The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) is back with their 16th edition of Asian Women's Film Festival, where works by women directors from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Doha, Iran, India, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Taiwan and Turkey will run the gamut of feature length documentary films, short fiction. animation films and experimental ones. The IAWRT, which is usually held at the India International Centre, Delhi is from March 5-7 this year. With themes exploring a range of concerns from citizenship, identity and migration to mental health and climate change, IAWRT holds one of the most sought after women director-only film festivals in the region. Here are the highlights.
Granddad was a romantic
Directed by by Tehran-born Maryam Mohajer, the British-Iranian film won the BAFTA Award for British Short Animation this year. In a painterly fashion with a rousing soundscape, the short film promises to live up to its title where a child documents the love life of her grandfather who is known to be an incurable romantic. She recounts how her Granddad first came across her beautiful Granny's picture and decided she must the love of his life. They marry and start a family, but her grandfather's endless quest for romance takes him to unexpected directions. (March 5, 6-7pm)
Kandurwan-Baking History
This is a documentary on Kashmiri bread, its culture and polity, by Mehvish Rather from Baramulla. ‘Kandur’ means bread and ‘wan’ means shop and the film goes inside the male-dominated shops of traditional bread-makers in Kashmir. These baker shops, selling a dazzling array of breads or rotis or tschots, are an integral engine of community camaraderie in the conflict-torn region. It was screened at the Dharamshala International Film Festival last year and won awards at festivals in Europe. (March 5, 10-11am)
Shut Up Sona
Sona Mohapatra is known for her outspokenness. The popular singer has been extremely vocal about equal representation of female performance artists. She called out Anu Malik for sexual harassment when the MeToo movement exploded in India and the allegations led to him being briefly dropped from judging Indian Idol in 2018. She was once charged with obscenity for wearing revealing clothes while singing Sufi bhajans. Mohapatra's continuous struggle for equality and fairness has been captured in a documentary called Shut Up Sona which is also the opening film of the 16th IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival on March 5 at 7pm.
Bombay Rose
The feature debut of Gitanjali Rao's animated opus, whose hand-painted images took six years to complete, needs no introduction. It tells the story of a flower-seller who has to decide between protecting her family or letting herself fall in love. Bombay Rose is the first Indian animation film ever to be selected to open Venice Critic's Week. Produced by Anand Mahindra and Rohit Khattar, the film is written, designed and directed by Rao and created at the Mumbai-based PaperBoat Animation studios where a team of over 100 animators painted a million frames to complete the film. A must watch for those who have missed out its previous screenings.
(March 6, 7-9pm; the filmmaker will be available to Q&A afterwards).
The Outside In
The PSBT (Public Service Broadcasting Trust) documentary by Hansa Thapliyal follows two women as they work with everyday materials to make human figures. This process of doll-making is given more a poignant dimension as it transforms into a search for a deeper self. (March 7, 3-4pm)
Honey, Rain and Dust
Made by Nujoom Alghanem from the UAE, the 2016 ecological documentary shines the light on a lesser-known tradition honey-finding in the north-western mountains of the United Arab Emirates. Here three female honey-hunters roam the mountains to look for wild bees who are themselves under tremendous stress with the changing climate, their survival under threat. The 86-minute documentary film is the international focus at the festival and will be the final film shown at the closing ceremony on March 7 at 7pm.
