Kolkata’s Cannes connect: Filmmaker Yudhajit Basu’s short to compete

The 23-minute Marathi short, Nehemich, is the only Indian film to qualify in the La Cinef Selections category of the 76th Cannes Film Festival. What makes it all the more special is that both the director, Yudhajit Basu, and co-writer Prithvijoy Ganguly, are from Kolkata. We spoke to Yudhajit about the film, which will be screened at the festival on May 24, his filmmaking journey and more.

The story is about a little girl who is banished to a dilapidated hut during menstruation. It traces her journey of trying to elope with her lover during the pandemic. She belongs to an erstwhile nomadic village believing that the dead return in the form of the most beloved one. I chose the pandemic as the backdrop of this film as the period saw nature coming back to life while simultaneously people were dying. The juxtaposition of life and death during the pandemic intrigued me a lot.

The film Once Upon a Time in Anatolia by Nuri Bilge Ceylan impacted me the most as an adolescent. Even though I initially enrolled in engineering school, I dropped out a year later to take up a mass communication and videography course. Me and my collaborator Prithvijoy eventually formed a production house and made two short films Khoji and Quiro. I was already into filmmaking by the time I joined Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.

Since my stories are rooted in the local culture, it automatically dictates the language of expression in each. I have previously filmed a documentary titled Kalsubai (2021) in Marathi and Nehemich is my second film in the language. I don’t believe in using a language that does not reflect the dynamics of the region. I have been told that my style of filmmaking is meditative and atmospheric. To me, my films are a reflection of my personal experiences. I don’t want my films to be information-heavy or labelled into a particular genre