Kamali: A film about a Seven-year-old Tamil skateboarder – Indian film festival of Melbourne

A short award-winning documentary titled Kamali by London based film-maker Sasha Rainbow is being screened at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne on Friday, August 16, at 3 pm.

Kamali is about a single Tamil mother’s fight for her daughter’s empowerment through skateboarding.

Seven-year-old Kamali is the only girl skateboarder in Mahabalipuram, a small fishing village in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu where, by chance, a skate ramp happened to be built right outside her house.

Kamali’s timorous mother, Suganthi, gives in to a burning desire to escape her past and decides to take a pilgrimage in a quest for self-discovery. As mother and daughter are separated for the first time, they both must find their freedom as they dare to step outside into a man’s world.

The Tamil language film with English subtitles won the best documentary award at the Atlanta film festival and qualified for the 2020 Oscar shortlist, raising hopes of an Oscar for yet another Tamil story. Earlier in the year, “Period, End of Sentance” a film about “the pad machine” created by Tamilnadu engineer Arunachalam Muruganatham picked up an Oscar.

VANS, an international brand associated with skateboarding, has also made Kamali their ambassador. They are flying the class five girl to Shanghai to attend an international skateboarders meet.

Here are few of the other Tamil language films to catch at the festival;

Roobha by Canadian Tamil film-maker Lenin Sivan, is the story of a young South Asian transwoman’s struggle with the issue of gender identity. Its Australian premiere takes place at HOYTS Chadstone on Sunday, August 11 at 9 PM.

Super Deluxe starring Vijay Sethupathy is being screened at HOYTS District Docklandson on Monday, August 12 at 06.00 PM. An unfaithful newly-wed wife, an estranged father, a priest and an angry son suddenly find themselves in the most unexpected predicaments, each poised to experience their destiny, all on one fateful day.

Pariyerum Perumal is about a law student from a lower caste who begins a friendship with his classmate, a girl who belongs to a higher caste, and the men in her family start giving him trouble over this. The film is being screened at HOYTS Highpoint on Saturday, August 10 at 06.00 PM.

To book your tickets please visit http://iffm.com.au