iffi56

White Snow

-Brian Mendonca

Vimukt

Having begun on 20th November 2025, the 56th edition of the International Film Festival of India (iffi56) is midway on its course in Goa. This is a time when film enthusiasts come to Goa and sample the cool bracing weather as the state nudges towards Christmas and the end of the year.

Many events are held during this time, notable the FIDE world chess championship at Arpora. This is also a good time to meet friends who come to Goa for the events. 

I had the opportunity to meet Monika, my colleague from Delhi, when I was with All India Radio (AIR). Monika and her crew recorded an interview of me in Delhi last year to mark the release of my book Jasmine City: Poems from Delhi (2023).

I was captivated by some of the subjects of the films set in India this year. It was as though I was travelling through the heartland of India, discovering it anew after my earlier volume A Peace of India: Poems in Transit. (2011).

Vimukt / In Search of the Sky (Jitank Singh Gurjar, 2025, 87 mins.) is made in the Braj language. It is about the mental instability of an adult son and the belief of his aged parents that a visit to the river Ganga at the Mahakumbh will heal him. What struck me was the slippage in connotation of the Hindi and English titles. This film is entered for the ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal for films which deal with inclusivity and social responsibility through regional narratives.

Gondhal / Maharashtrian Ritual (Santosh Divakhar, 2025, Marathi, 116 mins.) is set against the ritualistic Maharashtrian dance music called Gondhal in rural Maharashtra. It tells the tale of Suman, trapped in a marriage with Anand, and how she realizes her love for Saheba, a Gondhali performer. The film is entered for the Indian Panorama Feature Film category. 

Oitharei / Save My Soul (Naorem Dinesh Singh, 2024, Manipuri, 104 mins.) A silent woman gets into a taxi late at night and does not reveal her destination. The woman is a survivor of a communal clash. She is helped by the kindness of strangers. The film is entered for the Indian Panorama Feature Film category.  

White Snow (Praveen Morchhale, 2025, Urdu, 80 mims.) The movie follows the journey of a mother of a filmmaker, across difficult terrain with a yak and a TV and DVD player to screen her son's movie in remote villages. The film is entered for the Indian Panorama Feature Film category.

Projects

A Death Foretold (Kislay, 2025, Hindi) With winter setting in in Delhi, poor migrant women barter their hair for essentials of living. Raju goes around searching for such women. He meets Neeraj who wants to make a film on his life. 

Monika and me at Miramar circle.

Mayapuri / City of Illusions (Aranya Sahay, 2025, Hindi) This film is based on the radiation contamination in Mayapuri, New Delhi in 2010. It is about 'how cities consume, discard, and erase those who keep them running.' Set in the scrapyards of Mayapuri it dwells on the fate of migrant mechanics. 

Tyres Will be Deflated (Rohan Ranganathan, 2025, Hindi) is also set in Delhi. This is about how a mild professor and another person with clout spar over a parking spot in a crowded lane.

Dahini / The Witch (Rajesh Touchriver, 2023, Hindi, 111 mins.) explores the theme of witchhunts in Orissa, and how society is complicit in this practice.

---------------------------

Photo taken on 25 November 2025. Updated 27/11/25.