OTTAWA PREMIERE
Director: Reema Borah
India | 2021 | 98 min | drama | Assamese, with English subtitles
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The Resonance (Anunaad) focuses on the soul-tearing topic of bridal slavery occurring in some parts of India. The film opens in a sleepy rural area surrounded by tea gardens where girls dream of migrating to other parts of the country to escape the poverty and hopelessness in which their families are plunged. Lured by a nexus of brokers and human traffickers, they begin a journey from the lush green fields of Assam to the dry, foggy winter of Haryana, in Northern India, where they risk being trafficked as purchased brides and face a life of constant humiliation and violence at the hands of their husbands and their families.
The recipient of a Master’s degree in Theatre and a Postgraduate degree in Film Direction from the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, REEMA BORAH is a well-read actress, writer, director, and producer. The shorts she directed as part of her academic career were showcased in many festivals around the world, including the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and Camerimage. Her films have won several awards, including a National Film Award in 2009 and a Special Mention from the Indian Documentary Producers’ Association (IDPA) in 2011. Bokul, her debut feature, premiered at the Mumbai Film Festival in 2015 and went on to win five Assam State Film Awards. Her second feature, Noi, was another festival darling. The Resonance (Anunaad) is her third feature.
scr.: Reema Borah | cin.: Siddharth Mitragotri, Sandeep Patil | ed.: Rantu Chetia | snd: Boby John | cast: Urmila Mahanta, Vansh Bharadwaj, Udayan Duarah, Dorothy Bharadwaj, Monuj Borkotoky | prod.: Reema Borah
Ankahi Baatein
Director: Sujatha Rajashekar
India | 2022 | 17 min | drama | Hindi, with English subtitles
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Ankahi Baatein tells the story of a lonely housewife who finds solace in the company of a doll that ends up on her doorstep after a failed delivery attempt at her neighbour’s apartment. With time, she develops a deep, life-affirming bond with the doll. Initially ashamed of it and what people might think, she eventually comes around after hearing the story of Meerabai and the icon of Lord Krishna, realizing that, sometimes, a relationship only makes sense for the two people in it.
SUJATHA RAJASHEKAR is a passionate storyteller who stepped into the film world at the age of 55, enticed by the art of weaving stories from original concepts and transforming them into immersive experiences through the eye of the lens. Her short film Pratima (co-directed by sound designer Swapnil Sharma) was named Children’s Film of the Month by the Tagore International Film Festival in early 2023. Ankahi Baatein also won an award at Tagore, and was screened at the Pune Short Film Festival, the Bengal International Short Film Festival and the Lift-Off Sessions 2023 @Pinewod Studios.
scr.: Sujatha Rajashekar | cin.: Vinod Patil | ed.: Manas Sharma | cost.: Sujatha Rajashekar | art dir.: Sujatha Rajashekar | snd: Swapnil Sharma | mus.: Sidhant Mathur | cast: Smita Dwivedi, Abhikalp Gagdekar, Amrandra Srivastava, Ananta Rooprai | prod.: Sujatha Rajashekar
Free parking during the screening.
$15 per ticket, plus H.S.T. ($1.95) & service fees.
