BEST INDIAN SHORT FILMS - 4
Little Terrorist by Ashvin Kumar (2004) (India) (15m)
Little Terrorist was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005. Written and directed by Kumar, it follows a Pakistani boy who crosses onto Indian soil after a cricket ball and is then forced to hide out. He is concealed by a Hindu father and daughter as the guards search for him but their deep-rooted prejudice is harder to disguise. Will they continue to help him and will the daughter learn to see the boy as a mother's son?
Printed Rainbow by Gitanjali Rao (2006) (India) (15m) *
Indian animator Gitanjali Rao won the Kodak Short Film Award, Small Golden Rail and the Young Critics Award with Printed Rainbow at Cannes in 2006. It is a beautiful and touching film that switches between drab and vivid colours as it tells the story of a lonely woman - and her cat - who lives in the dreary city but dreams of an exotic, Indian adventure when prompted by the pictures on matchboxes.
Prarambha by Santosh Sivan (2008) (India) (13m)
Prarambha was directed by Santosh Sivan with story credits going to Mubina Rattonsey and Ritesh Menon. The film was one of a series of shorts made to increase AIDS awareness on the subcontinent (so please excuse the exposition towards the end). In Prarambha, a penniless young boy sets out to travel across the country to visit his mother. He finds an unlikely friend in a truck driver but the reunion is not quite what the boy had hoped it would be...
