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Join us for an enriching celebration of independent cinema at the upcoming festival! Hosted in IIT Gandhinagar, this event promises to immerse you in thought-provoking narratives and visually stunning storytelling crafted by acclaimed filmmakers across India.
Curated by Film Director Don Palathara, Artist-in-Residence at IIT Gandhinagar, this festival offers a unique opportunity to engage with the creative minds behind the masterpieces.
Close
Lukas Dhont. Belgium, Netherlands, France. 104 mins
The intense friendship between two thirteen-year-old boys, Leo and Remi, suddenly gets disrupted. Struggling to understand what has happened, Léo approaches Sophie, Rémi's mother. 'Close' is a film about friendship and responsibility.
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Grand Theft Hamlet
Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane. United Kingdom, United States. 89 mins
Two struggling actors find solace from lockdown isolation by staging Hamlet in Grand Theft Auto Online (2013), battling griefers as they connect through William Shakespeare.
Perfect Days
Wim Wenders. Japan, Germany. 124 mins
Hirayama cleans public toilets in Tokyo, lives his life in simplicity and daily tranquility. Some encounters also lead him to reflect on himself.
Petite Maman
Céline Sciamma. France. 73 mins
Nelly has just lost her grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother's childhood home. She explores the house and the surrounding woods. One day she meets a girl her age building a tree-house.
Priscilla
Sofia Coppola. Italy, United States, United Kingdom. 113 mins
When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend.
Shiva Baby
Emma Seligman. United States. 77 mins
While at a Jewish funeral service with her parents, a college student has an awkward encounter with her sugar daddy and ex-girlfriend.
Decision to Leave
Park Chan-wook. South Korea. 149 mins
A detective investigating a man's death in the mountains meets the dead man's mysterious wife in the course of his dogged sleuthing.
International Films
All We Imagine as Light
Payal Kapadia. 118 mins
In Mumbai, Nurse Prabha's routine is troubled when she receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. Her younger roommate, Anu, tries in vain to find a spot in the city to be intimate with her boyfriend.
Guras
Saurav Rai. 114 mins
A nine-year-old girl embarks on a mystical adventure through the scenic mountains of Darjeeling, India, in search of her beloved pet dog, Tinkle, who has gone missing.
Mithya
Sumanth Bhat. 98 mins
It is a poignant journey of eleven-year-old Mithun, as he navigates a challenging path of self-discovery and resilience after a devastating loss shatters his world.
Pattth
Jithin Issac Thomas. 85 mins
Unni, a struggling film editor in Kerala, is editing a travel vlog. It shows members of a Kenyan tribe singing a traditional song. Unni’s grandmother overhears the song and starts singing along. Intrigued, Unni and his girlfriend Anupama share his grandmother’s song on social media. Realising from the comments that many people know the song, they set out to make a documentary about its origin.
Pearl of the Desert
Pushpendra Singh. 82 mins
Moti Khan, a musically gifted child from the lower caste Muslim Manganiyars of the Thar Desert, is forced to sing and play music for their ancestral patrons in order to survive.
Rapture
Dominic Sangma. 127 mins
Since the church foretold that an 80-day apocalyptic darkness would come, a community has lived in constant fear of kidnappers. A ten-year-old youngster who is night blind has never found the village to be more frightful.
Second Chance
Subhadra Mahajan. 104 mins
After experiencing the first major trauma of her young life, Nia retreats to her family summer home in the Himalayas where time, nature and unlikely friendships help her heal.
Indian Films
A Summer's Tale
Eric Rohmer. 113 mins
As a reserved young graduate vacations in a seaside town, he hopes his girlfriend will join him. But he ends up bonding with a local young woman whose female friend is also smitten with him.
Alphaville
Jean-Luc Godard. 99 mins
An agent wrecks the main computer on another planet.
Contempt
Jean-Luc Godard. 102 mins
A French writer's marriage deteriorates while working on Fritz Lang's version of "The Odyssey", as his wife accuses him of using her to court favor with the film's brash American producer.
Hiroshima Mon Amour
Alain Resnais. 90 mins
A French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.
Jules and Jim
François Truffaut. 105 mins.
Decades of a love triangle concerning two friends and an impulsive woman.
The 400 blows
François Truffaut. 99 mins
A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
Zazie in the Metro
Louis Malle. 93 mins
With her mother away for the weekend, a brash and precocious ten-year-old country girl sets out to explore Paris during a Métro strike under her uncle's not-so-watchful eye. But can a little girl cause so much chaos in the city centre?
French Classics
Special Program: Video Art
Location: Near Tea Post, IIT Gandhinagar Time: 29 and 30 March, 7 PM onwards
Artists:
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Mithu Sen
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Gigi Scaria
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Riyas Komu
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Sumedh Rajendran
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Ramith Kunhimangalam
Sanju Surendran
Sanju Surendran, has showcased his films globally at numerous film festivals. He is renowned for crafting distinctive works for festivals and has collaborated with prominent writers on fictional projects. His artistic vision is influenced by Mani Kaul's ideas and Indian Aesthetics. Sanju holds a degree in Film Direction from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. In 2015, he received the esteemed 62nd Indian National Award (RAJAT KAMAL for Best Arts/Cultural film) for his work 'KAPILA'.
Pushpendra Singh
Born in Sainyaa, near Agra, India in 1978. After studying at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, he first worked as an actor and assistant director. In 2014, his directorial debut Lajwanti screened in the Berlinale Forum. His second feature film, Ashwatthama, premiered in the New Currents Competition at the Busan International Film Festival while his hybrid film Maru ro moti was shown at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.
Siddharth Chauhan
Born and brought up in Shimla, Siddharth Chauhan is a self-taught and award winning filmmaker who has made several short films. Driven by the need to create value, he makes most of his films in his hometown - Shimla and believes that world class content can be created anywhere. Amar Colony is his debut feature film. He is currently based out of Mumbai & is working on his second feature and a web show.
Himadri Mahesh
Himadri Mahesh is a filmmaker who discovered her passion for the craft while studying engineering at Nirma Institute in Ahmedabad. This led her to explore filmmaking during her college days. She further honed her skills at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), focusing on assisting in student projects. In a short time, Himadri has worked on significant projects across various film forms, including advertising, short films, documentaries, and feature films. Her debut feature film, "Abharkha," premiered at the prestigious Mumbai International Film Festival. She is currently working on her second feature film, continuing to evolve and expand her creative horizons in the world of filmmaking.
Ridham Janve
Ridham trained as a communication designer at NID, Ahmedabad, before finding his calling in the moving images. His debut feature film, The Gold-Laden Sheep and the Sacred Mountain, featured at leading international film festivals. Apart from making films, he writes, paints and sculpts,pushing the boundaries of form and often landing in unexplored territories.
Tara Ramanujan
Nishiddho is Tara Ramanujan's debut as a director. Samarppanam, an investigative drama (Malayalam, 2017), was her debut as screenwriter. Tara likes to craft stories that are realistic yet imaginative, preferring to keep them logical and plot driven. Advocating a feminine perspective, her central characters are strong, independent women. She writes, watches movies, listens to music, travels and reads, whenever possible. Tara dabbles in doodling- to her, the doorway to ideas. She enjoys all movie genres, but prefers westerns, suspense and psychological thrillers; Sergio Leone and Hitchcock, and these days Scandinavian films, being favorites.
Shahrukhkhan Chavada
Shahrukhkhan CHAVADA (India) spent his formative years in Palanpur, North Gujarat, before relocating to Pune, where he learned the ropes in media, animation and filmmaking. Chavada has been deeply influenced by Italian, Iranian and French new wave cinema. Kayo Kayo colour is his debut film, depicting his fascination with the routine life.
Achal Mishra
Born in Darbhanga, Achal spent his younger years moving through boarding schools. He later went on to study Film Studies at King’s College London but dropped out in the first year. He chose to spend more of his time at the British Film Institute watching, learning and unlearning from artists who he now borrows from. His debut film, Gamak Ghar had won the Manish Acharya Award for New Voices in Indian Cinema at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2019 with Star. His films are also streaming on MUBI.
PS Vinothraj
P. S. Vinothraj is a Tamil film director and screenwriter. He wrote and directed the critically- acclaimed Tamil film, Pebbles which is also his debut film. Pebbles was screened at the 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam held in Netherlands on 4 February 2021, where it received the Tiger Award at the festival. His latest film Kottukkaali was premiered in Berlin Film Festival, 2024.
Amit Dutta
Amit Dutta is an Indian experimental filmmaker and writer. He is considered to be one of the most significant contemporary practitioners of experimental cinema known for his distinctive style of filmmaking rooted in Indian aesthetic theories and personal symbolism resulting in images that are visually rich and acoustically stimulating. His works mostly deal with subjects of art history, ethno-anthropology and cultural inheritance through cinema, many times merging research and documentation with an open imagination .
Film Directors
Sherin Sabu
Sherin Sabu holds the position of Assistant Professor of Sociology at the School of Liberal Arts, IIT Jodhpur. She obtained her PhD and completed postdoctoral research at IIT Mumbai, and she is an alumna of Lady Sriram College for Women and Tata Institute of Social Sciences. With an impressive portfolio of four international publications, she has also left her mark in the film industry. Sherin has acted in various films and co-written multiple film scripts. Notably, her recent works include "Everything Is Cinema" (2020), where she starred and co-wrote, and "Family" (2023), for which she served as a co-writer. Both films premiered at the prestigious International Film Festival in Rotterdam.
Argha Manna
Argha Manna, a cancer researcher turned comics artist, combines his artistic and research skills to explore historical perspectives of scientific development and social issues. He bridges the gap between academic research and visual storytelling. Notable projects include 'Famine Tales from India and Britain' and a comic book on Ant Network Theory. Argha collaborates with institutions like the University of Exeter, the British Library, and MIT to translate complex scientific concepts into comics, particularly focusing on infectious disease research. His storytelling philosophy emphasizes a blend of text, images, and comics, featured in Nature India.
Madhumita Sengupta
Madhumita Sengupta, born in Guwahati, Assam, pursued her education in Kolkata, obtaining a B.A. in History from Presidency College and an M.A. from Jawaharlal Nehru University Delhi, followed by a PhD from the University of Calcutta. She taught at Rani Birla Girls’ College for over a decade before joining Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar in 2014 as an Assistant Professor in Humanities & Social Sciences. Specializing in British colonial history, mainly focusing on British Assam, she explores the social and cultural impacts of colonial rule, linguistic identities, and colonial language policies. Her forthcoming book, "Becoming Assamese: Colonialism and New Subjectivities in Northeast India," delves into these themes, while her current research centers on colonialism and religious transformations in Assam.
Manoj Singh Rana
Manoj Singh Rana, a Research Scholar at IITGN, balances his academic pursuits with a role as a Newsreader at All India Radio. With a passion for language and literature, he served as an assistant professor at the Department of Humanities, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, and as a guest faculty member at Government Degree College, Purola. His teaching experience spans English Literature and Communication for undergraduates. His proficiency extends to instructional design, where he crafted ILTs and WBTs for various software applications. Manoj's multifaceted background reflects his dedication to academia and communication.
Rosa Maria Perez
Rosa Maria Perez, a distinguished anthropologist, and senior researcher at the Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA), formerly served as a professor at ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon until August 2020. With a global footprint, she's been a visiting professor at esteemed institutions across the USA, Europe, Mozambique, Brazil, and India, including IITGN since 2012. Perez's expertise spans Indian society, focusing on Dalit and women's issues, colonialism, post-colonialism, fieldwork methodology, public anthropology, and human rights. She advises the UN Commission for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and European Councils on Asia. Her latest co-edited book, "Transdisciplinary Ethnography in India: Women in the Field" (Routledge, London and NY, 2021), underscores her profound contributions.
Panelists
Don Palathara
Don Palathara made his feature film debut with Shavam in 2015, which was later showcased on Netflix. In 2019, he made 1956, Central Travancore, which was later premiered at the 42nd Moscow International Film Festival. His next film, Joyful Mystery (2020), was nominated for a Golden St. George at the 43rd Moscow International Film Festival. That same year, Everything Is Cinema, his fifth feature, had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. His latest film, "Family," premiered at IFFR in 2023. During 2021–2022, MUBI did a spotlight on all his films up until then. Don has also served on selection committees and juries at various film festivals, including IFFK. He won FFSI's John Abraham award for the year 2020 for 1956, Central Travancore. Don is part of the BAFTA Breakthrough cohort; India chapter of 2023. He is now an Artist In Residence at IITGN.
Programme Director
Jaison Manjaly
Jaison Manjaly is Jasubhai Memorial Chair Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at IIT Gandhinagar. His research interests include curiosity, education, and exclusion. He is the Principal Investigator of the Curiosity Lab, which aims to develop interventions to foster curiosity in the classroom. He is also the Founder of Art@IITGN.
ART@IITGN
ART at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (IITGN) is an initiative that promotesand facilitates artistic expressions and engagements on campus. Art as a medium and practicenurtures liberal, inclusive, interdisciplinary, and futuristic values. With Art@IITGN, we envisionan environment which will allow for ingenuity to thrive while simultaneously bridging thetransference of intergenerational knowledge systems. This initiative provides spaces on campusfor students and community members to experiment with art.
Festival Director
Festival Team
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Design, Branding and Marketing: Himangshu Kothari
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Finance and Guest Relations: Narendrabhai Rabadiya, Pankaj Chudasama
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Guest Relations: Koushik Tadvi (Kohak)
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Festival Coordinator: Tony Xavier
Maps
Accomodation
Limited shared accommodation is available at IIT Gandhinagar; participants can reserve a spot.
Shared Accommodation Cost per Person: Rs. 480/day
For any inquiries, please get in touch with us at curiositylab@iitgn.ac.in.
Location: Jeet Royal, Palaj, Gujarat 382355
Artists of the
IITGN community
We envision forming a strong Network of Creative Practitioners at IIT Gandhinagar to interact with each other as well as contribute to the overall vision of ART@IITGN. Encouraging Artists of the IITGN community who are practicing any form of ART (self-taught, formally trained, amateur, professional) to connect with us via this form.
Inviting
Collaboration
We envision forming a strong Network of Creative Practitioners at IIT Gandhinagar to interact with each other as well as contribute to the overall vision of ART@IITGN. Encouraging Artists of the IITGN community who are practicing any form of ART (self-taught, formally trained, amateur, professional) to connect with us via this form.
Art@IITGN invites expressions of interest for collaborations with institutes, organizations and individuals. Reach us via art(at)iitgn.ac.in
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