10th IDSFFK: Homage to John Berger and Chalam Bennurkar

The Tribute section of 10th edition of the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) pays homage to the acclaimed culture critic and thinker John Berger and Indian documentary maker Chalam Bennurkar. John Berger who has proved his versatility as a poet, novelist, critic and painter is renowned for his Booker Prize. ‘The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger’ will be screened at the gala. The four essay films which comprise The Seasons in Quincy each take different aspects of John Berger’s life in the Haute-Savoie, and combine ideas and motifs from Berger’s own work with the atmosphere of his mountain home. Each film was created as an individual work of art but they combine to make a feature film showing how film can move beyond text and fine art to offer a multi-layered portrait.

The Festival also pays tribute to Chalam Bennurkar, the veteran of documentaries. His creativity is manifested in multifarious forms comprising short stories, articles, poems and so on. He has pioneered Bangalore Film Society Movement via Bangalore Film Society. He came to be known as the voice of transgender after his movie `All about Our Famila' was at the Bangalore Queer Film Festival in 2012. Chalam’s ‘Kutty Japanin Kuzhandaigal’ (Children of Mini Japan), a Tamil documentary on labour conditions in Sivakashi, had won Golden Dove award at International Leipzig Festival of Documentary and Animation Film (Germany) and Citizen's Prize and Prize of Encouragement at Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Japan in 1991. The documentary will be screened in the fest. It focuses on the plight of young poverty-stricken children working in Sivakashi in the late 1980s, and the Government's neglect of them.