Just when 24-year-old Adithyaa Sadashiv was mulling over the silence that COVID-19 has brought about, and wondering what is in store for independent filmmakers like him post-lockdown, he came across the Corona Short Film Festival asking for submissions.
“I was surprised to see independent filmmakers in Germany come together to host a film festival from their laptops,” Adithyaa says over phone from Bengaluru. “This is the first international self-isolation short film festival online competition. I was itching to do something and almost immediately my Canon 5D was out.” Adithyaa’s five-minute silent film, Black, was selected for the Audience and Jury Award category.
The festival is a reaction to the global pandemic and its team consists of self-isolated industry professionals. It is a no-budget, no-profit endeavour. Such initiatives, Adithyaa says, encourage filmmakers to use their creativity. The festival received 1,250 films, out of which 36 films were selected for the Audience and Jury Award category.
Capturing silence
Adithyaa said the film is called Black not because it is a black-and-white film, but because “we are living in dark times”. He wanted Black to be a silent film with no background score, dialogue or text.
“The narrative is embedded in the silence. I wanted the lockdown to come across in subtle ways, with not even the rustle of the leaves on trees disturbing the silence of life during lockdown. The festival organisers asked me if there was a technical problem as they could not find the audio, except for a hissing sound. I intentionally introduced it to heighten the eerie silence. We stay in Banashankari II Stage and the footage is from my home, balcony and terrace.”
Shooting took almost a week. “In this quietude, I wanted to capture nondescript, mundane activities of people, animals and birds. The steam from the coffee my mother [Rathna] made was captured against the morning sun’s rays through our kitchen window. I shot the birds in my terrace and our watchman playing with his little daughter.”
Adithyaa, son of artist and former chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi, MS Murthy, studied Visual Communications at St Joseph’s Arts and Science College and later studied editing and direction at Vikshi Institute of Media Studies in Pune. He is now the co-founder of Vinyas Studios. “I have made a half-hour documentary, Adi Tala, on Srinivasa Anantharamaiah and his mother Ashwathamma of Shantha Tabla Works of Chickpet. They were the pioneers in making Indian percussion instruments. I have just completed a documentary on educationalist GS Kashinath from Chikkamagaluru district. He was a revolutionary agriculturist who transformed a poverty-stricken area into a progressive town.”
The results were declared on May 25. The German film, 1 Bottle of Wine won the Grand Jury Prize, Person from Croatia got a Jury Special Mention, Quarantine Mood (Italy) won the audience award, while Isolationship (Austria) won the Jury Special Mention.
