Dalit Film and Cultural festival (DALIFF) is an international Film festival dedicated to Dalit-Bahujan cinema. [1] [2] This festival gives platform to content from dalit issues victimised by caste discrimination and often ignored by mainstream. [3] First Dalit Film and Cultural festival was held in New York City in February 2019. [4] [5] [6] Various films by Ambedkarite Dalit artists were screened. [7] [8] [9] The Hollywood Reporter stated that the first Dalit Film Festival victoriously unspooled in New York."
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon the festival's focus, can include international and domestic releases. Some film festivals focus on a specific filmmaker, genre of film, or subject matter. Several film festivals focus solely on presenting short films of a defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events. Some film historians, including Jerry Beck, do not consider film festivals as official releases of the film.
Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film Sati Sulochana directed by Y. V. Rao was the first talkie film in the Kannada language. It was also the first film starring Subbaiah Naidu and Tripuramba, and was the first motion picture screened in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom. The film was produced by Chamanlal Doongaji, who in 1932 founded South India Movietone in Bangalore.
Niharika Singh is an Indian film actress and producer. She won the title of Miss Earth India in 2005 and made her acting debut with the critically acclaimed drama Miss Lovely which competed in Un Certain Regard at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Niharika was selected for Berlinale Talents in 2016.
Kavery Kaul, formerly known as Kavery Dutta, is an American filmmaker, born in India. Her directing and producing credits include Back Walking Forward, Long Way from Home, Cuban Canvas, One Hand Don’t Clap, and First Look.
Anjali Menon is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Anjali has won international, national and state awards for her work and is best known for her feature films Manjadikuru,Kerala Cafe(Happy Journey),Ustad Hotel, Bangalore Days, Koode and Wonder Women. She is counted among the change agents in Indian cinema whose work gets attention from the audience and the critics.
Ranjith Sankar is an Indian Filmmaker who works in Malayalam films. He started his movie career with the 2009 thriller film Passenger. He launched his production house Dreams N Beyond in 2012 and his distribution house Punyalan Cinemas in 2017.
Studio Green is an Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. The company was founded in 2006 by K. E. Gnanavel Raja, relative of actor Sivakumar and many of their films feature his sons Suriya and Karthi. They have produced several Tamil films and also distributed films across India.
Baahubali: The Beginning is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language epic action film co-written and directed by S. S. Rajamouli, and produced by Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni under Arka Media Works. The film was produced in Tollywood and was filmed in both Telugu and Tamil languages simultaneously. It features Prabhas in a dual role alongside Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishna, Sathyaraj, and Nassar. The first of two cinematic parts, the film follows Sivudu, an adventurous young man who helps his love Avantika rescue Devasena, the former queen of Mahishmati who is now a prisoner under the tyrannical rule of king Bhallaladeva. The story concludes in Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.
Madras is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language political drama film written and directed by Pa. Ranjith. The film stars Karthi, Catherine Tresa and Kalaiyarasan while Charles Vinoth, Riythvika, V. I. S. Jayapalan, Poster Nandakumar and Mime Gopi play supporting roles. Set in the backdrop of North Madras, Kaali (Karthi) and his friend Anbu (Kalaiyarasan), gets embroiled in a brutal political rivalry, between two factions of a political party after laying claim to a wall.
Pa. Ranjith is an Indian Film director, Film producer and screenwriter who primarily works in Tamil cinema. He made his directorial debut with the 2012 romantic comedy Attakathi, before earning unanimously positive reviews for his second film, the political drama Madras (2014). In 2016, he wrote and directed the gangster-drama Kabali and in 2018, Kaala both starring Rajinikanth.
Kabali is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Pa. Ranjith and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu. The film stars Rajinikanth in the title role, with Radhika Apte, Dhansika, Winston Chao, Kishore, Dinesh, Kalaiyarasan and John Vijay in supporting roles. In the film, Kabali is an aged gangster who gets released from prison and sets on to exact revenge on his rivals while also looking for his wife Kumudhavalli and daughter Yogitha.
Pariyerum Perumal is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by Mari Selvaraj in his directorial debut and produced by Pa. Ranjith under his production banner Neelam Productions. The film stars Kathir and Anandhi, while Yogi Babu and G. Marimuthu appear in supporting roles. The film features music composed by Santhosh Narayanan. with cinematography handled by Sridhar and editing done by Selva R. K. The film follows Pariyan (Kathir), who belongs to an oppressed caste and enters into law college with a lot of hope, and strikes up a friendship with Jothi Mahalakshmi (Anandhi), who belongs to an upper caste, which irks Jothi's family members. He wakes up to the realities of caste oppression and discrimination, after being harassed by them.
The Battle of Bhima Koregaon: An Unending Journey is a 2017 documentary by Indian filmmaker Somnath Waghmare. It explored the role of 500 Mahar dalit soldiers of the East India Company in the Battle of Koregaon on 1 January 1818 against Peshwa rulers. It talks about dalit assertion on 1 January taking place every year. The 50 minute documentary was released in April 2017.
Hari Krishnan is an Indian actor who works in Tamil-language films. He is known for his role in Madras (2014).
Somnath Waghmare is an Indian documentary filmmaker based in the state of Maharashtra. His most prominent and most recent film, Battle of Bhima Koregaon, was critically received and screened in India and abroad. Till now, all his films have been documentary films and they have dealt with various social issues like the persecution of women and Dalit assertion in Maharashtra. He made his directorial debut with the short documentary feature I Am Not a Witch (2017). His upcoming films are Chaityabhoomi and Gail and Bharat.
Sarpatta Parambarai is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language period sports action film directed by Pa. Ranjith, who also co-produced the film under his banner Neelam Productions, along with Shanmugam Dhakshanaraj of K9 Studios. The film stars Arya, John Kokken, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Dushara Vijayan, Pasupathy, Anupama Kumar and Sanchana Natarajan. Set in the 1970s, the film revolves around a clash between two clans namely Idiyappa Parambarai and Sarpatta Parambarai in North Chennai, which also showcases the boxing culture in the locality and the politics involved in it.
Kuthiraivaal also spelt as Kuthirai Vaal is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language psychological drama film written by G. Rajesh and co-directed by Manoj Leonel Jahson and Shyam Sunder on their directorial debuts. The film's background score has been composed by Martin Visser and the songs composed by Pradeep Kumar. The film stars Kalaiyarasan, Anjali Patil, Sowmya Jaganmurthy, Anand Sami and Chetan. The film consists of magic realism elements such as man with a horse tail, horse without a tail and a sky with both sun and moon appearing simultaneously at the same time. The film is deemed as one of only few Tamil films to have used the concept of magical realism besides Aalavandhan. It became the first Indian film to have been nominated for international premiere at the Berlin critics film festival. The film is loosely inspired from Franz Kafka's novel The Metamorphosis. The film was scheduled to be released in theatres on 4 March 2022,but got postponed to 18 March 2022. The film received mixed reviews from critics and audience.
"Neeye Oli" is the 2021 Tamil song composed by Santhosh Narayanan and Shan Vincent de Paul, who also recorded the track along with Navz-47; with lyrics for the track being written by Arivu and Shan Vincent de Paul. It is the second release from the upcoming studio album Made in Jaffna curated by Shan which was under production for four years. It released on 30 June 2021 by the music label/management Maajja, an independent platform launched by A. R. Rahman. The song is used as the theme track for Pa. Ranjith-directorial Sarpatta Parambarai.
Dushara Vijayan is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil language films. After making her debut in the Tamil film Bodhai Yeri Budhi Maari (2019), she has been in films including Sarpatta Parambarai (2021) and Anbulla Ghilli (2022).