Women-centric issues hog limelight at film fest

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 14

Women-centric issues hogged the limelight during the three-day Fourth International Film Festival of Shimla on Sunday. Most of the movies screened during the festival highlighted the plight of women and their journey to empowerment.

“Womeniya”, a 19-minute short film directed by Aakash Arun, highlighted the story of Dalit women belonging to the backward Mushar community of Debra village in Bihar, who worked as help in houses and were unable to earn two meals a day.

It showcased how the lives of 10 women of the village changed with the efforts of social activist Sudha Varghese as they learnt playing musical instruments and formed the first women band of the country, which performs in marriages and functions. These women came in the limelight when they were invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Cabinet Minister Sushma Swaraj to play in functions, said assistant director of the film, Abhishek Arun.

These women who used to travel in carts now travel in airplanes to perform. “They are earning their livelihood through music. Their financial condition has improved and now the village is known by their name,” he said, adding that the idea to make the film came from a news clipping on them. “We visited the village and stayed with them for a week before shooting the film,” he added.

‘Women of Varanasi’

A 52-minute documentary, “Women of Varanasi”, directed by Mamta Singh is a combination of four tales on the struggles and life choices of women of Varanasi and how they continue to evolve and find themselves while working towards bettering the socio-cultural and political spaces. It is the story of forward journey towards positive change. The film was also screened at the Open Frame Film Festival, New Delhi, and the Nepal Human Rights International Film Festival. It will now be screened at Mzansi Women’s Film Festival at Johannesburg.

“I am from Bihar and in my society, Hindus and Muslims used to live together. However, whenever the question of an inter-religion marriage erupted, the situation used to get tense,” said director Saurav. adding that “I always wanted to make a movie on this subject. The incidences of failed love marriages due to religious barriers around me prompted me to make the film.”

About ‘Chilgam’

Another short film ‘Chilgam’ by Saurav is based on the internal conflict of a boy and a girl who are in love, but belong to different religions. The 28-minute film was shot in Old Delhi in six day. It is an attempt to show how polarisation effects commoners, especially women.