Kerala: Young short-film makers share perceptions on cinema

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In these times of political and religious propaganda, open discourses are only limited in a progressive society and it is also important to discuss how to make films at a time when they are banned and boycotted, said Abhilash Sreedharan, director of Malayalam short fiction film ‘Kowpina Shasthram’ on Tuesday.
He was speaking at ‘Meet the director’ programme at International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK).
Arafat Baktoo, a young filmmaker from Kashmir and the director of ‘Attraction’, also shared his experiences and the stories that prompted him to create his film. Baktoo said that rather than someone outside narrating the stories of Kashmir, let them say their own stories.
The session hosted ten young short fiction filmmakers from both Malayalam and Hindi, including Ishan Sharma (A Season of Mangoes), Joyal Koovalloor (Kero Scene), Alok Kumar Dwivedi (Hurdang), Shijith Kalyadan (Irachikothi), Nischhal Sharma (RIMI), Nishanth Gurumurthy (GOPI).
Nischhal Sharma asserted that her film ‘RIMI’ does not attempt to stereotype gender roles, rather she deliberately chooses the notion of sisterhood which can help liberate women other than giving that responsibility to a man. Various subjects like the form of narration, discourses around stereotyping gender, politics of images and the challenges against censorship, especially for filmmakers from conflict zones like Kashmir, were discussed during the session.