The second edition of Dharamshala International Film Festival- DIFF, was announced in the Capital on Tuesday. For all the cinema lovers this year DIFF has an array of 30 films - a choice pick from independent movies, documentaries, short films and experimental cinema.
Created by noted filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam this film festival is determined to provide a platform to independent movie makers and to present exceptional contemprory cinema to the viewers.
Few movies to be screened this year includes Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin’s provocative Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, based on controversy created by the Russian feminist punk rock protest group. Another interesting watch will be Polish filmmaker Jacek Borcuch’s award-winning romantic feature film, Lasting which will be followed by Australian director Kate Shortland’s moving post-World War II drama, Lore; British artiste Shezad Dawood’s debut sci-fi feature, Piercing Brightness and Japanese cult director Takanori Tsujimoto’s martial arts extravaganze, Bushido Man.
This year, DIFF have a special focus on Indian documentaries with strong social concerns. Festival will be presenting Nishtha Jain’s Gulabi Gang, Amit Virmani’s Menstrual Man, and Anand Patwardhan’s Jai Bhim Comrade.
A number of films selected for the festival are based on children or teenagers struggling to overcome failure and dilemmas are also lined up. Some of these are Kim Mordaunt’s coming-of-age drama set in Laos, The Rocket; Dominga Sotomayor’s Chilean road movie, Thursday Till Sunday. Following the new Indian Indie wave, films like Nagraj Popatrao Manjule’s Fandry and Q’s Tasher Desh will also be screened.
A carefully curated series of fillers (to be screened between movies) will present short takes made by leading international artistes.