As the Rotary year ended, RC Thane Aces, RID 3142, led by its president Sunita Jain, thought a little out of the box and organised a remarkable project — a film festival featuring short films made by bright, young and talented artists who were struggling to find adequate viewership.
“We wanted to do a project which was a unique blend of art, culture and service, so we teamed up with the Prabhat Chitra Mandal and the Y B Chavan Centre to host the Chitrabharati Short Film Festival 2025, in order to provide a platform for some well made films,” said club president Sunita.
The club spent over ₹1.4 lakh on this venture where 27 young filmmakers got an opportunity to show their films to a discerning audience. Held over four days from May 29 to June 1, 2025, “this one-of-a-kind festival brought together 27 outstanding short films with engaging themes. A team from our club comprising our president, club member Sushma Bhatta, who has a lot of interest in and knowledge about films and Santosh Pathare — a renowned film critic and director, and secretary of Prabhat Chitra Mandal, shortlisted these films. Apart from providing a platform for young and less known filmmakers, films featuring new and fresh faces, and made with a young technical crew… mostly artists who were struggling to make a mark, were chosen to encourage their work,” said club secretary David Pezarkar. Awards were handed out to the best films, actors and a token amount was given to the filmmakers.
The duration of the films was between 20 to 30 minutes and the objective was not fundraising, and friends and relatives of the club members were invited for the screening held at three different locations in Mumbai. The themes of the chosen films were diverse and dealt with various social issues, such as social taboos, especially for girls/women, personal relationships, loneliness among the elderly, and so on.
The best film award was given to My father is afraid of water, (Papa Ko Pani Se Dar Lagta Hai), a short film by Prateek Rajendra Srivastava, on the poignant theme of an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. It is a critically acclaimed film on the director’s personal experience — taking care of his own father suffering from Alzheimer’s during the last two years of his life. The film explores the challenges of caregiving, the father’s fading memories, the bond between the son and the father, and the dilemma of caregiving while attending to his own work as a filmmaker. This film has been recognised at various film festivals.
It has been acclaimed for delving into the complexities of memory loss, the fragility of the human mind, and the emotional burden of caregiving. “The cinematography is praised for capturing the beauty of fleeting moments and the gradual erosion of memory,” says an article in the Northeast Film Journal.
Another interesting movie that was featured at this film festival dealt with the interesting issue of a time, several decades ago, in an Indian village when girls were not allowed to go to a cinema hall. It was about the release of a new film in that village and how a boy helps her get into the theatre.
The films made by emerging filmmakers from across India were screened at various locations, with the finale and awards ceremony hosted on June 1. RID 3142 outgoing DG Dinesh Mehta, Kiran V Shantaram, President of Prabhat Chitra Mandal and celebrated actor Vikas Patil, participated. Six shortlisted films were screened on the concluding day and awards given in acting, direction, cinematography, sound design and screenplay.
This one-of-a-kind festival brought together 27 outstanding
short films with engaging themes.
Pezarkar said the club members were happy that they did manage to create some buzz for these young and emerging directors and actors. But they did realise that the people invited to see these high-quality short films were among the more discerning and knowledgeable about good cinema. “This was the first such venture by our club and the next time we hope to have a bigger canvas and a more elaborate event to get the general public involved in seeing good films.”
Club president Sunita thanked all those from within and outside the club who worked hard to make this initiative successful and memorable. “The club remains committed to curating more such meaningful and creative experiences in the coming years — expanding Rotary’s reach into artistic and cultural expression, even while empowering youth, uplifting talent and fostering creativity,” she said.