IDSFFK 2025: ‘Rewritten’, an honest retelling of generational damsels and their self-salvation

Damsels in misery are characters from fairytales. The slumbering princess, awaits the arrival of ‘Prince Charming’ to awaken her. Nonetheless, Rewritten by Yara Nisam, which premiered within the Malayalam Non-Competitors Brief Fiction class on the seventeenth Worldwide Documentary and Brief Movie Competition of Kerala (IDSFFK), appears to be like at one other chance — what if the prince by no means comes?

The 11-minute brief movie explores the turmoils of a younger lady’s thoughts, which in the end leads her to a realisation that assist comes from inside. Rewritten appears to be like at how ladies, regardless of possessing company, restrict themselves in sure settings.

Yara explores how self-imposed restrictions are handed on by moms to their daughters, which initially frustrates them. Later, as they step into maturity, the ladies perceive their moms higher, which units them free as an alternative of ready for a Prince Charming.

“In fashionable households, we frequently witness supportive fathers. There are additionally moms who’ve company, however that feels absent,” says Yara after the premiere.

Yara, a movie pupil on the Nationwide Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, says, “Whereas rising up, tales performed a serious position. My dad and mom used to inform me lots of them. It had an impression on my expectations of the world. As an grownup, I realised how a narrative is narrated can be vital.”

The movie is picturised in a cushty acquainted setting. The dilemma of the feminine protagonist, performed by Karuna Pious, displays completely on her face. Gayatri Paulson is convincing because the mom.

The movie’s use of animation, executed by Karuna Pious, elevates the storytelling with using metaphors. The animated interlude summarises the creator’s message, which exhibits how affection evolves into restriction.

Yara made the movie as a semester venture at NID. “It was shot in three days, and we had per week for ideation. I needed to make use of metaphors and choreograph feelings. Resulting from time constraints, we couldn’t shoot that portion,” she says.

“Rewritten is my first movie. It has helped me create a basis. I realised how a lot time I ought to give to movies. I additionally found that every part in cinema is intentional; the moments which you will think about magical on display screen usually are not unintentional, however executed with intent.”