By Julian Das, Kolkata

A film festival organized by a Jesuit media center is providing a platform for women to showcase their creative talents.

Filmmaker Santwana Chatterjee introduces her film at the Short Film Festival in Kolkata

Women have produced or directed nearly half the films to be screened during the Seventh Short Film Festival, festival director Jesuit Father Joseph Pymbellikunnel told ucanews.com.

The priest heads the 40-year-old Chitrabani (sight-sound) organizing the film festival, together with the West Bengal Film Center Nandan. The event is being held from Dec. 3 to 9 in Kolkata.

Most women directors are young, and a sizable number of them are students of media schools in the country, he said.

The festival has selected 94 films for screening, with a total 24 hours of running time, in five Indian languages. The shortest film is 2.30 minutes and the longest 39 minutes, the priest said.

Shoma Banerjee, a woman director, said she makes short films that addresses the issue of borderline psychological disorders. Her 17-minute film, Madhyabarti Olinde (By the by lanes of borderline) in Bengali was screened on Dec. 5.

Santwana Chatterjee combined journalistic skills and culture in her fourth film Amar Sonar Bangla (My golden Bengal), screened on the opening day.

She said her outlook complements that of other male colleagues. This creates a healthy balancing of content and style, she added.

Subha Das Mallick, who has made over 40 video films, said women find it easier to break through the male domain in short films that involve less investment. She also said women directors handle better themes related to women.