As the ASMITA Short Film Competition 2016 winds down, I can’t help but remember a very different festival, from a few years ago, in Kerala. That festival was packed with young amateurs who wanted to make a mark. The entries reeked of attempted-profoundness and RGV-inspired shots. Also, Dutch-angles, shaken movements, and bokehs. Anything light-hearted or lifelike was shunned. It was a time when YouTube had been teeming with funny short films about ‘silly’ things like heartbreak, unemployment, and romance. The contrast couldn’t be greater. The ‘profound philosophical’ shorts went to festivals, and comedies were reserved for YouTube.
For the 20 short-listed films screened at the 2016 ASMITA competition in Chennai’s Prasad Labs on Thursday, the scenario is completely different. The common theme is ‘relationships’. Most of the films are well-made, with naturalistic acting, and minus even traces of amateurishness. Camerapersons were confident, and most shots were neat.
The stories are an eclectic mix of the genuinely funny, and the genuinely grim. There’s no gratuitous profundity. Two shorts were about marital relationships. Alaipayuthe in a nutshell. Another one was about the compassionate bond between a thief and an old man. A few films had bizarre stories. Like the self-confessed inane short about a one rupee coin’s social relationships.
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Viswasam (Loyalty), directed by Mani Bharati, emerged as the winner. The film is about a modest cook, who has loyally served a rich household for over 20 years. Now that he has aged, his employers don’t want him anymore. Neither does his own family, whom he had abandoned long ago. The poignant story was ably supported by an excellent lead actor. The second prize (Rs. 50,000) went to Oomai, an out-of-the-box short about a stray dog, directed by Sandeep Lankah. The third prize (Rs. 25, 000) went to A Million Things, directed by Viyaan Vishnu.
The event was attended by producer Kalaipuli S Thanu, director Balaji Mohan, Velraj, actor Mime Gopi, and the faculty members of ASMITA (Acharya School of Moving Image Technology & Art), the organisers of the competition.