Today from 17:00-20.00 hrs, the UvA Film Club will continue their weekly screening in HVL/BuzzHouse’s Co-Working Space! This week's film is Esthappan (dir. Govindan Aravindan, 1980), with an introduction by Nimaye Nambiar.

A mystical figure is summoned on the shores of a small fishing village in Kerala, India. He lies on the sharp rocks, which stitch the ocean’s water with a land and people that drink from it. Some call him Christ, others call him a thief; we see and hear of our (beloved) protagonist, Esthappan, through the testimonies of others. Govindan Aravindan’s eponymous film can’t help but linger on such an apparition, on a face textured by such restraint. As documentary seeps into fiction, Biblical deeds submerge in societal norms, and images coalesce with sound, Aravindan’s poetic style takes on a liquid form. A spiritual presence permeates the film, and like a tide, dwindles and intensifies with rhythmic persistence. Our Esthappan, and his eyes, especially his eyes, can only function on desire — a desire for preservation, of land and culture. Aravindan’s film remains an underrated gem of Malayali New Wave cinema, a must-watch for all!