Little Terrorist

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Little Terrorist
Directed by Ashvin Kumar
Produced by Ashvin Kumar,
Dilip Singh Rathore,
Sarah Tierney
Written by Ashvin Kumar
Starring Julfuqar Ali (Salim),
Sushil Sharma,
Megnaa Mehtta
Release date(s) 2004
Running time 15 min
Language Hindi/Urdu
IMDb profile

Little Terrorist is a short film directed, written and produced by Ashvin Kumar. It was nominated for the 2004 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film.

Contents

[edit] Production

The leading cast of the movie consisted of Julfuqar Ali (Salim), Sushil Sharma and Megnaa Mehtta. None of them had ever acted in a movie before this[1] and while Julfuqar is a street child, Sushil Sharma is a clerk in the government service in Delhi and Megnaa was a 12th standard student at the time of shooting the movie.[2]

The production of the film commenced in November 2003 and was completed in March 2004. The crew were selected by Alipur Films via Shooting People, the online filmmakers community and worked free of cost for the movie and even travelled to India at their own expense.[3]

The movie was shot in the deserts of Rajasthan on a very tight budget. The crew faced various difficulties due to the multilingual production team, remote locations and the shoestring budget. These were further complicated when a tent with the reel burnt down. The crew were however able to salvage the reel from the tent. At another time, a herd of cows stampeded through the shooting location.

Despite all mishaps, the movie was completed in less than four months.

[edit] Synopsis

The movie revolves around Jamal (played by Salim), a 10 year old Pakistani Muslim boy. While playing cricket near the Indo Pakistani border, the cricket ball is tossed over to the Indian side of the border separated by a fence.

Jamal crosses the fence to fetch the ball. He is however spotted by the Indian security forces and shot at. He hides in an Indian village where he is provided shelter by Bhola (Sushil Sharma), a devout Hindu Brahmin. Both Bhola and his niece, Rani (Megnaa Mehtta), are skeptical about allowing a Muslim boy in their home.

However, when the security forces come looking for Jamal in the village, he is protected by Bhola and Rani.

Jamal does manage to return to Pakistan in the end.

[edit] Awards

Since its world premiere in September 2004, the film has been invited to 103 film festivals and has won awards in fourteen of them. Chief among them was the nomination for Academy Awards, USA in the Best Live action short films category. It was also nominated for the best short film award in the European Film Awards.[4]

It went on to win the audience award in the Almería International Short Film Festival, the UIP Ghent Award for European Short Films in the Flanders International Film Festival, the grand prize in the Manhattan Short Films festival and the first prize in the Short Films category in the Montréal World Film Festival.

The movie was officially mentioned and selected in various other competitions.[4] It also won an honourable mention by BAFTA LA. It is the first Indian short film to get a theatrical release in India.

[edit] Won

  • Montreal World Film Festival: 1st Prize.
  • Manhattan Film Festival: Best Film.
  • Flanders Film Festival: Best Film.
  • Tehran International Film Festival: Grand Prize
  • Reelworld Film Festival: Bell Expressvu Award.
  • Satyajit Ray Foundation: Satyajit Ray Award, Best Short Film.
  • Lucania Film Festival: Winner.
  • Salento Film Festival: Winner.
  • Aspen Shortfest: Honorable Mention by BAFTA/LA.
  • Almería International Short Film Festival: Audience Award.
  • Temecula Valley International Film Festival: Special Jury Prize.
  • Mumbai International Film Festival: Silver Conch.
  • Sousse International Film Festival: Winner.
  • Buff Film Festival: Winner, Audience Choice.
  • São Paulo International Short Film Festival: Audience Favourite.

[edit] Nominated

[edit] List of festivals for Little Terrorist

  • 1. Montreal World Film Festival, Canada, September 2004, World Premiere Winner First Prize
  • 2. São Paulo Int. Short Film Festival, S. America, September 2004 Audience Favourite
  • 3. Palm Springs Int. Short Film Festival, USA, US Premiere, September 2004
  • 4. Telluride Film Festival, USA, September 2004
  • 5. Manhattan Short Film Festival, USA, September 2004, Winner Best film
  • 6. Flanders Film Festival, Belgium, October 2004, Winner Best film
  • 7. Cork Film Festival, Ireland, October 2004
  • 8. Chicago Int. Children’s Film Festival, USA, October 2004
  • 9. London International Film Festival, UK, October 2004
  • 10. Hawaii International Film Festival, USA, October 2004
  • 11. Asiana Int. Short Film Festival, Korea, October 2004
  • 12. International Short Film Festival, Berlin, Germany, November 2004
  • 13. India International Film Festival, India, November 2004
  • 14. Tehran Film Festival, Iran, November 2004, Winner Grand Prize
  • 15. River to River Film Festival, Italy, December 2004
  • 16. India International Film Festival, Chicago
  • 17. Bangkok Film Festival, Bangkok, January 2005
  • 18. Rotterdam Film Festival, Netherlands, January 2005
  • 19. Academy Awards, nominated in Live Action Short category, USA, February 2005
  • 20. European Academy Awards, nominated (presented by Wim Wenders)
  • 21. Satyajit Ray Foundation, Winner Satyajit Ray Award
  • 22. Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran, February 2005
  • &23. Miami International Film Festival, February 2005
  • 24. Kinofilm Film Festival, Manchester, February 2005
  • 25. Cinequest Film Festival, USA, March 2005
  • 26. Tampere Film Festival, Finland, March 2005
  • 27. Vail Film Festival, Colorado, US, March 2005
  • 28. New York Int. Children's Film Festival, USA, March 2005
  • 29. Aspen Short Film Festival, USA, April 2005, Honorable Mention
  • 30. Human Rights Night Film Festival, April 2005
  • 31. Reelworld Film Festival, Canada, April 2005, Winner Bell Expressvu Award
  • 32. Washington DC International Film Festival, USA, April 2005
  • 33. Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, USA, April 2005
  • 34. Newport Beach Film Festival, USA, April 2005
  • 35. Tribeca Film Festival, USA, May 2005
  • 36. San Francisco Int. Film Festival, USA, April 2005
  • 37. International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen, Germany, May 2005
  • 38. Almeria en Corto, Spain, May 2005 WINNER
  • 39. International Indian Film Academy Festival, Amsterdam, Holland, June 2005
  • 40. Bayside Film Festival, Australia, June 2005
  • 41. Canadian Film Centers Worldwide Short Film Festival, Canada, June 2005
  • 42. Sydney Film Festival, Australia, June 2005
  • 43. La Cittadella del Corto, Italy, July 2005
  • 44. Giffoni Film Festival, Italy, July 2005
  • 45. Bollywood and Beyond, Germany, July 2005
  • 46. Tabor Film Festival, July 2005
  • 47. Asian American International Film Festival, USA, July 2005
  • 48. Expresion en Corto 2005, Mexico, July 2005
  • 49. Motovun Film Festival, Croatia, July 2005
  • 50. Indigo Film Festival, Singapore, July 2005
  • 51. 6th FILMI South Asian Film Festival, Toronto, August 2005
  • 52. Lucania Film Festival, Italy, August 2005 WINNER
  • 53. Indepenent South Asian film festival, Seattle, August 2005
  • 54. Anonimul Film Festival, Romania, August 2005
  • 55. Sarajevo Film Festival, August 2005
  • 56. Salento International Film Festival, Italy, September 2005 WINNER
  • 57. Temecula Valley Int. Film Festival (India Showcase), US, September 2005
  • 58. Best of Shorts Film Festival, France, September 2005
  • 59. Bite the Mango Film Festival, UK, September 2005
  • 60. Festival de Cinema Politic, Barcelona, September 2005
  • 61. Shots but Great Film Festival, Italy, October 2005
  • 62. Mill Valley Film Festival, US, October 2005
  • 63. Cinema Tout Ecran, Switzerland, October 2005
  • 64. Interfilm Berlin, Germany, November 2005
  • 65. Sevilla Festival De Cine, Spain, November 2005
  • 66. Med Film Festival, Rome, November, 2005
  • 67. Cardiff Screen Festival, Wales, November 2005
  • 68. Brief Encounters in Bristol Int. Short Film Festival, UK, November 2005
  • 69. Kerala Film Festival, Inda, December 2006
  • 70. Prague Short Film Festival, Czech Repulic, December 2005
  • 71. Paris Internation Short Film Festival, France January 2006
  • 72. Int. Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, January 2006
  • 73. Seattle International Film Festival, January 2006
  • 74. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), February 2006
  • 75. Mumbai Int. Film Festival, India, February 2006 WINNER
  • 76. Sousse International Film Festival, Tunisie, March 2006 WINNER
  • 77. International Film Festival on Human Rights, March 2006, Switzerland
  • 78. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 2006
  • 79. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma, March 2006
  • 80. Tiburon Film Festival, March 2006
  • 81. Munich International Film Festival, March, 2006, Germany
  • 82. BUFF Film Festival, Sweden, March 2006 WINNER
  • 83. Tampere Film Festival, Finland, March 2006
  • 84. Wisconsin International Film Festival, March 2006
  • 85. Denver Film Society, April 2006
  • 86. Belgrade Doc. and Short Film Festival, Serbia and Montenegro, April 2006
  • 87. Filmfest Dresden, Germany, April 2006
  • 88. Mediawave Int. Film Festival, Sweden, April 2006
  • 89. Festival Del Cinema Europeo, Lecce, Italien, April 2006
  • 90. North West Film Center, Portland, Oregon, May 2006
  • 91. Cinema/Chicago, May 2006
  • 92. Capalbio Film Festival, Italy, June 2006
  • 93. Transilvania Int. Film Festival, Cluj, Romania, June 2006
  • 94. Arcipelago- Int. Fest. of Short Films and New Images, Rome, Italy, June 2006
  • 95. Jerusalem Int.Film Festival, Jerusalem, Israel, July 2006
  • 96. Umea Int. Film Festival, Umea, Sweden, September 2006
  • 97. Helsinki Int. Film Festival, Helsinki,Finland, September 2006
  • 98. Int. Short Film Festival of Drama, Drama, Greece, September 2006
  • 99. Nordisk Panorama Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark, September 2006
  • 100. Panorama of European Cinema, Athens, Greece, September 2006
  • 101. Panorama of European Cinema, Nicosia, Cyprus, October 2006
  • 102. Int. Filmfest Braunschweig, Germany, November 2006
  • 103. Exground Filmfest, Wiesbaden, Germany, November 2006

[edit] References

  1. ^ Upperstall.com. Retrieved on September 16, 2006.
  2. ^ Cast from the official website. Retrieved on September 16, 2006.
  3. ^ The making of the movie. Retrieved on September 16, 2006.
  4. ^ a b Official website of the movie. Retrieved on September 16, 2006.

[edit] External links