There is only that much hurt an innocent person can take, after which the bubble is bound to burst and at that precise moment, freedom becomes possible.
A 12-minute film ‘725’ plays along these lines and presents a powerful picture of a victim of sex trafficking. Directed by an Indian film maker Irawati Athalye, the film has been selected to be screened at Cannes Court Metrage 2013 in the Short film Corner.
“The Short Film Corner, organized by the Festival de Cannes is the essential rendezvous for filmmakers. To show their work, meet other filmmakers and develop contacts. It’s an honour that my work as a director is selected to be screened there,” says Irawati. Last year, the film she produced ‘No Vacancy’ was selected for the same category at Cannes.
Her first meeting with producers Orlando Braun, Kris Drenzek and writers Iris Cheung (lead actor) and Devashree PS of ‘725’ lasted for three long hours.
“If anything agitates me positively or negatively and still staysunpredictable, then I am in,” says Irawati.
‘725’ is a dark gritty drama and attempts to tell the story of innocence caught in sex trafficking and strength of willpower that defies the character Mia’s final move.
“By the time we had our last draft, it took me completely out of my comfort zone, that’s when I knew it was ready to go from paper to screen,” says the young filmmaker.Born and brought up In Mumbai, Irawati has been living in Los Angeles, California for the past four years and believes that she is equally influenced by both cultures. It is exciting to feature in this year’s festival for her as India is the special guest country at Cannes, she says.
She is currently writing a feature film script based on a short she made in 2010 called Convicted (thriller).
She has directed six to seven shorts of 3 minutes to 20 minutes, handled cinematography for some shorts and music videos and produced a few shorts as well. She has dabbled in different genres from thriller and comedy to family drama and her film ‘Brushless Painting’ that is about to start doing festival rounds, has been inspired by a book ‘Shyamlahari’ written by her mother in India and produced and shot in California. The crew included filmmakers from all over the world -- USA, Spain, Switzerland, Japan, etc.
She likes writing shorts, “because I cannot sit in one place for too long, so let’s keep it short!”
‘725’ is also an official selection at The Other Venice Film Festival, 2013 and Central Florida Film Festival 2013.
