Date with documentaries for cinema lovers

It is not often that cinephiles in the city are treated to a gamut of documentaries and short films. But Chennai International Documentary & Short Film Festival offers a perfect opportunity and has now become a calendar event in their calendar. Organised by Madurai-based media activist group Marupakkam, that also hosts the Madurai Film Festival, the Chennai version has been garnering huge response. 

“Documentaries are still created and watched by a niche section of society, although it is a growing population. It requires a lot of effort and motivation to make good documentaries and they need a platform to be showcased. We have chosen multiple venues from colleges to book shop and even popular auditorium in the city to cater to a larger number of audience,” says Amudhan RP, director of the festival. 

The films have been categorised into seven sections namely — Indian films, International films, Retrospective by filmmaker Sanjay Barnela, Retrospective by film editor Jabeen Merchant, Women Making Films curated by Chennai-based filmmaker Vaishnavi Sundar, Voices from the Waters curated by George Kutty and Magic Lantern Films curated by Ranjan De. 

“When we started out the awareness among people about documentary as a medium of telling stories was very less. But over the last few editions we realised that owing to exposure and interest among younger generation to make short films and documentaries, there has been a huge positive growth,” adds Amudhan.