MIFF 2026, 11: Film fare at the 19th MIFF, Part II
MIFF 2026, 11: Film fare at the 19th MIFF, Part II
That’s A Wrap/Shinjini Raval and Sunny Hinduja/India/2025/22.48 mins/English-Hindi/Short fiction
A man and a woman. Argument, confrontation, quarrel. Accusations and counter-accusations. A ‘drama’ being shot. It is the climax. Verbal blows are traded freely, like many real-life couples. And when the director calls, “It’s a Wrap”, the American term for “Pack-up”, marking the end of shooting for the day, something seems wrong. Has the couple developed real-life tensions, outside the narrative? They are in a make-up room. The woman is sitting at the make-up chair, while the man is standing next to her, with his back to the woman. First, he lights a cigarette. Then she lights one. It is suggested that their reel-life has spilled over into their real lives. A case of fact following fiction.
Good idea, but not entirely original or innovative. Shiny and Shinjini were brought together by their love for cinema. Life-partners on an off the screen, both are true cinephiles, and run a production house, called It’s a Sunny Day Films. It’s Wrap runs like any heated conversation between screen couples, referencing millions of real-life incidents, and the climactic twist is cut abruptly, leaving it to the viewers to make their own confrontation. It was shown at the Jagran Film and the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), in Goa. Passable cinema, which you will not miss much, if you fail to watch it. Incidentally, there are wo other non-Indian films with the same title, made in 2022 and 2023.
The Last Shelter/India/Rajesh Bhatia and Bharat Arora/2025/11.27 mins./Hindi/Short fiction
Several films at MIFF 2026 had mountains, especially the Ladakh range, as their locale. Inclement weather and poor visibility pose a challenge to cinematographers who work on such projects, but they relish opportunities to prove their competence. Buddhism, monasteries and monk are de rigueur. The Last Shelter writes an imaginative script, devoid of such tropes. It has a proper narrative, with Ladakhi characters.
A young woman, Neema, arrives at a shelter her father used to run, for mountaineers, who might need basic medical attention, blankets, water, oxygen and hot tea. What he did for weary, ill and old climbers was a perfect symbol of sacrifice and selflessness. But the young woman, who probably lives in a city, wants to shout it down. Just then, a storm strikes, and a family, which includes a rather old, and ailing mother, head for place that has The Last Shelter painted on its external wall. Neema does not have the heart to bar them entry. Humanism and love for all mankind surfaces, and she ushers them in, providing them all that she can offer. This is not going to be a one-off incident. Neema, then, takes the biggest decision of her life.
Directors Rajesh Bhatia and Bharat Arora (wrote about them in my last piece), handle the film delicately, with no paddings, and a carefully plotted script. Now comes the punch! The Last Shelter was made with AI. There is no camera, or actors, involved. At 11 mins, it is just enough to accommodate the locale and the characters, and the short pieces of dialogue. The only hint, that seasoned critics and movie-buffs might get, is that most of the dialogue is off-camera. Perhaps AI is not yet adept at producing authentic Hindi dialogue. The film won the duo an award. Like the symbolised location, the film ranks high at MIFF.
Eeny Meeny Miny Moe! "En, Ten, Týky!" /Czech Republic, Slovakia/Andrea Szelesova/2026/12.56 mins/Animation/Fantasy
I would like to change the title to Eeny Meeny Miny NO!
A mythical boy, who lives on another planet and whose head shines like the sun, with one ray shooting out time and again, is the object of a prank, while in the clouds. He lands on earth, where he has strange encounters. Strange indeed. Not a single ray of hope in this animation vehicle, which might, nevertheless, be a showcase for animation techniques.
Director Szelesova has studied cinema, and her award-winning graduation film, Sisters, was screened at over 60 international film festivals. Maybe that film should have been shown instead of Eeny Meeny Miny Moe! But it might have been made some years ago, and would not qualify for MIFF, which only screens films made during the last two years. It was earlier screened at the 2026 Tribeca Festival, where it was praised for its creative use of animation to explore themes of “acceptance, inclusion, and mental health.” So, Tribeca saw in the film what I could not see.
To be continued.
