Mukti Bhawan, Girni amongst the latest selection of films made available online by DIFF

A slew of films have been made available online by various film festivals across the world in the wake of the ongoing pandemic, which has been a real treat for cinephiles who were sorely missing out on discovering films on the festival circuit. The Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) was one of the first festivals in India to make films from past editions of their festival available online.

As a response to the COVID-19, DIFF reached out to their alumni and have been making their films available for online screenings. The selection of films is updated every two weeks. The latest selection, which will be available till 7 July includes Indian and international documentaries, shorts and narrative features. 

The documentaries include Hiroshi Sunairi’s 48 Years: Silent Dictator (2017), a film about a professional boxer, Iwao Hakamada who was convicted of mass murder and held on Japan’s death row for 48 years, the longest in history. Subsequently, he was released and the film tracks the effects that the long-term imprisonment had on him.

Arshad Khan’s Abu (2017) is an autobiographical documentary that examines the challenges of growing up as a gay man in a close-knit Pakistani Muslim family. The Shepherdess of the Glaciers (2015) by directors Stanzin Dorjai Gya and Christiane Mordelet traces the difficulties in the life of an ageing shepherdess Tsering, who tends to her flock of 250 sheep and pashmina goats. 

The short films in the selection include Umesh Kulkarni’s notable Girni (2004), and Dechen Roder’s Bhutanese film Lo Sum Choe Sum (2015). The critically acclaimed feature film Mukti Bhawan (2016) by Shubhashish Bhutiani and Karma Takapa’s Ralang Road (2016) are also included in the selection.

The films can be watched free of cost and can be accessed through the festival website.