The world premier of ‘Kalkokkho’ (House of Time), a Bengali flick directed by Rajdeep Paul and Sarmistha Maiti, both alumni of Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, will take place at the prestigious 26th Busan International Film Festival on October 9.

‘Kalkokkho’, is the first feature film of the duo. It is produced by the famed Aurora Film Corporation, which had distributed and produced several Satyajit Ray classics and a film of Ritwik Ghatak among other Bengali classics for decades but was not heard of in recent years. The over two-hour film is based on a story by Rajdeep and Sarmistha themselves, features mostly newcomers. The key actors are Janardan Ghosh, Tannistha Biswas and Sreelekha Mukherjee.

”We are more than overwhelmed with the news that our debut feature film ‘Kalkokkho’ (House of Time) has been selected for world premiere in the New Currents (main competition section) of 26th Busan International Film Festival on October 9, 2021,” the directors told PTI on Thursday. In the film, which has a contagious pandemic as its backdrop, a doctor is taken hostage by a young woman in a desperate attempt to ensure the safety of her family’s health. The doctor, who is kept captive in an almost desolate house inhabited by three women of three ages – the paranoid young woman, an amnesic old woman, and a lonely young girl, that forces beyond his comprehension are at play and he might be trapped not only in space but also in time.

”The film uses the texture of time with a blend of magic realism and existential horror to explore eternal themes like reality and illusion, instinct and morality, love, loneliness and grief,” Paul explained.

Right after Busan, ‘Kalkokkho’ will be the opening film at the 7th Caleidoscope Indian Film festival, Boston. It will be screened there on October 22. It has also been officially selected in the competition category of 20th Dhaka International Film Festival, 2022, in its ‘Cinema of the World’ section. ”It is specially an honour for us to compete in these prestigious film festivals. It is even more exhilarating for us because we made this film in the midst of the depressing COVID pandemic,” Maity said.

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