Emotional story of brothers wins hearts at international film festivals

Mainak Misra’s short film Days of Marigolds has been winning hearts at various international film festivals, which has the maker feeling elated and all charged up to think of a bigger and better future.

Days of Marigolds collage 1

“When I made this short film I had not expected that it will get such a grand response. But the kind of feedback and acclaim its managed to generate at all the film festivals is simply mind-blowing for a debutant filmmaker like me,” says a thrilled Mainak, who shot the film near his hometown Hyderabad, at the banks of Pochampally village lake, with commoners as actors.

Filmmaker Mainak Misra - Image 1

The film has received widespread acclaim at various film festivals including The Mediterranean Film Festival (MedFF), Sicily, Italy; Salto Independent Film Festival, Salto, Uruguay; Move Me Productions Belgium-Film Festival, Antwerp, Belgium; Inshort Film Festival, Lagos, Nigeria; Bayamon International Film Festival, Bayamon, Puerto Rico; Yecora International Film Festival, Yecora, Mexico and at the Art Quake Kyoto 2019  (Creativity Biennale of Art Exhibitions & Film Festival), Kyoto, Japan.

Poster - Days of Marigolds

What’s more! Days of Marigolds also bagged the Semi-Finalist position at Los Angeles Cine-Fest, Los Angeles; USA, A Rebel Minded Festival, Brooklyn, New York, USA; as well as at FESTPRO Film Festival, Moscow, Russia.

Days of Marigolds - Poster

Mainak points out that it is the narrative of the short film which caught the fancy of audiences. Days of Marigolds revolves around a story of two brothers in rural India. As the elder brother leaves the village, the younger brother keeps returning to the place they parted at. Each return marks a passage of his life cycle from childhood to adolescence, early adulthood, late adulthood, and eventually old age.

Days of Marigolds - Pic 1

“The absence of our dear ones is felt deep down in our hearts. We keep longing for their presence. Their memories remain vivid in our minds for the rest of our lives. Those memories are missed and the moments are cherished forever,” quips Mainak. True that.

Filmmaker Mainak Misra - Image 2

The filmmaker is now working on the script of his first feature film and plans to make a splash in Bollywood in future. We wish him all the luck.

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Radhika Chaudhari wins Silver Ace at Las Vegas Film Festival

A debutante director of Indian origin, Radhika Chaudhari from Los Angeles, has bagged the prestigious Silver Ace Award for Best Short Film at the Las Vegas Film Festival, for her critically acclaimed short film Orange Blossom.

Shot in L.A. in a span of four days , the 17-minute film is the story of a single mother going through the pangs of separation from her husband; while making the folly of passing on too much information about herself and her family to a few strangers.

While an American-Indian Usha Kokotay plays the protagonist, other key roles are deftly portrayed by seasoned Hollywood actors such as Jeff Doucette (of Bedazzled and Desperate Housewives fame) and John Paul Ouvrier.

“The award is a big high for me, especially as I am a first-time director,” says Radhika Chaudhari. “Its put me on this pedestal from where the whole world looks like an unconquered challenge about to be discovered,” she adds with a resolute glint in her eye.

With her next strep being towards directing feature films, it would be interesting to see where this new-found acclaim takes Radhika. Could it be Bollywood calling?