Animation movies can spotlight severe topics too: Shred Sreedhar on ‘Reena Ki Kahaani’

Animated movies have typically been used to entertain kids. Mumbai-based filmmaker Shred Shreedhar has used it to spotlight an necessary subject: human trafficking.

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His nine-minute Reena Ki Kahaani, which was screened on the ongoing Mumbai International Film Festival, relies on the real-life story of a lady who will get trapped within the flesh commerce. It additionally highlights the totally different vulnerabilities that facilitate such crimes, like false guarantees and the lure of a greater life to targetting women from weaker sections of society who dream of a brighter future. “I was very moved by the idea. I felt that it was important this message reached out to children and parents,” says Shreedhar B, whose Shred Creative Lab in collaboration with Vihaan, an anti-human trafficking NGO, put collectively the mission.

So, why animation? “Most films on the subject are dark and morbid in nature, and cannot be shown to children. We decided to do this film in the animated format so that children can watch and take pointers from it. There are lots of important topics like domestic violence that can be told through animation. It is particularly helpful when the identity of the person cannot be disclosed. Animation films can highlight serious topics too,” says Shreedhar, whose movie was earlier awarded ‘Best Animation Film’ on the Mykonos International Film Festival and Crown International Film Festival (UK), “A lot of people are amazed that a dark story such as this has been narrated in this fashion.”

Currently, Shreedhar is scripting a interval movie primarily based on the caste atrocities that happened in Kerala within the Thirties. “I’m currently in conversation with artistes to collaborate on this feature. We’re also involved in a lot of research for this project, in order to understand the dialect and conversational style of that period.”

Apart from Reena Ki Kahaani, The Mumbai International Film Festival, on until June 4, may even see a few premieres: Netflix’ unique collection, Mighty Little Bheem: I Love Taj Mahal episode, and the NFAI restored model of Satyajit Ray’s documentary, Sukumar Ray.

Bangladesh has been chosen because the ‘Country of Focus’ this 12 months in commemoration of fifty years of its Independence; a package deal of 11 movies might be offered from the nation together with the critically-acclaimed Hasina: A Daughter’s Tale. For those that love animation movies, works of Portuguese animator Regina Pessoa, Russian animation director Aleksandr Petrov and Canadian animator and illustrator Janet Perlman might be showcased on the pageant. Also screened right here might be Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama, which was the primary animation movie co-produced by India and Japan.