Award-winning film will be screened at the ADIFF in NYC.
By Sujeet Rajan
NEW YORK: Acclaimed New York-based film director Jayan Cherian’s award winning debut feature film Papilio Buddha, which has been receiving rave reviews at festivals around the world, and shot to fame early after it successfully reversed a ban by the censor board in India, will be screened in his home town next month: at The 21st African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF).
Revolving around a group of displaced Dalits in the Western Ghats of India, who embrace Buddhism in order to escape from caste oppression, Papilio Buddha explores the juxtaposition of identity and political uprising, puts focus on critical issues like environmental degradation. Shot in Malayalam and dubbed in various regional Indian languages, Cherian takes up the principles of Ambedkar in the film.
Probably the first Indian film to have an almost complete reversal of a ban by the censor board – who probably feared the repercussions of the film igniting anger amongst the displaced lower castes in India – with almost no cuts from its original version, the film has found a lot of success on the international film circuit.
It’s been the official selection at several prestigious film festivals, including Montreal Film Festival, British Film Institute’s 27th London LGFF 2013, Oaxaca FilmFest 2013 – where it also won two awards: Best Cinematography and Production Design, Kolkota International Film Festival 2013, Trinidad and Tobago International Film Festival 2013, Singapore Darpan International Film Festival 2013, and won the second best feature narrative award at Athens International Film Festival 2013.
The film won several accolades at the Kerala state film awards 2013: Special jury award for direction for Cherian; honorable jury mention for acting – Saritha Sunil; Kerala Film Critics award 2013 for Best debut director; and the Kerala Film Critics award 2013 Special Jury award.
Cherian was born in India, but went to school in New York. He is an alumni of Hunter College, from where he received a B.A. in Film and Creative Writing and has received an MFA from The City College of New York in Writing, Directing Film, and Cinematography.
Before Papilio Buddha, Cherian made several experimental documentaries and narrative shorts such as: Shape of the Shapeless (2010) Love in the Time of Foreclosure (2009), Hidden Things (2009), Soul of Solomon (2008), Capturing the Signs of God (2008), Holy Mass (2007), Tree of Life (2007), Simulacra the Reality of the Unreal (2007), The Inner Silence of the Tumult (2007), Hid-entity (2007), and Tandava the Dance of Dissolution (2006).
Shape of the Shapeless grabbed him international attention, when it won the Silver Conch award at Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF) 2012, the Silver Jury prize in San Francisco Shorts, and got Honorable Mentions at Athens International Film Festival. A poet too, Cherian has published four collections of poetry in Malayalam.
After traveling around the world, Papilio Buddha will have three screenings at the ADIFF, which runs from November 29 to December 15th at various locations in New York City. The festival presents an eclectic mix of urban, classic, independent and foreign films that depict the richness and diversity of the life experience of people of African descent and Indigenous people all over the world.
Papilio Buddha will have its opening screening on Friday, December 6 (at 7:30 PM) at the Quad Cinema (34 West 13th Street), followed by additional screenings on Sunday, December 8 (at 6:30 PM) at Symphony Space – Thalia Theatre (2537 Broadway @ 95th St.), and on Thursday, December 12 (at 8 PM), at The Chapel, Teachers College, Columbia University (525 West 120th Street).
To contact the author, email to sujeetrajan@americanbazaaronline.com