THE COMEBACK

Who would have thought that a chicken could symbolise a strong motivated person who achieves her goals despite all obstacles? Well that is the story of The Running Chicken screened at the Digital All Movement (DAM) festival last January. Organized by the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, DAM saw a plethora of movies screened from different parts of the world and the country. There were films from different walks of life, depicting different aspects of the human mind. The movies were categorized into fiction, non fiction, animation and special effects.

Socially relevant issues like child prostitution, perils of widows, Pune traffic, autism and the efforts gone in chasing Angelina Jolie during her stay in Pune for “A Mighty Heart” were a part of the non fiction entries. There were movies that spoke about Subramania Siva the freedom fighter in Thangal Anbulla, and some like Mudcake by Gautam Chhabra that depicted the story of Junta Colony in Chandigarh.

A large number of entries came from Beacon House University in Lahore, Pakistan. Of which, Rosh -e- Mehshr showed the myriad issues of insanity, torture, salvation and Too Close to Home by Khurram Mugal depicted the story of two boys about to violate the chastity of a girl.
There were also films which depicted the simple joys of life. A Gift of Art was one such film where two painters decide to complete a painting and Maya which talks about the schizophrenic tendencies that arise out of loneliness in a nine year old girl.

Under the animation category there were movies like Lip Jokes and Hnugli. Lip Jokes from Slovenia spoke about blond girls, while Hnugli by Hjalti Hjálmarsson from Iceland revealed the attributes of various movie genres, portrayed through a beaver.

Under the special effects category there was The Comeback by Abhinav Tripathi and Janani by Siddhrath Gautam Singh. While the former shows the perfect comeback to rhetorical questions the latter tries to marry various myths about the creation of the universe to the idea of motherhood and childbirth and looks at God the Creator as a woman.

This year the DAM Fest promises bigger surprises for film buffs and fans of the digital media. DAM has move beyond films to cover everything digital. This includes digital photography, art and music and workshops on the same.
The movement has begun.
-Devina Sengupta