'Thithi' bags 2 awards at Swiss film festival

BENGALURU: City-based independent filmmaker Raam Reddy has walked away with two top awards at the Locarno International Film Festival. His debut movie, Thithi, was premiered at the festival recently.

The Kannada feature film was awarded the 'Pardo d'oro Cineasti Del Presente Premio Nescens' (Golden Leopard, Filmmakers of the Present Competition) and the Swatch First Feature Award at the fest. The Kannada movie ended an eight-year dry spell for Indian cinemas at the Swiss event; the festival was held from August 5 to 15 Other Indian films that have been screened at Lo carno include Lagaan Black Friday and Mr and Mrs Iyer.

Also read: 'Piku' wins best movie at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne

Set in Mandya Thithi chronicles responses to the death of Century Gowda from three generations of his sons. The responses blend into a climax at Gowda's Thithi, the culmination of the various ceremonies that mark the obsequies.“It was always my dream to capture a little piece of India's soul in a film. The awards and the good response the film received at Locarno show it has had a wonderful start and that the collective soul of a magical community will live on,“ said Reddy.

Also read: Manjhi was a superman, without any super powers: Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Co-written by Ere Gow da, Thithi was made using a cast of non-professional actors to lend authenticity to the script. An alumnus of St Stephen's College and Prague Film School, Reddy, 25, had earlier directed a critically-acclaimed short film titled Ika (feather) .