Founded in 1946, the Locarno International Film Festival is the second oldest film festival in the
world annually held in August in Switzerland. This festival has attracted some
of the greats of Indian cinema, such as the renowned Indian director Ashutosh
Gowarikar, whose film ‘Lagaan’ starring Aamir Khan, won the Audience Award at
the 54th edition of the festival and recently, his film ‘Mohenjo-Daro’ starring
Hrithik Roshan was chosen as the closing movie at the 69th edition of the
prestigious festival.
There have been other Indian directors who
have been recognised by Locarno in the past: Rituparno Ghosh’s literary
adaptation ‘Chokher Bali’, which was chosen for the competition section;
theatre and stage actor Rajat Kapur’s low-budget dark comedy ‘Raghu Romeo’,
featuring Vijay Raaz in the title role that entered the entered in the ”Piazza
Grande” non-competitive screening in Locarno and Sejal Shah’s half-hour
documentary, ‘Jogini’ in the special human rights section.
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However, this year, it was the turn of
young Goan filmmakers to rub shoulders with India’s best and the best of the
world. ‘A Cold Summer Night’, a debut short film by Goan filmmaker Yash Sawant
has been selected to have its World Premiere at the 71st Locarno International
Film Festival 2018, Switzerland, under the main non-feature film section
(shorts and medium-length) called “Pardi di Domani” (Leopards of
Tomorrow) International Competition. It will compete with 30 other films from
around the world. It is not only the first non-feature Indian film in 10 years
to compete in the “Pardi di Domani” International Competition section
of the Locarno festival; but also the first Goan / Konkani film to get its
world premiere (first screening) at such a prestigious festival.
Locarno is the 2nd oldest film festival in
the world and is up there among the top tier festivals like Cannes, Berlin and
Venice Film Festival. This is the 71st edition of Locarno Film festival, and in
comparison, the Venice Film Festival (75th edition this year) is the only one
which has been running longer than Locarno. One of the screening arenas at the
festival, Piazza Grande, has a seating capacity for 8000 people.
“Locarno is the first festival, we’ve submitted the film to and
it has been selected. The film has never been screened / showcased anywhere in
Goa, India or the world yet. On August 2, 2018, it will be screened for the
very first time in the world at Las Sala (one of the many venues at the Locarno
Festival), thus marking the world premiere of the film,” says Arvin Vaz.
The 21 minute, Konkani short film that was written and directed
by 21-year-old filmmaker Yash Sawant from Mapusa, was produced by 26-year-old
Arvin Vaz from Vasco.
Interestingly, Yash dropped out of Arts College to pursue his
passion as he had got the chance to be the Director of Photography for a
feature film (that is still in post-production).
“It still feels surreal. We had just finished the film last
month and now, we’re already set to begin our festival circuit. We couldn’t
have expected a better opening than Locarno, the most prestigious and reputed
platform for auteur driven art house films. The fact that our film is the only
film representing India at this years’ festival has also made me feel like, all
the effort put in has been worth it. I’m excited to be at the world premiere
and see how people from different cultures and from all over the world receive
our film. Also, heartiest congratulations to the magnificent cast and the
incredibly energetic tiny crew that made this film possible,” says Yash Sawant.
“I’m really happy about the film being selected. The entire team
worked tirelessly to complete the film in a short time as we worked on a
limited budget. Yash is a very energetic film maker who knows what he wants,
his age is an advantage and I’m sure he’ll make lot more acclaim worthy films,
in the times to come. What makes me feel really proud is the fact that it is a
Konkani film and that this is the only Indian film selected for the festival
this year, and the first in the ‘Pardi di Domani’ section since 2007. We hope
to make more films and reach wider audiences,” adds Arvin.
The film was shot in three nights at Yash’s place, from February
9 to February 11, 2018. They used around three college students in the crew, a
camera assistant and focus puller, a script supervisor and finally one more
member who acted as well as helped with production. While one of them is a mass
media student from St Xavier’s College, the two others are aspiring film making
students.
The film is self-funded without any company involved during the
entire production, which makes it even more special for everyone involved in
this project. They spent around 6 lakhs of their own money to make the film. It
took them 7 months from the concept to end product. The film was made with the
top festivals of the world in mind.
Incidentally the casting was done by Siddesh Naik, who is also
the editor of the Konkani film ‘Juze’, which premiered at the Hong Kong
International Film Festival, travelled to Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic,
Cork in Ireland, MAMI International Film Festival in Mumbai and Minsk
International Film Festival in Belarus and was also the only Konkani film in
the Indian Panorama at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI)
2017 in Goa.
“’Juze’ has started what we believe, is a revolution in the
Konkani industry. We hope our film manages to carry it forward and more
filmmakers succeed in putting out their stories for the world to see,” adds
Arvin.
With ‘A Cold Summer Night’, about to have its world premiere at
a top tier film festival in Europe, the stage is set for the film to do the
rounds of film festivals across the world. If the film is selected for the
International Film Festival of India this year, it is most likely to have its
Indian premiere then.
The film’s plot revolves around an incident, which happened to a
joint family on one particular night where an accident led to the devastation
of a couple (one of them was a Maharashtrian migrant), who were engaged in an
extra marital affair and their life twisted on its head within a few minutes.
It is a film about how in current day 2018; a semi-traditional joint family in
Goa reacts to and deals with adultery, especially when the accused is a
migrant. The film speaks about the Goan/Indian society’s take on extra marital
affairs, privacy and how the public tends to disregard the humanness of migrants
and immigrants.
The
cast includes some well-known actors from the state, like Rajiv Hede, Gauri
Kamat and young talent like Keatan Jadhav, Aresh Naik and Vinita Velip who have
carried the film ably on their shoulders. Yash Sawant also served as the
cinematographer and the editor of the film. The sound department consisted of a
team from Mumbai. From the cast, lead actor Keatan Jadhav is a Performing Arts
Assistant Professor in Vidya Prabodhini College, Porvorim and lives in
Canacona. This is his first film. Keatan Jadhav remained in character for 4
days during the shoot, initially worrying the film crew. Yash’s mother, Sheetal
Sawant did the set design. Vinita Velip is another actor for whom, this is the
debut film. Aresh Naik – a professor from Chowgule College plays a major
supporting role in the film. Sound design and the location sound have been done
by a crew from Mumbai, who are regulars in the Bollywood industry.
