The films are in English, Hindi, Bengali, Marwari, Kannada and Maori (a New Zealand language) and bring together an eclectic mix of subjects.

54.IFFI: The list of highly anticipated Film Baazar Recommended films has been announced. This year’s selection includes fiction, short documentaries, documentaries, a horror film and even an animated film that deals with themes related to diaspora, patriarchy, urban rage, extreme poverty both in India and abroad. climate crises, nationalism and sports/fitness. The films are in English, Hindi, Bengali, Marwari, Kannada and Maori (a New Zealand language) and bring together an eclectic mix of subjects.

The list includes the following movies:

Fiction Shorts

ANU (14 minutes), director: Pulkit Arora (English/Hindi/Maori): A widow who moved to India from New Zealand tries to hold on to the remains of her partner, whom she lost almost a year ago. But a distant crisis forces him to confront his pain in an extraordinary situation with an ordinary ritual: Quarantine.

WHO WILL BAKE ROTI KOON BANASI or Bread? (25 minutes) directed by Chandan Singh Shekhawat (Marwari): Set in a rural house in Rajasthan. ‘Who will bake the bread?’ It’s a movie about Santosh. Santosh, Roopa’s husband and Ranjeet’s elder son, is a character trapped in traditional ideas such as patriarchy and masculinity. He is constantly reminded of his failures and worthlessness by his father. Contrary to his father’s belief system of confining women to the home, he wants to support his wife Roopa in trying her last chance in the government job exam. The film explores the ideas of centuries-old patriarchy and how it spreads from generation to generation through father/son relationships. The film makes it clear that the daily struggles of women in Rajasthan as well as the entire society raise concerns of inequality, misconceptions about masculinity and various sections where both men and women are oppressed due to patriarchal practices.

TUESDAY’S WOMEN (29 minutes), director: Imaad Shah (English): An idyllic morning. Spaghetti is bubbling on the stove, classical music is playing on the radio, and our hero is calmly stirring the pot. This moment is interrupted by the piercing sound of the phone. When he finally answers, he hears a soft, husky voice he doesn’t recognize. He says he only wants ten minutes of his time. Ten minutes to reach agreement. Were you able to reach an agreement? He asks. From our emotions. He wants to put the phone down but can’t. He asks who it is and tries to find out, but the mysterious woman hangs up on him and the spaghetti is overcooked. This innocuous conversation sets in motion a surreal day when all he wants to do is write in his diary, but the phone rings and mysterious, fascinating women interrupt his domestic routine and provide strangely profound insights into his life. With this film, we hoped to create a world that reflected the beautiful strangeness of writing and apply it to the Indian setting. A film based on three short stories by Haruki Murakami brought together to form a day in the life of our hero. He has lost his job and is in a pensive mood. Our efforts to play with language and music are an attempt to find a cinematic depiction of the pace, tone, and storytelling style of this beloved Japanese author. The film, of course, hopes to stand alone in tackling the subject, while constantly being irreverent and placing it in the context of India.

GIDDH (25 minutes), director: Manish Saini (Hindi): An old man struggles to make a living. With just a few rupees in his pocket, he can buy either medicine or food, never managing to save himself from dying any time soon as he can never buy both. It is difficult to find a job for the starving old man, he does not look like a skilled worker. Things are grim until you encounter an unexpected method of survival, but it comes with a price. He has to risk his conscience for a few bites. A disaster comes and the old man can take advantage of it. Helplessness and helplessness cannot distinguish right from wrong, but right and wrong are not subjective. An internal struggle ensues and soon hunger collides with guilt. When the food on his plate is at stake, which will weigh more, his hunger or his guilt? The food on your plate and the clothes on your back are two of a person’s most basic needs. However, some unfortunates have difficulty meeting all three needs every day. This story connects the need for clothing and food with the struggle for existence.

Documentary Shorts

GOPI (14 minutes), director: Nishanth Gurumurthy (Kannada): Gopi Siddi is a middle-aged storyteller who identifies with the Siddi community (African Diaspora in South India). Inspired by the oral form of storytelling, Gopi wants her stories to be self-published; But first he must confront his struggles with alienation, social status, and environmental disaster.

IRON WOMEN OF MANIPUR (26 minutes), director: Haoban Paban Kumar (Manipuri/English): This film is a tribute to the sports personalities of this country who have contributed greatly to the development of women in sports. The inspiring stories of weightlifting pioneer women Kunjarani Devi (Padmashri Award Winner, 2011), Anita Chanu (Dhyanchand Award Winner) and Mirabai Chanu (Padmashri Award Winner, 2018 and Tokyo Olympics 2020 Silver Medalist) have inspired an entire generation of Indians . athletes and the country as a whole.

Docu Medium Length

WHERE MY GROWTH LIVES (51 minutes) director: Tasmiah Afrin Mou (Bengali): Film producer Mou goes to his beloved Nanu’s house to film her. Nanu has been living alone in her 100-year-old house since her husband’s death 27 years ago. For Mou, Nanu’s place means a memory of a peaceful village full of swamps, greenery and the majestic family pond. For generations, children of the neighborhood grew up learning to swim in that pond. Another maternal grandson of Nanu, Rawnak, lives next to her house with his family. There is a small pond still standing in Rawnak’s house, but many of Rawnak’s paternal heirs also want to sell this pond. Rawnak does not want to sell his family pool, which contains his father’s memory. Ironically, his business is to buy swamps or ponds, fill them with sand, “develop” them as residential lots, and sell them. “Development” is going on all over the country, water bodies are being destroyed and all living things living in them are being destroyed.

LADAK 470 (38 minutes), director: Shivam Singh Rajput (Hindi/English): Sufiya Runner from Ajmer, Rajasthan, an ultrarunner with five Guinness world running records, is preparing for her most ambitious endeavor, a marathon no one has ever undertaken before. He plans to run 470 kilometers at an altitude of 11,000 ft plus from Siachen base camp to Kargil war memorial in 7 days to honor all Indian army war heroes of the Kargil war. Sufiya’s coach, partner and the Indian army work hard to help her achieve her goal as she runs off-road as high as 17,980 feet. He and his Sufi mentality make this run a meditative experience for him and he crosses the finish line.

Features

EXILE (TERROR) – (82 minutes), director: Samman Roy (Bengali): The film tells the story of Gouranga, a young man from a village in Bengal who recently lost his wife. This loss not only affects the family, which has suffered a series of tragedies over the years, but also Gouranga personally, who cannot come to terms with his wife’s death. Eventually, Gouranga embarks on a journey where he not only confronts his own demons, but also encounters some of the myths based on these rural settings that are close to the supernatural. The film is set in the late 1960s and deals with themes such as loss, superstition, sexual perversions, the supernatural, as well as the role of women in a society that was then at the crossroads of declining, centuries-old traditionalism. belief systems and a pioneer of postmodern thought and politics.

RETURN OF THE FOREST (ANIMATED) – (105 minutes), director: Vaibhav Kumaresh (Hindi): 9-year-old Mihir and his friends face the daunting task of defeating the biggest, meanest bully in school, Rahul Malhotra. To help them on this impossible journey they have the coolest grandpa in town: Thatha and his fantasy stories inspired by the ancient forests of India! Together they must build a fierce Dinosaur, compete in a nerve-wracking cricket match, and travel all the way to Rajasthan to rediscover the power of friendship, compassion and determination. Return of the Jungle is a never-before-seen contemporary Indian animation! An inspiring family entertainer; very nostalgic, relatable and local.