[TamilNet, Monday, 15 March 2010, 18:01 GMT]
A Tamil short film directed by a diaspora Eezham Tamil winning the best award in an international festival is seen as a first with the short film titled ‘Vanni Mouse’, which has won the best film award in the fiction category in the nine-day 11th International Short and Independent Film Festival (ISIFF) at the Shaukat Osman auditorium of Central Public Library in Dhaka on Friday. Commenting on the award, Barrister S. J. Joseph of Eelavar Cine Arts Council, based in London told TamilNet on Monday that this was the first time an Eezham Tamil artist being awarded at an international film festival.
Mr. S. J. Joseph also detailed the efforts by Eezham Tamils together with the activities of the Cine Arts Council.
“As far as content is concerned, the film is against violence perpetrated in the name of national integrity. To convey this message, the director picked up a form, which is an interesting combination of wild life cinematography, surrealistic backdrop and realistic incident. A monotonous journey of some mice ends up in an unexpected revelation of a human tragedy. The approach is quite original for anti-war film,” said the Jury Recitation during the announcement of the award.
Vanni Mouse is a short film following the journey of two mice, which flew from the wood of Vanni.
The two inseparable couple end unfortunately in an internment camp (Manik Farm) located in Vavuniyaa (Sri Lanka) where hundreds of thousands Tamils are imprisoned by the Sri Lankan government.
“These two mice witness the tragedy of many innocent civilians behind the barbed wires, which remains as unspoken truth. There is no one to witness the inside crimes and even not anyone to carry out the painful stories except from these two souls. Whether the two will escape from the terrifying environment is the climax of this short film,” says the synopsis of the film.
The prize to ‘Tamilam’ Subas will be forwarded to the Bangladesh High Commission in Norway where he has been requested by the festival director to collect it.
Vanni Mouse has also bagged the special prize awarded at the Periyar Short Film Festival 2009 held on 25th December at Periyar Thidal in Chennai organized by the media department of the Periyar Self-Respect movement.
The film has also received a special short film award at the Tamil Film Festival -2010 held in Oslo.
Vanni Mouse has also been officially selected for competing in ÈCU 2010’s European Dramatic Short category in The European Independent Film Festival in Paris this month.
The director, 26-year-old ‘Tamiliam’ Subas, a native of Vavunikku’lam in Vanni, who fled his homeland at the age of 13, is also releasing another short film titled “Can I Have A Dream?”
I Have A Dream, said Martin Luther King, Jr., a few decades ago. Snatching away even the right to dream is the agenda of the conquistadors of the contemporary world. Can I Have A Dream, wonders Subas in his short film on a refugee child of Tamil Eelam in Norway.
Full Article: http://tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=31369
Tags: Eelavar Cine Arts Council, Film, News, short film, Tamil film, Vanni Mouse, Youtube
