Rooms - Sangeet Unni

Rooms

Direction: Sangeet Unni

Produced by K R Narayanan Institute of Visual Science and Arts

Competed at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival Kerala (IDSFFK) 2017

Campus Fiction Category | 11 min | Malayalam

The plot tags along a girl child where it’s shown to what extent the egoistic relationship of her parents affects her, her interests, and how far it has got her confined to a space.


What to take back?
A couple's argument was given a fresh perspective when it was taken solely from the daughter's point of view. It makes us think long and hard about the compromises and sacrifices needed in family life. The mother refuses to compromise her career, the father refuses to cover for the mother and the child drowns in neglect.

Their argument made me think twice about my generally feminist opinion on couple quarrels. The open ended film left me wondering. The father wasn't completely wrong. The mother wasn't either. No one was at fault.

And yet the daughter was being wronged...

What could have been different?
The initial focus on the daughter alone, along with the background soundscape, although great to create a setting for the plot, was a little too long. Quite a few shots could have been edited or omitted altogether, simply because it didn't help the plot move forward.

It's sometimes very painful to omit scenes which have thought and effort behind them. But for the sake of the end product, we prune whatever hinders the plot. Cut. Chop. Gone. Bye bye.

Because it is a crime to tell the viewer something he or she already knows.

Overall the concept was very sound and thought over.
Nothing like a film which leaves you thinking.

Here's an update.

Rooms was awarded the Best Campus Film produced within Kerala at IDSFFK, winning INR 20,000 & a Certificate, shared equally between the crew.
The simplicity of this student’s film was commendable. By using a sparse narrative, it manages to convey the loneliness of a young girl as she tries to make sense of her situation while listening to her parents’ fight