About
Alpavirama is a comma in Sanskrit - a precious pause - a brief stretch of time reclaimed for reflection and repose.
There is something intrinsically special about short films. Short films are like life itself, with multiple colours and nuances, each transient yet forever.
The Covid-19 virus pandemic has created an unprecedented situation in the world. The various lock-downs have limited our field of vision to the window, and an eerie silence has taken over the soundscape around us. People have been ill and/or have died, and others who have survived relatively unscathed, are coping with anxieties about their education, profession, and life.
In these difficult times, the internet and the mobile phone have kept us connected, and have facilitated our work, learning, entertainment, and experience sharing online. At the same time, they have also highlighted the digital divide between the haves and have-nots in our societies.
In any case, we all have had our own unique experiences in the times of the Virus and the Lockdown. Hence, as the World slowly opens up, and regains its foothold on the new normal, it’s time to share these beautiful/ugly/scary/funny/tragic/life-affirming lock-down stories with the rest of the world, as a very short film.
Alpavirama 2020 Online (the fifth edition of a much loved offline biennial short film fest, being held at NID, Ahmedabad, India since 2011, will screen a selected/curated bunch of very short films through a streaming platform, between 6-10 October 2020.