Kolkata gears up for short film festival to begin from Jan 23
KOLKATA: Do you know nearly 44 million people worldwide are dealing with Alzheimer’s or similar dementia? In the USA alone, around 5.5 million individuals, spanning all ages, are affected by Alzheimer’s disease. FTII graduate Prateek Rajendra Srivastava’s new film ‘My Father is Afraid of Water’ deals with Alzheimer. A 27-minute film starring veteran actor Mohan Agashe, the film explores a touching father-son story where the elderly father, slipping into Alzheimer’s, struggles to recognise his own son. This much-anticipated film is set to captivate audiences at the fourth International Kolkata Short Film Festival (IKSFF 2024). The festival will be a mix of online screenings from January 23 to 25 and physical screenings at Rotary Sadan from January 26 to 28. With 125 films from 30 countries, the six-day festival is a celebration of cinema, offering a wide range of subjects—from tribal and human rights themes to children’s, LGBTQ, and women-centric stories. During the festival, you can catch films like ‘The Last Tram’ starring Chiranjeet, ‘Cabbage’ with Moon Moon Sen and Sabyasachi Chakraborty, ‘Nehemich’ by Yudhajit Basu, and ‘Giddh’ directed by Manish Saini featuring Sanjay Mishra. The closing ceremony will be held on January 28 at Rotary Sadan from 5 pm, and there’s a seminar on ‘Cinema with a cause’ as well.
At the ceremony, more than 30 awards will be given to winners, including the prestigious Late Jibon Guha Memorial Award and the Best Bengali Actor of the Decade Award. Veteran actor Mohan Agashe will be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to Indian Cinema. “We believe that the future lies in short films, and we’re witnessing its growing popularity these days. Our platform is designed to empower new filmmakers, allowing them to showcase their work and connect with audiences directly. Short films have always been considered a stepping stone for the film industry,” said festival chairman Sourav Chakraborty. He also expressed the view that multiplexes and single screens should allocate a minimum of a two-hour slot for short films, documentaries, and animations before commercials. This way, short films can find their way into cinema
halls as well.
