His constant screams of ‘thenga, manga, pattani-sundal,' on the beach, have tired him, but a look at people posing for pictures, and the shutter of a click rejuvenate seven-year-old Siva instantly. Not only does he want one last picture of his dead father's boat, but he also wishes to capture his world of imagination and fill his one room-hut with photographs of all kinds. More than school, toys and friends, he yearns for a camera. This movie, ‘The Photograph,' that won immense applause from the audience was shown as part of the 4th Digital Short Film Festival, organised by the Youth Film Makers and Zone Media, here on Sunday.
Based mostly on local themes, and set in different locations of the city, the 60 short films presented the audience a unique sense of connect. If ‘ Dhuruva Natchathiram,' directed by S. Aravind that won the best film award, brought out the pangs of abandonment a father faces when his son settled abroad, refuses to visit him, ‘Bhayam' had a homeless, mentally ill beggar who feels at home in a cemetery and jeers at a world that talks so much about rehabilitating victims of calamities and wars, but is indifferent to people like him.
The unique relationship children share with nature that gets lost as they grow up, the numerous lies parents tell their children to snub their inquisitive queries and the inexplicable trauma children face when they see their close family members die, the movies all ranging from 5 to 15 minutes, made by young film makers brought out the subtleties of emotions, and also raised many questions of concern.
The awards for best screenplay, editing, cinematography and direction were bagged by Veghan Raja (Appavi), S. Anil Krishna( Kandupudi), N. Omprakash(Karma) and Pon. Sudha ( Nandandha Kadhai) respectively.
