Even as our fingers remain firmly crossed for Payal Kapadia’s at Palme d’Or ceremony on May 25, today, we’re celebrating two Indian films showcased at 2024 in the La Cinef Selection that won first ( ) and third prize ( . Directed by Chidananda S Naik, a student at The Film and Television Institute of India, is a 15-minute film that tackles questions of fate, belief and human desperation. The trailer opens with a group of men looking up at the with a voiceover in the background speaking in Kannada: “One fine morning, the village rooster didn’t crow at all,” says the voice.
“From that day on, the sun stopped rising.” The trailer doesn’t give away much but leaves you with some discomfort as two hooded figures walking through a with lamps in their hands turn in unison to look at something behind them. Why are the men in the trailer looking up at the sky? That’s because is based on a Kannada folktale about a woman who steals the village’s prized rooster, plunging her people into perpetual .
The villagers embark on a frenetic quest to retrieve the missing bird and restore daylight. Shot entirely at night, the film feels both intriguing and foreboding. Despite the folktale being popular in his home state, Naik discovered that most people outside Karnataka were unfamiliar with it.
“My dream has been to transform the and folktales of India into cinematic experiences, and with such a wealth of stories waiting to be told, this short film feels like the perfect pl.
