Odia Filmmaker’s Short Films to be screened at Europe Film Festival
Bhubaneswar/Chennai, Dec 23: Odia filmmaker Biswanath Rath’s multi-award winning short films: “Kar Bhala” and “The ‘Right’ Glass” have been selected for screening at Goldensun Short Film Festival to be held in Malta (Europe) from 4th Jan to 12th Jan 2016. Both the films deal with social issues.
‘Kar Bhalaa’ (written and directed by Biswanath Rath, Produced by BnR Films) is a bi-lingual short film based on a true story in Chennai. The film carries a simple but strong message,’ If you have done something good from your heart, then good will surely come to you’.
Premiered in 2013, the short film has won several awards (including ‘Best Direction’ and ‘Best Short Film’) and screenings in 13 of the most prestigious International Film Festivals. Recently it was screened in Monsoon Asia Film Festival held at Taiwan. Some of the other festivals include, ‘Jagran Film Festival’, ‘Jaipur International Film Festival’, ‘Script International Film Festival’, ‘Delhi International Film Festival’ etc.
On the other side, the social ad-film ‘The ‘Right’ Glass’, [written & directed by Biswanath Rath and produced by Bhubaneswar based NGO ‘We 4 You”], based on the theme ‘Child Right’, reminds every one of the inviolable human rights that each and every child is born with and the responsibility that each of us, as a member of family, community and society has in ensuring that no child is denied his or her basic rights. Director Biswanath says, ‘”Child labour is one among the many major issues related to Child Rights and happens to be the one widely prevailing. But more than the issue, it’s everyone’s ignorance towards the problem, which worsens this problem. ‘The ‘Right’ Glass’ is an attempt in making everyone realize this harsh reality of our society.”
The film has already received multiple awards in the International Film Festival circuit. With a running time of just 80 seconds, what makes this film even more special is the fact that it’s a silent film. Produced in Jan 2015, first it received ‘Children Choice Award’ from honorable Governor of Odisha Mr. S.C.Jamir in ‘KALLOLA Short Film Festival’organized by UNICEF at Bhubaneswar (Odisha).Then it went on to receivethe ‘Best Fiction Film’ award in SRISHTI Short Film Festival, Bhubaneswar (Odisha). Recently, it was also screened in BlackBird International Film Festival-2015, held at New York (USA). Other major festivals in the film’s journey include: ‘Jagran Film Festival-2015’ (held at Mumbai, Delhi and 16 other cities), Kolkata International Film Festival-2015, Development Film Festival, Madurai-2015, AMU International Film Festival, and Aligarh-2015
When asked about the significance of the title, the filmmaker says, ‘Sunglasses prevents us from sun rays. Likewise, “The ‘Right’ Glass” prevents us from seeing/realizing the most critical right of a child: ‘The Right to Education’.Interestingly, this is my first ‘silent’ film and also my first film to be shot in Bhubaneswar/Odisha. I was fortunate to have infinite support and trust of a really dedicated team who made it possible to shoot such a film in just 5 hours, with such limited resources and budget.’
Biswanath Rath, is a passionate writer, lyricist, actor and directorwho hails from Raju Street, Jeypore (Odisha).The filmmaker and his wife Archana have founded ‘BnR Films’, a Chennai based Film Production company which produces Ad-Films, TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos, Music Videos, Promotional Films ,Short Films and feature films.All the ad-films/short films produced by the company (written-directed by Biswanath) have received huge appreciation from audience as well as critics. Presently BnR Films has got presence in Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi, Guwahati and Pune.
The filmmaker has also directed the International Music Video (English) “Feel The Passion” which has gone viral in social media. It has achieved a unique milestone of crossing 1 Lakh Youtube views within just 2 months of its release in VEVO Channel. This makes it the first such International Music Video by an Odia Director to have received such huge response.Interestingly the filmmaker has also directed a Tamil Music Video (for a leading Media Brand), which is also the first such Tamil project to be directed by an Odia Director.
Biswanath aims to make films with global appeal based on Indian cultures and traditions in general, Odia culture in specific.Presently he is working on the script of his first feature film.