Ore Udal, that narrates the experiences of a nun who gets raped, is the only non-feature film from Kerala at the IFFI
.jpg "Ore Udal finds its way to IFFI")
Asha Achy Joseph during the shoot
Narrating the tale of a woman traumatised and unable to face life, the short film Ore Udal (One Body) directed by Asha Achy Joseph is the only non-feature film selected from Kerala for the 46th International Film Festival of India, Goa.
The 14-minute short film features Sajitha Madathil, who has won accolades for portraying the lead role of a nun who gets raped and becomes pregnant. The film, produced by Jayakrishnan Menon, is a sojourn of a woman through her hallucinations and, despair after harrowing experiences in her life.
“The body of a victim is rarely perceived as an organic entity by the spectator; it is a ‘thing’. My attempt through One Body on its preliminary level is to look at the void in the mind of a rape victim.”
“Though subjective to a large extent, this attempt is to explore varied layers of experiences that engulf the act of violence as a victim and a perpetrator,” says the 44 -year-old Head of the Department of Media Studies at the Sacred Heart School of Communication. The entire shoot was completed in two-and-a-half days and was based on the theatre production Njayarazhcha (Sunday) written by James Elia.
The attempt to highlight the effect of physical assault on the victims has received a lot of appreciation from the audience. “Being an educationalist, I look at films from an education point of view as well. By roping in my students while making this film, it was one way to mould youngsters into better filmmakers. After all, filmmaking comes from inside and cannot be just taught,” says the native of Thiruvalla.
“From the beginning of inception itself I was convinced that it had to be of social relevance and not just for sheer entertainment. Sajitha and I being friends have been discussing about it for quite some time. She is the driving force behind this project. Along with this came budgetary problems and it was she who introduced me to her friend Jayakrishnan, who was of great help.”
“I consider short films as a way to expose the problems. People should actually go through the content but nowadays people are ‘content-less’. Our social, cultural and political psyche embraces rape and its violence to the extent of making it a ritualistic practice. Could there be a solution to this,” she asks.
Scripted by Asha Achy Joseph and Vinod Sukumaran, Saji Nair is the director of photography and Vinod Sukumaran has edited the film. Renowned musician Manoj George has composed the background score. The cast also includes Marina Micheal, Nishida Sahir, Mini Mohan and Shiny John Koshy.
Sajitha Madathil was awarded for the best actress in the Ichill Spanish Film Fest 2015 for this film. The film has also been selected for London Shows International Film Festival (UK, Miami Independent film festival (USA), Sunrise International Film Festival (Canada), IChill Spanish Film festival (Philippines), Russian International film festival (Russia).
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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