Karnataka filmmakers going places

Busan and Tasveer International Film Festivals will have films from Karnataka directors

Three Indian films will be screened at the Busan International Film Festival, set to be held from October 6 to 15. Two out of the three films are made by filmmakers from Karnataka.

Bharat Mirle, a Bengalurean, has made a docufiction ‘The Road To Kuthriyar’, which will be screened in the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ section of the festival. The 114-minute film is in Tamil and English.

“The film is about a wildlife researcher, who is conducting a foot survey of the Kodaikanal wildlife sanctuary (in Tamil Nadu). He recruits a local tribesman to guide him through the forest. As the two of them set off on a journey, they develop an unlikely friendship. The researcher understands certain truths about tribesmen and their place in Indian society,” Bharat tells Showtime.

Bharat, whose award-winning short ‘175 Grams’ was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, plied his trade in journalism and advertising before turning to filmmaking in 2011.

Natesh Hegde’s ‘Pedro’, bankrolled by Kannada actor-director Rishab Shetty, will be screened in the 'New Currents' category of the festival. “The film is about an electrician in Sirsi. It’s about how he handles his family and society after he commits a crime,” says Natesh.

This is Natesh’s first feature film and it will be screened at the BFI London Film Festival (October 6-17). The youngster, who studied journalism at the Karnatak University in Dharwad, worked briefly as a journalist at the Kannada daily 'Prajavani'.

‘Naanu Ladies’ for TSAFF

Shailaja Padindala’s maiden feature film ‘Naanu Ladies’ is set to be screened at the Tasveer South Asian Film Festival (TSAFF) next month. “The film is a lesbian love story,” says Shailaja.

“My film is about how you find love in a woman. It deals with the sociopolitical issues around the society. It shows how economical constraints strains a relationship involving two women from a middle-class background,” explains the queer filmmaker.

The Bengalurean’s impressive short film ‘Memories of a Machine’, starring Kani Kusurti, was screened at many international film festivals.