BISFF-2019-web

THE FISHHOOK 10 mins | Malayalam | India

JESWIN JOSE

Synopsis:
A humble dramatic portrayal of two boys taking their chances

of breaking their daily dosage of school, to dream to fish in waters.
The story revolves around the instances and devolopments of their
dream.
About the director:

Jeswin Jose is a filmmaker based in Kerala. He works as an
Assistant Director in the Malayalam film industry. He is also a
professional photographer. He has directed two short films,
Choondal (Fish Hook) and Kshnakathu (the Invitation), both
winning enormous awards. He is a Visual communication graduate
from SRM University, Chennai.

2019 51

THE REMAINS 17 mins | Nepali | Nepal

MANOJ BABU PANTA

Synopsis:
A stream of conscious progression of a hallucinatory experience

of an old man.The old man living his last few days in a small hut
situated on the isolated riverbank, has lost almost all the assets of
life, All he had left was his aged skinny figure, an old hut and a hazy
childhood nostalgia which was also gradually vanishing towards
eternity. The old man slowly paddles an old wooden boat to a river
bank covered in mist where he is frequently haunted by his
childhood nostalgia. His own childhood image traps himself in a
fish net and play a typical game on the riverbank. The senile old
man hallucinates his old hut vanishing in the flame of fire and his
feeble body transformed into a gigantic fish.

About the director:
Manoj Babu Panta graduated from Tribhuvan University with a

specialization of filmmaking in 2007 AD. He has been teaching
cinema at Tribhuvan University for a decade. He has mentored
numerous cinema workshops. He is the head of department of
screenplay writing and direction faculty at Tribhuwan
University(College of Film Studies) since 2012. His film “Where is

2019 52

THE ROLE 12 mins | Persian | Iran

FARNOOSH SAMADI

Synopsis:
A woman accompanies her husband for an audition. The thing

that happens there leads her for an important decision...
About the director:

Farnoosh Samadi is an Iranian filmmaker who is graduated
from Fine Art Academy in Rome. She worked as co-writer in Ali
Asgari’s award winning short films. She is also co-writer of a feature
film with Ali Asgari which was developed at Cinefondation
Residence. The Silence her first short film co-directed by Ali Asgari
had its world premiere in competition at Cannes Film Festival 2016.
Gaze is her second short film which has its world premiere in
competition of Locarno Film Festival 2017.

2019 53

UPPER LIP 10 mins | Hebrew | Israel

SHIRI COHEN

Synopsis:
A bitter– sweet comedy and the coming of an age tale of a

12-year-old bushy browed girl, who goes to get her eyebrows
groomed for the first time for her upcoming Bat Mitzva.
About the director:

A Graduate of Film Studies from Sapir College. An artist manager
in Shalash organization - a casting organization. In 2018; writer and
director of “Upper Lip”, a short film that was featured in cinema south
festival, won the best film and the best cinematography, supported by
the Gesher foundation. Script editor of “Lola’s looking for a husband” -
a web series (now in pre-production). In 2017; writer and director of
“Donation”, a short film that was featured in cinema south festiva, won
an audience favorite and 2nd place in the official competition, “Daka
Darom”. Writer and director of “People who are me”, a web series pilot
that was featured in cinema south festival. In 2016-2017; Head of the
feminist program in Sapir college (includes leading a national viral
protest of the early release of former president and convicted rapist
Moshe Katzav from prison.). In 2005-2009; a graduate of MATAN
program - a creative writing program for promising youth.

2019 54

VERTE 7 mins | Spanish | Spain

ALEJANDRO SÁNCHEZ

Synopsis:
Clara is a college girl who lives a perfect life as a popular

student, surrounded by classmates and friends who would like to be
like her, and enjoy her company. Her success in social media is great
and she knows so it, and uses it to the top without paying attention
to anything or anyone else but her ego. However, Clara is about to
experiance a very different reality, a terrifying success.
About the director:

Alejandro Sánchez is a filmmaker and musician based between
Edinburgh and Santander. His works range from commercials to
short films and music videos. All of me, Periodo de Espera and
Verte are some of his works.

2019 55

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?....

ANTONY NDUNG’U 8 mins | English, Swahili |
Kenya

Synopsis:
In a world full of social media pressure, a lady tries hard to stay

afloat, compete and impress the public. In the process she ends up
messing herself. Is hope lost? What’s on her mind?
About the director:

Antony Ndung’u is a seasoned actor and director who’s out to
inject positivity in the industry. As an actor, he has bagged
numerous awards including - Best Actor - Machafest 2016, Best
Supporting Kalasha 2017 and Best Film Actor 2018. He has directed
4 short films - Tackling Extreme Radicalization, Responsible use of
social media, Mental Health and Crime in the Kenyan Slums. He
was feted with the BEST DIRECTOR award in the Machakos Film
Festival 2018 for the short film “WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?”

2019 56

ZACARIAS 12 mins | | Spain

VIOLETA TRINCADO

Synopsis:
A homeless called Zacarias. A Man in Suit and a Taxi Driver

meet together in a traffic accident that causes Zacarias death. Going
back in time, an insignificant detail, like the butterfly effect, will
change the fate of the characters.
About the director:

Born into a family dedicated to cinema, Violeta Trincado has
always been in contact with the film industry. After passing through
the University of the Basque Country and the DAMS University in
Rome, is carrying out a Master of Distribution of Cinema at the
prestigious ECAM School in Madrid. She works in the films
acquisitions department of Trece TV.

2019 57

Indian

Competition Section

Indian Competition Section presents the
works of merit by Indian filmmakers with
their innovative narration, cutting edge
techniques and alternate perspectives.
BISSF aims to provide a platform to these
filmmakers to showcase and promote
their films, facilitate discourses and offer
networking possibilities.

2019 58

JURY Indian Competition

Sanjay Routray
Producer

Sanjay Routray has worked as an Executive/Line
Producer for Hindi language films like Makdee, Khosla ka
Ghosla, Johnny Gaddar, Kaalpurush, Shaurya and others.

Have executed & been associated with some of the
top directors with their first films. To name a few- Anurag
Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj, Imtiaz Ali, Sriram Raghavan,
Dibakar Bannerjee, Manish Jha, and others. He has line
produced 2 films with Buddhadeb Dasgupta, which were
premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and one of them
was the official entry in the Panorama section at the
Berlin Film Festival and both went on to win the National
award for “Best Director” and “Best Film” respectively in
consecutive years.

JURY Indian Competition

Mahesh Narayanan
Filmmaker

Mahesh Narayanan is a popular Indian film editor,
writer and director who was passionate about pursuing a
career in the film industry from a very young age. After
completing his graduation from Adayar Film and
Television Institute in Tamil Nadu, Mahesh started
working as an advert editor. He subsequently progressed
to edit documentaries, short films and entered the film
industry with Rathimazha, a Malyaalm film award, which
won five Kerala State Awards.

A few of his most popular films as an editor include
Beautiful, Traffic, Kanyaka Talkies, Viswaroopam, and
Ennu Ninte Moideen. After establishing himself as an
accomplished and successful editor, Mahesh ventured
into writing and made his debut as a writer with Mili, a
Malayalam film, which opened to rave reviews in Kerala.
The editor-turned-writer made his debut as a film
director with Take Off.

JURY Indian Competition

S Vishwanath
Senior Film and journalist

S Vishwanath is a Senior Film Critic and journalist with 3
decades of experience.

He a FIPRESCI India member, who has been on the jury
of several film festivals including Abu Dhabi, Kerala, Mumbai
and Bengaluru festival. Every year he travels to various
international film festivals and writes reviews on the festival
films.

He is a Post Graduate in English Literature and MS in
Communication with Film Studies as a special subject.
He is one of the curators for the World Cinema Section at
Bengaluru International Film Festival.

As an active film society member, he extensively writes
on the films covering various aspects of the film narrative art
form, both at national and state level and covers South
Indian Films reviewing and critiquing involving Kannada
Tamil Telugu Malayalam as also Hindi and English language
cinema for the newspapers and magazines.

A STAR-STUDDED SKY

AASIF MOYAL 20 mins | Hindi | India

Synopsis:
After an accident leads to the death of a cow, a peaceful

small town in India shuts down in apprehension of communal
tensions. Residing in which, a poor Muslim labourer who is
trying to earn his livelihood finds himself having to hide his
identity to avoid becoming a victim of the ensuing hostility.

About the director:
Aasif Moyal is a graduate of film school FTII, Pune.

Currently, he is working as an independent writer and director
in Mumbai. His work in Kalpvrikhsa and Dear Postman won
the National Award in the short film category of the
International Short and Independent Film Festival, Dhaka.
Kalpvrikhsa also grabbed awards at the Kolkata International
Film Festival (KIFF) and Pune International Film Festival
(PIFF). Additionally Dear Postman grabbed accolades at the
London Asian Film Festival, London, Children International
Film Festival, Dubai, Zubroffka International Film Festival,
Poland and Allucinema Festival, Mexico.

2019 62

ANTYESHTI 18 mins | Marathi | India

PRADIP PAWAR

Synopsis:
Antyeshti is a story of a 30 yr old woman–Indu, living on a

hillside village, who has lost her husband last year. She is living
in a remote place where it rains heavily all the time. She wants
to complete her husband’s one year ritual but due to
continuous rain she is unable to manage the food items
required for rituals.While preparing for her husbands rituals,
destiny has a different plan for her.

About the director:
Director and writer, Pradip Ankush Pawar, born in Pune

India on December 22nd, 1982. He began his career as a
software developer and later moved on to film making.
Antyeshti is his first attempt in short film media which
received the best director and best film award at DMCS
national short film festival.

2019 63

BALA 20 mins | Hindi | India

JESAL SHAH

Synopsis:
The film is a journey of two siblings Chaitanya (13) and Iti

(8) who are willing to go to any extent to save their goat Bala
who they love very much. Bala is just not an animal but a
member of their family.Due to a draught, everybody in his
village is migrating to the cities. To survive in the city can be
expensive, but they have exhausted all their savings.
Chaitanya’s greedy elder brother makes a ruthless decision in
order to protect his family. In order to protect the family,
Chaitanya has to go against his brother and in order to survive,
he has to let go of Bala.

About the director:
Jesal Shah is a graduate in Mass Media and

Communication from Raheja College, Mumbai. He got his first
job as an assistant producer for TV ads and still continues to
pursue the same. He worked as an assistant producer for the
feature film Hope aur Hum, soon, after which he began writing
Bala.

2019 64

CHENDOO 10 mins | Marathi | India

ARUNDHATI BHANDE

Synopsis:
Chendoo is a Marathi short film, a story of the bitter-sweet

relationship that Mr.Kedar Rao and Mrs. Kalindi Rao have
shared for 30 years. Kedar is a grumpy and stingy old man but
he loves his wife dearly. The untimely death of Kedar leaves
Kalindi in shambles but she gradually rediscovers herself with
the help of a catalyst- a ball- Chendoo.

About the director:
Apart from being a film student, Arundhati Bhande is an

enthusiast for learning new languages, making caricatures,
clicking portraits and owes her allegiance to coffee. She
inherits her love for storytelling from her grandmother A.K.A
her first best friend. During her industry internships,
Arundhati has worked as a digital content producer for BBC
Hindi in New Delhi and was a part of the creative team of Pixel
Pictures for a Kannada TV Show- Family Power. She is also an
advocate of child rights and has worked with Teach For India,
Independent Thought and YMCA in their community
development centers.

2019 65

DIVIDER 27 mins | Malayalam | India

ANAND RADHAKRISHNAN

Synopsis:
A Hindu boy and a Muslim boy who are close friends sit on

the same bench in a school in Kerala. One day the Hindu boy
incidentally gets the sight of the cutaway foreskin of the
Muslim boy at the urinal. He starts making fun of him and
enjoys sharing the ‘secret’ of his friend. When the humiliation
gets intense he even decides not to urinate during school
hours, in between all such events something happens to the
Hindu boy and all is changed forever.

About the director:
Post BTech in civil engineering at Govt: Rajiv Gandhi

Institute of Technology, Kottayam, Anand worked for two
years as an Interior Designer. Then joined Revathy Kalamandir
Film Academy for direction & screenplay pg diploma course.
After completing the two-year course he worked as an
associate director in the movie Himalayathile Kashmalan in
which he played a character too.

2019 66

LOOK AT THE SKY 29 mins | Other | India

ASHOK VEILOU

Synopsis:
Hai, a 40-year-old man is treated as an outcast by the

villagers for not supporting the village candidate in the local
election. He shows courage and stands by his individual right.

About the director:
Ashok Veilou (27 years) hails from Purul village in Manipur.

He is currently pursuing final year postgraduate diploma in
Direction & Screenplay Writing at Satyajit Ray Film &
Television Institute (SRFTI) Kolkata, India. This is his diploma
film.

2019 67

MALAI 15 mins | Other | India

RAJDEEP PAUL, SARMISTHA
MAITI

Synopsis:

A low-caste rural boy goes to attend the wedding of a local
politician’s son’s, excited at the prospect of having a grand meal,
especially his favourite ice-cream or ‘Malai’. But he instead
discovers the dark side of the Great Indian Wedding – a wake-up
to the saga of discrimination and exploitation of the weak, low-
caste, women and even children that continues in the name of
tradition in our country even after nearly two decades in the new
millennium. Set in the rough rocky terrain of interior Odisha, the
film is a tale of a little boy’s loss of innocence and a cinematic
protest against such social injustice and inequalities.

About the director:

Sarmistha Maiti and Rajdeep Paul are independent
filmmakers, alumni of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute
(SRFTI) and recipients of the National Film Award from the
Honourable President of India for the feature length
documentary film “At the Crossroads London Bagchi Life and
Living”. The duo has written and directed several documentary
films, short fiction films, PSA, Animation and New Media films.

2019 68

MEAL 12 mins | Bengali | India

ABHIROOP BASU

Synopsis:

Set in the backdrop of ongoing communal tension instigated
by rival political factions, MEAL is an 11-minute Dialogue-less
story about one particular household. A woman in the kitchen
carrying a bruise underneath an eye stares into the distance until
a pressure cooker whistle breaks her dead gaze. A furious man in
a room restlessly stuffs things into a suitcase, a child in school
uniform picks up broken remnants from a wall clock, today is the
first day of Madhyamik and he is already late. Also present is an
ailing grandfather in a wheelchair who bears witness to it all. The
house is in a state of disarray, reflecting the chaos and lovelessness
of outside. Amidst all this, the family sits down for one last meal
together.

About the director:

Abhiroop Basu is an award-winning Director and
Screenwriter based out of Calcutta, India. A student of South
Point High School and St. Xavier’s College Calcutta, Abhiroop
went on to study films at the prestigious Prague Film School in the
Czech Republic. Some of his award-winning shorts include
Afternoon with Julia, The Paperman, and others.

2019 69

MIRCHI CAFE 15 mins | English, Hindi | India

MEHKANSH KATHURIA

Synopsis:
A cafe that harbours three stories; an ex serial killer is set

on a blind date but he suffers from withdrawal symptoms
controlling urges to kill his date; To escape a break up
situation, a guy cons his girlfriend into believing that he is a
contract killer; a death artist, an actor who is practising or
doing method acting by dying in different places.

About the director:
Mehkansh Kathuria is a student director/writer pursuing

in Indian Film Industry. Born on 13th dec 1996, he spent his
childhood in New Delhi. He has worked in English theatre
from the age of 12 and started making short films in his school
when he was 17. He frequently teaches/directs school plays in
delhi as pastime. He has won the award for the best short film
at Nehru Bar sangh, held in Delhi. He has also professionally
worked with assisting plays at NSD rep. Company and writes
with Prism Theatre Society.

2019 70

MIYAN JI KI DAADHI

AMBER 15 mins | Hindi | India

Synopsis:
34-year-old Zunaid is a Tailor, he provides people with a

certain social identity through the clothes that he stitches for
them, but situations leave him with no option other than to
lose his own identity.

About the director:
Miyan is an aspiring filmmaker from Jharkhand and is

currently working as a freelancer. He wrote and directed The
Man’s Beard in 2018 as a part of his two-year Master’s course
at Symbiosis Institute Media and Communication, Pune. He
wishes to become a socially aware writer and filmmaker in the
future.

2019 71

RDX 30 mins | Tamil | India

JOHNNY AMBROSE

Synopsis:

A heated debate between two friends in a local bar is
interrupted by a man in the adjacent table. When they realize that
the man is a famous radio jockey, they immediately join him and
begin talking to him like they’re his true fans. The night takes a bad
turn when they run into a man who is carrying a gun and a bag
with bloodstains on it. He carjacks them. The boys manage to
escape from the evil man but in the end, they realize that the
man’s bag is still in their car trunk. What do they find in the bag?.

About the director:

Johnny Ambrose began his career at an early age, as an actor
and would play the lead in local plays. He then began working in
advertising in various capacities, starting from being a spot boy
for a TV Commercial shoot to directing digital films for brands
such as Ola and Mom’s Magica. After high school, Johnny went on
to pursue a bachelors degree in the course of Visual
Communication at St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore, where he co-
directed a critically acclaimed documentary film called Touchable
and studied film extensively among other visual media.

2019 72

RED DAWN 21 mins | Telugu | India

ANANYA AYACHIT

Synopsis:
The most celebrated wedding ends on the first night of

marriage when the bride doesn’t bleed after consummation.
While the girl has only the family to look for support, they fear
their honour the most.

About the director:
Ananya Ayachit a film student, found her passion in telling

stories in her 16th year. From then she tried to move into the
fast, ever growing upscale advertising industry of Mumbai,
India only to find herself discontent of the true motive she set
out to attain. Pertaining to this she did not take a lot of time to
walk out and study cinema. She’s out of the film school now
with her first film made as a graduation project which she used
as a medium to communicate wider consciousness.

2019 73

THE BOOTH 15 mins | Hindi | India

ROHIN RAVEENDRAN

Synopsis:
A female frisking inside a shopping mall booth stands as a

silent ally to a forbidden romance.

About the director:
Rohin Raveendran Nair is an independent filmmaker and

cinematographer based out of Mumbai, India. He holds a BA
(Honours) in Journalism from University of Delhi. In 2016 he
finished his specialization in cinematography from Film and
Television Institute of India. Namaste Ma’am is his third short
film after Little Hands and Paijana (Anklet). Rohin worked as
the 2nd unit director, 2nd unit DoP on India’s first Netflix
Originals, Sacred Games, directed by Vikramaditya Motwane
and Anurag Kashyap. He is currently writing his first feature
script.

2019 74

THE DEMON 28 mins | Bengali, English |
India
TATHAGATA GHOSH

Synopsis:

A serial killer preying on infants across West Bengal hasn’t
been imprisoned yet. Homicide Unit’s senior-most detective,
Pablo Bose, has had sleepless nights and a dysfunctional marriage.
One morning, he is summoned to Durbarpur where a homeless
man claims to have witnessed the abduction of his two-month-old
daughter. Meanwhile, Pablo’s wife has given birth, but he fails to
be present and instead resumes the investigation. Pablo soon
finds himself vulnerable to possible threats that can also be
directed to his newborn daughter.

About the director:

Tathagata, is an avid filmmaker and novelist. Having
completed his B.sc in Mass Communication and Videography
from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata and then his post-graduation
from Vancouver Film School, Tathagata is working as a
screenwriter for SVF Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. His webisode of the
anthology series Do Not Disturb, Kongshobodh (The Slaying of
Kamsa) are streaming currently on Hoichoi, one of India’s biggest
VOD platforms, catering to 200 million Bengalis worldwide.

2019 75

THE WALL 13 mins | Hindi | India

PARASNATH GUPTA

Synopsis:
Fresh rounds in exchange of fire every other day wound

both, the Wall of a home on the outside and Hope for Peace
built within the hearts of the family. When hopelessness and
indifference sleep inside the Old Man, the Young Boy takes
the responsibility of holding on to Hope in his way...

About the director:
MA in Economics from Mumbai University, he started

pursuing his dream with The Great Indian Laughter Challenge.
What followed is Khiladi 786, Welcome To Karachi as a Chief
Assistant Director and many more. The latest being movie Ek
Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha as 1st Assistant Director, with
Suneel Darshan.

2019 76

Karnataka

Competition Section

Kannada Competition Section presents
the works of the talented filmmakers from
Karnataka, wherein they bring in their
local sensibilities and language to narrate
their tales. Through this platform, we also
aim to discover and promote emerging
talent and provide a connect with
experienced doyens from the
entertainment industry.

2019 77

JURY Karnataka Competition

Akarsh Khurana

Actor, Filmmaker

One of the leading theatre producers in India, Akarsh
Khurana has produced over 60 plays in the last 19 years, of
which he has directed over 20. Akarsh won the award for
Best Director twice at Thespo (India’s premier youth theatre
festival) for his early work and went on to be nominated five
times at a national level for Best Director (at the Mahindra
Excellence in Theatre Awards), and win once for Stage
Design. He has written screenplays for a few feature films,
including the very successful Krrish, on which he was also a
direction assistant. He has also directed lots of web
sketches, five cineplays, a television movie for Anurag Basu
(Real FM), a web series for ALT Balaji (Boygiri), and two
feature films including Karwaan, featuring Irrfan Khan,
Dulquer Salmaan, and internet sensation Mithila Palkar. He
also co-wrote two seasons of Tripling, the hugely popular
Indian web series. He also acts occasionally and can be seen
in the hugely popular series Yeh Meri Family on Netflix.

JURY Karnataka Competition

D Satya Prakash
National Award winning Director

D Satya Prakash is a Kannada filmmaker,
screenwriter, and producer. His works stand out in
their ideology based on social issues and human
relationships. He ventured into the sandalwood
industry with his commercially and critically acclaimed
debut movie Rama Rama Re. His journey towards
making movies with a message and vision continued
through his second movie Ondalla Eradalla. This
movie has won two National Awards for the year
2018. One of the Best Feature Film On National
Intergration(Nargis Dutt Award) and Best Child artist
award. Satya’s debuted his movie-making with the
short movie, Jayanagara 4th block.

JURY Karnataka Competition

P Sheshadri
National Award winning Director

P Sheshadri is an Indian filmmaker specifically
associated with Kannada feature films. He has made
ten Kannada feature films and eight of them have won
the prestigious National film awards and is the first
Indian filmmaker to win eight consecutive National
film awards. He holds a master’s degree in Kannada
literature and a diploma in journalism, after a short
stint as a journalist, he entered the world of films and
television in the early nineties.

1973 14 mins | Kannada | India

SAMARTH B K

Synopsis:
Set in the backdrop of Karnataka state’s renaming, 1973 is

a film which showcases the tumultuous relationship  of a
middle class family and the couple’s separation.

About the director:
Samarth B K is a Bangalore based filmmaker who has been

making short films for the past 4 years. He is  a visual
communication graduate from St. Joseph’s college. His films
portray  themes such as identity crisis, loneliness, and
happiness through deadpan humour; a cynical display of
modern society and surrealism. All of his films are set in
Bangalore as he believes in shaping an identity for the city.

2019 81

ANAMADHEYA APPAIYAMMA

DEEPAK RAM 13 mins | Kannada | India

Synopsis:
An anonymous orphan looking for his parents, finds them

in a wallet of the owner who’s walks away to be anonymous;
frames it like it’s his own.

About the director:
Deepak Ram is a photographer by profession; a filmmaker

and entrepreneur by passion. He is also adept in designing and
animation. 

2019 82

BAAGILANU TEREDU

JAGANNATH SANJEEVI RAO 16 mins | Kannada | India

Synopsis:
The story captures the events of a single day in Bangalore,

depicting the unexpected intersection of four individual’s
lives. 

About the director:
Jagannath Sanjeevi Rao is a writer, director, and editor. He

studied film editing in Bangalore and graduated in 2015. Since
then he has been engaged in the media industry. In 2015,
Jagannath Sanjeevi Rao co-founded a startup firm - Live
action and Animation agency called Village Talkies. He has
directed more than 30 corporate and animation films for
business and marketing avenues. Currently, he is working as a
Creative Director for Village Talkies production house.

2019 83

BHOOTHA MISSING

SHASHANK SOGHAL 19 mins | Kannada | India

Synopsis:
Nagendra is named Bhootha by his friends. Bhootha and a

trio desperately want their pictures on the flex banners in
their locality. Jithin and two of his other friends are software
engineers. Jithin is drunk, fed up with society and is on an
expedition to do a flex cleanup drive in the city. The film
depicts the ordeal of Jithin and Bhoota when they encounter
each other.

About the director:
Shashank Soghal is an independent filmmaker and has an

engineering degree in biotechnology. He hails from Mysuru
and has made 5 short films so far. His fourth short film Patinga
won Jury special mention award in BISFF 2015 in Karnataka
competition section. Currently he’s working on his debut
feature film. Bhootha Missing is his fifth short film and he has
made it for the students of Abhinayataranga acting school as a
part of their diploma course.

2019 84

BURMA EXPRESS 24 mins | Kannada, English |
India
KANAKARAJ
BALASUBRAMANYAM

Synopsis:
A man, the grandson of a Burma refugee, leads his life as a

coachman in Mysore. One day, he finds an abandoned bag full
of valuables in his cart. What happens next forms the rest of
the story.

About the director:
Kanakaraj Balasubramanyam is a writer and an aspiring

film maker. He teaches English literature in a university at
Saudi Arabia. He’s currently making short films and publishing
books. He also writes fiction for leading Kannada newspapers
and magazines.

2019 85

HONNU BITHYARO

VARDHAN MH 26 mins | Kannada | India

Synopsis:
This story is based on a farmer’s life.

About the director:
Vardhan has been working in Kannada film industry for six

years now.

2019 86

LACCHAVVA 27 mins | Kannada | India

JAI SHANKAR

Synopsis:
Lacchavva, a single mother from a remote village in North

Karnataka moves to Bengaluru to live with her son. It’s her
son’s roommate’s birthday; in pursuit of his favorite sweet, she
finds herself lost in the city streets.

About the director:
Jai Shankar is an actor, writer, producer and director from

Bangalore. Jai is best known for his work in Kannmare, a
Kannada short film which has won a few film awards. His
second project Narasimaiahan Phylum has won Regional and
National awards. Jai admires the work of Lee Chang Dong and
Kim Ki Duk. His signature style is making realistic movies.

2019 87

MOODHA 19 mins | Kannada | India

ABHIJITH

Synopsis:
Why do people believe in the Supernatural? Do men make

myths? Do myths make a man? This film is about the tussle
between Morality, Faith, and Rationality.

About the director:
Abhijith N Rao is a 31-year-old, Bangalorean by descent,

dissent and existence and is currently employed at Canara
Bank. He is an avid reader, a writer and a student of Cinema
and is inspired by the mundane as well as the extra-ordinary.
His newfound love is Film Making. Having written, directed
and won several Mad Ads performances at college he further
went on to write short stories and poems inspired by events
happening around us. An argument with friends over making a
film with no budget lead to their first short film. Moodha was
made at almost no budget and the process of making this film
has been a journey of personal beliefs and strengths.

2019 88

MOUNA 10 mins | Kannada, English
| India
BHARATH MC

Synopsis:
This story explores the crumbling relationship between a

mother and son after she learns that he’s involved in a crime.

About the director:
Bharath MC is a writer, director, editor and colorist with

10+ years of experience in film, video and audio production.
He is a graduate of applied arts, and holds several certificates
in film-making and applied media with a mention of film course
completion from Goteborgs Filmhogskolan, Sweden. He has
worked in over 250 projects, including commercial feature
films and documentaries. He has been engaging with
independent artists and has conducted workshops and
seminars on filmmaking, coaching over 400 participants in
more than 20 seminars.

2019 89

NASTI 20 mins | Kannada | India

M H GANESH HEGDE

Synopsis:
Nasti tries to picturize one’s dilemma when a situation

goes awry. The protagonist is a man who is willing to fight for
his principles and dignity until his last breath.

About the director:
M H Ganesh Hegde pursued his career in Theatrical

background for about 6-7 years at Varidhi Ranga Kendhra
Kumta. Later cast as a lead in more than 10 short films. He
finds immense pleasure to divulge his audience in his first
directorial, which mainly focuses on the focal point of a
person’s arrogance and audacity which ends up realizing that
he committed a sin and wanted to cleanse himself for that.

2019 90

PADUVARAHALLI 16 mins | Kannada | India

JAMADAGNI MANOJ

Synopsis:
This film is set in the 1900s, when India was in the midst of

her struggle for freedom. The story revolves around a barber
who is orphaned because of a certain officer Kalappa - an
Indian soldier in the British army. Kalappa visits the barber for
a shave. Find out what happens after their meeting.

About the director:
Manoj is a software engineer with work experience in

companies like Apple, Canon, Intel, and RBS. He’s always been
passionate about films and has attended a six-month-long
script-writing workshop in San Francisco Film school. His first
short film Roller Coaster garnered around 40k views on
YouTube and received many accolades for its technical
efficacy. He has released his second short film - Paduvarahalli.
Both these films had full-time MNC employees on-board.
Manoj is currently scripting feature films.

2019 91

PLAN B 10 mins | Kannada | India

CHIRAG MANJUSHANKAR

Synopsis:
Two journalists try to redeem themselves professionally

by going after a huge kill in the city of Bengaluru.

About the director:
Chirag Manjushankar is an independent filmmaker with

an astute sense of the surrounding environment, laying
emphasis on cinematic images and pragmatic editing in every
audio-visual attempt.

2019 92

ROOPANTHARA 12 mins | Kannada | India

SHREEDHAR HEGDE

Synopsis:
This film portrays  infidelity of a man, and the

repercussions  after his death; and how his children want to
grab his wealth. 

About the director:
Shreedhar is currently pursuing his Masters in Computer

Application. This is his directorial debut.

2019 93

THE REDEMPTION 21 mins | Kannada | India

NAVEEN TEJASWI

Synopsis:
Manja and Ravi, two Dalit (lower caste) children live in a

tiny village in the Western Ghats. Vaasudeva, a child from an
orthodox Brahmin (Upper caste) family wants to befriend
them. The film revolves around the conflict and tribulations
faced by Manja and Ravi due to their friendship.

About the director:
Naveen Tejaswi comes from a small village located in the

Western Ghats of India. He is a mass communication graduate.
He aspires to tell stories of his hometown through cinema.

2019 94

UNCOVER 30 mins | Kannada | India

NARESH HEGDE DODMARI

Synopsis:
Uncover depicts the lonely life of a man in a village. He

struggles to find a suitor as the days go by, after which he
contemplates moving to the city to find a better life. Later, he’s
found in a well and is rescued by the villagers. He claims it
as an accident but they think it is an attempt to suicide. What’s
the actual truth?

About the director:
Bennigelliya Kannu (aka ‘uncover’) is the fifth short film by

Naresh Hegde. He believes that visual storytelling is a very
personal art, and the writer/director should thrive for
personal gratification through it to succeed in this art form. He
loves writing multiple scripts simultaneously, and is currently
fine-tuning his next film attempt. He knows that filmmaking is
a slow process and hence exploring his abilities at his own
pace.

2019 95

Animation

Competition Section

One of the most experimental, challenging
and loved genres of cinema, Animation has
its special place in BISFF as well. This
section is focused on animation films from
India and the world, showcasing new
styles, competitive techniques and
unexplored narratives.

2019 96

JURY Animation Competition Section

Siva Kumar Kasetty
Consultant - Animation | VFX |
Game Art | AR/VR

Siva Kumar Kasetty is a Creative Energetic Leader
with 14 years’ experience in animation, VFX & Gaming.
Specialized in various leadership roles of talent
acquisition, outreach, employer/employee branding,
outsourcing and business development. DreamWorks
Animation India’s Sole recruiter for 4 years. Proactive
involvement in the Animation, VFX & Gaming
community through volunteer work with
organizations such as ACM SIGGRAPH, SIGGRAPH
Asia, and GAFX Conference/ABAI Fest.

JURY Animation Competition Section

Phani Eggone
Animator

After graduating of National School of Design, in
2002 he along with 2 other partners Sanath, Nagesh
started Firefly Creative Studio - a feature-grade
creative agency and visual effects production house
based in Hyderabad.

The studio has worked on various well-known
projects like ENTHIRAN, MAGADHEERA, ANJI,
ARUNDHATI and many more projects.

He is now the Creative Director of Firefly.

09:09 F 5 mins | Marathi | India

AVINASH MEDHE

Synopsis:
A journey in Mumbai’s local train shows a universal human

behaviour when an outsider struggles to make space for
himself.

About the director:
Avinash Medhe is a co-founder/director at Girgit Studios,

an animation design studio. He has directed numerous
animation and live-action short films, animated TV
commercials, promo films using traditional as well as
experimental animation techniques.

2019 99

BLACK BREAD 8 mins | French | France

(MULTIPLE DIRECTORS)

Synopsis:
A young Pastor promoted, John is an actor, practicing a

strange worship within a closed community.

About the director:
Adrien Bourcier, Louise Duveau, Charlotte Thiriez, Rémi

Fumery, Justin Lauridant, Massimo Partipilo, Clément Sagnier,
Mariane Vanhoed

2019 100