It is my pleasure to inform you that first commercial fiction film "Baha"
-The Wild Flower, a Nagpuri musical with English sub title(1.57min) got entry
in XXIV. Black International Cinema- Berlin / Germany & U.S.A.- MAY
7 - 10, 2009
you can see the details of the film and pix in this web link of the festival.
http://www.black-international-cinema.com/BIC09/bic_09.htm
This is for the first time that a fiction film in regional language
from Jharkhand has got entry in an international film festival.
Some song clips of the film is available in this youtube link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PscBBNfknTQ
kindly help me with the promotion / distribution of the film while suggesting
suitable film festivals.
Shriprakash
Ranchi
Jharkhand (India)
RANCHI | Wednesday, March 25, 2009
>From Jharkhand to Film Fest in Berlin, Baha going global
Winning international
recognitions and awards for Shriprakash, the documentary film maestro
from Jharkhand may not be new. However, when ‘Baha’,the director’s
first endeavour with fiction film got invitation for screening in none
other than the24th Black International Cinema fest at Berlin in Germany
and later in USA, he could not help gushing, “It is very special, I am
overwhelmed”! And, why not! This full-length feature film in Nagpuri,
is after all the first from Jharkhand to have earned this rare
distinction.
‘Baha’, the tale of a wild flower, is slated for screening in the
first phase of the festival scheduled from May 7 to 10 in Berlin, which
would be followed later in USA. This one hour 57 minute film has been
shot extensively in the picturesque of Jharkhand and the tea gardens of
Assam. It is the tale of personal and professional aspirations of a
tribal lad. The film is replete with moments of sublime love, desires
that go unexpressed amidst peaks of ecstasy and abyss of anguish, that
eventually engulf the protagonist in a world of void. “The transition
from documentary films to fiction obviously has not been easy, script
alone took two years to reach its final shape”, says the bearded
director.
Made under the banner of Kritika Productions, Jharkhand, the film
is set to usher a new trend in film making in the State. “I barely
began with an amateur VHS camera”, he recalls and today, nearly after
eighteen-year down the lane, his film has attracted artists from the
National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi, FTII, Pune besides some of
the best technicians from Mumbai.
Pradyuman Naik had deftly portrayed main character of the film
David. Yogendra Choubey has played his friend Anuj, who too essays a
very powerful role in the film, both the artists belongs to the NSD.
Further, there is an impressive array of other tribal artists from
Jharkhand.
The post-production and re-recording of the film has been done in
the hi-tech studio of Jyoti Chitravan, Regional FTII, in Guwahati.
“The
State of Assam figures prominently in my film considering that the tea
gardens here have been the source of livelihood for numerous Adivasi
families for generations”, says the director. After mass migration of
the tribal from their native land down the ages, Assam has been their
second home. Hence my film cannot miss the essential flavour of Assam,
he adds.
Besides, he claims to have been fortunate enough to get some of the
best talents from Assam for his film. Rajeeb Sharma of FTII, Pune, has
done the camera. Pranjul Kashyap, from the regional FTII, Guwahati,
editor of the film.
“Baha” makes use of the latest sync sound technology, done by the
award winning sound recordist Santosh Tantrik of Bollywood flick
“Omkara” fame. Noted tribal singer Mukund Naik and his son Nandlal have
written the lyrics and given the music to the film. The music is rich,
reverberating with the rhythm of the tribal heartland.
Meanwhile, it may be mentioned that Shriprakash has bagged a
number of awards in various international film fests- Be it at Hong
Kong, the Earth-Vision International Film Festival in Tokyo, Vermont
film fest and the Thunder Birds Film Festival both in USA, South Asia
Films fest at Kathmandu, International Film Festivals at Buenos Aires,
Istanbul, United Nations Association Film Festival, USA… The list seems
endless for the Jharkhand based film director, who continues to ride
tall from one crest of success to another, setting the screens ablaze
with his fiery stories on tribal issues and struggles from the State.
