Aug 8, 2011

Rajnesh Domalpalli of Vanaja screened at the Locarno Film Festival



The independent feature film Telugu, Vanaja was screened at the prestigious Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland on Saturday. This was the only Telugu film which was shown in the "Open Door", where other award-winning films  as KanasembaKudureyaneri, Shyam Benegal is Manthan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Guru in Nizhalk kuthu Dutt Pyaasa been shown to international audiences.

Directed by Rajnesh Domalpalli, Vanaja is situated in a beautiful Andhra Pradesh in 1960. "The film shows the chasm that divides classes as a young girl trying to come of age," Rajnesh IANS. Mamatha Bhukya starred Vanaja, who joins the local landlady'shouse to learn Kuchipudi, but her dream remains unfulfilled after the arrival of the landlady's son, who impregnates her. The film was first shown at Film Festival in Toranto and then won the award for best debut film at the Berlin Film Festival in 2007.

When released in the U.S., the film impressed critics up so much that a Pulitzer Prize winning film critic Roger Ebert called the filmas one of the best films he had seen this year. The film was released in South Africa, but found no willing in Andhra Pradesh. Rajnesh Domlpalli is now planning to release the film only in India too.

No comments: