Saluting the women in the field of filmmaking, the International Film Festival of Kerala, this time screens 25 most applauded films of 24 women directors in various categories.
Rachel Perkins,
Belmin Soylemez, Mariam Abou Ouf, Helena Ignez ,Lucia Carreras, Francisca
Silva, Djamila Sahraouri, Ann Hui, Roeberta Marques, Nadine Labaki, are few to
name among them. While the Indian representation are Deepa Mehta, Sumitra Bhave
and Ajita Suchitra Veera.
Rachel Perkins, daughter
of famous Australian footballer and aboriginal activist, was born in Australia.
She is a famous Australian film and television director, film and television
producer and a writer. Perkins, who started her career with Blood Brothers in
1993, was the producer and writer of this film. All her works are focused on
the real life of the teen girls in Australia and has six awards in her name.
One Night the Moon, released in 2001, is the film to be screened here, under
the Australian Indigenous Films. The film depicts true story of a young girl
who went missing in the Australian outback in 1932. This film won ten awards in total.
Born in
Istanbul, Belmin Soylemez, worked as copy writer, editor, producer for
companies like ARD German TV (Istanbul Office) and BBA (Independent Press
Agency Istanbul). Her career as director marked off with the 2002 short film Dalgalar,
which was penned herself. Her second venture is the Present Tense, the film
screening in the IFFK under International Competition, delivers the life of a
young woman who is in search for her lost hopes who wants to escape to the USA
and start from zero. The film was dealing with the situations every Turkish
woman has to face. Soylemez, who deals with the usual life of woman society in
Turkey, is much appreciated for her works.
Mariam Abou Ouf
is one of the ten directors of the most acclaimed 18 Days. Mariam Abou Ouf ,
who studied direction from London, is the daughter of renowned Egyptian Actor
Ezzat Abou Ouf. Her strong love and passion towards cinema was the reason
behind her directorial career. She began her career with Taxi, a short film.
Bebo We Besheer was her first big screen feature. Her short film Tahrir 2/2 is
the contribution to the 18 Days. Beging a graduate in economics and political
science, her films focus on the political scenario of the nation and its
economic and cultural aspects.
Helena Ignez is
an iconic Brazilian actress, whose much-talked seven films are to be screened
in the retrospective category, have directed two films as well. Cancoes de Baal
and Light in Darkness, her directorial ventures, are also in the seven films.
Annemarie Jacir
directed When I Saw You, under the world cinema category in the festival, is
the life of Tarek, separated from parents and living in refugee camps in
Jordan, trying to get out of this situation and make a new life. Jacir, winner
of 12 international awards, is a multi faceted personality with strong hold in
direction, camera, scripting, editor and production fields. Jacir was nominated
for the Golden Camera in Cannes in 2008. Her career started with The Satellite
Shooters in 2001.
Deepa Mehta most
celebrated and discussed Indo-Canadian director, was born in Punjab and
migrated to Canada in 1973. She came to the limelight with her Elements
Trilogy. The trilogy included Fire (1996), Earth (1998) and Water (2005). ‘Sam
and Me’ in 1991 began her film career. Director of nine films is also the
winner of the most reputed Governor General's Performing Arts Awards for
Lifetime Artistic Achievement, 2012. Her latest film Midnight’s Children, based
on Salman Rushdie’s book, is having its Indian premier in this festival under
the World Cinema.
Sumithra Bhave
co-directed Samhita, screening under the Indian Cinema Now, is on an ailing
film producer who is in search of a great script on the man-woman relation, to
be produced by her wife on his behalf. Sumithra Bhave is a filmmaker who is
very actively brining great changes in the Marahta films with her co-director
Sunil Sukthankar. She have penned for three while edited and produced one. Her
duo have made 8 features, 40 shorts and 3 tele in the past 25 years and
received three international, six national and 45 state awards.
Ajita Suchitra Veera
did her studies in film from the Pune Film Institute. She was always fascinated
with the experimental and artistic films and focused her career on these types
of films. Her short feature “Notes on Her” was an official entry to the Oscars
in the year 2003. She believes that films have astonishing potential to
transcend the everyday reality of our times and transport us into other worlds
and this is what her career is dedicated upon. Top Angel Indian Cinema includes
her latest film The Ballad of Rustom, is telling the story of Rustom, a
government official, living in countryside.
The experience
of filmmaking is at once both demanding and therapeutic and the product film is
the life and hard work of the maker. Women filmmakers are adding glory to the
class of directors all over the world. Their films in the International Film
Festival of Kerala will make their works reach to a farther and wider audience
thus giving an enormous support to their careers.
