65th National Film Awards
The 65th National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2017 in Indian cinema. The awards were announced on 13 April 2018. The awa ...
2017 as well as ICFT-UNESCO GANDHI Medal 2018 winner film director, producer and screenwriter, who works in
Indian cinema
The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...
. Morchhale is hailed by critics as an important filmmaker of the Indian new wave.
Films
Praveen Morchhale directed his first feature film Barefoot to Goa in 2015. Having started out by making short films and directing theatre, this film turned to
crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
prior to its release on 10 April 2015. Co-produced by 238 people who raised a sum of INR 5 million, this film depicted the indulgent relationship between a grandparent and a grandchild.
His next feature "Walking with the Wind" (2017), bagged three prizes at the
65th National Film Awards
The 65th National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2017 in Indian cinema. The awards were announced on 13 April 2018. The awa ...
- Best Film (Ladakhi), Best Sound Design ( Sanal George) and Best Re-Recording (
Justin Jose
Justin Jose ( ml, ജസ്റ്റിൻ ജോസ്) (born 1980) is an Indian Sound Engineer and Re-recording mixer, Sound Mixer. He has worked in Hindi cinema, Hindi, Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali, Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu Cinema, Telu ...
). This film was also awarded the ICFT
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Gandhi medal at the 49th International Film Festival of India.
Morchhale's third film, Widow of Silence (2018) is about a Kashmiri woman, Aasiya, whose husband gets picked up by the security forces. After waiting for seven years she is now a 'half-widow', a woman whose husband is missing, facing a government which is unwilling to declare him dead. This
Gothenburg Film Festival
Göteborg Film Festival (GFF), formerly Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF), known in English as the Gothenburg Film Festival, formerly Gothenburg International Film Festival, is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden and the larg ...
2019,
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...
2019,
Jerusalem Film Festival
The Jerusalem Film Festival ( he, פסטיבל הקולנוע ירושלים, ar, مهرجان القدس السينمائي) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusal ...
2019
Film won 5 International awards and considered as the most important film coming out from India in the year 2019. Film won Best film award at MOOOV Film Fest, 2019 Belgium (Winner Best film award in International competition and Behind the Scene Award).
At the 17th annual
Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California. Established by Christina Marouda in 2003, as a nonprofit organization devoted to paving the way for a greater appreciation of Indian cinema
, "Widow of Silence" won the Grand Jury prize for the best feature, for its depiction of ''"a condition that most of the world doesn't get to see"''.
Critical response
Praveen's all three films have received critical response from all over the world. Widow of Silence has received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike.
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that "“Widow of Silence” is a movie with a cool head and a sharp eye — one that sees greater hope in the flamboyantly jeweled tones of a carmine head scarf than in the entrenched absurdities of a broken bureaucracy.
''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' wrote that the least compromised by sentimentality, it packs an unsettling message of empowerment very rare in the social injustice genre.
Roger Ebert.com
''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...
has a highly praise for the film - "The final four minutes turn what was already a fine picture into an unforgettable one, affirming Morchhale's status as one of the most exciting figures of the Indian new wave." Devarshi Ghosh wrote on
Scroll.in
''Scroll.in'', simply referred to as ''Scroll'', is an Indian digital news publication owned by the Scroll Media Incorporation. It publishes content in both Hindi and English languages. Founded in 2014, the website and its journalists have won ...
that "Hope is a running theme in Morchhale's films". According to her, "In Widow of Silence, Aasiya's hope leads to a jarring poetic justice. “The end signifies not just the end of the villain but also of the system”".
Reviewing the film for the Asian Movie Pulse (AMP), Joanna KOŃCZAK noted that "Morchhale has undoubtedly brought up important issues and gave the voice to the people of the Valley, dwelling on their suffering and sorrows without a preachy tone and exaggerated melodrama. It is very rare for Indian filmmakers to take on the Kashmiri case in such an emphatic and problem-focused manner."
Belgian distributor MOOOV has picked up Benelux rights from Oration Films to Praveen Morchhale's Kashmir-set Widow Of Silence. The deal for all rights excluding airlines marks the first for the film.
Inspiration
Morchhale has been noted for his subtle, natural and simplistic style of cinema and he mostly uses non-professional actors in his films. He takes his inspiration from Iranian Cinema, especially directors like
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami ( fa, عباس کیارستمی ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of ...
whom he considers an ''"epitome of simple cinema...who uses the film medium to express stories in a minimalist way...without worrying too much about commercial aspects."''.
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...