3-day International Women’s Film Fest to be held across India
The Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI) will celebrate International Women's Day with the International Women's Film Festival 2019-March 8 to 10
Himachali film ‘Brina’ which is based on customs of Mandi district, would be screened at International Women’s Film Festival (IWFF) at New Jersey in United States (US) on 28 March.
The film is based on local tradition which was prevalent in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh around 150 years ago.
“As per the prevalent tradition at that time, moneylender (called as ‘Sahukar’) used to buy brides after paying money to their parents,” Brina movie director, Pawan Kumar Sharma told The Statesman.
Advertisement
“However, a girl from the Pingala village in Sarkaghat in Mandi district, Lahula challenged the system. But she failed and committed suicide,” Sharma said.
And now as penance, the residents of Pingala village celebrate ‘Basoa’ festival on Baisakhi every year and immerse puppets in local rivulets after marrying them.
The main aim behind producing the movie is to give the message of ‘Save Girl Child’ to the society, at a time when there are lots of cases of crime against women in the country, Sharma said.
“Apart from this, the film highlights the issue of polyandry, child marriages and low sex ratio. We want to give a message to society if we could not save the girl child on time, such situation could arise in the near future,” he said.
Pawan Kumar Sharma, who is in his hometown in Sundernagar in Mandi district, says he had blended Pahari language with Hindi in the film and the film features a mixture of artists, both from Bollywood and Himachal Pradesh.
Produced in 2016, the film Brina has not been officially released as yet and Pawan Kumar Sharma is planning to release the movie in May-June this year.
The film has won many awards at international and national film festivals and it has won the Best Jury and Best Villain award at Prague International Film Festival.
Brina has also won the Best Jury, Best Actor and Villain award at Jaipur International Film Festival and Best Film award at the Shimla International Film Festival.
The film would also be showcased at the Nasik International Film Festival scheduled to be held from 23-26 March 2017.
Advertisement
