After a string of rejections from almost every known film festival in India, except of course The Butterfly Film Project Series, which was held in in the first week on November, “Peacock” has been successfully nominated for “FulMarxx Shorts Fest 2.0″. You may vote for the film here:

http://www.fulmarxxshortsfest.com/Vishesh_Mankal/

Follow this blog for more updates on the film.

This film has been complete for about two months now. I have now gotten around to promoting it on the web after a successful string of live screenings and free distribution. I am a struggling filmmaker in India. I have just completed my formal education in Film and am trying to get people to see my films. “Peacock” is the name of the film that I am talking about. It is a tribute to college life as I experienced it and is composed of events and people that have been in my life so far. Not everything is autobiographical however; some of it is also made up to make the film more interesting. So here is the film:

part 1

part 2

part 3

Now let me tell you a little bit about the film itself. It is a comedy at heart, but it won’t make you jump out of your seats laughing. That is because the comedy is not blatant; it is more under the surface. The film works on many levels, each being as enjoyable as the others. It is about seven college students who are being interviewed in relation to a classmate of theirs, Mayur. Well, much to their dismay, Mayur has gotten the highest marks in the annual college examinations. In their interviews, they express their feelings towards Mayur, tell us stories related to him and confess to some of the things they have done in life. The characters are not always telling the truth, so watch the film carefully. And don’t trust any of them. They might be taking you for a ride. Ultimately it is a loving to tribute to two of the greatest filmmakers ever, namely Akira Kurosawa and Orson Welles.

The film was made for about 15,000 rupees in total, which my friends and I pooled together. It was an independent project with very little aid from our college. During the course of making this film, we even managed to get in trouble with the college authority. That in itself is a long story. Most of the actors were amateurs and worked without pay. The film was shot on miniDV on a SONY PD-170 camera. The entire film was shot handheld and on a tripod with wheels. It was shot over three days, which weren’t always very smooth. Anyone interested in reading about the making of the film can go here:

http://passionforcinema.com/peacock-a-short-film-that-escaped/

Now, finally, anyone who has anything to say about the film is requested to kindly do so. I appreciate all views and comments. The film is about 25 mins long, but from what people have been saying, it is not a boring film, so the 25 mins won’t be a drag.