4 movies

4 Short films by K. GOVINDARAJU and SAKSHI GULATI.

This screening session is going to be a delectable treat for film lovers.

It features three short films directed by K. GOVINDA RAJU (hailing from Mancheriyal in Telanagana) and another film scripted by him, but directed by SAKSHI GULATI (from Delhi). The films were made as part of their Film Direction courses at Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and have been highly appreciated.

1. GOLDEN MANGO (Marathi/ 10min/ 2013) // Director : K. GOVINDARAJU A little boy throws a tantrum for mangoes and gets ticked off by his mother. He is mollified by his grandmother who tells him the story of golden mangoes reaped by a villager. Midway through the story, the boy slips into a dream in which he touches the golden mango and turns it into an ordinary one. Awards and Nominations : o MIFF. IDPA award for Best student film(2014) – Winner o Berlinale Film Festival (2013) (Competition) o HFF Konrad Wolf Potsdam-Germany 2014 o Student Film and Video Festival of Beijing Film Academy, China.(2012) (Nominated) o International Film Festival of India (2012) (Screened) o Pune International Short Film Festival(2013) (Nominated) o International Short & Independent Film Festival, Dhaka(2013) (Nominated)
2. SARUS (Marathi/ 20 min/ 2016) // Director : K. GOVINDARAJU Vishnu (14) lives an idyllic life in a small fishing village. Vishnu is skilled at hand fishing but he, as a rule never fishes in excess. He is attracted to Meenakshi(14) but her proximity to another boy compels Vishnu to act in a way that will forever crease his fabric of innocence.

Awards and Nominations : o Winner (2nd) : Alpavirama South Asian Short and Documentary Film Festival -NID – 2016 o Student Film and Video Festival of Beijing Film Academy, China.(2016) (Nominated) o CMS Vatavaran Film Festival, India (2017) Nominated)

1. SNAKES (music video/ 5 min/ 2015 // Director : K. GOVINDARAJU
2. NEON (Marathi/ 27 min/ 2018) // Director : SAKSHI GULATI Synopsis : Having recently moved to Mumbai, a working class family rents out their balcony to an advertising company in order to supplement their meager income. A gigantic billboard that reads “Add value to your life” now blocks all natural sunlight to their cramped apartment, disturbing the family’s natural rhythms and forcing them to adjust to life suspended in a permanent evening illuminated by a strange neon glow. As the parents struggle to bear their compromised present in hopes for a better future that appears increasingly elusive, the children, hopeful and resilient, find comfort in each other and look for cracks through which the light creeps in. Awards and Nominations : o Winner (2nd) : Alpavirama South Asian Short and Documentary Film Festival -NID 2016 o Student Film and Video Festival of Beijing Film Academy, China.(2016) (Nominated)

K. GOVINDA RAJU His passion for storytelling led him to do a course in fine arts followed by film making training from Film and Television Institute of india (FTII Pune). His short film ‘Golden Mango’ was screened in 17 different countries and won many awards, including the Prestigious Berlinale -Germany.

His film school graduation film Sarus was screened in ISFVF Beijing-china, and won Silver Comma Awards 2017. A minimalist aesthetic, relying on fine detailing and pre-visualization allows him to be appropriately communicative and efficient during execution. Culturally rooted reality and a magical allegorical realism find an unusual confluence in the stories he works with.

SAKSHI GULATI

Sakshi Gulati is a Filmmaker & Media Educator. She has worked with grass root initiatives, fiction and non-fiction films, documentation of Folk Cultures & Media literacy initiatives, producing documentaries & a series of shorts made by children & young adults before joining film school. Her films have been screened at various platforms.