Women light up the silver screen

The first day of the 18th European Film Festival, that is being held at different venues across the City till March 28, witnessed a full house.

The festival was inaugurated by British Deputy High Commissioner Ian Felton, who was thrilled that the festival kicked off with a British film.

“The objective of the film festival is to portray the strength of women, who are just as competent and ambitious as men are. Today’s world offers equal opportunities to both men and women and this festival hopes to project the positive side of every woman,” says Ian.

He adds, “It’s the independent spirit of a woman that is being portrayed in all the films. The festival has a lot of movies on the lines of ‘Bend It Like Beckham’.”

Danseuse Vani Ganapathy, who was also present on the occasion, was thrilled by the idea of a film festival dedicated exclusively to the fairer sex.

 “The films are about different aspects of women. The pride of being a woman and their power and capability comes through in all the films,” she says.

The films that will be screened during the week-long festival have all been carefully hand-picked.

The film titled ‘My name is Ki’, directed by Leszek Dawid, is a Polish movie that captures the life and struggles of a young woman.

Another film, directed by Will Koopman from the Netherlands and called ‘The Dark House’, is about the life of a single mother who tries to flee the country after she begins receiving death threats.

And ‘Your Name is Justin’, directed by Franco da Pena from Luxembourg, is about Mariola, a young woman from the Polish countryside. She craves a new and different life and the movie follows her quest for a better living. 

Those who attended the opening day liked the mix of films and were happy that among the many film festivals being held in the City, at least one of them is dedicated to women.

 Rabi, a theatre artiste and a film-maker, says, “I really like the mix of films — the concept of a film festival about women is interesting.” 

Sujatha, a student who was present during the screening, says, “It’s hard to see films from across the globe at one festival but this one completely satisfies that yearning.”