KOZHIKODE: ‘Unplug racism’—that is the theme of this year’s ‘Youth spring film festival’ being conducted by Solidarity here from Saturday to Monday. Oscar movie ‘12 Years a Slave, national award winning movies ‘Court’ and ‘Amoeba,’ and documentaries and short films on contemporary issues will be screened during the festival, which is in its fourth edition.
“The theme is relevant in the context of recent issues like the death of dalit student Rohit Vemula, the JNU agitation and the beef issue. We are now divided on the basis of our patriotism and its scale is defined by some fascist powers. Racism is posing a challenge to our country,” says a member of the organizing committee, C.M. Shareef.
Short films and documentaries are given more importance this time. “Short films and documentaries usually come with deep insights, but only very few will be ready to fund them. Moreover, the majority of the audience in our homes rarely get a chance to view them as they are not broadcast on TV channels. So our intention is to popularise them and encourage the youth to come up with more similar ideas” says the state general secretary of Solidarity, Sadik Uliyil.
Over 27 short films, 15 documentaries and three musical albums will be shown on two screens in the temporary theatre set up near the corporation stadium. The best short film and documentary will receive a cash prize of Rs 20,000 and the best musical album Rs 10,000.
The topics of short films include water scarcity and famine while the documentary subjects are issues of transgender, homosexuals and religious intolerance. Five international feature films, five short films and four documentaries related to racism will also be screened. ‘Kari’ directed by Sanavas Naranippuzha was the inaugural movie on Saturday.
