Film lovers of town are in for a treat as the Hyderabad Film Club, in association with the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, is holding the Lensight Film Festival (Diploma Films) on 14th and 15th April, at the Prasad Labs Preview Theatre. 16 short films shot by the students of the 2004-05 batch will be screened.
Today, the second and last day, Vadharkramam (The Chronicle Of A Killing) will be the 4th film to be screened. This Malayalam short film is scripted and directed by K M Kamal, and the synopsis provided by the director is as follows:
"Have you heard about the brothers who went to grant feast in the heaven? I'll tell you. After the heavenly feast, the brothers returned to home. The mother was waiting for them. She asked the elder son, what did you bring for me? His face drew blank and showed his empty hands. Then she asked the young one the same. He took a rice grain from behind his right ear and gave it to her - I could only bring this, he said. The mother was pleased. She blessed him saying when the people see you let their mind be filled with ecstasy. Looking at the elder one, she said, let people fear to look at you and complain how blistering you are."
Ravi wanted to tell this story to his blind sister Sushma, adding that the mother was the earth; the brothers were the sun and the moon. But that night, he asked her to abide him by joining in a rehabilitation center for the blind. She refuses. He covers the truth that he wants to settle in a new flat with his girlfriend. The next day, when they are returning from a photo studio, Ravi realizes that he is the sun and his blind sister Sushma the moon.
The film was screened at the 9th International Film Festival of Kerala in 2004, and was selected in the 2nd Kalpanirzar International Short Fiction Film Festival 2004, Kolkota.
Lensight is the name of the journal published by FTII. The festival has been held in Delhi and Mumbai before this. A diploma film is a final year project that brings together students of all the disciplines and calls upon them to put their best foot forward in terms of demonstrating the learning they have acquired.
Diploma films celebrate the spirit of cinema. These films, many of which have been acclaimed as being amongst the finest works in the medium, reflect the composite learning acquired by the students at the institute, as also their professional potential. These films, in a way, are points of departure for discourse amongst the next generation of film professionals.
FTTI is based in Pune and boasts of some renowned personalities of cine world as its alumni, like Jaya Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Subhash Ghai, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Saeed Mirza, Vinod Chopra, Kundan Shan, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Anil Mehta and David Dhawan amongst others. From our state, in addition to Devadas Kanakala, Suresh Oberoi and Talluri Rameshwari, there are G Krishna Rao who has edited a number of films directed by K Vishwanath, and K Ramachandra Rao who has been the professor of editing at the FTII since 1960.
The DVDs of these films are available at the venue for sale on the 15th of April. The entry for all the films is free. For further details, please contact Bh S S Prakash Reddy of the Hyderabad Film Club at 2373-0841/93910-20243.
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