The Rohingya refugee crisis has been one of the most staggering displacement of people in history. As hundreds of thousands of people found themselves driven out of their country, or meet a torturous, horrifying fate if they stayed, countless lives were uprooted and scattered to the wind in a cruel, horrifying, haphazard manner. The short docu endeavors to explore the many tribulations of these lives, now having found shelter in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. 

Through the eyes of a doctor, Babar Ali, who works in the camp, the narrative introduces the viewer to it all. From smiling children, to ill elderly to distraught men and women who articulate their unbridled misery to the camera, it attempts to engage with them all. The final result, thus, does its bit to further and spread the conversation on a very pressing, dire issue of contemporary times.

Rohingya | Short Film Nominee

The documentary film introduces us to Durgasankar Pradhan, an interesting protagonist who spends much of his time collecting different kinds of seeds, and then allowing them to grow into plants that would one day bear fruit. His efforts are also directed towards saving and conserving endangered plant species, as well as educating those around him about their absolute significance in human society. While engaging with all of these concerns, the narrative also draws attention to the intrinsic relationship that once existed between our cultural identity and the food that we consumed. This further leads to a contrast between indigenous seeds and those of a hybrid kind, and how the latter is slowly making the former obsolete. At its core are also pertinent points that draw your attention to how we may complain of increasing prices of produce which we import from far-off regions, and yet, not possess the inclination to pause and reflect on the demise of native breeds and species of plants. The film interacts with all of these issues and presents to the city-dwelling, urban viewer the beauty as well as the importance of growing your own plants and vegetables.

Seed-Man | Short Film Nominee

Tsubaki introduces us to the relationship of Harsha and Arjama. What may have initially been presented as a regular friendship, along with a suggestion of some underlying tension, is soon revealed to be a one-sided love story. As the story progresses, the stress is allowed to build until it reaches a point of high-intensity, as well as one of no return for our protagonist. Extreme hurt stems from a place of extreme love, and the thought finds an echo in the progression of events of the film as well. In the process, it becomes an attempt to engage with emotional upheavals and the extent of damage they are capable of causing. There is further the desire to employ a poetic approach in sharing the same story with the viewer.

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