2022’s Unheard India: Kolkata Film Festival’s rare language films captivate movie fans

Rare language films are subtly striking the right notes at the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival, whether it be Tortoise Under the Earth in the Santhali language or the Rajbanshi film Mansai, directed by Ashutosh Das (KIFF).

The KIFF programme initially featured foreign language films in 2015.

The Unheard India: Rare Languages films section this year features movies produced in less common Indian languages.

Seven of the 16 films that were chosen for the 28th edition have already been shown.

Three films about West Bengali aboriginal languages, Rajbanshi, Kurmali, and Santhali, have found a place in the Unheard India: Rare Languages film section, adding diversity to the 28th KIFF. Maithili, Byari, Sanskrit, and Rabha are further languages. The movies that have been shown include Shishir Jha’s Santhali-language film Tortoise Under the Earth. Ashutosh Das’ Mansai-Beyond River in Rajbanshi; Biswajit Roy’s Tusu in Kurmali; Aditya Chiranjeevi’s Dhairya in Byari; Hiren Bora’s Darling in Rabha; Yadu Vijaykrishnan’s Bhagavadajjukam in Sanskrit; and Pratik Sharma’s Lotus blossom in Maithili. Birbaha Hansda, a Bengal Minister and actor in Santhali cinema, described her experience in an interview with India Today. She talked about how Santhali films were given a platform for a big screening.

‘The future is better, but the trip has been difficult. Our works were never intended to be screened at a film festival, but the government has provided this venue. The Kurmanji and Adivasi languages and cultures merit further study. Why is the originality not going to be kept? At the 25th KIFF, a Santhali movie was screened for the first time’ Hansda stated. She continued by saying that the goal was to emphasise words. ‘Our cultures may be shared with the rest of the world through films. We’re all working to keep our languages alive somewhere’ insisted Hansda.

In an interview with India Today, the segment’s curator, Santanu Ganguly, stated that the program’s goal was to give underdog films a chance to be seen by a wider audience.