Salma

Salma, one of the 4 documentaries

4 Indian documentaries including Blood Brother, Salma, Menstrual Man and Blood Relative will screen at  HotDocs, the Canadian International Documentary Film Festival to be held from April 25 – May 5, 2013 in Toronto.

Blood Brother and Salma will be part of the Special Presentations, Menstrual Man will be screened under the Rule Breakers and Innovators section and Blood Relative will be part of the Canadian Spectrum category.

Blood Brother, directed by Steve Hoover is a USA production about a disillusioned American tourist in India. A meet with a group of children with HIV / AIDS changes his understanding of life. The film won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for US Documentary at Sundance Film Festival 2013.

In Kim Longinotto’s India-UK production Salma, a Muslim girl in a South-Indian village is locked up by her family for 25 years; not allowed to study and forced into a marriage. The film will make its Canadian premiere at the festival. The documentary had its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2013 and bagged the second place in Panorama Audience awards at Berlinale 2013.

Menstrual Man, a Singapore – India production, directed by Amit Virmani, will also make its Canadian Premiere. Arunachalam Muruganantham is considered a madman in his village for he has achieved a feat that is considered to be pervert by his community. He has devised a manually operated machine to make low-cost sanitary pads.

Blood Relative by Nimisha Mukerji, an Indo-Canadian production, trails thousands of children worldwide who suffer from Thalassemia. After a screening at the Canada South Asian Film Festival in 2012 and at South Asian International Film Festival 2012, the film is now set for a Toronto Premiere at the festival.