WINNER, SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR

OFFICIAL SELECTION

SEMI-FINALIST

The biggest strength of 'Tower' lies in the approach and tonality it adopts to share the narrative. The narrative itself, it should be noted, offers an impactful conversation around a serious environmental concern, using a very unlikely circumstance - the love story of a cow herder in a corner of rural India. 


While we may have established the protagonist's location to be a 'rural corner', thanks to the rampant spread of technological advances, even this small village is seeing its fair share of change in the form of cellular services and their accompanying towers.  


Parshuram, or as he is better known in his village, Phalya,  spends the majority of his time either in the fields with his young friend, Jaygya (a naughty, Tinkerbell-esque presence), or navigating and admiring the beauty of birds in his vicinity. Every morning, as Phalya strolls through the expanse, a red bus stops to reveal to the audience his childhood crush, Manju, sitting by the window. Alongside Phalya and Manju's love story, another narrative is developing, one about the disappearance of birds from the former's village.  



After conversing for hours on phone calls, the two eventually decide to meet. Following the rendezvous and a conversation about Manju's academic matters, a startling and concerning revelation is made. As the protagonist chooses to to eradicate the root cause of the dwindling bird population, the constant push and pull between nature and technology is conjured for the viewer. In the process, the film raises a resounding question - have centuries of co-existence been disrupted beyond repair by the advent of modern technology and human activities? At the end of it all, the many elements of the plot are eventually tied together with a strangely heartwarming and uplifting message that ensures that the story concludes with a critical comment about the responsibility of each of us towards the world we live in, a statement that will stay with you long after you're done watching the film.

Tower | Short Film of the Year

The documentary presents a concise, but compelling account of the many tribal identities in Wayanad, Kerala. Along with offering a glimpse into the many threads that make up this whole, which is far from being a monolithic entity, it further introduces the viewer to the efforts of those who are trying to conserve primarily the linguistic aspect of it. For instance, as the narrative portrays for the viewer, each tribe had songs for different occasions. These songs, in the process, became their history, and the loss of these tunes and rhymes is tantamount to a huge loss of a cultural identity we might never get back. The film draws your attention to all of these aspects of a society that operates and thrives far from our urban existence, and retains all the lyricism and poetry of its subject while doing so. The visuals of the film are especially beautiful and are thereby able to support its subject matter efficiently, allowing the final product to be an engrossing and insightful documentary.

Most Viewed

Genres

Awards

Follow Us

Quick Links