The void in the mind space of a woman who is raped, and the trauma of a woman after such a harrowing experience, form the crux of the only non-feature Malayalam film to the Indian Panorama category of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), 2015, to be held in Goa later this month.
The short fiction, Ore Udal (One Body), directed by Asha Achy Joseph, tells the story of a nun, traumatised and unable to face life after a physical assault. This is the only non-feature film selected to the Indian Panorama from south India.
According to Ms. Joseph, the social, cultural and political psyche here now embraces rape and its violence to the extent of making it a ‘ritualistic practice of consumption to the spectator.’
The film, she says, marks the beginning of a journey in search of a narrative where one’s own identity as woman and creator is at stake.
“My attempt through One Body is to look at the void in the mind-space of a woman who is raped. Though subjective to a large extent, this attempt wishes to explore varied layers of experiences that engulf the act of violence as victim and perpetrator,” says Ms. Joseph.
Ms. Joseph, who has worked as producer in two Malayalam television channels, apart from working as an assistant director for Lal Jose and Mohan Raghavan, currently heads the SH School of Communication, the media studies department of Sacred Heart College, Ernakulam.
The 14-minute long film has been shot in the college, with Ms. Joseph’s students forming the director’s team. Ore Udal is produced by Jayakrishnan Menon, who earlier worked for the Reserve Bank of India and NABARD.
Based on the theatre production, Njayarazhcha (Sunday), written by James Elia, Ore Udal has Sajitha Madathil in the main role.
Ms. Joseph and Vinod Sukumaran have handled the script. Marina Michael, Nishida Sahir, Mini Mohan and Shiny John Koshy comprise the rest of the cast of the film.
