ANEES CHELARI attends the curtain-raiser ceremony of the 9th VIBGYOR International Short and Documentary Film Festival.
Thrissur: Mattias Low, Swedish filmmaker, was visibly elated to stand before the audience at Sangeetha Nadaka Akademy, Thrissur for the curtain raiser screening of the ninth edition of ViBGYOR International Film Festival. This year, the central focus is gender justice and films from 30 countries are being showcased in the package. Today evening, on Feb 10, 2014 the whistles for this year’s rainbow frames are blown.
The curtain raiser programme was inaugurated by Usman, Counselor of the Corporation). The chief guest Mattiasa Low’s film Den Andra Sporten was screened. P Baburaj, festival director, presided over the function.
The most striking feature of the curtain raiser programme was the felicitation of a girls’ football team who suffered many gender obstacles on their way to survive and excel. Now, they are an inevitable part of the state football team. An amazing kalaripayattu demonstration was also held by ‘Archa ‘ women’s group.
During the session, Mattias Low declared his support and solidarity to gender and sexual minorties. Den Andra Sporten, (the other sport) is a two hour documentry tale unfold in three chapters sharing the previlant harsh stories of myth and reality surroundings women’s football in Sweden.
The schedule of the ninth edition is rich and packed. Leena Manimekhala, Anand Patwardhan, Vasanth Kannabiran, Mark Achabar, Deepa Danraj and others would take part in different sessions. The seven day festival includes around 133 documentaries, short fiction films, animations, music videos and experimental films from thirty countries around the world. Besides, a diverse spectrum of activities including the fourth Sarathchandran memorial lecture, meet the directors, mini conferences, campaigns, media workshops, songs of resistance, performances, cultural night etc are also included.
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