A global film festival exploring home, belonging, and nostalgia in Bengaluru 

Speaking to The Hindu, Georgekutty A.L., Secretary, of Bangalore Film Society, said that the purpose of the film festival is to introduce youngsters to contemporary socio-cultural issues. “The festival will also help youngsters start their own self-search for peace and tranquillity amidst conflicts and chaos. ‘Home’ in that sense becomes the wide world ‘self’ wants to recreate and belong with others in harmony,” he added.  

The Nomad’s Haven, a unique three-day international film festival on home, belonging, and nostalgia, organised by Bangalore Film Society in collaboration with Marupakkam, Gamana Women’s Collective and Indian Institute of World Culture, will take place from December 16 to 18.

Speaking to The Hindu, Georgekutty A.L., Secretary, of Bangalore Film Society, said that the purpose of the film festival is to introduce youngsters to contemporary socio-cultural issues. “The festival will also help youngsters start their own self-search for peace and tranquillity amidst conflicts and chaos. ‘Home’ in that sense becomes the wide world ‘self’ wants to recreate and belong with others in harmony,” he added.  

“The films are both national and international documentaries in various languages that seek to entertain and educate, make us laugh and weep, question and hope. The festival is a non-commercial and non-ticketed event, designed to inspire and engage youth by exploring contemporary socio-cultural issues. Through carefully curated films, we aim to spark self-reflection and dialogue on themes of home, belonging, and the quest for peace and tranquillity amidst the complexities of modern life,” Georgekutty explained. 

Spread over three days, the festival will feature films from across India and other countries like Australia, France, Afghanistan, Finland, China and Sri Lanka, in various languages including English, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Bengali, Konkani, Assamese, Chinese, Finish, Persian, French and Mizo.

The Nomad’s Haven festival starts off with the film Home by Nina Sabnani, an animated memoir that reflects on her mother’s poignant memories of partition and the reclaiming of lost childhood. Some of the other films to watch out for are Nundrisha Wakhloo’s Cat’s Attic which explores ancestral ties and collective memory through a Kashmiri attic. In Search of Ajantrik – a film by Meghnath that delves into Ritwik Ghatak’s film Ajantrik, examining its themes and contemporary socio-political relevance in Jharkhand. Gotho – Sainath Uskaikar‘s heartfelt “film letter” to his grandmother, blending personal moments with cinematic expression.  

Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know, a popular film from Karnataka, that recently made name at the at Cannes Film Festival will also be presented at the festival. The film by Chidananda Naik is a poetic tale of how a stolen rooster disrupts village life in rural Karnataka. Ilakkiya Simon ‘s A Letter to Lanka navigates Sri Lanka’s civil war scars and political unrest, exploring themes of home and identity.

Meanwhile, Introspection of Different Cultures in My Life a film by Amizthan Athimoolam, reflects and embraces vulnerabilities and multicultural experiences. Ayon Pratim Saikia intertwines identity and nature through the lens of an Assamese river in the film Lullaby of Waves. With many more films, the festival ends with the screening of a Persian film from India, fascinated by Iran’s film culture and the poetic works of the feminist poet Forough Farrokhzad, titled And, Towards Happy Alleys directed by Sreemoyee Singh.