Dharamshala International Film Festival goes online, announces first 10 films

DHARAMSHALA: The ninth edition of the Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF), which is going online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, announced its initial lineup of six feature documentaries and four narrative features on Monday.

The festival, slated to take place from October 29 to November 4, will screen documentaries such as “76 Days”, “Pearl of the Desert”, “A Rifle and a Bag”, “The Kingmaker”, “Softie”, “Welcome to Chechnya” and feature narratives “Corpus Christie”, “Identifying Features”, “Air Conditioner” and “Shell and Joint”.

“76 Days”, an American production, chronicles the desperate and harrowing struggle of health workers to save lives in Wuhan, China, in the middle of an emerging COVID-19 outbreak. It is directed by Hao Wu and Weixi Chen.

While “Pearl of the Desert”, helmed by Indian filmmaker Pushpendra Singh, provides an insight into the traditions, customs and etiquette of the Muslim Manganiyars in Rajasthan through the eyes of its 12-year-old subject Moti.

“A Rifle and a Bag” is the story of a couple who met and fell in love while fighting alongside the Naxalites. After a decade of armed conflict, the couple surrendered to the police and now live with former comrades in a settlement they built together in Maharashtra.

The film is a joint production of India, Romania, Italy and Qatar. It is directed by Arya Rothe, Cristina Hane and Isabella Rinaldi. (AGENCIES)