After World Premiering at the prestigious 64th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen where it won the ‘Special Mention’ award, Drishyam Films’ award-winning short film ‘Rammat-Gammat’ (My Best Friend Shoes) to release on Mubi on March 20th 2021 as the ‘Film of the Day‘.
The Gujarati language short is written-directed by Ajitpal Singh, whose debut feature ‘Fire In The Mountains’ had its World Premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2021 in the ‘World Cinema Dramatic Competition’, as the only film from South Asia to be selected among the 10 films competing in the section.
‘Rammat-Gammat’ is a moving tale of two young boys from different backgrounds who bond over soccer, until a new pair of shoes strains their friendship. It’s a simple story of complex characters, which will spark a discussion about merit vs money, poor vs privileged, class and caste divides and the role of friendship in it.
The 18-minutes narrative short introduces two young newcomers from Gujarat, Shivam Math and Yash Patel, who are excellent football players in real life and have represented their cities at state level and won awards. The short features all first time and non-professional actors except Swati Das (Hindi Medium, Bombay Talkies, Vagina Monologues) who plays a significant role in the short.
‘Rammat-Gammat’ was selected in nearly 50 noted international and Indian film festivals in over 25 countries and won 6 awards and distinctions. The short had its World Premiere at the prestigious 64th edition of International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany in May 2018 where it won ‘Special Mention’ in international children’s film competition, North American Premiere at the Oscar Qualifying, 24th Palm Springs Short Fest in international competition and India Premiere at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in international competition in Half Ticket. It was the only Indian film selected in CINEKID, Amsterdam 2018, known as the largest children’s film festival in the world.
Elated about the release of the film on Mubi, Manish Mundra, founder of Drishyam Films says, “After touring over 50 international film festivals in nearly 30 countries, I am extremely thrilled that Rammat Gammat is finally coming on a prestigious platform like Mubi that showcases quality independent cinema from all over the world. We hope this to be the beginning of a long, fruitful association with them.
Self-taught filmmaker Ajitpal Singh says, “I am super thrilled that Rammat-Gammat is coming on Mubi, I hope this film can touch and unite many hearts and help viewers see beyond the limitations of us vs them, like children can.
“The short film has played an important part in my journey as a filmmaker and got me an opportunity to make my debut feature, Fire In The Mountains. I am grateful to Drishyam Films, Manish Mundra for funding the short film and giving me freedom to make it the way I wanted to, and Accord Equips for giving us the equipment support. We were fortunate to start our festival journey with Oberhausen and winning an award there” the writer-director adds.
‘Rammat Gammat’ is produced by Drishyam Films, Tejash Shah (Accord Equips) and Mauli Singh and is shot in the Ghats of Wilson Hill, Gujarat.
