congo, Documentary, Feature, French, Swahili, 1hr 11min

Screening: Friday 21^st Jan. 16:00hrs – SAIIER

The Democratic Republic of Congo could feed almost 1 in 2 people on Earth. Yet one in six Congolese people suffer from hunger. Yet one in two Congolese suffers from moderate acute malnutrition. Yet agriculture accounts for 70% of the population there. Faced with this paradox, the peasants regroup in agricultural cooperatives. A handful of them share their daily lives with us and that of all those they represent. Even if they don’t know each other, live thousands of hundreds of kilometers from each other, participate in different agricultural sectors, their voices resonate in this powerful, sensitive and sincere documentary.

La République Démocratique du Congo pourrait nourrir près d’1 personne sur 2 sur Terre. Pourtant un congolais sur 6 souffre de la faim. Pourtant un congolais sur 2 souffre de malnutrition aiguëmodérée. Pourtantl’agriculture y représente 70% de la population. Face à ceparadoxe, les paysans se regroup enten cooperatives agricoles. Une poignée d’entreeux nous partag entleur quotidien, celui de tous ceuxqu’ils représentent. Mêmesiils ne se connaissent pas, vivent à des milliers de centaines de kilomètres les uns des autres, participent à des filières agricoles différentes, leurs voix résonnent dansce documentaire puissant, sensible et sincère.

Screening / Awards: Le Grand Bivouac Film Festival Albertville, Golden Tree International Documentary Festival 21 Paris France, Mediterranean Film Festival Bosnian Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ekofilm International Film Festival are a few places where this movie was screened among many other International Festivals around the world.

Director: Antonio Spano

Writer: Virginie Messiaen

Producer: Benjamin Stienon

Cast: Biaba Aba Ramazani, Colette Lungu Bunga, Chantal Mbunba Badianga, Eugenie Bitsibu, Augustin Kaberuka Semunkima

Contact: spano.antonio [at] gmail.com

Link (trailer): https://vimeo.com/467385797

Project Website: http://popiul.be

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Amuka-101099734973040

AWAKENING OF THE GODDESS

2020, India, Animation, English, Hindi, 3min

Screening: Friday 21^st Jan, 16:49hrs – Cinema Paradiso

This animated documentary, titled ‘Awakening of the Goddess’, is a non-narrative based on documentary testimonials of survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) in India. The style is an experimental mixed media animation using stop motion, pixilation, body painting and morphing on high-contrast photographic images.

Director, Writer: Debjani Mukherjee

Producer: Shayok Banerjee

Cast: Bhumika Gopal Dube

Contact: debjani.animate [at] gmail.com

BALUJI

2020, India, United Kingdom, Documentary, English, 22min

Screening: Friday 21^st Jan, 17:18hrs – SAIIER

An award-winning Indian blind sitarist at the peak of his career reflects on how he overcame social stigma and transformed his relationship to music, forging his incredible path to love and success.

Director: Marie-Cécile Embleton

Producer: Seeemab Gul

Contact: marie.cecile.embleton [at] gmail.com

Website: http://coloursofsound.co.uk

BARRICADE

2021, Germany, Documentary, German, 1hr 23min 1sec

Screening: Tuesday 18^th Jan, 21:08hrs – Outdoor

Barricade is a documentary on the occupation of the Dannenrod Forest in Hessen, which was evicted in Dec 2020. It shows the life of the activists in the forest and the tree houses, they´ve build up to 30 meter high in the branches, but mainly their fight for a better climate in the future. With their hearts and guts.

Director, Writer, Producer: David Klammer

Email: info [at] davidklammer.com

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/538406591

Website: https://www.davidklammer.com

BODY AND SOUL

2020, France, Documentary, French, 1hr 14 min

Screening: Wednesday 19^th Jan, 16:58hrs – Cinema Paradiso

PE is the only school subject that has different grading scales for girls and boys. Zoé, 22, is a university student preparing to become a sports teacher. She realizes that she has a central role to play in combating gender inequality, which is often learned by default in childhood. She addresses her ideals directly on the sports fields, as her views are shaped by seeing the bodies of sportswomen in the heat of action, doing somersaults, tackles and scrums.

L’EPS est la seule matière à l’école, où le barème de notation est différent pour les filles et les garçons. Sur les bancs de l’université, Zoé 22 ans, se prépare à devenir professeure de sport. Elle réalise que sa place est centrale pour combattre les inégalités de sexe, qui souvents’ apprennent par corps dès l’enfance. Des idéaux qu’elle confronte directement sur les terrains de sport, se frayant un point de vue face aux corps en action des sportives dans la sueur des sauts périlleux, placages et mêlées.

Director, Writer: Magali Chapelan

Producer: Docks Films

Contact: magalichapelan [at] gmail.com

COLOMBIA IN MY ARMS

2020, Colombia, Documentary, English, Spanish, 1hr 31min

Screening: Thursday 20^th Jan, 16:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

FARC guerrilla Ernesto, poverty-stricken coca farmers, a mysterious aristocrat and a passionate right-wing politician balance at the edge of their morals, while the much-celebrated peace tries to take its first steps in Colombia.

Screening / Awards: Göteborg Film Festival 2020 Gothenburg, World Dragon Award for Best Nordic Documentary 2020 Sweden, DocPoint Helsinki 2020 Helsinki Domestic Finland, Naples Human Rights Film Festival 2020 Naples, are a few places where this movie was screened among many other International Festivals and awarded, around the world.

Directors/ Writers: Jenni Kivistö, Jussi Rastas, Markku Tuurna

Cast: Andrew Maritta Norton

Contact: info [at] rainafilms.com

Link: https://vimeo.com/387420295

EYELASHES OF THE EXODUS

2021, France, Short, French, 10min 43sec

Screening: Wednesday 19^th Jan, 17:04hrs – SAIIER

One winter evening in Briancon (France), Cécile asks her sister and her sister’s partner to host a family of migrants for one night. When one says yes, the other says no.

Directors: Zoé Simpson, Victor Picard

Writers: Caroline Rochefort

Cast: Cécile Lasserre, Caroline Rochefort, Zoé Simpson

Contact: collectif.lesmillemains [at] gmail.com

Link (Trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMaA5DoNPZU

EYES IN THE FOREST

2019-10-05 Colombia, United States, Documentary, English, Spanish, 18min 49sec

Screening: Saturday 22^nd Jan, 17:15hrs – Cinema Paradiso

The Amazon was the first victim of the peace process in Colombia. Since the demobilization of the FARC guerilla group in 2017, deforestation rates have spiked by more than 40% as illegal loggers exploit the power vacuum left behind by the rebels. Today the country is losing approximately 32 soccer fields of virgin forest every hour. “Eyes in the Forest” follows an expedition into these contested territories with Angélica Diaz-Pulido, a camera trap expert from Instituto Humboldt and Jorge Ahumada, Director of Wildlife Insights, a revolutionary new platform for analyzing camera trap data. Angélica and the Wildlife Insights team are racing against the dark forces behind Colombia’s deforestation to understand and protect the country’s incredible biodiversity— before it is too late.

Screening / Awards: World Premiere at Smithsonian Castle Washington DC October 7, 2019 World Premiere United States.

Director, Producer: Ryan Ffrench

Cast: Angélica Pulido-Diaz, Instituto Humboldt, Jorge Ahumada, Conservation International, Thomas Lovejoy, UN Foundation, Jose Manuel Ochoa, Instituto Humboldt

Contact: ryanffrenchwork [at] gmail.com

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/409983306

Website: https://soundcloud.com/version-nine/sets/eyes-in-the-forest-ost

FROM DURBAN TO TOMORROW

2020, Guinea, Hungary, India, South Africa, Spain, Documentary, English, French, Hindi, Hungarian, Marathi, Spanish, Xhosa, 39min 58sec

Screening: Friday 21^st Jan, 20:10hrs – Outdoor

Five frontline health advocates from different parts of the world work through victories and defeats forging a path toward a meaningful, universal human right to health.

With the inequities of global health more evident and stark today than at any point in history, “FROM DURBAN TO TOMORROW” recalls the mass protests led by people living with HIV in Durban, South Africa, which radically transformed the global landscape for human rights in health some two decades ago. These events in the year 2000 gave rise to a series of major advances in public health for marginalized people the world over, yet recent years have seen many of these hard-won gains severely eroded, putting tens of millions of lives at risk and compounding the threat posed by a deadly global pandemic. In “FROM DURBAN TO TOMORROW”, the stories of five frontline health advocates from different parts of the world underscore this rapidly worsening crisis and herald the impending battle for a meaningful, universal human right to health.

Screening / Awards: 2020 Mumbai International Film Festival Mumbai, World Premiere International Competition India, Social Justice Film Festival Seattle, United States, Global Health Film Days Copenhagen, Mannheim Arts and Film Festival Mannheim July 13, 2021 Best Documentary, Honourable Mention Germany, New York Independent Cinema Awards New York, are a few places where this movie was screened and awarded among many other International Festivals around the world.

Director, Writer: Dylan Mohan Gray

Producer: Dylan Mohan Gray, Brett Davidson (Executive Producer)

Contact: dylangprivate [at] gmail.com

Website: http://fdtt.page

FROM TRASH TO TREASURE: TURNING NEGATIVES INTO POSITIVES IN LESOTHO

2020, Lesotho, Documentary, English, 24 min 30secs

Screening: Friday 21^st Jan, 17:41hrs – SAIIER

From erosion to overgrazing to enduring poverty, the people of Lesotho—a highland country surrounded by South Africa—face a variety of difficult challenges. Yet grassroots communities in the country also exhibit tremendous resourcefulness and creativity. In particular, wealth of artists has mastered a talent for resurrection, developing the skill to creatively turn negatives into positives: Designers who turn discarded trash into beautiful jewelry, clothes and rugs. Film makers who turn tragedy into artistic expressions of resilience and compassion. And Musicians who write songs to save the environment. In this short, Cultures of Resistance Films profiles a variety of these inventive creators, introducing viewers to a fascinating cast of local residents who are using art as a means of communicating a communal desire for positive change.

Director, Writer, Producer: Iara Lee

Contact: info [at] culturesofresistancefilms.com

Project Website: https://culturesofresistancefilms.com/trash-to-treasure#trailer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trashtotreasurelesotho

HEARTS AND BONES

Australia, Feature, English, 1hr 51min

Screening: Wednesday 19^th Jan, 20:00hrs – Outdoor

Dan, a renowned war photographer struggling with PTSD, forms an unexpected bond with Sebastian, a Sudanese refugee, until one of his photographs unearths a dark secret from Sebastian’s past.

Screening / Awards: Toronto International Film Festival Toronto September 7, 2019 North American Premiere Canada

Director: Ben Lawrence

Writer: Matt Reeder

Cast: Hugo Weaving, Andrew Luri, Hayley McElhinney, Bolude Watson

Contact: ts [at] visitfilms.com

Link: https://visitfilms.com/hearts-and-bones/

IN YOUR EYES

2019, Israel, Documentary, Amharic, Arabic, English, Hebrew, 56min

Screening: Wednesday 19^th Jan, 16:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

The film follows the less-known aspects of the lives of four “web stars” – Israeli YouTubers: Moti Taka, one of the busiest singers in Israel today, who visits Ethiopia for the first time with his mother Dalia. Suzi Boum, aka LiorIsraelov, a successful, well-known drag queen, who was born and raised in a religious family in southern Tel Aviv. Chen Halfon, a 25-year old mother of three, who is one of the few orthodox YouTubers in Israel. And Hannah Ziad, an Arab YouTuber with about half a million followers, who reveals a complex family story about her father’s death.

Screenings / Awards: Festival Internacional de Cine Invisible “Film Sozialak” Bilbao Bilbao “Best Human Rights Award” Spain Israeli Documentary Award Israeli Documentary Award Israel

Director, Producer: Barak Heymann

Contact: festivals [at] heymannfilms.com

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcfV-QW6QgQ

Project website: http://www.heymannfilms.com

KANYA

2020, Czech Republic, India, Drama, Tamil, 15min 42sec

Screening: Thursday 20^th Jan, 17:43hrs – Cinema Paradiso

A coming-of-age drama about an adolescent girl growing up between the values of occidental and traditional culture, whose aspirations of becoming a competitive swimmer takes an unexpected turn when she gets her first period.

Screening /Awards: Student Academy Awards Los Angeles, United States, Magnesia Award for Best Student Film Prague Official Shortlist Czech Republic, Busan International Film Festival Busan, World Premiere Nomination – Sonje Award / Asian Short Film Competition Korea, International Short Film Festival Berlin November 10, 2020 German Premiere Best Sound Design are a few places where this movie was screened and awarded among many other International Festivals around the world.

Director: Apoorva Satish

Writers: Apoorva Satish, Vidhya Iyer

Produers: Apoorva Satish, FAMU International – Prague, Michal Sikora

Cast: Tarunya Satish, Harish Kumar, Mona Kakkade, Balaji Rajashekar

Contact: apoorvasatish [at] hotmail.com

Link: http://lonelypro.cz/projekty/kanya

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kanyashortfilm

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

LISTEN TO HER

2020, India, Drama, English, Hindi, 7min 3sec

Screening: Friday 21^st Jan, 20:30hrs – Cinema Paradiso

“Whisper… Speak… Shout. Your Voice Will Be Heard! ” The film is a spontaneous response to the irony of “STAY HOME, STAY SAFE” for millions of women in India and around the world. The film is adding its voice to a conversation that is much needed in the public space. It reminds us that speaking up is only possible when women know that there is someone listening. This pandemic has taught us that our lives are deeply intertwined, and so we must respond to the realities beyond ours.

Director Writer: Nandita Das

Producers: Nandita Das Initiatives

Cast: Ali Fazal, AmrutaSubhash, Sandesh Kulkarni, Swanand Kirkire, Nandita Das, Vihaan Das Maskara

Contact: nanditadasinitiatives [at] gmail.com

LIVING WITH VOLCANOES – SACRED VOLCANOES

2019, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Documentary, English, French, 51min 32sec

Screening: Tuesday 18^th Jan, 20:15hrs – Outdoor

“LIVING WITH VOLCANOES” explores the world of volcanoes and their interaction with the people.

Vivre avec les volcans explore le monde des volcans et leur interaction avec les populations.

Screenings / Awards: International Nature Film Festival Gödöllő, European Premiere Hungary WCFF – Wildlife Conservation Film Festival New-York City North-America United States, International Documentary Festival (EIDF) Seoul August 17, 2020 Korea, European Cinematography Awards Warsaw Best Nature Film Poland, are a few places where this movie was screened and awarded among many other International Festivals around the world.

Directors: David Perrier, Eden Shavit

Writers: Arnaud Guerin, Thibaut Camurat

Producer: Thibaut Camurat

Cast: Geoffrey Bateman, Pierre-Alain de Garrigues

Contact:  adv [at] golemandlinea.com

MBAS MI

2020-07-16 Senegal, Experimental, English, Wolof, 8min

Screening: Saturday 23^rd Jan, 16:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

In times of social distance and the barrier gesture to protect one’s neighbor, expression becomes an invaluable act to preserve our humanities. In Mbas Mi, the director invites Goo Mamadou Ba to lend his voice to revive an essential text by Albert Camus. In the twilight of memory island, an incantatory voice rises. Carried by the surf, it changes according to a memory. From the alleys dotted with man-lanterns to the tops of sentinel baobabs, the words of “La Peste” resonate.

Producer: Yanis Gaye

Contact: production [at] goreecinema.com

MOTI BAGH

2019, India, Documentary, Hindi, 1hr

Screening: Saturday 22^nd Jan, 16:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

83 year old Vidyadutt Sharma holds the record for growing the heaviest radish in India, weighing 23 kgs. He now aims to beat the world record of 31kgs. Over the last five decades, he has built up Moti Bagh, his 5 acre farm, in a small Himalayan village in northern India. Around him lie 7000 ghost villages, left to die, with no one to till the land – a chilling testimony to large scale migration by locals in search of employment in the cities. With no manpower at their disposal, the few locals employ Nepali labor. But there is unease because of this dependence and the growing influence of the Nepalis. As market forces exert pressure, family dynamics also change. Vidyadutt’s journalist son, Tribhuvan, lives and works in Pauri, a large town 35kms from Moti Bagh. His two children wish to chase their own dreams in the metros. Vidyadutt Sharma, farmer, activist and poet, chronicles the changing landscape in verses of resistance. As he and Ram Singh, his Nepali farmhand, plough the fields to keep a dream called Moti Bagh alive, we wonder if it will ever return to its old glory. 

Screenings/ Awards: Oscar Entry 2019, India Best Long Doc, Idsffk, Kerala 2019 Special Jury Mention, Cms Vatavaran 2019.

Director, Writer: Nirmal Chander Dandriyal

Producer: Psbt / Doordarshan

Cast: Vidyadutt Sharma

Contact: chander.nirmal [at] gmail.com

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/341175326

MRS. F.

2019, Nigeria, Documentary, English, 1hr 17min

Screening: Thursday 20^th Jan, 16:45hrs – SAIIER

In the fishing village of Makoko, the largest slum on water in Nigeria, Mrs. F wants to unite women and perform the play called “Hear Word”; a women empowerment project about gender inequality based on true stories to get women out of their oppressed position, to convince them to speak up and encourage them to connect. But even before she can start, she must overcome the unruly gatekeepers of patriarchy and religion.

Director: Chris van der Vorm

Contact: contact [at] andanafilms.com

Link: https://vimeo.com/368289940

NAZARBAND (CAPTIVE)

2020, India, Feature, Hindi, 1hr 25min

Screening: Tuesday 18^th Jan, 20:11hrs – Cinema Paradiso

Vasanti comes out into the megalopolis of Kolkata from the prison after serving a five-year prison term only to realize that her husband has not come to receive her. She waits in anxiety and despair. Chandu, who has also been released on the same day as her, offers her help in finding her husband. Chandu is a seasoned fraudster and has an ulterior motive as well. Although not very comfortable with this stranger, Vasanti takes his support to find her way to where she used to live, in the slums of Calcutta. But when they reach the place, she finds that a dazzling mall and few multi-storied buildings have replaced the slums. Without any clue about the whereabouts of his husband or her seven-year-old son, Vasanti is in deep anguish, but does not give up. Chandu sticks with this stubborn woman in a journey that goes through the labyrinth of the city in search of her family. Political goons, flesh traders, police, real estate mafia get entangled in the narrative. It reveals the past of these two, who were unknown to each other until today morning. And they delve into the deeper crevices of their emotions and insecurities as they move erratically. It is a strange journey entwined in a plethora of emotions: anxiety, distrust, dependence, hatred, care, greed, frustration, and necessity. They run amok through the city of Kolkata, disappear into the religious carnival, and finally reach the coalfields of Bihar. After fanatical, sometimes fatalistic, turn of events they reach the climactic moment that opens up multiple possibilities in Chandu and Vasanti’s lives.

Director: Suman Mukhopadhyay

Writers: Suman Mukhopadhyay, Asad Hussain, Anustup Basu

Producer: Pawan Kanodia

Cast: Indira Tiwari, Tanmay, Dhanania

Contact: sumanmukhopadhyay [at] gmail.com

OPHIR

2020, 1997, France/United Kingdom/Papua New Guinea, Documentary, English,(with English subtitles) French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Greek, Catalan, Chinese, Italian, Hungarian, Armenian, 1hr 37min 6sec

Screening: Friday 21^st Jan, 21:00hrs – Outdoor

Ophir tells the story of an extraordinary indigenous revolution for life, land and culture, opening up the path for the creation of the world’s newest nation in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. A poetic yet dramatic ode to the indelible thirst for freedom, culture and sovereignty; the film sheds light on the biggest conflict of the Pacific since WWII, revealing the visible and invisible chains of colonization and its enduring cycles of physical and psychological warfare.

Screenings/Awards : Fifo – International Documentary Film Festival Of Oceania Papeete February 4, 2020 World Premiere Winner – Grand Prix French Polynesia 2020 Spanish Premiere Winner Grand Prix + Festival Opening Film Spain Guam International Film Festival Pbs Virtual Screening November 8, 2020 Us Premiere Winner – Grand Jury Prize – Best Documentary Award .Royal Anthropological Institute Biennal London, Winner – Grand Prix (Rigoberta Menchú) 2021 Belgium Premiere Winner Silver Award – Best Film On Sustainable Development Belgium, Winner – Special Jury Prize Martinique 2021 Portuguese Premiere Winner Audience Award + Special Jury Mention Portugal July 30, 2021 Montenegro Premiere Winner – Special Jury Prize Montenegro Fincali Cali, Bolivian Premiere Winner – Best International Feature Award Bolivia, are a few places where this movie was screened and awarded among many other international festivals around the world.

Directors, Writers: Alexandre Berman, Olivier Pollet

Producer: Ilann Girard, Arsam International (France)- Olivier Pollet, Fourth World Films (UK)- Kristian Lasslett

Contact: pollet.olivier [at] protonmail.com

Website: http://ophir-film.com

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH-NbfOYH3s

Facebook: https://facebook.com/OphirDocumentary/

REPORT ON A TERMINATION

2021, Iran, Persian, 15min

Screening: Saturday 23^rd Jan, 16:09hrs – Cinema Paradiso

A young journalist, who tries to cover a report about the dismissal of laborers, faces a dead end and an obstacle, and is fired.

Contact: reportmovie2021 [at] gmail.com

SCHOOL OF HOPE

Morocco, Documentary, Arabic, 1hr 18min

Screening: Thursday 20^th Jan, 20:00hrs – Outdoor

Education in our fast-changing world is essential, especially when climate change is threatening the future of the humanity. School of Hope follows the nomadic Oulad Boukais Tribe, whose children walk miles to a tiny schoolhouse, built by their parents, in the hope that education can prepare the next generation for new ways of life when nomadic lifestyle is becoming impossible.

Screenings / Awards: FIPADOC Tampere Film Festival Tampere Special Prize Finland, Human rights Festival Berlin SILBERSALZ Festival Nordisk Panorama Film Festival Magnificent7 Umundu -Festival Dresden, are a few places where this movie was screened and awarded among many other International Festivals around the world.

Director, Writer: Mohamed El Aboudi

Producers: Pertti Veijalainen, Illume Ltd/Delegate Producer, Hind Saïh, Dominique Barneaud, Bellota films, Aimee Link, Vulcan productions, Lamia Chraibi, La prod

Contact: oona.saari [at] illume.fi

Link: https://vimeo.com/475364354

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SchoolOfHopeDocumentary

SENZA NOME (NAMELESS)

2021, Italy, Italian, 10min

Screening: Thursday 20^th Jan, 17:32hrs – Cinema Paradiso

Nameless – An ordinary school day told through the eyes of a seven-year-old boy: made up of games, fun classes, happy meals, and going home. An ordinary day, that vanishes into the blue like the denied dream of the young protagonist.

Ungiorno di scuolavistoattraversogliocchi di un bimbo di setteanni. Ungiorno di scuolanormale, fatto di giochi, di studio, di pasticonsumati in allegria e poi ilritorno a casa.Ungiornonormale. Ma è ungiornochesvaniscenelblu, come ilsognonegato del piccolo protagonista.

Director, Writer: Gisella Gobbi

Producer: Oz Film

Cast: Luca Salami Bolaki

Contact: premierefilmdistribution [at] gmail.com

SHEER QORMA

2021, India, Drama, LGBTQ, Queer, English, Hindi, Urdu, 30min

Screening: Friday 21^st Jan, 20:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

Sheer Qorma is a story of belonging and acceptance, identity and family, and how it comes together under one roof, as resilient, queer Muslim women and non-binary characters of color, chooses to embrace love that exists beyond their personal beliefs and social moralities.

Director, Writer: Faraz Arif Ansari

Producer: Marijke de Souza

Cast: Shabana Azmi, Divya Dutta, Swara Bhasker, Kalyanee Mulay, Priya Malik, Jitin Gulati

Contact: farazarifansari [at] gmail.com

Link: https://youtu.be/2yA8NXwL7Ac

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sheerqorma.thefilm/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sheerqorma.thefilm

SHUT UP SONA

2019, India, Documentary, English, Hindi, 1hr 25min

Screening: Saturday 22^nd Jan, 21:28hrs – Outdoor

This is a film about a feisty female artist’s unrelenting fight for an equal space in modern day India, a country, deeply uncomfortable with her emancipation.

लालपरीमस्तानीएकऐसीकलाकाराकीकहानीहै, जिसकाआत्मसम्मान, औरबराबरीकीलड़ाईउसकेअपनेदेशकीबर्दाश्तसेपरेहैǀ

Screenings/Awards: MAMI Film Festival Mumbai November 21, 2019 World Film Critics Guild Award, Jury Special Mention India IFFR Rotterdam Rotterdam January 29, 2020 Europe Scopitone Netherlands.

Director, Writer: Deepti Gupta

Producer: Sona Mohapatra

Cast: Sona Mohapatra

Contact: deeptigupta [at] mac.com

SONGS OF THE WATER SPIRITS

2020, India, Documentary, English, Tibetan, 1hr 40min

Screening: Thursday 20^th Jan, 21:19hrs – Outdoor

The challenge of a society set in the breathtaking mountains of the Himalaya’s against environmental degradation. Can the quest for a “glocal” way of living projected towards an “ancient future” inspire the Western economies of our planet?

Screenings / Awards: Visioni dal Mondo International Film Festival Milan Premiere Jury Prize Italy, Kendal Mountain Festival, European Premiere Official Selection United Kingdom, Terraviva Film Festival Casalecchio di Winner Best Film Italy, Climate Award Germany, Torellò Mountain Film Festival Torellò Best Cinematography Award Spain, are a few places where this movie was screened and awarded among many other International Festivals around the world.

Director, Writer, Producer: Nicolò Bongiorno

Cast: Sonam Wangchuck, Nicolas Tournadre, Stanzin DorjayGya, Deskit Angmo

Contact: nico [at] bongiorno.it

Link: https://vimeo.com/454390935

Project Website: https://allegriafilms.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/songsofthewaterspirits

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

STREETS OF LAGOS

2020, Nigeria, Documentary, 11min 50sec

Screening: Wednesday 19^th Jan, 16:52hrs – SAIIER

Shot on location in West Africa, ‘Streets of Lagos’ provides a rare insight into the lives of Nigeria’s first generation of rollerblades. What was once a niche sport that saw widespread participation across the globe in the late 90’s has emerged in 2020 as a fringe subculture in the streets of Lagos. Originally used as a way to navigate the city’s dense traffic, today, a select few use their skates as a form of self-expression, something which can be hard to find in one of the toughest cities in the world.

Director: Dom West

Cast: Daniel Ogbogu, Brian Freeman.

Contact: dominicwest [at] gmail.com

SURVIVING SEX TRAFFICKING

2021, Ethiopia, Hungary, India, Philippines, United States, Documentary, English, 1hr 12min

Screening: Friday 21^st Jan, 16:52hrs – Cinema Paradiso, Adults Only

Brave and resilient sex trafficking survivors around the world share their struggles to break free from their past and find hope for the future. With 45 million sex trafficking victims worldwide, only 1% manage to escape. SURVIVING SEX TRAFFICKING examines the ongoing struggles of survivors as they fight to break free of their past, heal their bodies and minds and find hope for the future. It’s a travel across US, India and Ethiopia to hear these powerful stories and shine a light on this horrific epidemic.

Director: Sadhvi Siddhali Shree

Producers: Alyssa Milano, Jeannie Mai and Jeezy

Contact: siddhali [at] stoppingtraffic.org

Project Website: https://survivingsextraffickingfilm.com

Facebook: https://facebook.com/stoppingtrafficfilm

Instagram: https://instagram.com/stoppingtrafficfilm

THE CHURCH FORESTS OF ETHIOPIA

2019, Ethiopia, Documentary, 9min 23sec

Screening: Tuesday 18^th Jan, 20:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

Over the past century, nearly all of Ethiopia’s native forests have been cleared for farming and grazing. Now it is up to the Orthodox Churches—who for centuries have safeguarded pockets of primary forest that grow around them—to preserve Ethiopia’s quick shrinking biodiversity and to teach people how to live with forests.

Director: Jeremy Seifert

Writer: Jeremy Seifert, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

Contact: devin [at] globalonenessproject.org

Link: http://www.globalonenessproject.org

THE FORUM

2019, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Netherlands, Rwanda, Switzerland, United States, Vietnam, Documentary, English, German, Portuguese, Swiss German, 1hr 32min

Screening: Saturday 22^nd Jan, 20:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

In times of rampant populism and growing mistrust of the elite, director Marcus Vetter accompanies the 81-year-old founder of the controversial World Economic Forum over a period of two years, as he works to achieve his mission: to improve the state of the world. When Klaus Schwab writes a letter to climate activist Greta Thunberg after her appearance at the WEF 2019, a dialogue begins between the generations that give hope. Can Klaus Schwab‘s vision bear fruit and can the WEF contribute to solving global problems? Or is it just another part of the problem and does it ultimately serve the interests of the global elite alone?

Screenings / Awards- DOK Leipzig, Leipzig World Premiere Germany IDFA Amsterdam November 24, 2019 International Premiere Netherlands Hotdocs Canada arte Strasbourg January 14, 2020 TV Premiere France.

Director: Marcus Vetter

Writer: Christian Beetz, Georg Tschurtschenthaler

Producer: Georg Tschurtschenthaler, Caroline Schaper, Karin Koch (Co-Producer)

Contact: festival [at] gebrueder-beetz.de

Link: https://vimeo.com/367205894

Project Website: https://theforum-movie.com/

THE INVISIBLE MONSTER

2020, Spain, Short, Tagalog, 29min

Screening: Sunday 23^rd Jan, 16:24hrs – Cinema Paradiso

Aminodin’s father always smiles because he says “happy people live longer”. That’s why, at eight years old, Aminodin puts his best smile while working at the Papandayan dump, where he lives with his family. Her cousin Aliman, on the other hand, lost his family when bombs started falling from the sky in the city of Marawi.

Directors: Guillermo Fesser Perez de Petinto, Javier Fesser Perez de Petinto

Writers: Javier Fesser, Guillermo Fesser

Producer: Luis Manso

Contact: info [at] ismaelmartin.com

Project Website: https://selectedfilms.com/

THE PATH – PARVATHI BAUL IN JAPAN 2018

2019, Japan, Documentary, Japanese, 1hr 16min 9sec

Screening: Wednesday 19^th Jan, 20:07hrs – Cinema Paradiso

Inscrutable People live in West Bengal, to the east of India. They are called “Baul”. Caste and religions count for nothing. Baul travel, singing and dancing in June 2018, with the world renowned Parvathy Baul, arrived in Japan. What is Baul? What path has brought Parvathy to her soul stirring vocal?

Director, Writer, Producer: Sakurako Abe

Cast: Parvathy Das Baul, Toshiyuki Tsuchitori

Contact: zeewee3618 [at] gmail.com

Link: https://sakhipro.jimdofree.com/watch-movies/

THE PEOPLE OF WASTE. LIVING PLASTIC

2020, India, Documentary, English, Hindi, 18min 3sec

Screening: Sunday 23^rd Jan, 20:20hrs – Cinema Paradiso

What happens to our garbage after it is dumped? Through the example of Delhi, the film explores the transformation of a piece of plastic waste into a resource, through filmed interviews with diverse “people of waste” living in the shadow of consumer society. It aims at making visible the myriad of professions that specialize in the collection, sorting, reselling, cleaning, shredding and transformation of waste, from the stigmatized garbage picker at the bottom of the chain until the industrialist at the top of the pyramid who re-injects the recovered materials into the formal economy. Beyond the Indian case, it reminds the spectators of their responsibility as a producer of waste and their relation with this waste recovery system, putting into question the ambivalent discourses on recycling which tend to legitimize an endless mass consumption. This short documentary film (20min), has been co-directed by Rémi de Bercegol (CNRS), together with Grant Davis and Shankare Gowda; it has been shot in February 2019 in and around Delhi. It relies on a scientific understanding of the on-going scenario and aims at opening the debate to a broader non-academic audience about the relationship between societies and waste. It has received financial support from Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).

Director: De Bercegol Rémi, Gowda, Sankare, Davis, Grant

Contact: remi.debercegol [at] gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecityofwaste

THE UNDEFEATED

2021, France, India, Animation, English, 12min 34sec

Screening: Saturday 22^nd Jan, 17:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

“THE UNDEFEATED” narrates the hurdles and joys of five vulnerable children in contemporary India. Each story is fictional but heavily inspired by the real life of the children sheltered and protected by the NGO TARA in New Delhi.

Directors: Dorothée Adam, Arnaud Chichery, Pauline Fuchs, Sébastien Huertas, Filipe Oudot Choy, Bettina Drumond, Hortense Brassart, Laurelyne Leneutre, Emilie Leboucq, Charlotte Jean-William, Haemin Kim

Writer: Dorothée Adam

Producer: TARA Child Protection & Empowerment, Inua Prod, Gobelins, école de l’image

Contact: axel [at] taraindia.org

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QbQkbUHOik&t=6s

Project Website: https://www.taraindia.org/en/the-undefeated

THE WISDOM OF TRAUMA

2021, Canada, United States, Documentary, English, 1hr 28min

Screening: Sunday 23^rd Jan, 20:55hrs – Outdoor

Trauma is the invisible force that shapes our lives. It shapes the way we live, the way we love and the way we make sense of the world. It is the root of our deepest wounds. Dr. Maté gives us a new vision: a trauma-informed society in which parents, teachers, physicians, policy-makers and legal personnel are not concerned with fixing behaviors, making diagnoses, suppressing symptoms and judging, but seek instead to understand the sources from which troubling behaviors and diseases spring in the wounded human soul.

Directors: Maurizio Benazzo, Zaya Benazzo

Producers: Zaya Benazzo, Maurizio Benazzo

Cast: Dr. Gabor Mate, Russell Brand, Tim Ferriss, James Doty, Fritzi Hostman

Contact: maurizio [at] scienceandnonduality.com

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70HNmSsJvVU

Project Website: https://www.thewisdomoftrauma.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScienceAndNonduality/

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

TUÃ INGUGU (WATER EYES )

2019, Brazil, Documentary, Portuguese, 11min

Screening: Wednesday 19^th Jan, 16:40hrs – SAIIER

In the Kalapalo cosmogony (an ethnic group that lives in the Xingú Indigenous Park), water is as old as humans and is the source of life. That is where all their sustenance comes from, their food, their drink and their joy. The idea of using water as a dumpster, of poisoning water is a dystopia. In TuãIngugu (Water Eyes) Chief Faremá – from Caramujo village on the banks of the Kuluene River – tells us about the birth of water and warns us about the consequences of disrespecting it.

Screenings / Awards: Festival Curta Cinema – Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Rome Film Festival Roma Italy, are a few places where this movie was screened among other International Festivals around the world.

Director, Writer: Daniela Thomas

Producer: Daniel van Hoogstraten

Cast: Faremá Kalapalo, Kanho Matipu

Contact: daniel [at] syndromefilms.com

Link: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11048212/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/syndromefilms

WANDERING, A ROHINGYA STORY

2020, Bangladesh, Documentary, 1hr 27min 52sec

Screening: Thursday 20^th Jan, 20:05hrs – Cinema Paradiso

Within a few months, the Kutupalong refugee camp has become the biggest in the world. Out of sight, 700,000 people of the Rohingya Muslim minority fled Myanmar in 2017 to escape genocide and seek asylum in Bangladesh. Prisoners of a major yet little publicized humanitarian crisis, Kalam, Mohammad, Montas and other exiles want to make their voice heard. Between poetry and nightmares, food distribution and soccer games, they testify to their daily realities and the ghosts of their past memories. Around them, the specter of wandering, waiting, disappearing, in this place almost out of space and time, is it still possible to exist?

En quelques mois, le camp de réfugiés de Kutupalongest devenu le plus peuplé au monde, abritant plus de 700 000 réfugiés Rohingya senexilluttant pour leur survie. Dansce labyrinth d’abris de fortune, presque hors du temps et de l’espace, est-il encore possible d’exister ?

Writer, Director, Producer: Mélanie Carrier, Olivier Higgins

Cast: Kala Miya (Kalam), Mohammed Haras and his family, Montas

Contact: projets [at] spira.quebec

Link: https://vimeo.com/440673964

Project Website: https://www.wandering-themovie.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ErranceSansRetour.WanderingARohingyaStory

WHITE EYE

Israel, Hebrew, 21min

Screening: Wednesday 19^th Jan, 17:16hrs – SAIIER

A man finds his stolen bicycle and it now belongs to a stranger. In his attempts to retrieve the bicycle, he struggles to remain a human.

Director, Writer: Tomer Shushan

Producer: SHIRA Hochman, Kobi Mizrahi

Contact: distribucion [at] promofest.org

Link: http://www.promofest.org/films/white-eye

A JOURNEY OF RESTORATION

2018, Documentary, 21min 49sec, English

Screening on: Saturday 22^nd January, 16:40hrs – SAIIER

This film is a documentation of a project between RAMCO and Auroville Botanical Garden.

See how a limestone quarry can be regenerated into a national park.

Director, Editor: Serena Aurora, Paul Blanchflower

Producer: Aurora’s Eye Films, RAMCO, Auroville Botanical Gardens

Cinematographer: Aurovenkatesh, Serena Aurora

Music: Mathew Littlewood, Sankarshan Kini

Drone Footage: Drone Zone, Anbu Prabhu

Script: Paul Blanchflower

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films

Graphic and Colour: Aurovenkatesh

Cast: Ahilya

E-mail: serena_aurora [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://youtu.be/FBzaSLlPfB4

ANIMA

2019, Documentary, 3min 41secs, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Wednesday 19th January, 17:58hrs – SAIIER

Jyoti Naoki Eri, a Japanese artist held an art exhibition at Centre d’Art in Auroville. This exhibition consisted of his Vessel series, Window series and Lotus series paintings which he worked on extensively for the past 5 years. This exhibition is an attempt to integrate his life experiences and spiritual understanding with life in Auroville through different colors and shapes.

Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor, Script: Jyoti Naoki Eri

Music: Yoko Komatsu (Piano), Jatinder Singh Durhailay (Dilruba)

Production Company: Studio Eri, Auroville

Video: Sasi Somu, Jyoti Naoki Eri

Photography: Monna Eri, Jyoti Naoki Eri

Email: jyoti [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://vimeo.com/601605970

Website: https://jyotinaokieri.com

ANOTHER SEA IN THE SKY

2018, Experimental, 10min 15sec, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Sunday 23rd January, 16:00hrs – SAIIER

This is a poetic visual journey combining a poem, video and music to share Jyoti Eri’s perspective of yoga in an artistic manner. The spectators are free to interpret this film, giving it a new life.

Director, Script, Cinematographer, Producer, Editor: Jyoti Naoki Eri

Script Assistant: Monna Eri

Sound: Atomic Phantom

Visuals: Kyoto Aquarium, Japan

E-mail: jyoti [at] auroville.org.in

Website: https://jyotinaokieri.com

Link: https://vimeo.com/548531918

ART, PEOPLE AND CRISIS

2019, Documentary, 7min 14sec, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Wednesday 19th January, 17:44hrs – SAIIER

This is an interview with Birgitta Volz about art, crisis and the meaning of death. Birgitta explains her artistic journey through 5 questions.

Director, Script, Producer: Birgitta Volz

Cinematographer, Editor, Sound: Ocean Bekker

E-mail: birgittavolz [at] hotmail.com

Website:  http://www.birgittavolz.de

ARTRYST- A FLUID AFFAIR

2014, Documentary, 58min 2sec, English

Screening on: Wednesday 19^th January, 21:52hrs – Outdoor

Danny Brandt, a serene & spiritual artist, has an interesting and unique relationship with Art. He has a fluid affair with Drag Queen Calexus Carrington where he breathes life into her to manifest the art form that he loves so much and is passionate about. He alternates between his two universes of Danny’s and Calexus’ while retaining the striking contrast in each of their personalities.

Director, Script, Producer, Sound: Earthling Koushalya

Production Company: Accessible Horizon Films

Creative Production: Tami L Most

Music Arrangement: Maverick Dass

Cinematographer: Maverick Dass, Earthling Koushalya

Editor: Maverick Dass, Earthling Koushalya, Iyarkaiyar Ramesh

Created by: Maverick Dass, Iyarkaiyar Ramesh, Stanzin Raghu

Production Assistance: Mark Enslin, Tami L Most, Dr. Carol Huang, Anja McClain

Cast: Danny Brandt, Fawaz Ameer Hamsa, Vengatesh B, Thara, Ezhilarasan

E-mail: acchorfilms [at] gmail.com

Link: https://vimeo.com/387242616

Website: https://www.accessiblehorizonfilms.com

AUROVILLE WATER VISION

2021, Documentary, 7min 29sec, English

Screening on: Friday 21^st January, 16:05hrs – Cinema Paradiso

Enjoy this animated meditation, listening and dreaming of the Auroville water vision for the next years to come….

Director, Producer, Editor: Serena Aurora

Design, Animation: Mayank Gajbhiye, Aditya Hegde, Neela Tayade

Script: Aditi, Helen

Voice Over: Aditi

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films

E-mail: serena_aurora [at] auroville.org.in

BEFORE THE STORM

2018, Experimental, 4min 8sec, English

Screening on: Thursday 20^th January, 20:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

The 22nd episode of the famous column explains how humans utilised objects before the storm of 2022. Before the Storm, is a Kino Movie made in Auroville for a Kino Kabaret held from 4th to 8th April 2020 that relooks at the purpose of objects differently.

Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor: Marco Saroldi

Sound: Audionautix

Script: Marco Saroldi, Dominique Jacques

E-mail: marcos [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://vimeo.com/405330870

Website: https://vimeo.com/user59565451

BLACK AMERICA

2019, Documentary, 44 min, English

Screening on: Sunday 23^rd January, 20:00hrs – Outdoor

What is it like to be Black in America? And how did it come to this?

This is a dialogue with Malcolm, who explains the history and facts about the American system and how it led up to the riots and protests of today.

This film is a broad stroke description of the racial climate in the United States through the eyes and voice of a black native. Accompanied by archival footage of historical atrocities and public outcry, this film seeks to connect the dots while illustrating the kind of environment which has led to such an explosive present state following the murder of George Floyd.

Director, Script, Producer, Cinematographer, Sound, Editor: Serena Aurora

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films

E-mail: serena_aurora [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc4NJqRBlrM

CHERISH A THATCHED ROOF IN AUROVILLE

2019, Documentary, 8min 8sec

Screening on: Friday 21^st January, 16:18hrs – Cinema Paradiso

It’s an observation of men working on a roof, who don’t seem to be thinking of it as ‘business’. The film maker captures the meditative concentration and love for the many movements involved.

Director, Script, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor, Sound: Rena Kienberger

Coordinator: Mohan, Auroyali

Cast: Boominathan & his team

E-mail: rena [at] auroville.org.in

CONVERSATION ON DEATH WITH AUROVILIANS

2018, Documentary, 58min 4sec, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Sunday 23^rd January, 20:55hrs – Cinema Paradiso

After realising she has a 50% chance of dying in Auroville, Danielle De Diesbach interviews 18 Aurovilians about their views on death.

Director, Editor: Serena Aurora

Producer: Serena Aurora, Auroville Outreach Media

Cinematographer: Aurovenkatesh, Serena Aurora

Script: Danielle De Diesbach

Sound Design: Kardash

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films

Featuring: Danielle, Elaine, Frederick, Liliana, Dr. Uma, Serena, Barbara, Bagha, Manoj, Jonah, Anwar, Henrike, Michael, Renu, Raman, Christiane, Kalsang

Voice Over: Aditi, Mathias

E-mail: serena_aurora [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://youtu.be/bNnKqnkzzSY

Website: https://auroraseye.wordpress.com/

CORONA LOCKDOWN

2018, Short, 11min 3sec, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Sunday 23^rd January, 16:30hrs – SAIIER

This film is about the Corona virus and the impact of the lockdown on people and on Mother Earth. The protagonist invites the virus to his room and in a conversation with it, expresses his thoughts on the difficulties and sufferings of people affected by it.

Director, Editor, Script: Yatra Srinivassan

Producer: S. Adhilakshmi

Production Company: Yatra Arts Media

Assistant Director: Haribasker Jayaraman

Camera – J. Jayabharathi

Music: V.R. Suresh Sabapathi

Visual effects: Hariharan Anbazhaghan

Art Work: S. Priyadarshini

Lightening: S. Yuvasri

Boom Mike: V. Priyadarshini

Shooting Asst.: K Krishnamoorthy

English Subtitles: Louise Robinson

Cast: Yatra Srinivassan

E-mail: yatrasrinivassan [at] gmail.com

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuO13kRQXPQ

EN UDAMBU (MY BODY)

2018, Fiction, 17min 41sec, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Saturday 22^nd January, 17:35hrs – Cinema Paradiso

A young lady does something unpredictable when 2 perverted men challenge her very existence!

Director, Script, Editor: Earthling Koushalya

Production Company: Accessible Horizon Films

Producer: Mohandass Radhakrishnan

Cinematography: Maverick Dass, Auro Venkatesh

Sound: Mithran

Art Direction: Mithran, Earthling Koushalya

Music: Varun Rao, Maverick Dass, Earthling Koushalya

Vocals: Anushka Gunputh

Mixing, Mastering: Varun Rao, Maverick Dass

Art Director: Mithran, Earthling Koushalya

Location/Production Design: Mithran, Ramesh Mourthy

Production Sound: Mithran

Still Photography: Stanzin Raghu, Aurovenkatesh

DI Colour: Bardo Studio

Drone Team: Gopinathram, Karthik

Production Support: Dr. Arunagiri, Kalaivaanan, Mithran, Gopinathram, Thara, Kalaivanan, Jaganathan S, Nithyanandamurthy, Parijatham, Rajashegar, Madhu India, Aashay Singh

Casting Assistance: Dr. P Arunagiri, Kalaivaanan, Kirumaambakkam artists

Production: Stanzin Raghu, Ramesh Mourthy

Cast: Semmalar Annam K, Dhinesh Kumar, Manoj Chandar, Anandhi Jayaraman, Ramamurthy, Kalaivaanan

E-mail: acchorfilms [at] gmail.com

Website: https://www.accessiblehorizonfilms.com

Link: https://vimeo.com/530328138

GOD BLESS YOU

2019, Comedy, 7min 44sec, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Saturday 22^nd January, 20:00hrs – Outdoor

What is the meaning of birthday celebration? Each character of this comedy film express his/her own observation on birthdays.

Director, Editor, Script: Yatra Srinivassan

Producer: Yatra Talkies

Production Company: Yatra Arts Media

Cinematographer: Aurovenkatesh

Art Direction: S. Priyadharshini, V. Priya, S. Yuvasri

Music: Gajadhanu

Title, VFX: Hariharan Anbazhagan

Assistant Director: Prasad Vimal Raj, J. Jayabharathi, Prabhu

Assistant Cinematographer: Arunkumar

Produced by: S. Adhilakshmi

English Subtitles: Louise Robinson

Cast : Yatra Srinivassan, Paarvathi Venkat, Krishna, Krishnamoorthy, Prabhu, J. Jayabharathi, V. Priya, S. Priyadharshini, Prasad Vimal Raj, Shanmugam, S. Yuvasri, Gokul, Monish, Nimthika, Harish

E-mail: yatrasrinivassan [at] gmail.com

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j5p_nkOOi4

I AM AN INTUITION

2019, Drama, 4min 22sec, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Tuesday 18^th January, 20:00hrs – Outdoor

This film is about an assistant director who has a passion for cinema. His intuition encourages him and creates many opportunities for him to achieve his goal. But he is not focused on his goal to become a film director. He is not utilizing his time and energy properly. He is lazy, postponing his work and wasting time every day. Finally his intuition gets upset with his behavior and is leaving him. At the last moment he starts writing a screen play and his intuition decides to stay.

Producer: Yatra Talkies

Production Company: Yatra Arts Media

Director, Script: Yatra Srinivassan

Cinematographer, DI: Thiruvamudhan

Editor: Hariharan Anbazhagan

Art Direction: Danasu

Music: Gajadhanu

Co-Directors: Danasu, Hariharan Anbazhagan

Cast: Yatra Srinivassan

Costume, Makeup: S. Adhilakshmi

Camera Asst.: Arun Kumar

Production Assistants: S. Adhilakshmi, J Jayabharathi, S. Priyadarshini, V. Priya, S. Yuvasri, Prasad Vimalraj

English Subtitles: Louise Robinson

E-mail: yatrasrinivassan [at] gmail.com

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3vVabe7jWo

INFINITE POTENTIAL

2019, Short, 3min 33sec

Screening on: Friday 21^st January, 16:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

The ever-hastening evolution of consciousness and life on Earth continues. For what purpose? That is the existential quest we have all been living and co-experiencing for ages. And where do we go from here? This world of Infinite Potential is for each individual to unravel.

Director, Script, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor: Zech Joya Panganiban

Sound: Richard Strauss

E-mail: zechjoya [at] gmail.com

Website: www.sopanam.org

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KpyVGyvjVxBHTZVpR2CNip6213ZLacaK/view?usp=sharing

INSPIRATION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE WATER: UN, SDGS & AUROVILLE WATER PRACTICES

2019, Documentary, 29min 47sec, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Saturday 22^nd January, 16:09hrs – SAIIER

We are in a serious crisis and change is needed to avoid a catastrophe. In 2015, the UN compiled 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets as a utopian vision of a world where humanity can live sustainably. The SDGs were signed by 193 countries and aimed to be achieved by 2030, with more work to be done!

The movie presents 8 universal aspects of today’s global water crisis, and some of the good practices used in Auroville which also contribute to the aims of SDG6.

Director, Producer, Sound Design, Narration, Camera: Serena Aurora

Research: Bogi, Bogalrka, Rita Nagi

Script: Bogi, Allan, Marianna, Aditi, Felix, Jingyi

Cinematographer and Editing: Aurovenkatesh

Sound: Kardash

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films

E-mail: serena_aurora [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://youtu.be/8cVg1vxrOBw

Website: https://auroraseye.wordpress.com/

JAPANESE GARDEN PROJECT

2019, Documentary, 3min 44sec, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Wednesday 19^th January, 17:37hrs – SAIIER

This is a short introduction to the Japanese Garden project in Auroville Botanical Gardens. Noel and Jyoti started this project in 2018 as an effort to create a Japanese style garden by using locally sourced plants and material. They also used many recycled materials which are commonly used in Japanese master piece gardens. The work is not yet complete however we feel it is ready to welcome visitors to experience the garden.

Director, Script: Jyoti Naoki Eri

Producer: Jyoti Naoki Eri, Noel Parent

Cinematographer: Jyoti Naoki Eri

Coordinator: Noel Parent

Sound: Atomic Phantom (Jyoti Naoki Eri)

Editor: Jyoti Naoki Eri

Production Company: Studio Eri, Auroville

E-mail: jyoti [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://vimeo.com/600963680

JOI OF HUMAN UNITY

2018, Documentary, 28min 35sec, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Saturday 22^nd January, 17:02hrs – SAIIER

Anitya is the first project under the Joy Of Impermanence project. In this film we learn how they have been working on living together in human unity.

Director, Producer, Script: Serena Aurora

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films

Cinematographer, Editor: Aurovenkatesh, Serena Aurora

Sound Engineering, Sound Remixes: Kardash

Featuring: Residents of Joy of Impermanence Anitya community

E-mail: serena_aurora [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://youtu.be/AFft4iUltLM

Website: https://auroraseye.wordpress.com/

KAMALA HARI KRIDA

2018, Experimental, 13min 5sec

Screening on: Sunday 23^rd January, 16:12hrs – SAIIER

This is a beautiful flower meditation sequence for Satyagraha, the stronghold of truth for Auroville. The visual content of the film features one water lily pond in Karnataka’s Belgaum mountain district and features one water lily from Auroville.

Rudra & Vichitra veena track was provided with trust and love by maestro Gianni of the Saraswati Music House, Assisi, Italy. The music comes from the album ‘Deep Relaxations’ (1996). At the end, there is a vocal embellishment by Srimati Prema which invokes the spirit of Saraswati Devi completely.

Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor: Param Tomanec

Music: Gianni Rizzichi, Prema Rangarajan

Production Company: Darkblue Pictures

Co-Producer: Nagesh Chhabria, Neeraj Kapoor.

Associate Producer: Alessandra Argenti

Production Supervision: Godfrey Reggio

Cast: Param Tomanec

E-mail: darkbluepictures [at] gmx.com

Link: https://youtu.be/CnahjLxt6vc

LEARNING FROM THE INTANGIBLE

2021, Documentary, 85 minutes, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Friday 21^st January, 20:45hrs – Cinema Paradiso

The world is crying out for change, in every area of human development.
How to redesign education with this specific evolutionary purpose?
This is a journey into Integral Education and the challenges between this dream of tomorrow and the reality: TLC unveils as a living experiment.

Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Alessandra Silver

Screenwriter: Alessandra Silver, Omid Hashimi

Producer: TLC

Sound: Sankarsan Kini

Music: Svaram

Featuring: TLC students, parents and facilitators

Production Company: InLight

E-mail: alessandra [at] auroville.org.in

Link (Trailer): https://youtu.be/uwozdKYycpY

Website: https://www.media4change.tv/

LOCKDOWN – 48 ATHISAYAM

2018, Comedy, 5min 14sec, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Wednesday 19^th January, 17:53hrs – SAIIER

This is a Tamil short film, of a comic genre, about the success story of an alcoholic person. His wife celebrates, worships and respects him because he stopped consuming alcohol from TASMAC for 48 days of lockdown.

Director, Editor, Script: Yatra Srinivassan

Producer: Yatra Talkies

Production Company: Yatra Arts Media

Music: V.R. Suresh Sabapathy

Cinematographer: J. Jayabharathi, S. Yuvasri

Production Assistance: S. Adhilakshmi, S. Priyadharshini, R. Vasantha

Cast: YatraSrinivassan, Krishnamoorthy, V. Priya, J. Jayabharathi, S. Yuvasri

English Subtitles: Louise Robinson

E-mail: yatrasrinivassan [at] gmail.com

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

MASQUERADE

2021, Student Short, 5min 12sec, English

Screening on: Saturday 22^nd January, 20:09hrs – Outdoor.

A short film that captures the equivocation of friendship and human behavior in the modern world, characterized by teenagers.

This is the only film made by a school student in this film festival.

Director, Editor, Producer, Script: Nitheesh Varma

Cinematography: Barath

Cast: Dev Selyan, Raghul, Neha, Tenzin Jangchup, Aravind, Kathiravan, Taijus

Email: 12rrnitheesh [at] gmail.com

MATHUPRIYAN

2018, Drama, 7min 35sec, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Sunday 23^rd January, 16:42hrs – SAIIER

This film is about an alcoholic, who buys liquor from the TASMAC during Corona lockdown. and his family’s situation in the lock down with the reopening of TASMAC shops.

His wife worries about his alcoholism, the present family situation of the lock down and reopening of TASMAC shops. His daughter, a tailor and her friend who’s a nurse treating Covid patients, share their feelings with each other.

Director, Script, Editor: Yatra Srinivassan

Production Company: Yatra Talkies

Cinematographer: J. Jayabharathi, S. Yuvasri

Sound: V.R. Suresh Sabapathy

Production Assistance: S. Adhilakshmi, K. Krishnamoorthy, S. Priyadharshini, R. Vasantha

English Subtitles: Louise Robinson

Cast: YatraSrinivassan, UvathyPriya, V. Priya, J. Jayabharathi, S. Yuvasri

Email: adinivass [at] gmail.com

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3jgi85jKj0

NINE BIRTHS – MUDRA

2019, Experimental, 3min 57sec, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Wednesday 19^th January, 18:03hrs – SAIIER

This is Jyoti’s ongoing project about geometry and the human body. It is an attempt to see the sacred aspect of numbers and geometry manifested in human body. This piece (not yet completed) features a respected Odissi dancer Rekha Tandon, who studied Odissi and tantra from eminent teachers.

Director, Script, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor, Painting: Jyoti Naoki Eri

Sound: Atomic Phantom

Production Company: Studio Eri

Email: jyoti [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://vimeo.com/602698503

Website: https://jyotinaokieri.com

OUR CASHEW STORY

2018, Documentary, 41min 8sec, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Saturday, 22^nd January, 17:32hrs – SAIIER

In a world where we are increasingly disconnected from our food, this short film explores the cashew industry – the growing, harvesting and processing of cashews, the seasonal pesticide spraying and its environmental and health effects, and the alternatives to pesticides using Auroville and its bio region in India as a case study. In this documentary we would like to reconnect people with cashews and help them understand our cashew story. The film aims to raise awareness and increase consciousness about the cashew industries asking the viewer to participate in helping where they can to change the story. This is a comprehensive film about the range of complexities of the cashew industry and the many stories in the food chain from growing to consumption.

Director, Producer, Editor, Sound effect: Serena Aurora

Script: Serena Aurora, Nikethana

Producer: Outreach Media, Stichting de Zaiier

Cinematographer: Aurovenkatesh, Serena Aurora

Music: Will Golledge

Drone: Prabuddha, Om Patra, Fred, Francis, Nick

Graphics: Aurovenkatesh

Research: Nikethana Venkatesan, Serena Aurora

Title Animation: Aurovenkatesh, Jagan

Transcription: Nikethana

Translation: Nikethana, Aurovenkatesh

Soundmix: Nepsound

Colour Grade: Ivan

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films

Cast: Priya, Meenatchi, Chellamma, Steffen, Alok, Rita, Anandhan, Manivannan, Ezhumalai, Dr. Lucas, Jasmin, Dr. Kurien Thomas, Arumugam, Gauri

E-mail: serena_aurora [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://youtu.be/59osVIL-ebw

Website: https://auroraseye.wordpress.com/

PAASAM PATHUKAKUM

2017, Short, 5min 28sec, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Wednesday 19^th January, 20:00hrs – Cinema Paradiso

This short film is about taking care of pet animals, with a special emphasis on dogs. The film expresses the gratitude that dogs show towards people and the way dogs protect our living space.

Director: S.Yuvasri

Script: S. Yuvasri

Producer: S. Adhilakshmi

Cinematographer: Rajaram

Editor: Rajaram, J. Jayabharathi

Music: Gajadhanu

Produced by: S. Adhilakshmi, S. Priyadharshini

Cast: Yatra Srinivassaan, Sweety (the pet dog), S. Adhilakshmi, S. Yuvasri, Prasad Vima Raj, J. Jayabharathi, V. Priya

Production Company: Yatra Arts Media

E-mail: yatrasrinivassan [at] gmail.com

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go5yHJE5X7U

PRE-MONSOON EPISODE 01 OF BARNABY JONES & MYSTERIES OF DR. ODDBALL

2020, Fiction, 1hr 2min 22sec, English

Screening on: Saturday January 22^nd, 20:14hrs – Outdoor

A scientist, a detective, and an experiment in an unsuspecting town.

Director, Script, Cinematography: Jonak Joey Chakrabarti

Producer: Manas, Jonak Chakrabarti

Production Company: Pickle Me Ginger

Edit: Manas Chakrabarti, Nefertiti Titli Chakrabarti, Arnav Kakar

Cast: Gijs Spoor, Ahilya Bamroo, Bhavyo Trivedi, Lili Dreikhausen, Lucas Simon Zbinden

E-mail: jonak.joey [at] gmail.com

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/h3uuxyo4l1l3f42/Pre-Monsoon-1080Web.m4v?dl=0

REVERIE

2018, Animation, 1min 47sec

Screening on: Wednesday 19^th January, 17:42hrs – SAIIER

A free diver waltz with the marine life.

Director, Cinematographer, Sound: Kadambari, Aravindan, Aparajita

Script: Kadambari, Aravindan

Producer: Shalini

Editor: Aravindan

E-mail: aravindan.g.p [at] gmail.com

Link: https://youtu.be/Sl_wYNrYjko

ROBBERY IN THE TIME OF CORONA

2018, Comedy, 10min 54sec, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Friday 21^st January, 20:00hrs – Outdoor

This is a comedy about playing computer and mobile games and how young people are obsessed with playing games on their mobiles. In this short film, robbers enter into the house while the youngsters are distracted, playing games on their phones – not noticing them. The robbers end up stealing all the gold and jewels!

Director, Script, Editor: Yatra Srinivassan

Production Company: Yatra Talkies

Production Assistance: S. Adhilakshmi, S. Priyadharshini, R. Vasantha

Producer: S. Adhilakshmi

Title, VFX: Hariharan Anbazhagan

Assistant Director: Prasad Vimal Raj

Boom Mic: S. Adhilakshmi

Cinematographer: S. Velu

Music, Sound Effects: Gajadhanu, PRG Studios, Chennai

Cast: Yatra Srinivassan, Jean Paul, V. Priya, Prasad Vimal Raj, J. Jayabharathi, S. Yuvasri

E-mail: yatrasrinivassan [at] gmail.com

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

STILL DAYDREAMING

2018, Experimental, 2min 58sec, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Sunday 23^rd January, 16:26hrs – SAIIER

This is a soundtrack of Jyoti’s daily life in Auroville related to the Covid lockdown experience that forced him to question what is essential in life. He composed this music as Atomic Phantom, his alias since the beginning of 2021, when he pursued composing music as part of his artistic endeavor. In spite of the social anxiety caused by the situation, for him, family life and connection with nature grew deeper than ever before.

Director, Script, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor: Jyoti Naoki Eri

Sound: Atomic Phantom

Production Company: Studio Eri

Email: jyoti [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://vimeo.com/603947712

Website: https://jyotinaokieri.com

SURGICAL MASKS

2019, Documentary, 3min, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Friday 21^st January, 16:40hrs – Cinema Paradiso

At the beginning of the first lockdown, Miniature, a unit of Auroville used their infrastructure to make 40000 surgical masks that were distributed in the community.

Director, Script, Editor, Cinematographer, Sound: Jeanluc B

Producer: Buro studio

E-mail: deburaud75 [at] gmail.com

Link: https://vimeo.com/409470782

TEMPLE TREE

2018, Documentary, 13min 3sec, English

Screening on: Friday 21^st January, 16:13hrs – Cinema Paradiso

This film shows the magical bark printing work of the international artist Birgitta Volz, who is living in Auroville. It is a documentary about her last exhibition held at the Pavilion of Tibetan Culture which featured prints of the bark of the Temple tree located in the premises. All the prints were made in the Auroville Art Camp 2019.

Director, Producer, Editor, Cinematographer: Marko Bosko

Script: Marko Bosko, Birgitta Volz

Music: Ivan Avakian

Production Company: Aurofilm Productions Team: Surya, Susana

Photography: Marco Saroldi, Konny Von Schmettau, Birgitta Volz

E-mail: kalabhumi.marko [at] gmail.com

Link: https://youtu.be/EnW5OSW29YE

THE MAKING OF AUROVILLE CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLY

2019, Documentary, 38min 5sec, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Wednesday 19^th January, 16:00hrs – SAIIER

Enjoy this animated meditation, listening and manifesting of the Auroville Citizen’s assembly with vision for the forthcoming years.

Director, Editor, Cinematographer, Sound, Producer, Script: Serena Aurora

Camera: Aurovenkatesh

Soundmix: Kardhash

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films

E-mail: serena_aurora [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OCBMlfeBlU

TRIBUTE TO THE SOUL OF GRATITUDE

2017, Documentary, 4min 24sec, Tamil (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Friday 21^st January, 16:43hrs – Cinema Paradiso

This movie is a tribute to the author’s loyal and beloved pet dog called Sweety.

Director, Script: Yatra Srinivassan

Producer: S. Adhilakshmi

Cinematographer: S. Yuvasri

Sound, Editing: S. Yuvasri

Voice Over: Yatra Srinivassan

Production Company: Yatra Talkies

Cast: S. Adhilakshmi, R. Rajaram, S. Priyadharshini, J. Jayabharathi, V. Priya, K. Krishnamoorthy, P.Rajasergar, Prasad Vimal Raj, R. Tamizhselvi, E. Prabhu, Shanmugam, R. Vasantha

E-mail: yatrasrinivassan [at] gmail.com

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elJLP5ZGYuQ

WHAT’S GOING ON IN AUROVILLE?

2019, Documentary, 7min 4sec, English (with English subtitles)

Screening on: Saturday 22^nd January, 16:00hrs – SAIIER

Auroville, an international township in South India, has people from over 60 different nationalities and more than 3000 residents. With this comes a huge diversity of arts, theatre, workshops, food, technology and much more. This short video shows just a few things that are happening in Auroville.

Director, Editor, Cinematographer, Sound, Producer: Serena Aurora

Production Company: Aurora’s Eye Films

Camera: Aurovenkatesh, Serena Aurora

Script: Aurora, Nikethana

Color grade: Aurovenkatesh

Voice Over: Nikethana

E-mail: serena_aurora [at] auroville.org.in

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

WHITE MOUNTAIN

2018, Experimental, 4min 11sec, English

Screening on: Friday 21^st January, 16:27hrs – Cinema Paradiso

This music and video edit, is inspired by the movies of back country snowboarding of Jyoti’s long-time friends in Nagano, Japan. Many of them are internationally respected snowboarders. Jyoti had an opportunity to be part of this community and this experience remained in him as an inspiration for over two decades. In this Covid lockdown he had a chance to reconnect with these experiences and realize this idea.

Snowboarding is a rather recently established and recognized sport but it is quite profound as it requires a deep connection with nature and body especially when one rides inside the snowy forests.

This sport connects the music and subculture of present time, almost as a spiritual exercise to some.

Director, Script, Editor: Jyoti Naoki Eri

Cinematographer: Yone Film

Sound: Atomic Phantom

Cast: ASA 3000 a.k.a. Masashi Nishina

Production Company: Studio Eri, Auroville

E-mail: jyoti [at] auroville.org.in

Link: https://vimeo.com/567119328

Website: https://jyotinaokieri.com

Submit your film to the 7th edition of the Auroville Film Festival, which will take place January 18 – 23, 2022. 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.