Natesh Hegde’s ‘Vaghachipani’ first Kannada film to be screened at Berlin international film festival

Natesh Hegde’s sophomore film Vaghachipani (Tiger’s Pond) is set to premiere at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in the Forum category.

It is reportedly the first Kannada feature-length film to be screened at the prestigious festival.

One of the oldest programmes at the festival, the Forum programme “stands for reflections on the medium of film, socio-artistic discourse and a particular sense for the aesthetic,” according to the Berlinale website. 

Hegde’s film is about a mentally challenged shepherdess. A local politician exploits her when she gets pregnant.

The film explores rural power dynamics. It is based on two short stories by Amaresh Nugadoni, Hegde told DH. Vagachipani is a pond in Sirsi, Karnataka, where tigers come to quench their thirst. 

Vagachipani, just like his first film Pedro, also has non-actors. “We have a mix of actors and non-actors. My father and I have also acted in the film,” he said.

Dileesh Pothan, Achyuth Kumar, Sumitra, Jahangir M S, Bindu Raxidi, Nagaraj Hegde, Sandhya Arakere and Gayatri Heggodu are the others on board. 

The film’s producers are Anurag Kashyap, Ranjan Singh, Hegde and Jeremy Chua.

While Kashyap needs no introduction, Ranjan Singh produced Kashyap’s recent directorial ‘Kennedy’.

Chua is a Singapore-based producer known for producing ‘Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,’ which won a Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival last year. ‘Vagachipani’ was selected at the NFDC Work in Progress lab in 2023. 

16 mm camera

The film was shot on a 16 mm camera. Vikas Urs, who also shot Pedro, is the film’s cinematographer.

Hegde said he wanted to shoot his first film on 16 mm as well. Being his first film there were many challenges. “The image-making process is completely different on a 16 mm. There’s a photochemical reaction that gives the quality of a living being,” he said.

Speaking about how he felt about Vagachipani being the first Kannada film to be screened at Berlinale, he said he’s left with mixed feelings.

“I’m happy, but also a little sad. There have been many wonderful films in Kannada. I don’t know why they haven’t made it to the festival,” he noted. “It is a very prestigious festival and I’m excited,” he concluded. 

Commenting on when the Kannada audiences will get to see Vagachipani, Natesh said, “When the film fraternity here considers me as a Kannada filmmaker, only then perhaps I’ll be able to screen the film here”

Global acclaim

Hegde’s Pedro received global acclaim and was screened in multiple festivals, including the Busan International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival. But the film didn’t get a screening at the Bengaluru International Film Festival for multiple reasons.