Snubbed by Bengaluru film fest, Natesh Hegde’s Pedro is off to Thrissur fest and IFFK

Debutante filmmaker Natesh Hegde ’s much-feted Kannada film Pedro’s exclusion from the ongoing Bengaluru International Film Festival on grounds that it contains ‘religious sensitive content’ continues to cause ripples in the film fraternity, especially among independent makers. Since its debut at the Busan International Film Festival, Pedro has been lauded and won accolades at each of its many outings. Back home in India, too, the first festival it is at, the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival listed it as part of its India Gold section (India Gold brings together the most extraordinary contemporary Indian feature-length films of the current year, premiering in India for the first time. All the films in this section compete for the Golden Gateway and Silver Gateway Award.).

And yet, the film, a part of which is about the title character’s (played by Natesh's father Gopal Hegde) social ostracization after he inadvertently shoots a cow, was not given a shot on home turf, which the organizers claim is because it was not submitted for the right category. The makers, led by actor-filmmaker Rishab Shetty, who has backed Natesh’s debut feature, were beyond disappointed by the BIFFes snub, but they now have reason to cheer, as other film festivals are appreciating the film’s worth. Pedro is competing for KW Joseph Film Award at International film festival of Thrissur. The award, which bears a Rs 1 lakh prize amount for the Best Film has been established in memory of Kattukkaran Varunny Joseph, who is considered the Father of Malayalam cinema and theatre industry as the first film exhibitor, with his permanent theatre, Jose, in Thrissur. 

Pedro is also headed to the International Film Festival of Kerala, which will be held in mid-March in Thiruvananathapuram, as part of its official World Cinema selection. 

The KW Joseph Film Award section, incidentally, also features filmmaker Gaurav Madan’s Hindi feature Barah by Barah, which was also not selected at BIFFes. The film about a photographer who captures the dead at the Manikarnika ghat in Varanasi, was also allegedly deemed to sensitive for BIFFes audiences.