Manoj Michigan’s short film bags a Remy award

It’s high time for ‘Tritiya Adhyay’ director Manoj Michigan and why not? His latest offering, a short film titled ‘I, Reborn’ has won the prestigious Remi Award at the 52nd Houston International Film Festival (HIFF) completing in the ‘short subject films—dramatic original’ category. The 20-minute short film sees Debopriyo Mukherjee and Haridas Chatterjee playing the leads. The silent short film revolving around a dom and his elderly, senile father sheds light on the circle of life. The Bengali word ‘dom’ refers to a man cremating bodies at burning ghats and is often seen as one of the lowest ranked in Hindu caste system. As per the narrative, the aged father watches helplessly as his young son continues the family tradition of burning corpses. However, one fine morning, an abandoned child changes everything in the decrepit daily routine of the father-son duo. ‘Reborn’, in the title, has been used as an allegory. The film was shot at Tajpur in West Bengal. ‘I, Reborn’ was competing with around 4,500 films from 74 countries at the Houston International Film Festival.