Kerala govt funded film for women directors selected for BIFF

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) is having its moment now after the movie 'Nishiddho' bankrolled by it entered on Tuesday the competition section in the 13 th Bengaluru international Film festival (BIFF) scheduled through March 3 to 10

Director Tara Ramanujan answered the KSFDC's call for 'Films Directed by Women', by helming the film ' Nishiddho'; the initiate aims at empowering woman's movie talent.

Reserving the project solely for women, KSFDC allocated funds for producing two movies annually helmed by women.

'Nishiddho', written and directed by Tara Ramanujan with actor Kani Kusruti and Tanmay Dhanania in leads, is one of the two movie produced by KSFDC under the project.

'Nishiddho' takes on the lives of two migrants from West Bengal and Tamil Nadu as they struggle in a Kerala city. The crew include: cinematography by Manesh Madhavan, editing by Anzar Chennatt and music by Debojyoti Mishra.

KSFDC has launched a project for film directors belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) communities.

The scheme will have two films to be open to any filmmaker from the SC/ST category regardless of gender.

Praising the crew of 'Nishiddho', Minister for Culture Saji Cherian said Kerala might be the first state to introduce a project for encouraging talents of the underrepresented sections in filmdom.

"The project for women filmmakers is part of the government's commitment to the uplift and empowerment of women. It will provide ample creative space for them to fulfil their concepts and ideas through visual story telling. It's a seminal initiative to promote women led creative projects in the state," said Cherian.

Shaji N Karun, director and KSFDC Chairman, said the new initiatives would induce confidence in aspiring women filmmakers and bringing out their enormous potential.

'Nishiddho' has been selected for the International Competition Section of the 26th International Film Festival of Kerala 2022 (IFFK) slated to be held from March 18 to 25. It was also selected for the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival, IANS reported

Established in 1975, KSFDC is the first public sector corporation for film development in India.