The theme for the festival is “Insights and Aspirations”. The 21 films selected from more than double the number of entries from all over the world including Afghanistan and Pakistan, deal not only with aspirations achieved but also ambitions foiled. Remembr ance of Things Present by Toronto-based filmmaker Chandra Siddan, for instance, revolves around a young woman who takes her parents to task for marrying her off as a child. “Why, when she was a bright student and the only child of her parents?” she asks, pushing into focus the vast potential wasted in India. On the other side of the spectrum, Safina Uberoi and Australia-based Anna Cater’s film Outsourced takes a delightful look at four women working in a call center and their competition for jobs with workers from Australia and other countries.

And with women behind the lens, the home is never out of focus. In Lakshmi & Me, Mumbai filmmaker Nishtha Jain traces her changing relationships with her part-time maid while Haruyo Kato from Japan affectionately captures her sick mother’s final days. Anupama Srinivasan 33, however, turns her handycam right outside her window. “I saw two pigeons and started shooting. Things got interesting when one of the pigeons flew away, leaving the other alone. The second pigeon then perched on an electric wire and, after a few minutes, was joined by a third pigeon,” says Srinivasan about her film Everyday, which can be seen as a parable on relationships.

“Women are deeply concerned by the divisions in society, their own identity and safety, and question relationships from a different perspective. A political event can leave a deep impact,” says Jai Chandiraman, an official with the International Association Of Women In Radio And Television, who organise the festival. The festival will screen films that document the ground reality in Ayodhya after the Babri Masjid demolition, the history of three Muslim women who tackle gender conflicts and one that traces the scars of Partition in regions ranging from Kutch to Kashmir to the Khyber Pass. “My film Ayodhya Gatha looks at what happens to a city that is used as a point of mobilization by political parties. Ayodhya was home for so many. I documented the lives of eight-nine ordinary people who lived through those significant years,” says Vani Subramanian, 43.

And for animation buffs, there is Manpasand, which won an award at the New York International Film Festival last month. Filmmaker Dhvani Desai, 39, says she wanted to revive interest in the dying out folk art of Uttar Pradesh called Sanjhi. “In the 17th century, unmarried girls used Sanjhi art to make representations of their dream man. This film was also nominated in an animation film festival in Hollywood, besides getting officially selected in 11 film fests around the world,” explains Desai.