- Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Film Bazaar, the co-production market event held on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), will take place at Marriott Resort in Goa from November 20 to 24.
By: Mohnish Singh
Tuesday’s Women, directed by Imaad Shah; Haoban Paban Kumar’s Iron Women of Manipur; Ladakh 470 from Shivam Singh Rajput and Samman Roy’s The Exile are among 10 titles to watch out for at the 17th edition of the Film Bazaar, a press release said.
Film Bazaar, the co-production market event held on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), will take place at Marriott Resort in Goa from November 20 to 24.
Fiction short Tuesday’s Women, which marks the directorial debut of Shah, is an adaptation of three short stories by celebrated Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. These stories are woven together to form a day in the life of the protagonist. It is a 29-minute English-language film.
“The Film Bazaar has consistently supported some of the best films coming out of the country. It feels great that my first film as a director has been selected to be there this year, and I hope that this helps it reach a wider audience,” Shah, son of actors Naseeruddin and Ratna Pathak Shah, said in a statement.
Other three films in the fiction shorts category are Anu by Pulkit Arora, Roti Koon Banasi (Who Will Bake the Bread)” directed by Chandan Singh Shekhawat, and Giddh from Manish Saini.
Anu, a 14-minute film in English/Hindi/Maori, follows the story of a woman who moves to India from New Zealand as she clings on to the vestiges of the partner she lost almost a year ago.
Set in a rural household of Rajasthan, Roti Koon Banasi (Who Will Bake the Bread) revolves around Santosh, a character trapped in the conventional ideas of patriarchy and masculinity. It is a 25-minute Marwari short.
“Giddh”, set against the backdrop of a calamity, is a 25-minute Hindi film that ties up the need for clothes and food with the struggle for existence.
Kumar’s “Iron Women of Manipur” is a tribute to the sports personalities of India who have contributed tremendously to the development of women in sports. It includes stories of women weightlifting pioneers, Kunjarani Devi, Anita Chanu, and Mirabai Chanu. The runtime of the Manipuri/English film is 26 minutes.
Fourteen-minute “Gopi”, a Kannada title directed by Nishanth Gurumurthy, is the story of Gopi Siddi is a middle-aged storyteller who identifies herself with the Siddi community (African Diaspora in south India).
“Inspired by the oral form of storytelling, Gopi desires to get her stories self-published; however, she must first face her battles with alienation, social standing, and environmental catastrophe,” read the synopsis of the documentary short.
Rajput’s documentary mid-length Ladakh 470 tells the life story of Sufiya Runner from Ajmer, Rajasthan, an ultrarunner with five Guinness world running records is gearing up for a marathon no one has ever undertaken. The 38-minute-long film is in Hindi and English.
Another documentary mid-length film viewers must look out for at the Film Bazaar is Where My Grandmother Lives. Directed by Tasmiah Afrin Mou, the Bengali film’s runtime is 51 minutes.
“Where My Grandmother Lives” follows Mou as she visits her beloved grandmother or Nanu’s 100-year-old home.
Roy’s The Exile is an 82-minute horror feature film. Set in the late 1960s, the movie narrates the story of Gouranga, a young man from a village in Bengal who has lost his wife recently. It deals with themes of loss, superstition, sexual deviance, and the supernatural.
Hindi animation feature film Return of the Jungle, directed by Vaibhav Kumaresh, revolves around nine-year-old Mihir and his friends who are faced with the task of outwitting Rahul, the biggest, meanest bully in school. Its runtime is 105 minutes.
