The love towards a city or a place is often for the people and memories associated with it. Same is the case for two elderly woman, who were inseparable in their school days, but eventually lost touch with the passage of time. The film follows their story as they try to rekindle their friendship after thirty long years. 
The story is told through Nivedita's point of view as she tidies her house and prepares elaborate dishes for the visit of her old friend, Aruna, in their hometown of Kolkata. She finds herself smiling at random things, recollecting stories to share with her friend and dreaming about the time when they'll finally sit and share old anecdotes. 
There is comfort in the thought of letting out inner fears to a known and loved person. Finally, after umpteen preparations, the day of Aruna's arrival is here, but with a twist which leaves both, the viewers and the characters, heartbroken.

That Long Silence | Short Film Nominee

Rarely in life does one meet someone and almost instinctively find them to be a space of comfort and love, their presence to be like balmy warmth on a long winter night, perhaps something like a pixie, as suggests the narrative. Samar and Sana's paths cross due to a common friend at a dinner party where amidst conversation and twinkling, soft lights, they fall for each other. Despite their deep love, they push each other away and take on different paths. As life carries on with its course, and tugs them in different directions, they keep in touch through letters. While relationships and marriages with other people continue, this particular bond remains unbroken. However, after years of separation and distance, will they eventually find a way back to each other or keep on living as two halves of a whole? The question is meant to be intrinsic to the plot, as it attempts to rope in symbolism, metaphors, music and lyricism in its portrayal.

Pixie Dust | Short Film Nominee

Ennekum is a simple story that explores the relationship between a son and his mother who has
developed early-onset Alzheimer's disease. We see the son’s (Chetan) indifference, denial, guilt
and repentance. 
We see the mother only smile twice, once during a phone call with her son, and the second time when
she is holding an old picture of young Chetan, with his arms around her, and describing the story behind
it to her neighbour. She only smiles in the past, memories, nostalgia, never in the present moment. 

There is a poignant moment in the film when the mother cannot recognise her son anymore. He has to go
to the other room and have her call him on the phone - the only way she remembers communicating with
him. The way the plants in Chetan’s mother’s house glisten, put the ornamental lights and plants in the
restaurant he visits, to shame. 
The only concern, however, that the viewer may have is that the despair that is meant to unfold through the narrative, becomes continuing, and
ongoing, and therefore, foiled.

Ennekkum | Short Film Nominee

The film is an innocent narrative, conjured from the point of view of a child, the youngest member of a family. As he follows his elder brother, parents and grandfather around the house with a camera, an image of the familial space is conjured for the spectator. During the coronavirus lockdown, while the mother spends all her time doing domestic chores, the brother in front of screens and the father before his laptop or on the phone with his friends, the grandfather finds companionship in plants. It is through objective observations, minus any emotional charge on the part of the child, that the viewer is introduced to a breakdown of communication among families and the distance that exists despite all members being within the same physical space. The film further employs skilful poetry to share its intentions.

Al1 2gether | Short Film Nominee

Rong invokes a sense of calm with its sombre recounting of a person's experience of their life in a small town. While they may have found a safe abode in Delhi, there seems to be a sense of romance with the existence back home which is conjured by portraying for the viewer the daily activities of the protagonist's mother. From their shared past to now when the mother longs for her child to return home as soon as possible, the film weaves it all. 
There is something very likeable about the final result without your realizing exactly what it is. Is it the candour, quietness, intimacy or simplicity, or all of them together? Additionally, despite the technical rawness of the narrative unfolding before you, the potential of the lean team comes across notably in this sincere attempt at providing the viewer a very personal account of life.

Rong | Short Film Nominee

The film opens with an accident, a hospital scene and the deep sorrow of a man as he awaits the final word on a beloved's fate. The story then moves back and forth in time to tie visuals of the distressed man with happier days of a romance. It takes us into a relationship marked by playfulness, affection and the desire to be with each other. Soon the courtship takes the form of marriage, and this is when things begin to go downhill for the couple. If earlier they did not have money to spend on one another, they had time and love to share instead. However now the equations have reversed. The film wants to draw the same comparison to drive home the message about valuing and paying attention to your partner, and to never neglect them or their needs.

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