International documentary Kotpad Weaving: The Story of a Race Against Time, by award-winning filmmaker Biswanath Rath has been selected for screening at the International Tour Film Festival- Tourfilm Riga to be held in Latvia, Europe.
Altogether 173 tourism films will be showcased in this year’s edition of the festival. Kotpad Weaving… and six other Indian films will represent India at the festival.
Before that, the film will be screened at the Habitat Film Festival in New Delhi on May 20. The The 14th edition of the 10-day Habitat Film Festival 2019 kicked off in New Delhi on May 17 and will continue till May 26. Prof Sudha Dhingra, a professor in textile design from NIFT, Delhi, who also features in the documentary, will represent the film team in the post-screening interaction session.
Kotpad handloom, a unique tribal textile tradition from Odisha (India), known for its use of natural dye and tribal motifs, has never received due recognition. That is what inspired award-winning filmmaker Biswanath Rath to make Kotpad Weaving: The Story of a Race Against Time, the first ever documentary on this subject. The documentary was produced by Public Service Broadcasting Trust. The 30-minute film was telecast on DD National on March 24, 2018.
It received the Best Short Documentary Award at the Kashmir World Film Festival in Srinagar between November 28-December 4, 2018, followed by an Award of Excellence at the Metro Film & TV Awards, USA. In December, it was screened at the Smita Patil International Film Festival in Pune.
