Bhubaneswar: The 7th Indian Documentary Film Festival of Bhubaneswar (IDFFB), organised by Film Society of Bhubaneswar (FSB), concluded in Bhubaneswar Saturday.
The day began with the screening of Sraiyanti Haricharan’s Auto Queens. The film narrates the story of two women auto-rickshaw drivers, Mohana and Leela Rani, and how they navigate the heavily male-dominated streets of Chennai. Their personalities collide and unite as they lead a mobility revolution comprising a growing network of women drivers.
As part of the ‘Cinema of Kurdish People’ section, Lonely Tree by Shero Hinde was screened next. The film explores the ‘dengbêj’ musical heritage of singers, poets and storytellers from North and East Syria, also known as Rojava.
Ek Inquilab aur Aaya: Lucknow 1920-1949 by Uma Chakravarti was screened next. The film traces the lives of Sughra Fatema and Khadija Ansari, two women who challenged social norms through poetry and revolutionary student activism in Firangi Mahal, Lucknow.
The day proceeded with Marriage Cops by Shaswati Talukdar and Cheryl Hess. The film offers a fly-on-the-wall look at the women’s helpline at Dehradun Police headquarters, where women police officers mediate marital troubles and counsel couples.
Shaswati joined film critic Aditya Shrikrishna for a post-screening discussion, where she spoke about how many couples were receptive to being filmed for the documentary and how, even when uncomfortable, the state intervenes to salvage troubled marriages and acts as a tool for women to reclaim their agency and dignity. The audience posed questions to the filmmaker about the rationale behind women police officers acting as mediators and whether the state and a force like the police can be trusted in such a process.
The day continued with Sleepwalker Archives by Kartik Subramanian and Derya Deniz’s Heza.
The closing film, Close Up/Up Close – The Making of Political Ubu by Kamal K M, is a testament to the volatile magic of live theatre, capturing the intense, physical journey of adapting Alfred Jarry’s 1896 absurdist masterpiece, Ubu Roi.
Laxmi, a medical student who volunteered at the festival, said, “This year’s IDFFB was an exhilarating experience. Every documentary I watched sparked my curiosity, encouraged me to think deeper and helped me develop the ability to ask more meaningful questions henceforth.”
Orissa POST and Dharitri served as the official print media partners for the event.
PNN & Agencies