HYD FILM CLUB..SRI SARATHI STUDIOS.. WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL

HYDERABAD FILM CLUB – SRI SARATHI STUDIOS 
& Federation of Film Societies of India
 
WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL
On the occasion of International women’s Day
on 8th March
 
08-03-2021 6.00 p.m. Inaugural Function followed by screeningof Telugu film Premier Show
RALLALO NEERU (Hidden Waters)
(Telugu with EST/2020/105 mins.)
 
09-03-2021 6.00 p.m. 1. THE DAY I BECAME A WOMAN
Tuesday (Bangla with EST /Docu./2019/35 mins.)
 
2. STAND UP
(Malayalam with EST /2020/118 mins.)
 
RALLALO NEERU (Hidden Waters)
(India/Telugu with EST/2020/105 mins.)
Director : Kiranmayi Indraganti
Screenplay : Kiranmayi Indraganti
Photgraphy : R R Kolanchi
Editor : Marthand K Venkatesh
Music : Vivek Sagar
 
SELECTIONS:
OFFICIAL SELECTION, Awareness Film Festival, Los Angeles, Oct 2020
 
SYNOPSIS:
Neela finds herself in the middle of a fearful scenario of her husband finding out about a cherished secret of hers: the past is neither easy to explain nor appropriate to divulge, but her blackmailer has his own demands. She cannot fulfil them without crossing her overbearing yet loving husband. The stakes for marital security rise, as do questions about self, love and marriage. Who decides the meaning of her actions even if they appear dubious to society, including her husband, for whom judgment is truth?
Rallalo Neeru (‘Hidden Waters’) is a Telugu language film, set in contemporary, semi-urban milieu of coastal Andhra, where access to resources is pivoted by specific roles that men and women play in families to safeguard an implicit notion of love defined by marriage.
 
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:
 Kiranmayi Indraganti is a filmmaker with interests in film direction, screenwriting and the writing of histories of women. With a practice in documentary and collaborative work in media production, Kiran has showcased her documentary work on forums such as MIFF 1998, 2006, Planet in Focus 2000, Toronto, Ethnogra film Festival, Paris 2014 and at film society events, closer home. “Rallalo Neeru” (Hidden Waters) is her first feature film, made independently with the help of friends. She holds a PhD in Film Studies from the University of Nottingham, UK and an MFA in Film Production from York University, Toronto, Canada.
FILMOGRAPHY
1) Rallalo Neeru/2020/Fiction/Feature/105min
2) A Season of Love/2013/Documentary/Feature/51min
3) Ismail/2005/Documentary/Short/33 min
4) Crimson Conundrum/2001/Documentary/40min
5) Our Health in Our Hands/1996/Documentary/30min
6) Short and feature length documentaries for women’s and social organisations as part of their collaborative, interventionist work in rural India between 2002 and 2006, and 2012 and 2014 (APMSS, Care-India, SERP. Etc)
 
DIRECTOR’S NOTE:
With my screenwriting teacher Amnon Buchbinder’s classes at York University, Toronto, during MFA, and Robert McKee’s Story Seminar providing inspiration, this adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” in Telugu was produced with the help of friends and family, and shot on location in Kakinada. Driven majorly as a five-character narrative, my adaptation focuses more on the female protagonist’s notion and interpretation of love than the original idea of emancipation.
While her brother Mohana Krishna Indraganti is a well known Telugu filmmaker and their late father, writer-lyricist Indraganti Srikanth Sharma has a loyal following in the literary circles, it did take a while for Kiranmayi to enter the feature film arena.
Rallalo Neeru, she says, was made within a limited budget with funds pooled in from family, friends and well wishers. Not wanting to be tied down by having to cater to box office demands, she preferred to make an independent film: “The initial plan was to make it in Hindi, things didn’t fall in place. Later we decided to make it in Telugu.”
 
THE DAY I BECAME A WOMAN
(2019/BANGLA/35 MINS)
DIRECTED BY : MOUPIA MUKHERJEE
WRITTEN BY : MOUPIA MUKHERJEE
CAMERA : SANKHA, SOURABH KANTI DUTTA,
SUBHAJIT PRASAD
MUSIC : SANTAJIT CHATTERJEE
STORYLINE
The film is a journey of the director to find an answer behind the trauma that shook her one fine morning at the age of twelve, when she had her first periods. Away from home and her mother on that particular day, she feared for her life, as she didn’t have the slightest clue about what was going on in her body. Her journey within the film extends to the experiences of several women around menstruation, through interactions with her daughter and a few friends. Finally, after thirty years, she confronts her mother.
FILMMAKER’S NOTE
In this film, I tried to uncover the issues related to menstruation as a strict taboo in India. Why does the first menstrual cycle bring trauma to many teenagers, like it did to me? Why does a mother hesitate to discuss this normal biological process with her daughter? I wanted the so-called “meyeli” experiences to be shared and talked about. That’s how I decided to make this film with my then six-year-old daughter.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Moupia Mukherjee is an independent filmmaker, producer and writer. She is a PhD and M.Phil in Women’s Studies and M.A. in Comparative Literature. ‘Dui Dhuranir Golpo’ (‘In-between Days’), a documentary produced by her production house Moromiya Pictures won significant critical acclaim and got widely screened in festivals nationally and internationally. ‘The Day I Became a Woman’ is her debut film as director. Her second documentary ‘Murshida’ is under production.
 
STAND UP
(Malayalam/2019/118 mins.)
 
Directed by : Vidhu Vincent
Written by : Umesh Omanakuttan
Starring : Rajisha Vijayan, Nimisha Sajayan,
Sajitha Madathil
Music by : Varkey
Camera : Tobin Thomas
 
VIDHU VINCENT
The story revolves around Keerthi an aspiring Stand Up comedian who narrates the story of her friend Diya who was attacked in an apartment and is branded a victim.
Keerthi is at a stage where many stand up comedians are presenting their act. She starts with the typical stand-up comedy and talks about her family. Her brother Amal and her friend Diya are in a relationship. However, there is always a friction between them as Amal considers Diya to be more fond of her friends. things go downhill at times. Amal convinces his mother to agree to their marriage and he meets Diya to convey the same. Diya tells him that she got admission in Delhi University and is going to pursue the same. Amal gets enraged because he had told Diya against it previously. Things get very bad and eventually they break up but Amal is still not willing to let go. Sujith gets Diya to his flat for a final talk. Amal tells Sujith off and begins to talk to Diya angrily. He assaults her and leaves her unconscious. Sujith gets framed for the rape and there is immense pressure on Diya to back off from legal proceedings. Keerthi is forced to leave her home for supporting Diya. How they finally get justice for Diya forms the rest of the movie.