33 films screened on Shimla festival Day 2

Shimla, August 27

Documentary film “Ripples under the skin” by Kolkata film director Farah Khatun and Persian film “The Boarding House”, directed by Maryam Ebrahimvand from Iran were the highlights of the second day of the 8th International Film Festival of Shimla.

As many as 33 films were screened today. “Ripples under the skin” is based on the life of a 65-year-old man and his reminiscences from the years he lived in Kolkata, beautifully blended with the stories of migrants living a tug-of-war to find their identity in a city that never embraced them.

“The Boarding House’’ is based on the life of three women living different lives, however, resonating with each other on the different levels of traumas and coming out of it.

Singapore film director Shilpa Krishnan Shukla’s short film “Polar Bears”, a story of a 9-year-old girl who wants to save polar bears, a documentary film on the life of a young Bharatanatyam dancer, Tanishka, and national award-winning film “Alpha Beta Gama” – story of a woman stuck with her would-be partner and ex in an awkward situation due to lockdown amid Covid directed by Shankar Srikumar were other attractions.

Divya Hemant Kharnare’s “15 Second A Lifetime ‘’, a film based on Digital Media splash among the youth engrossed in social media, making TikToks, Reels, and videos, submerged in the virtual life, totally ignoring the reality, was also screened. The film focuses on how people waste their time on social media.

The screening was followed by discussions of 15 film directors on various aspects of film-making, including conditions of independent cinema and its prospects in their states.

Along with the screening of the film festival at Gaiety Theatre, the simultaneous screenings are also happening at Central Jail, Kanda, and Nahan Jail for inmates.