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The movie that won the top prize at the Cannes Film festival this year had a Tamil connection – and we are claiming it for ourselves even if the Tamil in question is from Sri Lanka. Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan features former Liberation of Tigers Tamil Eelam child soldier and writer Sobhashakti in the lead role, and follows the journey of a refugee who adopts a fake family in order to qualify for political asylum.

Another film, this time from Tamil Nadu proper, is travelling to another equally prestigious festival. Vetrimaaran’s Visaranai is the first Tamil film ever to be selected in the Orizzonti section of the Venice International Film Festival. The 106-minute prison drama is based on M Chandrakumar’s novel Lock-up. “Lock-up is based on his experiences when he was arrested on suspicion of committing a crime,” said Vetrimaaran, who has previously directed the National Award-winning Aadukalam and has co-produced the equally decorated Kaakaa Muttai“An innocent man’s struggle against a bigger force and the truthfulness of his struggles made me write a script.”

Visaranai is a songless feature (a big plus with international festivals) and stars Dinesh Ravi in the lead role. The Venice selection is a massive boost for Vetrimaaran, especially since this was the category that gave out awards to Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court last year. “I was expecting to get into one of the top festivals as an official selection, but to get into Venice, that too in the Orizzonti competition came to me as a pleasant surprise,” the director said. “We wish to make use of this momentum to take the film to greater heights.”