'Cannes nomination big boost for independent filmmakers'

Chennai-based filmmaker Thamizhz Thiyagarajan, whose short film "Donna" has been selected for screening at the forthcoming Cannes International Film Festival, believes the coveted nomination is a big boost for independent filmmakers.

The festival runs from May 13 to May 24.

"The Cannes tag is a blessing for any filmmaker. Films that are nominated for this prestigious festival will automatically make heads turn and attract lot of attention. I think such a nomination is a big boost for independent filmmakers like me," Thamizhz told IANS.

"Donna" will have its world premiere in the short film catalog section of the gala on May 18.

"The film is six minutes long. It features no dialogues and music, and is about the ego clash between a boy and a girl. Although there are no dialogues, you'd still sense a story running in the background when you watch the film," he said of the silent movie.

The film stars Heethesh Sami in the lead alongside Mallika Choudry.

Thamizhz admits it wasn't easy to make a film without dialogues.

"I've always been inspired by parallel cinema and it's through that, that I decided to make 'Donna' without any dialogues or music. It was extremely challenging. To keep audiences engrossed solely with the help of visuals is what I've achieved through this film," he added.

The idea behind making a film sans dialogues was to differentiate it from his previous short films, he said, and added: "My first film, 'Aariyar', was about a Sri Lankan issue with a lot of dialogues; my second short film, '84 MM PSA', didn't have dialogues either but we used music and sound effects."

Thamizhz is currently busy with his debut Tamil feature film.

"I'm busy meeting heroes with the script. I have a few appointments this week as well and because of which I may not be able to make it to the festival screening. My film's editor Dani Charles is most likely to attend on our behalf," he said.