Causes on Reels

As suicide bombings and child abuse become realities we come home to everyday...

A series of short films will try to bring up issues usually shoved under the carpet

As suicide bombings and child abuse become realities we come home to everyday, a series of short films to be screened in the city attempt to wake us from the slumber that we have resigned ourselves to. So Black and White, which will witness the screening of short films by five directors at the Weavers Studio Centre for Arts, will be addressing issues as varied as terrorism and poverty on one hand and alternative sexuality and destiny on the other hand.

The films to be screened are a mix of fiction, docu-drama and documentaries. While the longest film is squeezed into 30 minutes, the shortest is around 6 minutes long. 8220;A short film is an effective medium to convey a social message. It can be pithy and hard-hitting,8221; says director Abhishek Ganguli who will screen his docu-drama Bijoyini. The film traces the vicious nexus of traffickers and pimps which has trapped several girls from this side of the country in its net. 8220;I shot the film at Swarupnagar, a village on the Bengal-Bangladesh border. It is based on the life of a girl who was trafficked to Bombay and ended up in the Kamathipura red light area,8221; says Ganguli. The girl was eventually rescued and the film traces how she was rehabilitated.

Tathagata Bhattacharjee8217;s Coloured explores a 8216;mindset which is the result of repeated terror attacks8217;. 8220;It tells the story of a Pakistani citizen who comes to the city for treatment. However, soon people start suspecting him for extremist affiliations,8221; says Bhattacharjee. A film like this throws up questions like what leads to criminalizing a whole national/religious identity, and can anybody be blamed for being scared and hence cynical?

The flair for contemporary issues extends to Arindam Basu8217;s film called Aa Maatir Katha. Basu8217;s film delves into the LGBT community8217;s strife for rights and freedom of expression.

However, personal experiences expand into metaphors for life as Indrani Chakrabarty8217;s film Destiny, traces how her robust, energetic great grandmother dwindles into a helpless, almost lifeless woman following a cerebral attack. 8220;My great grandmother8217;s life was the most poignant statement on the uncertainties of life,8221; says Chakrabarty. The filmmaker got together footages of her great grandmother celebrating the former8217;s wedding with shots of her as she slowly wasted away in the deathbed. 8220;She suffered for 16 months and the agony was unbearable. It was then that I realised that this story was an eye-opener,8221; says Chakrabarty.

Black and White will be on at the Weavers Studio Centre for Arts on October 24