According to its director Sumi Mathai, the crowdfunding campaign received generous donations from 155 contributors — ₹9 lakh.
A poster of the film 'Ullarivu'. (X)
Malayalam short film Ullarivu, written and directed by a young Keralite director, has been selected for screening at the prestigious Mumbai Film Festival.
The short film by Sumi Mathai will be screened in the Focus South Asia category, a non-competitive section of feature and short films by South Asian and South Asian diaspora filmmakers at the festival.
The Mumbai Film Festival is scheduled to begin on 27 October.
Ullarivu is the only Malayalam short film selected for screening in the category.
She said Ullarivu was produced through a crowdfunding campaign that received generous donations from 155 contributors, successfully raising ₹9 lakh.
“The film was shot in a village in Poonjar, near Kottayam, with a small cast and crew. It is about a young girl’s deep connection with nature, and how it starts to disintegrate when she encounters the strangeness of the world,” Sumi told PTI.
In the course of a day, the young girl unwittingly learns the rules of existence in a patriarchal world, as she pieces together the hidden meanings and damaging rules of the system, Sumi, who is currently based out of Kochi, added.
The protagonist’s role is played by child artist Devananda Shamej, and the film’s cast also includes Pradeep Joseph, Nandini Gopalakrishnan, Shivarchana Rajesh, Kris Raj, Arun Kalabhavan, Minnu Elsa Joshy and Aksa Prasad.
YAY!!! Amazing news! Ullarivu will have its World Premier at @MumbaiFilmFest. Thank you to everyone who contributed to our crowdfunding campaign and helped us make this film 😍😍😍 Register for the festival today and come see our film along with a wonderful lineup! https://t.co/P1dOYG6cz2
— Sumi Mathai (@amyoosed) October 13, 2023
Ullarivu is Sumi’s second short film. Her debut English short film Detour was selected as one of the 10 scripts to be produced by Jio Studios, from a nationwide submission of 900 applications.
She directed two Bollywood stars Vikrant Massey and Sayani Gupta in Detour, which premiered at the Mumbai Film Festival in 2017 and won the Special Jury Mention.
Detour was also screened at the Indische Film Festival Stuttgart, Bangalore International Short Film Festival, Bucharest ShortCut Cinefest, and IndoGerman FilmWeek, Berlin.
Sumi is currently developing multiple projects including two features, one of which was selected for Pitch Fest 2022, conducted by the Screenwriters’ Association, India.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
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