Odisha-Born Director Makes A Mark With His Films

Bhubaneswar: Filmmakers from Odisha making space for themselves internationally is not a very new thing. ‘The Right Glass’, a silent movie by Biswanath Rath, was recently selected for ‘Parrot International Film Festival’ taking the count of its official selection to 50.

The film, based on child rights, was originally made an entry to ‘Kallola Short Film Festival’, organized by UNICEF. It received two awards and official selection/screening in 50 international film festivals within three years of its first premiere in 2015. In 24 out of the 37 international film festival held across the border of India, TRG was the only film from India to be screened.

According director Biswanath, hailing from Jeypore in Odisha, child labour was among the major issues related to child rights. “It is, we can say, all-pervasive. More than the problem, it is the ignorance and indifference of the common people that has worsened the situation. The film was an attempt to put forth this harsh reality of life in front of people” he said.

His first short film, ‘Kar Bhala’ has also received an official selection at Flicks Fiesta 2018 (KDU Penang Film Festival) to be held at Malaysia taking its festival count to 39. The festival is scheduled to be held on October 20 at Penang, Malaysia. ‘Kar Bhala’ is one of the movies that will represent India in this festival.

Based on a true story, ‘Kar Bhala’ received it’s first official selection/screening at ‘Delhi International Film Festival’. The film has received three awards and will be aired on an upcoming TV channel (Shorts TV India) for a period of three years.

His upcoming projects include a documentary web series titled ‘WAR: Rescue, Release, Repeat’ about a unique wildlife protection initiative taken up by a group of youngsters from Jeypore town in Koraput district of Odisha and two social ad films.