Among the six Bengali short films that have been shortlisted for screening under short film corner at the Cannes Film Festival this year, is a Delhi University student Lubdhak Chatterjee’s film, In A Free State. The festival is scheduled from May 11 to 22 and Lubdhak is elated about his directorial being shortlisted at Cannes.
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“While making this short film, I never imagined that it would go that far. I sent my request on the official website of Cannes and surprisingly got shortlisted,” an ecstatic Lubdhak told us.
The 25-year-old, Mtech from Delhi Technological University (DTU), was born in Kolkata. He first got involved with blogging and got intrigued by the world of motion picture. Filmmakers Satyajit Ray and Rituparno Ghosh have been a big influence on him.
“For someone as naive as me, making a short film on my own was quite a struggle. Managing the expenses and deciding the shoot location was quite a task, but once you are determined, things fall into place,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}“For someone as naive as me, making a short film on my own was quite a struggle. Managing the expenses and deciding the shoot location was quite a task, but once you are determined, things fall into place,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}Read: Chandigarh director’s short film Asmad makes it to Cannes
The 28-minute film is a story of an aspiring filmmaker and an artist who paints amputated figures. They embark on a journey to explore the true essence of freedom when their choices are antagonistic to popular social norms. Starring Nihal Parashar and Sunder Pal, is a short film which delineates the notion of ‘freedom’ and ‘its price’.
Lubdhak further adds that he wanted to walk the red carpet at Cannes and experience the whole fiasco but due to his forthcoming exams and the expenses involved in travelling to the festival he wouldn’t be attending it.